FIT and healthy.
This was how a source from the San Miguel camp described the health status of the Beermen's power forward Vic Manuel after the PBA Season 48 Philippine Cup Finals against Meralco where he was used sparingly.
The 12-year pro out of PSBA played just eight games the entire season-ending conference and sat out the first three games of the best-of-seven finals against the Bolts amid questions about his availability and fitness.
READ SMB coach explains Vic Manuel benching in first three games of PBA Finals
Manuel made a surprise appearance in Game Four and delivered for the Beermen, scoring eight points in just seven minutes of play to go with two rebounds and an assist as San Miguel pulled off a 111-101 win to level the title series at 2-2.
However, the Licab, Nueva Ecija pride fell out of SMB coach Jorge Gallent's rotation in the next games as Meralco clinched the title in six games.
Asked about Manuel's situation after Game Four, Gallent said the veteran forward was "kind of sick" and had in fact missed practice for much of the two-week break the Beermen enjoyed prior to the finals.
But a source bared that on the contrary, Manuel was not nursing any injury during the PBA Finals.
“Walang injury yun. Di lang nagagamit,” said the source.
The mystery surrounding his status at San Miguel deepened after cryptic posts by the bruiser emerged on social media during and after the title series against Meralco.
Efforts to reach Manuel have failed but sources confirmed that the posts were his, including this one which was posted on X, formerly Twitter, after his Game Four performance but was subsequently deleted.
There was another post after the finals where Manuel thanked the SMB team captioning a SPIN.ph photo of him approaching a bunch of disappointed-looking San Miguel players heading to the bench during a timeout.
“Thank you SMB!!! #MyChildHoodTeam,” he said in a post followed by hand-heart and smiling emojis.
Sources said Manuel's contract with San Miguel runs until April of next year, and Manuel has given no hint that he wants out. A clearer picture is expected to emerge after the players' exit meetings with management next week.
Until then, speculations are only expected to mount.
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