Gilas calls in Tratter, Manuel

MANILA, Philippines — Needing to plug in holes in the middle, Gilas Pilipinas has called in two more reinforcements Alaska big men Vic Manuel and Abu Tratter as the national pool revved up its buildup for the coming first window of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers.

Manuel, a key member of coach Tim Cone’s gold-winning crew in the last SEA Games, and Tratter, a mainstay of the Philippine five in the second window of the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers in 2018, will add muscle and ceiling to the squad hit by injuries.

The 6-foot-4 Manuel and the 6-foot-5 Tratter will fill in the void left by NorthPort’s Christian Standhardinger and Blackwater’s Mac Belo, who both begged off from the first window of the qualifiers against Thailand on Feb. 20 and Indonesia on Feb. 23 due to knee issues.

“They’ve been invited to the Gilas pool,” team manager Gabby Cui confirmed in a text message yesterday.

“The Muscleman” returns to Gilas after a stellar debut in the SEAG, where he posted averages of 15.6 points and 4.2 rebounds. For his part, Tratter previously served as backup for Andray Blatche and June Mar Fajardo in the Philippines’ 68-84 loss to Australia in the WC qualifiers in Melbourne in February 2018.

The two Aces followed Phoenix Pulse’s Justin Chua, who was added to the pool over the weekend to take the place of Ginebra’s Japeth Aguilar, another marquee frontliner who’s not available for the February matches. Aguilar was excused for this window to go on a honeymoon.

The new additions join originals Poy Erram, Isaac Go, Marc Pingris and Troy Rosario in the frontline of coach Mark Dickel’s 24-man hybrid pool.

Rain or Shine forward Javee Mocon, who had a solid rookie outing last season, has also been invited to the Gilas pool.