Olsen Racela

Rodericko Cesar Escueta Racela, also known as Olsen Racela, (born November 1, 1970) is a Filipino retired professional basketball player in the Philippine Basketball Association. He is one of the assistant coaches of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, and also became the head coach of the Philippines under-16 basketball team. He is considered as one of the best point guards who ever played in the league. He is also a former member of the Ateneo Blue Eagles in the UAAP and the Philippine national basketball team on many occasions.

Early life

Olsen Racela, born on November 1 in Quezon City, Philippines, was so named because he was born on All Saint's Day (his brother Nash was born on National Heroes' Day). As a young boy, he started playing basketball early in his life. It was just a game back then. A couple of shots through a hoop in his old neighborhood. Among his brothers, he shone out with the better basketball skills which gave him a spot in Ateneo de Manila University's varsity team.

Amateur career

Racela played for the Blue Eagles in a backup role to Jun Reyes and was a member of the Blue Eagles team that won the UAAP title in 1988. He also played in the Philippine Amateur Basketball League and the RP Youth Team.

PBA career

Purefoods

In 1993, Racela was selected 12th by Purefoods in the 1993 PBA Rookie Draft. From 1993-1996, he played the backup role to Dindo Pumaren and won two titles with the Purefoods franchise under a limited role with the team.

San Miguel Beermen

In 1997, Racela moved to the San Miguel Beermen in what became the turnaround of his young career. Under new San Miguel head coach Ron Jacobs, Racela's skills were noticed under a rebuilding Beermen squad of Nelson Asaytono, Freddie Abuda and Mike Mustre.

In 1998, Racela's game would improve and was rewarded with a spot on the Tim Cone-coached Philippine Centennial Team that took home a bronze medal in the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand. A season later, with Racela as its top point guard, San Miguel became the league's new dynasty under Jong Uichico, winning five titles from 1999-2001.

2002 Busan Asiad

He made his second stint in the national team in 2002 for the Asian Games in Busan, South Korea. With Racela as point guard, the Nationals made it all the way through the semifinals against host South Korea. In the final minute, Racela scored a three-pointer to give the Philippines the lead. However, after recovering the possession and was fouled, he missed two crucial free throws that could have given the country a four-point lead. Instead, Lee Sang Min's buzzer-beating triple gave the Koreans a dramatic 69-68 victory. Some argued that the blame rest on Jong Uichico's coaching in which he didn't set out a plan to ease Racela's pressure from the 15th foot line.

Despite the missed free-throws, Racela continued to shine in his point guard duties with San Miguel. In 2004, he dished his 2,000th career assist and was the starting point guard when the Beermen won another title in the 2005 PBA Fiesta Conference.

Starting in the 2007-08 All Filipino Conference, Racela occasionally plays off the bench in preparation for his retirement and life as an assistant coach.

On August 11, 2010, Racela became the fifth player alongside Ramon Fernandez, Robert Jaworski, Abet Guidaben & Philip Cezar to play at least 900 games in the PBA.

League's oldest active Player and Retirement

After Johnny Abarrientos announced his retirement, Racela will play for another PBA season with San Miguel. He turned 40 on November 1, 2010 and was the senior statesman of the PBA during that season. He announced his retirement on January 28, 2011 at the Araneta Coliseum at the start of Game 4 of the finals. He had played the entire finals series before he hanged up his #17 jersey in which Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters subdued San Miguel Beermen in 6 games.

Personal life

Racela's nickname was based on the day of his birth as it was during All-Saints Day.

His brother, Raoul Cesar or Nash Racela, is currently the head coach of the TNT KaTropa and the former head coach of the FEU Tamaraws in the UAAP. Nash also coached the Batangas Blades in the Metropolitan Basketball Association. He has 3 children namely Ryan, Raya and Rafa.

Basketball career

School leagues

• 1984: Ateneo de Manila - PAYA Aspirants
• 1985: Ateneo de Manila - PAYA Juniors
• 1986 Ateneo de Manila - UAAP Juniors
• 1987-1992: Ateneo de Manila - UAAP Seniors

Philippine Basketball League

• 1989: Crispa Redmanizers
• 1990-1991: A&W Rootbeers
• 1992: Pop Cola

Philippine Basketball Association

• 1993–1996: Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs
• 1997–2011: San Miguel Beermen

National teams

• 1987 Asian Youth 18 years and below, Qatar
• 1989 ABC Under-18 Championship, Manila
• 1998 Asian Games, Thailand
• 1998 Jones Cup, Taipei
• 2002 Asian Games, Busan, South Korea

Awards and achievements

Philippine Basketball Association

• 1993 Mr. Quality Minutes
• 1998-1999 2-time Mythical Second Team
• 2000-2001 2-time Mythical First Team
• 2000-01, 2003–04, 2006 5-time All-Star
• 2002-2003 Mythical Second team
• 2004 21st member of 2000-Assist Club
• 2010 5th member of 900 Games club

PBA career statistics

Correct as of July 26, 2011^[1]

Season-by-season averages

References