Olsen Racela

Last updated
Olsen Racela
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel
Position Assistant coach
League PBA
Personal information
Born (1970-11-01) November 1, 1970 (age 53)
Quezon City, Philippines
NationalityFilipino
Listed height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Listed weight165 lb (75 kg)
Career information
College Ateneo
PBA draft 1993: 2nd round, 12th overall pick
Selected by the Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs
Playing career1993–2011
Position Point guard
Number17
Coaching career2011–present
Career history
As player:
1993–1996 Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs
1997–2011 San Miguel Beermen
As coach:
2011–2012 Petron Blaze Boosters (assistant)
2012–2013Petron Blaze Boosters
2013–2014 San Mig Coffee Mixers (assistant)
2014–present Barangay Ginebra San Miguel (assistant)
2016–2022 FEU
2024–present Perpetual
Career highlights and awards
As player:

As assistant coach:

As head coach:

Medals
Men's basketball
Representing Flag of the Philippines.svg  Philippines
Asian Games
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1998 Bangkok Team competition

Rodericko Cesar "Olsen" Escueta Racela (born November 1, 1970) is a Filipino coach and former player. [1] He is both the head coach for the Perpetual Altas in the NCAA, and is an assistant coach for the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He played for 18 seasons during his PBA career. He was also a notable member of the Philippine national basketball team on many occasions.

Contents

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 Bonifacio Day). As a young boy, he started playing basketball early in his life. It was just a simple game for Olsen back then, which consisted of a couple of shots through a hoop in his old neighborhood. Among his brothers, he proved to have the prodigious basketball skills which gave him a spot in Ateneo de Manila University's varsity team.

Amateur career

Racela played for the Ateneo 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 14th by Purefoods in the 1993 PBA Rookie Draft. From 1993 to 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 was traded to the San Miguel Beermen for merely two second round picks for the succeeding three years beginning 1998. This 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 to 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 rested on Jong Uichico's coaching strategy in which he did not set up a plan to ease Racela's pressure from the 15 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 played off the bench in preparation for his retirement and later 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 PBA legend Johnny Abarrientos announced his retirement, Racela played for another 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.

PBA career statistics

Legend
  GPGames played  GSGames started MPG Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage 3P%  3-point field-goal percentage FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game APG  Assists per game SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game PPG Points per game Bold Career high

[2]

Season-by-season averages

YearTeamGPMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG
1993 Coney Island / Purefoods 438.3.514.333.700.91.3.4.13.4
1994 Coney Island / Purefoods 6215.6.479.444.661.91.5.4.13.7
1995 Purefoods 5924.8.502.222.8511.73.11.2.16.7
1996 Purefoods 5822.6.454.115.7951.53.0.8.16.4
1997 San Miguel 6240.0.439.316.8761.84.7.7.111.4
1998 San Miguel 4938.2.455.292.8472.84.51.1.28.8
1999 San Miguel 5334.2.399.233.8432.33.6.8.17.3
2000 San Miguel 5832.9.461.383.8392.33.0.6.19.6
2001 San Miguel 7034.3.395.381.8712.22.8.8.010.9
2002 San Miguel 1226.2.384.294.8001.94.6.9.29.7
2003 San Miguel 5032.5.417.373.8653.04.81.1.110.8
2004–05 San Miguel 7834.0.398.354.8272.25.31.1.111.4
2005–06 San Miguel 4332.6.367.305.8632.74.31.1.18.3
2006–07 San Miguel 6226.3.373.286.8722.33.51.0.18.5
2007–08 Magnolia 4720.0.426.391.9121.62.5.6.16.3
2008–09 San Miguel 5620.0.387.327.8281.93.2.6.06.0
2009–10 San Miguel 3911.0.393.328.833.81.2.6.03.2
2010–11 San Miguel 2412.0.344.303.875.81.7.3.03.0
Career92527.0.419.334.8411.93.3.8.17.8

Coaching career

On December 20, 2016, FEU announced the hiring of Racela as the head coach of the FEU Tamaraws men's basketball team in the UAAP. He replaced his brother Nash, who was appointed as the head coach of the PBA team TNT Katropa. This also serves as his first head coaching job in a varsity basketball team. [3]

Coaching record

Collegiate record

SeasonTeamElimination roundPlayoffs
GPWLPCTFinishGPWLPCTResults
2017 FEU 1477.5004th211.500Semifinals
2018 FEU 1486.5714th211.500Semifinals
2019 FEU 1486.5713rd101.000Stepladder round 1
2021 FEU 1477.5004th101.000Semifinals
2022 FEU 1459.3587thEliminated
2024 UPHSD
Totals703535.500624.3330 championships

PBA

SeasonTeamConferenceElims./Clas. roundPlayoffs
GPWLPCTFinishPGWLPCTResults
2012–13 Petron Philippine Cup 1468.4297th101.000Quarterfinals
Commissioner's Cup 1486.5713rd202.000Quarterfinals
Career Total281414.500Playoff Total303.0000 championships

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 Adamson Soaring Falcons and the former head coach of the FEU Tamaraws who were champions in the UAAP. Nash also coached the Batangas Blades in the Metropolitan Basketball Association. Olsen has 3 children namely Ryan, Raya, and Rafa.

He is a cousin of former Blue Eagle and San Beda heas coach Yuri Escueta. [4] [5]

Basketball career

School leagues

Philippine Basketball League

Philippine Basketball Association

National teams

Awards and achievements

Philippine Basketball Association

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References

  1. "PBA legend Olsen Racela is new FEU Men's Basketball team head coach | Far Eastern University". Archived from the original on 2018-01-18. Retrieved 2016-12-20.
  2. "Olsen Racela Player Profile - PBA-Online.net". PBA-Online.net. Archived from the original on March 17, 2016.
  3. Terrado, Reuben (December 20, 2016). "Olsen Racela takes over as head coach of FEU Tamaraws". Sports Interactive Network Philippines . Retrieved December 20, 2016.
  4. "Former Ateneo Blue Eagles guard Yuri Escueta finds his true calling as coach". Spin.ph. Retrieved 2024-01-21.
  5. "Olsen Racela turns golden boy with a simple bubble celebration". Spin.ph. Retrieved 2024-01-21.