| Olsen Racela |
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| CATEGORIES ABOUT OLSEN RACELA | |
| 1970 births | |
| ateneo de manila university alumni | |
| filipino basketball players | |
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| living people | |
| people from quezon city | |
Rodericko Cesar Escueta Racela or '''Olsen Racela''' (born November 1 , 1970 in Quezon City , Philippines ) is a Filipino professional basketball player for the San Miguel Beermen in the Philippine Basketball Association . He is considered as one of the best Point Guard in the league today. 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 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 PABL (now the Philippine Basketball League and the RP Youth Team. PBA CAREER Purefoods In 1993, Racela was selected 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 TJ Hotdogs. 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. Present 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 the 2006-07 All Filipino Conference, Racela occasionally plays off the bench in preparation for his retirement and life an assistant coach. He is also guiding LA Tenorio to be new lead pointguard of San Miguel. PERSONAL LIFE Racela's nickname was based on the day of his birth as it was during All-Saints Day. His brother, Nash, is currently the assistant coach of the Beermen under Chot Reyes . Nash also coached the Batangas Blades in the Metropolitan Basketball Association . BASKETBALL CAREER School Leagues
Philippine Basketball League
Philippine Basketball Association
AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS Philippine Basketball Association
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