Olsen Racela

{{Infobox basketball biography

| image =

| name = Olsen Racela

| number =

| position = Assistant coach

| league = PBA

| team = Barangay Ginebra San Miguel

| nationality = Filipino

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1970|11|1}}

| birth_place = Quezon City, Philippines

| height_ft = 5

| height_in = 11

| weight_lbs = 165

| high school =

| college = Ateneo

| draft_year_pba = 1993

| draft_round_pba = 2

| draft_pick_pba = 12

| draft_team_pba = Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs

| career_start = 1993

| career_end = 2011

| career_position = Point guard

| career_number = 17

| coach_start = 2011

| years1 = 1993–1996

| team1 = Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs

| years2 = 1997–2011

| team2 = San Miguel Beermen

| cyears1 = 2011–2012

| cteam1 = Petron Blaze Boosters (assistant)

| cyears2 = 2012–2013

| cteam2 = Petron Blaze Boosters

| cyears3 = 2013–2014

| cteam3 = San Mig Coffee Mixers (assistant)

| cyears4 = 2014–present

| cteam4 = Barangay Ginebra San Miguel (assistant)

| cyears5 = 2016–2022

| cteam5 = FEU

| cyears6 = 2024–present

| cteam6 = Perpetual

| highlights =

As player:

9× PBA champion (1993 All-Filipino, 1994 Commissioner's, 1999 Commissioner's, 1999 Governors', 2000 Commissioner's, 2000 Governors', 2001 All-Filipino, 2005 Fiesta, 2009 Fiesta)
6× PBA All-Star (2000, 2001, 2003–2006)
2× PBA Mythical First Team (2000, 2001)
3× PBA Mythical Second Team (1998, 1999, 2004-05)
PBA Mr. Quality Minutes (1993)
No. 17 retired by the San Miguel Beermen
2× UAAP Champion (1987, 1988)

As assistant coach:

10× PBA champion coach (2013 Governors', 2014 Philippine, 2014 Commissioner's, 2016 Governors', 2017 Governors', 2018 Commissioner's, 2019 Governors', 2020 Philippine, 2021 Governors', 2022–23 Commissioner's)

As head coach:

Father Martin Cup Summer Tournament Champion (2019)

| medaltemplates =

{{MedalCountry | {{PHI}} }}

}}

Rodericko Cesar "Olsen" Escueta Racela (born November 1, 1970) is a Filipino coach and former player.{{Cite web |url=http://www.feu.edu.ph/manila/index.php/pba-legend-olsen-racela-is-new-feu-mens-basketball-team-head-coach/ |title=PBA legend Olsen Racela is new FEU Men's Basketball team head coach | Far Eastern University |access-date=2016-12-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180118064635/http://www.feu.edu.ph/manila/index.php/pba-legend-olsen-racela-is-new-feu-mens-basketball-team-head-coach/ |archive-date=2018-01-18 |url-status=dead }} 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.

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

{{Cite web |title=Olsen Racela Player Profile - PBA-Online.net |url=http://www.pba-online.net/profile/Olsen-Racela/100/ |website=PBA-Online.net|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160317015136/http://www.pba-online.net/profile/Olsen-Racela/100/ |archive-date=March 17, 2016 }}

=Season-by-season averages=

| align=left | {{pbay|1993}}

| align=left | Coney Island / Purefoods

| 43 || 8.3 || .514 || .333 || .700 || .9 || 1.3 || .4 || .1 || 3.4

| align=left | {{pbay|1994}}

| align=left | Coney Island / Purefoods

| 62 || 15.6 || .479 || .444 || .661 || .9 || 1.5 || .4 || .1 || 3.7

| align=left | {{pbay|1995}}

| align="left" | Purefoods

| 59 || 24.8 || .502 || .222 || .851 || 1.7 || 3.1 || 1.2 || .1 || 6.7

| align=left | {{pbay|1996}}

| align=left | Purefoods

| 58 || 22.6 || .454 || .115 || .795 || 1.5 || 3.0 || .8 || .1 || 6.4

| align=left | {{pbay|1997}}

| align=left | San Miguel

| 62 || 40.0 || .439 || .316 || .876 || 1.8 || 4.7 || .7 || .1 || 11.4

| align=left | {{pbay|1998}}

| align=left | San Miguel

| 49 || 38.2 || .455 || .292 || .847 || 2.8 || 4.5 || 1.1 || .2 || 8.8

| align=left | {{pbay|1999}}

| align=left | San Miguel

| 53 || 34.2 || .399 || .233 || .843 || 2.3 || 3.6 || .8 || .1 || 7.3

| align=left | {{pbay|2000}}

| align=left | San Miguel

| 58 || 32.9 || .461 || .383 || .839 || 2.3 || 3.0 || .6 || .1 || 9.6

| align=left | {{pbay|2001}}

| align=left | San Miguel

| 70 || 34.3 || .395 || .381 || .871 || 2.2 || 2.8 || .8 || .0 || 10.9

| align=left | {{pbay|2002}}

| align=left | San Miguel

| 12 || 26.2 || .384 || .294 || .800 || 1.9 || 4.6 || .9 || .2 || 9.7

| align=left | {{pbay|2003}}

| align=left | San Miguel

| 50 || 32.5 || .417 || .373 || .865 || 3.0 || 4.8 || 1.1 || .1 || 10.8

| align=left | {{pbay|2004}}

| align=left | San Miguel

| 78 || 34.0 || .398 || .354 || .827 || 2.2 || 5.3 || 1.1 || .1 || 11.4

| align=left | {{pbay|2005}}

| align=left | San Miguel

| 43 || 32.6 || .367 || .305 || .863 || 2.7 || 4.3 || 1.1 || .1 || 8.3

| align=left | {{pbay|2006}}

| align=left | San Miguel

| 62 || 26.3 || .373 || .286 || .872 || 2.3 || 3.5 || 1.0 || .1 || 8.5

| align=left | {{pbay|2007}}

| align=left | Magnolia

| 47 || 20.0 || .426 || .391 || .912 || 1.6 || 2.5 || .6 || .1 || 6.3

| align=left | {{pbay|2008}}

| align=left | San Miguel

| 56 || 20.0 || .387 || .327 || .828 || 1.9 || 3.2 || .6 || .0 || 6.0

| align=left | {{pbay|2009}}

| align=left | San Miguel

| 39 || 11.0 || .393 || .328 || .833 || .8 || 1.2 || .6 || .0 || 3.2

| align=left | {{pbay|2010}}

| align=left | San Miguel

| 24 || 12.0 || .344 || .303 || .875 || .8 || 1.7 || .3 || .0 || 3.0

|-class=sortbottom

| align="center" colspan="2" | Career

| 925 || 27.0 || .419 || .334 || .841 || 1.9 || 3.3 || .8 || .1 || 7.8

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.{{cite news|url=http://www.spin.ph/basketball/news/olsen-racela-new-feu-tamaraws-coach-uaap-season-80|title=Olsen Racela takes over as head coach of FEU Tamaraws|publisher=Sports Interactive Network Philippines|last=Terrado|first=Reuben|date=December 20, 2016|access-date=December 20, 2016}}

Coaching record

=Collegiate record=

rowspan=2\|Season	rowspan=2\|Team ! colspan="5" \|Elimination round	colspan="5" \| Playoffs
class=wikitable style="text-align:center"
GP !W	L	PCT	Finish	GP	W	L	PCT	Results
2017	FEU \|14	7	7	.500	4th	2	1	1	.500	Lost in the semifinals
2018	FEU \|14	8	6	.571	4th	2	1	1	.500	Lost in the semifinals
2019	FEU \|14	8	6	.571	3rd	1	0	1	.000	Lost in the 1st round stepladder semifinals
2021	FEU \|14	7	7	.500	4th	1	0	1	.000	Lost in the semifinals
2022	FEU \|14	5	9	.358	7th	—	—	—	—	Did not qualify
2024 \|UPHSD \|18	7	11	.388	8th	—	—	—	—	Did not qualify
colspan=2\| Totals !88	42	46	.477		6	2	4	.333	0 championships

= PBA =

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! rowspan="2" \|Season ! rowspan="2" \|Team ! rowspan="2" \|Conference ! colspan="5" \|Elims./Clas. round ! colspan="5" \|Playoffs
GP !W !L !PCT !Finish !PG !W !L !PCT !Results
rowspan="2" \|2012–13 \| rowspan="2" \|Petron \|Philippine Cup \|14 \|6 \|8 \|.429 \|7th \|1 \|0 \|1 \|.000 \|Quarterfinals
Commissioner's Cup \|14 \|8 \|6 \|.571 \|3rd \|2 \|0 \|2 \|.000 \|Quarterfinals
colspan="3" \|Career Total !28 !14 !14 !.500 !Playoff Total !3 !0 !3 !.000 !0 championships

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

! rowspan="2" |Season

! rowspan="2" |Team

! rowspan="2" |Conference

! colspan="5" |Elims./Clas. round

! colspan="5" |Playoffs

!PCT

!Finish

!PG

!PCT

!Results

rowspan="2" |2012–13

| rowspan="2" |Petron

|Philippine Cup

|14

|.429

|7th

|.000

|Quarterfinals

Commissioner's Cup

|14

|.571

|3rd

|.000

|Quarterfinals

colspan="3" |Career Total

!28

!14

!.500

!Playoff Total

!.000

!0 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.{{Cite web |title=Former Ateneo Blue Eagles guard Yuri Escueta finds his true calling as coach |url=https://www.spin.ph/basketball/where-r-they-now-yuri-escueta-ateneo-champion-yuri-escueta-pbl-coaching-calling |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=Spin.ph |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Olsen Racela turns golden boy with a simple bubble celebration |url=https://www.spin.ph/basketball/pba/olsen-racela-marks-50th-birthday-inside-pba-bubble-a793-20201102 |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=Spin.ph |language=en}}