TNT newbie Garcia thankful for Racela’s confidence

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RR Garcia feels lucky being put in a position where he doesn’t really have to adjust much.

After all, he’s under the guidance of coach Nash Racela anew, his former mentor in Far Eastern University.

“Coach Nash and I have been together back in college and it’s the same. He tells me to play my game and I don’t feel any pressure at all knowing that he has my back. He lets us do our thing and I know what I’m going to do in his system,” he said in Filipino.

Garcia played his first game with TNT on Friday, making immediate impact in its 112-103 victory over San Miguel, the same squad which traded him last week for Matt Ganuelas-Rosser.

Exuding confidence, the former UAAP MVP unloaded 12 points, three assists, and two rebounds in his 24 minutes on the floor with the KaTropa.

Garcia, though, made it clear that he had no axe to grind with his former squad, noting that his standout performance against the Beermen was just business as usual.

“It’s just the game. We’re even joking around inside, kuya Alex (Cabagnot), Chris Ross, and Marcio (Lassiter). After the game, we’re all friends,” he said.

Despite his promising debut with TNT, Garcia doesn’t want to get lost on his situation, saying that he knows that his main purpose in the squad is to try on filling the void left by the Gilas Pilipinas players.

“I know I’m here because of my scoring, and that’s really a tall task knowing that we lost Jayson Castro, Roger Pogoy and Troy Rosario,” he said. “But I know it’s not just up to me, and knowing coach Nash, what he wants is for the team to collectively help us get the wins.” /atm