Olsen picks up cudgels for SMC anew

FOR the second time in his career, Olsen Racela received a call for help from his mother team.

And he hopes to be as successful as he was when he heeded the first call.

Racela, the former San Miguel Beer/Petron Blaze playmaker, will assume head coaching duties for the club that groomed him to superstardom and hopes to steer the storied franchise to newer heights in the 38th PBA season that gets going today.

“I’m excited about the new challenge,” said Racela, who is coming off a stint as  the coach of the country’s national youth program. “It’s the second time San Miguel has asked me to assume a major responsibility and I hope we can be as successful as we were when I was playing.”

The first time he took on a major responsibility with he team was in 1997, when former coach Ron Jacobs plucked him out of his back-up duties with Purefoods to become the cornerstone of San Miguel’s rebuilding project.

He won eight championships with the franchise and by the time he retired, he was only one of five players in the PBA to play at least 900 games. The team eventually retired his jersey number, before naming him head coach earlier this year.

Racela will replace another former standout of the team, Ato Agustin, who managed to bag one title—the Governors’ Cup crown that halted Talk ‘N Text’s Grand Slam bid—for Petron during his stint as head coach.

Racela admits he still has a lot to learn, especially at the help of the league’s winningest franchise, but he will get a lot of help from Serbian Rajko Toroman, who was named team consultant.

“Coach Rajko brings a lot of knowledge to the team and I hope that moving forward, we can have a dynamic relationship that will bring Petron to greater heights,” he said.

Toroman initially handled Petron’s preparations while Racela was coaching the national youth team. The former Ateneo hotshot said he is currently understanding Toroman’s system while plugging in a few inputs of his own.

Racela has already held talks with players, asking for their commitment to winning the right way.

“You can have the most perfect game plan but if you’re players are not committed, it won’t be worth anything,” he said. “But with commitment, we can go places.”

Racela said he has already talked to Alex Cabagnot and asked him to assume a bigger leadership role with the Boosters, the same one that Racela fleshed out when he was the team’s marquee playmaker.

“I talked to Alex and his teammates and we all believe that he has what it takes to lead this team,” said Racela.

Racela assumes the the head coach role at a time when the Boosters drafted a key addition in top overall pick June Mar Fajardo. The 6-foot-10 center from Cebu is expected to boost the Petron’s frontline and this early, scouts have been raving about his improvement during preseason games.

Cabagnot, Arwind Santos, Chris Lutz, Marcio Lassiter, Joseph Yeo, Jay Washington and veteran Danny Ildefonso will spearhead the Boosters’ charge this season.