Nipped in the bud - Olsen Racela and the Petron Blaze Boosters

Olsen Racela walked into the RONAC basketball court just in time for San Mig Coffee’s first day of practice. After parking in the basement, Racela took the elevator with point guard Chris Pacana to the third floor. When he reached the court, players were already having their ankles taped. His fellow assistant coaches were changing into their San Mig Coffee practice attire. Racela did not have his yet so he made do with a generic blue shirt for now.  

One by one, the Mixers approached Racela to shake his hand. Barely a month ago, this was a highly improbable picture.

“San Mig Coffee? As far as I know, I’m still the coach of Petron. We just had practice today.” This was what Racela replied to those asking about rumors of his transfer.

Olsen Racela was dumbfounded. The head coach of the Petron Blaze Boosters held practice earlier that morning.  It was June 17, roughly two months before the PBA Governors’ Cup started.

Petron began the PBA Commissioner’s Cup with so much promise but it was hijacked when import Renaldo Balkman had an unfortunate encounter with Arwind Santos. Racela wanted to make sure they’d have a better showing for the next conference, so he decided it would be best to start their training early.

Racela and the rest of the the Blaze Boosters made most of their situation. They continued practicing even as the SMC coaching carousel loomed above them.

“Yun yung mahirap dun eh, not knowing,” Racela said. “Naghahanap ako ng confirmation but it never came.”

The first whispers of Racela’s demotion actually started when Gee Abanilla, the erstwhile head coach of the DLSU Green Archers was relieved of his duties and replaced with Juno Sauler. Talk at the time of the move said that it was because Abanilla would later replace Racela.

"There were rumors but boss Robert [Non] came out on Twitter saying na di totoo yun,” Racela said. “Tinanong ko sila eh and they told me that if there will be changes, they’ll inform me so hinayaan ko na lang yun.”

There are only a handful of PBA players who can cut it as a head coach. Olsen Racela was one of them. While riding towards the sunset of his playing career, Racela was already preparing for his next job. While his playing minutes dwindled, his role as a guide to his younger teammates grew.

Racela was rewarded by the San Miguel Corporation management. For his loyalty over the years, he was named as the head coach of the Petron Blaze Boosters, the flagship team of their corporation. However, the newbie head coach was given a set of training wheels in the person of Rajko Toroman, former coach of Gilas Pilipinas.

When they finally got the idea that having two alpha dogs as coaches wouldn't work, Toroman was shown the door. The 2013 Commissioner’s Cup was Racela’s first complete conference as a head coach. If not for the unfortunate Balkman incident, Racela could have possibly brought the Boosters to the Finals.

Two months before the Governor’s Cup, three weeks after the rumors started, Racela was finally told he was no longer head coach of the Petron Blaze Boosters.

The rumors were true. Abanilla replaced Racela, but he too will be given a set of training wheels, this time in the person of Todd Purves, who used to coach the Indonesia Warriors in the Asean Basketball League.

“My situation with Coach Rajko was supposed to be a mentoring thing,” Racela said “Feeling ko we had a good setup. Transition na lang after but things happened so napaaga lahat.”

By “things happened” Racela referred to the sudden departure of Toroman. “I was expecting that set-up to last longer than it did. So nagulat rin ako.”

During San Mig’s practice, Racela was more of an observer. He watched as Mark Barroca ran the plays. He looked on as James Yap and PJ Simon shot their jumpers. Racela tried to absorb as much as he could while making sure he didn’t get in anyone’s way. Like a new officemate, not much was expected from him that day.

On one of the practice breaks, Racela walked to the side of the court. He opened a black box that contained his phone, his car keys, a few sheets of paper, and a pen. “Birthday kasi ng anak ko,” Racela said. “I’m supposed to write him a letter pero di ko na nagagawa.”

The sheets of paper had a logo of the San Miguel Beermen on the upper lefthand corner. His nickname Rah-Rah and “HeartWork” were printed near the bottom of the paper. Racela’s oldest son Rara turned 16-years-old that day. Rara was born in 1997. The same year Racela was traded to San Miguel. In his entire life, Rara has never seen his father work for another team.

After being taken 12th overall by Purefoods in the 1993 PBA Draft, Racela stayed with the team for four years, playing as Dindo Pumaren’s back-up. In 1997, Racela was traded by Purefoods to the San Miguel Beermen for two second-round picks in the shallow 1999 and 2000 PBA Drafts.

Racela’s career took off under the guidance of head coaches Ron Jacobs and later Jong Uichico. The Beermen built a dynasty with Racela, Danny Ildefonso, Danny Seigle, and Dondon Hontiveros.

“Relationships were formed and we had so many championships with Danny I. Danny S. and Dondon,” Racela recalled. “Ngayon si Danny I. na lang ang naiwan doon. Pero ganun talaga eh. Trabaho eh.”

After Racela’s retirement, San Miguel made moves to be younger. They traded away Seigle and Hontiveros along with Dorian Pena and Paul Artadi to the Air21 Express for Rabeh Al-Hussaini, Nonoy Baclao, and Rey Guevarra. Seigle was with the Beermen for 12 years, Hontiveros for 10, but in one fell swoop they were all shown the door. This move was followed by a name change from San Miguel to Petron. Now another name that was synonymous with the rich history of the San Miguel Beermen was asked to move elsewhere.

1997 to 2013. Sixteen years of loyalty. Sixteen years of sacrifice, of love, of championships. Sixteen years ended after two measly conferences as a head coach, one of which wasn’t even completely his.

“We had a good start tapos nawala si Balkman. We couldn’t get an import but we won our next game without an import against a team with the tallest import in the league. Then we got the wrong import tapos yun na,” Racela recalled.

“The bottomline, I feel, for the management is that they were expecting Petron to land in a spot better than the quarterfinals,” he added. “Pero I hoped they gave me more time. Frustrating yun because it’s a setback in my coaching career because I was essentially fired, but I feel this is an opportunity for me to learn.”

“This has been my story in basketball even as a player. Setbacks, starting from the bottom, getting cut when I was in college. Sa tingin ko ganun lang uli ito. Feeling ko I’m in a good situation with San Mig Coffee under coach Tim.”

A loud whistle pierced through all the noise inside the gym. It was from coach Cone and it was to signify the end of their first day of practice. After a short prayer, the team went in for a huddle. Racela used to be right in the middle of that huddle. He used to be the one who said “team on three.”

Racela shouted “TEAM!” with everyone else but it must have sounded much different for him. Instead of the Acropolis Gym he was at RONAC. Instead of being beside Arwind Santos and Alex Cabagnot he was beside Jerwin Gaco and Joe Devance.

“Masama ang loob ko na na-trade ako noon [from Purefoods to San Miguel]. Now sumama rin yung loob ko because of what happened. But I feel that this is a good situation for me. I’m still a young coach trying to learn everything from the veteran coaches.”

Racela was seated beside Johnny Abarrientos when coach Cone approached him after practice. “Thanks for being here, Olsen,” Cone said as he extended his arm for a handshake. “I appreciate you being here.”

“It’s my pleasure to be here, coach,” replied Racela. “Don’t worry about anything, I’m sure we’ll get it done,” Cone assured his new lieutenant. They shook hands and said their first goodbyes as parts of the same team. Nothing fancy. Nothing emotional. Nothing like his last goodbye with Petron.

“I was prepared for my last day with Petron. Hinanda ko na yung sarili ko. I said goodbye with a very short speech. Then I went up to each and every player pero okay pa ako nun,” he recalled.

“Nung kay Danny na...,” Racela paused, “...yun na yung mahirap.”

“We were teammates for 13 years and then two more as coach ako so 15 years kaming magkasama. Mahirap tapusin yung ganung klaseng relationship pero wala naman akong magagawa. That’s the business side of the PBA eh.”

Racela approached Ildefonso and the two hugged. After that hug, they will no longer be on the same team. In those few seconds, emotions poured out even though no words were exchanged.

“Di na kailangang ng salita e. Alam naman namin pareho yung sitwasyon,” Racela said. “Pero masyadong malungkot yung araw na yun.”

During that moment, the rest of the team had their eyes locked on Racela and Ildefonso. For the past few years, Petron has been riddled with chemistry issues. How this player doesn’t like playing with this other player. Or how the minutes given to this guy hampered the development of this other guy. In his last moment as the Petron head coach, Racela still wanted to teach the team something. It was a lesson of what basketball really is about. It was as a reminder that San Miguel’s success was not because of the names but because of the relationships.

“Nakita nung mga ibang players yung klase ng pagkakaibigan namin ni Danny I.,” Racela said. “Pagkatapos nung pagpapaalam namin that day, I hope the others learned from that, na ganyan dapat ang teammates.”

Racela’s stint as the head coach of the Petron Blaze Boosters was nipped in the bud. But sometimes, it’s best to cut early so the plant can grow faster elsewhere. Sometimes being taken away from what’s comfortable, from what’s customary, is the best way to blossom.

As he made his way out of the RONAC basketball court, he was greeted by San Mig Coffee fans at the door. “Welcome back coach Olsen!” they screamed in unison. The assistant coach could do nothing else but smile. “Welcome back? Eh di pa ata kayo pinapanganak nung na-trade ako from Purefoods eh,” Olsen said to the group of young fans.

“It’s hard to move on because I was with that franchise for 16 years but if there’s one team that I would like to go to, it would be this franchise,” Racela said. “Now I can say that my basketball career has gone full circle.”  -  AMD/OMG, GMA News