OLSEN Racela said RJ Abarrientos could become a better player than his uncle Johnny based on the skills he displayed during the Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers.
The Far Eastern University coach said the sky is the limit for the 6-foot-2 Abarrientos, who showed his potential with Gilas last week.
“I already know that RJ is a very talented guy and a very skilled player,” said Racela in an interview with The Game on Cignal TV. “He hasn’t played a single UAAP game for us but I know his potential. He is full of potential. Baka nga mas magaling pa ito sa tito niya eh.”
Racela definitely knows the two players very well, with the battles he had against ‘The Flying A’ during their college and PBA team. The 5-foot-7 Johnny captured the MVP in 1996 after Alaska won the grand slam.
Racela said Johnny in his amateur days didn’t have the skills RJ has now.
“When you look at them, they are really poles apart. RJ is taller. RJ has more range than Johnny but Johnny has a really dangerous crossover. ‘Yun ang nakakatakot kay Johnny.”
“I think at this level, when Johnny was 20, 21 years old, he was not that good. And si RJ would see the whole floor. He would understand everything. He is so experienced that you wouldn’t think that he hasn’t played a single UAAP college game,” said Racela.
RJ made a good account of himself in the Asia Cup qualifiers as a spark plug to the team as their back-up point guard. He averaged 8.3 points and 3.7 assists for Gilas in the three games inside the Clark bubble.
Racela admitted he was pleasantly surprised seeing Abarrientos displaying a lot of energy during the Gilas games.
“I knew that RJ will be coming off the bench for this team. Because of that, I felt that he needed to have more energy coming off the bench and that’s not the RJ Abarrientos I knew. That surprised me. He was the spark against Korea in the two games,” said Racela.
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