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PBA: Magnolia sees Rakocevic as possible 'resident import'

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Camille B. Naredo, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="PBA Images" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/life/09/29/20220929-pba-images.jpg"/><figcaption>Nick Rakocevic reacts after a play in the Magnolia Hotshots&#x27; game against TerraFirma Dyip. <em>PBA Images.</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA, Philippines -- Magnolia coach Chito Victolero believes that the Hotshots have finally found the player who can be their &quot;resident import&quot; in the PBA Commissioner&#x27;s Cup.</p><p>Serbian forward in Nick Rakocevic was superb in his first game for Magnolia Wednesday, putting up 45 points and 25 rebounds in a 100-92 triumph against the TerraFirma Dyip. Rakocevic made 17 of 26 shots and outplayed TerraFirma&#x27;s Lester Prosper in the closing stretch to fuel the Hotshots to victory.</p><p>&quot;I think there&#x27;s some things that we can improve on, but overall I liked our toughness down the stretch and how we stayed composed when the game got close in the fourth quarter,&quot; Rakocevic said of their performance.</p><p>Though it&#x27;s just one game, Victolero believes that Rakocevic is a great fit to Magnolia&#x27;s system, and was especially pleased with the import&#x27;s energy.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/09/29/22/pba-magnolia-coach-victolero-suffers-achilles-injury">READ: Magnolia coach Victolero suffers Achilles injury</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/09/28/22/rakocevic-fires-45-points-as-magnolia-beats-terrafirma">READ: Rakocevic fires 45 points as Magnolia beats Terrafirma</a></li></ul><p>&quot;Kita naman natin eh. He plays both ends of the floor, he contributes on our defensive scheme, and he contributes on our offense. Very aggressive. &#x27;Yung activity level niya, &#x27;yun ang gusto namin sa kanya eh,&quot; said the coach. </p><p>&quot;We love the energy. Sabi ko nga before, I have another Calvin Abueva on the floor, so let&#x27;s wait for Calvin to play, and then let&#x27;s see how he fits with Calvin, and the energy, the aggressiveness of both players na makatutulong sa amin,&quot; he added.</p><p>Victolero is confident that Rakocevic, at only 24 years old, can play for the Hotshots for several more years to come.</p><p>&quot;He will play here for 10 to 12 years as our import,&quot; the coach said. </p><p>&quot;Let&#x27;s do it, let&#x27;s do it,&quot; was Rakocevic&#x27;s enthusiastic response.</p><p>Rakocevic played collegiate basketball for the University of Southern California. He went undrafted in the 2020 NBA Rookie Draft, and played in China for the Zhejiang Golden Bulls for two seasons before signing with the Hotshots. </p><p>The Hotshots have struggled to find a resident import in the Commissioner&#x27;s Cup in recent years. In 2019, they had three different reinforcements -- John Fields, James Farr, and Rakeem Christmas -- none of whom were able to give Magnolia the lift they needed.</p><p>In the 2018 edition of the conference, they played four different imports: Vernon Macklin, Curtis Kelly, Justin Jackson, and Wayne Chism. </p><p>The last time that Magnolia featured just one import for the entire conference was all the way back in 2012, when they played with Denzel Bowles. </p><p>But Rakocevic is a promising prospect for the team, already showing good chemistry with his teammates and a willingness to do what it takes to win.</p><p>&quot;I&#x27;m here to do whatever coach needs me to do. If that&#x27;s to go out there and score, I&#x27;ll go out there and score. If that&#x27;s to go out there and play defense, whatever he feels like I need to do or the team needs me to do, that&#x27;s what I&#x27;m gonna do,&quot; Rakocevic said.</p><p>&quot;I&#x27;m not here to just make everything about me, this is a team sport. It takes every guy on the team, it takes all the coaches, it takes all the staff. So, it&#x27;s about the team. So whatever they need me to do, that&#x27;s what I&#x27;m gonna do,&quot; he added.</p><div><strong>PBA Season 47 games can be streamed live and on-demand on iWantTFC with a Premium subscription, available worldwide except PH and US. </strong></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2184714" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Magnolia coach Chito Victolero believes that in Nick Rakocevic, the Hotshots have finally found the player who can be their 'resident import.'

PBA: Magnolia sees Rakocevic as possible 'resident import'

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PBA: Magnolia sees Rakocevic as possible 'resident import'

Camille B. Naredo,

ABS-CBN News

Published Sep 29, 2022 06:23 PM PHT

Read More:

basketball

PBA

PBA Commissioner's Cup

Magnolia Hotshots

Nicholas Rakocevic

Chito Victolero

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