Sanatura Escazu 92 Perez Zeledon 89 (OT)

The league is a lot tougher in general this year, so every game is a grind, but PZ might be one of the more improved teams in the league. I had been dreading this game for a few weeks. First, Perez Zeledon had fortified their squad by adding Jake McKenzie and Carlos Melendez, two of my former players that I have gone to war with in the past. Second, they reloaded with two new American players; last year they were very successful in bringing in dynamic talent in Cesar Chavez, deAndre Brown and Antonio Jones. This year they have the lightning quick Thomas Douglas and the athletic Semaj Inge as their two foreigners. Third, road games to Perez Zeledon are always a tough grind, particularly on a weeknight when traffic stretches out the trip to at least three hours each way.

Sanatura Escazu 70 Grecia 64

Grecia's colorful gym

Costa Rican basketball (and football for that matter) uses the European model of relegation where the last place team in First Division drops to Second Division, and the Second Division champ graduates up to First Division.  The town of Grecia, located about 45 minutes from San Jose, won the Second Division tournament last year in dramatic fashion, beating the University of Costa Rica in the final game of the championship series. After moving up, they reinforced their team with some First Division players including former Barva stalwart Amir Alvarado, one of the best players in the league.

Sanatura Escazu 68 Barva 83

The signs were there. I just ignored them. Five minutes before game time, I was informed by the referee Edgar Ibarra  that three of my players were wearing impermissible socks. I glanced over and see ankle length socks instead of calf length socks. Of course, there were other players that had socks that were very similar that were apparently okay (including all but one Barva player), but we had to scramble to find socks for three of our players minutes before tipoff. This was the first time all season that this was brought to my attention, and this happens five minutes before game time (and not twenty minutes before when the refs took the court?). And I'm looking through the FIBA playing rules for 2012 and I don't see anything about socks.

Coach Ali Ton profile

Nice write-up on Coach Ali Ton at UC Irvine. I've known Ali for over ten years, so it's been interesting to watch his coaching career unfold. Now we just need to supply him with some Costa Rican players.

Coach Ali Ton article

LCR 69 Sanatura Escazu 95

Liceo de Costa Rica, one of the league's traditional powers, has decided to play this year's tournament with its Juegos Nacionales team, players that are all younger than 21 years old. Escazu tried the same road last year. So right from the outset they have a talent gap when facing other teams in this league. I've long thought that one of the most dangerous thing in sports is to face a team that has nothing to lose.

So Friday night, coming off a big road win in San Ramon, we were facing this young Liceo team. The game was much tighter that I would have liked. While we had no problems scoring points from all over the court, our defense was very sloppy, allowing too many open looks for my liking. The first quarter ended with a four point margin, while the halftime lead expanded to six points. We turned up the defensive intensity in the third quarter which finally allowed us to break out to a twenty point lead that gave us a choke-hold on the game.

The large lead let us experiment with different lineups and defenses; some of our defensive calls still need work, but at this stage of the season that is expected.

Game Notes

• Reiner Little led our scoring with twenty points, while Jeff Dixon was the leading rebounder with 8.
• David Gourzong continued his strong play from Tuesday. He had a strong preseason last year before getting hurt in the season opener, an injury that affected his playing time and got lost in the shuffle. David has as much physical talent as anyone on our roster; if he can stay healthy he should have a big year for us.
• One of the changes from last year is the Sub 21 minutes. We are now forced to play our Sub 21 guys ten minutes per game, but it's a season total rather than a per game requirement like we had last year. Also, we now have to play sub 21 players 4 minutes per game in the psotseason. Our team has a very good set of sub 21 players (Armando Duran, Ronny Johnson, Jose Garcia, Adrain Echeverria and Ian Waugh to name a few), a result of Escazu's strong youth leagues, so I'm not too concerned about our ability to comply with the rule. I really hate the rule because it's such an artificial intrusion into the game and has all sorts of site effects that the Federation doesn't understand.
• Speaking of the Federation, our commissioner has decided that the Limon game cancellation was due to an issue outside their control (the gym was not available), and not to their faulty organization. Thus the game is being rescheduled for a later date. Such is life in Costa Rica, where lack of organization is not only tolerated but rewarded. This is exactly why we have such a mediocre league. 

Al Dia Preview: Sanatura Escazu at San Ramon

Nice preview of tonight's game at San Ramon. An early test for both teams.

Juego con Sabor a Final

Sanatura Escazu 20 Limon 0

A new season is upon us.

Our first game of the new season was at Limon. Two days before the game we get a call that there's a concert in the gymnasium scheduled for Saturday afternoon and that we have two options: move the game up to Friday afternoon or push the game back an hour to 9pm. Given the short notice, we didn't feel our players would be able to get their permission from their respective jobs to leave Friday afternoon, so we agreed to a late 9pm start. We offered to flip the game, play at Escazu on Saturday and then visit Limon on the return leg, but that offer was not accepted.

So off we went Saturday afternoon, eager to get our first game under our belts. After stopping for a bite to eat outside of Guapiles, we pulled into Limon just past 8pm. The concert/talent show had been scheduled to end at 8PM, but was still going full steam when we got there. Then we walked into the gymnasium and saw a rather elaborate stage sitting right in the middle of the gym.

So we waited; our team was itching to play against a tough Limon team. At around 8:35, I heard the words that the final contestants would go on stage and then the judges would pick the winner. Okay, we might be all right, I thought...but as soon as the final contestants finished they announced a new act while the judges deliberated. The concert wrapped up at around 9:00 and people started filing out of the gym. The court was still cluttered with the stage, the estimate was that it would be at least an hour before they would get it moved if they started right away (apparently the Cerveceria guys in charge of the stage had left). At 9:15 the refs called the game in our favor.

This is the first game I've won by forfeit and it really sucks. Not just because we spent most of the day driving over to Limon, but rather cause we really wanted to play. After five weeks of beating each other up in practice our guys were eager to see how things looked against a live opponent.

So it was back on the bus, a quick beer pit stop, and back to San Jose, pulling in at 2 AM.

2012-2013 Schedule

Calendario Apertura


#1 at Limon Sabado 25 de noviembre
#2 at San Ramon martes 27 de noviembre

#3 vs Liceo Costa Rica sábado 1 de diciembre
#4 at Barva martes 4 de diciembre
#5 vs Grecia sábado 8 de diciembre
#6 at PZ martes 11 de diciembre
#7 vs Cartago viernes 21 de diciembre
#8 vs Limon sábado 5 de enero
#9 vs San Ramon martes 8 de enero
#10 at Liceo de Costa Rica viernes 11 de enero
#11 vs Barva martes 15 de enero
#12 at Grecia sábado 19 de enero
#13 vs PZ lunes 21 de enero
#14 at Cartago viernes 1 de febrero

Semi-finales 4 a 10 de febrero
Finales 11 a 17 de febrero

Clausura Inicia 21 de marzo

Al Dia Basketball Preview

The newspaper Al Dia changed its format to all sports. While most of the pages are dedicated to soccer, they are making a concerted effort to cover basketball. I've generally found their primary reporter for basketball, Rodolfo Martin, to be inquisitive but respectful, and he seems to make a concerted effort to understand the game.

Arranca el campeonato nacional de baloncesto

Left to Right: Jackie Acuña (Perez Zeledon), Andres Umaña (Grecia), Clifford Smith (Barva), Dave Millinier (Sanatura Escazu), Jerson Myer (Limon), Daniel Simmons (San Ramon)

Off Season Moves

The Basketball Federation in their infinite wisdom, decided to move up the start of the next season four months. I'll leave that for another blog entry...aside from saying it's incredibly stupid and my wife really, really hates it.

So in this condensed offseason, we are starting to see some player movements. This is kind of like college recruiting. Everyone promises everything. I've learned to take everything with a huge grain of salt. Until I see someone walk into a gym, I'm very skeptical of all the talk.

Interestingly enough, the media has started to cover player movements and speculation. Here are some of the offseason developments:

• Kay Martinez and Henry Martinez went from their respective teams to Barva. Henry will be a tough loss for our team. I'm just thankful that he handled it in a professional manner; we had good dialogues with him before he signed. Playing close to home and the opportunity to play with his brother were big factors. Kay bolting from San Ramon to Barva is a much bigger blow; we'll see how they scramble to fill that hole. 

Hermanos Martìnez llegan a FB Barva - YouTube

• Barva cleaned house this offseason, overhauling their roster and only keeping six players. Barva has hired Warren Espinoza, who's been successful overseas in Chile and had a short stint with Liceo de Costa Rica. They decided to cut the cord with franchise cornerstones Isaac St Rose and Amir Alvarado. To be honest, Isaac should have left for greener pastures two or three seasons ago; he has a good enough game that he should have bolted for Europe a long time ago. Besides signing the Martinez brothers, they have also brought in two American players as well as reportedly signing Cristian Chavarria.

ARBA mantiene al equipo campeón - DEPORTES - La Nación

• San Ramon loses Greg Platter and Kay Martinez, which are two key changes to their starting lineup. They've made offers across the league, including to some guys on our squad. We should have more news next week. I love how they frame that they're keeping 90% of their squad, yet they have to replace 40% of their starting lineup.

“Nos enfocamos en lo nuestro” | Solo piensan en el título | Diario Al Día

• The big news for us is that we're moving back to Escazu. That's what I wanted to do last year, but we couldn't reach a deal. Desamparados was a good home, but we had way too many issues with fan support and administrative issues. Now we're focused on finalizing the roster, trying to add the right pieces.

Sanatura se muda a Escazú - DEPORTES - La Nación

National Finals Game 5

Kay Martinez came up big in Game 5.

We lost Game 5 after being up 2-0 in the series. The shock has not worn off. Not that we lost--any of three teams could have easily won the title--but that we were so close to winning the title, only to have it slip through our fingers. Our inability to close out the series up 2-0 on our "home" gym facing a San Ramon team that had played every other day for alms two weeks sealed our fate. Of the three Finals I have lost this has been the toughest to digest.

National Finals Game 4: San Ramon 78 Sanatura 71

An overflowing crowd awaited the fourth game of the National Finals in the San Ramon gym last Friday night. Our leading scorer Michael Jackson watched helplessly from the sidelines while serving out his one-game suspension for striking Greg Platter at the end of Game 3. Henry Martinez started in his place and tallied 19 points, but it wasn't quite enough to pull out the win on the road.

National Finals Game 3: Sanatura 74 San Ramon 80

After a tough win last Friday night, our team was back at the Gimnasio Nacional Sunday night for the third game of the Finals. Up two games in the best of five series, the biggest threat to our title hopes was complacency; as we all know two is not the same as three.

National Finals Game 2: San Ramon 77 Sanatura 85

The San Ramon gym overflowed with delirious fans eager to support their team as the series moved to San Ramon. The place was packed an hour before tipoff as fans waved thunder sticks in anticipation of the game.

Similar to the first game, both teams started trading baskets early on, like two prize fighters feeling each other out. Dave Millinier was effective early on inside while Jefney Anderson got off to a fast start for San Ramon. We started to put together a few scoring runs, only to be answered by mini runs from San Ramon. As the minutes wore on in the second quarter we carved out a six point lead, only to see Kay Martinez hit an off balance jump shot as the halftime buzzer sounded.

Finals Game 1: Sanatura 82 San Ramon 75

ARBA San Ramon beat six-time defending champ in a double overtime thriller at San Ramon on Sunday in the third and deciding game of Clausura. Forty-eight hours later they had to lace up their sneakers for the first game of the National Finals against our team. Talk about an emotional roller-coaster on a short turnaround.

Meanwhile, our team has been trying to recover mentally and physically from the disappointment of losing to Barva in the semi-finals in the deciding game. We put in some good practice sessions last week, sweating out those demons, trying to get ready for this series.

National Finals Preview

ARBA SAN RAMON celebrating the Clausura title.

As I've written before, the Costa Rican season is structured into two mini seasons. You have a winner for Apertura and Clausura portions of the season. Unless that happens to be the same team (as Barva did five of six times by my count), those winners meet in a National Final in a best of five series. We won the Apertura portion of the tourney, while San Ramon won the Clausura portion.

Game 1 Tuesday, August 14th Gimnasio Nacional
Game 2 Friday, August 17th San Ramon
Game 3 Sunday, August 19th Gimnasio Nacional
Game 4 Friday, August 24th San Ramon
Game 5 Sunday, August 26 TBD

Our team is finally at full strength. Actually, that's not 100% correct. Sebastian Lacayo is serving a two game suspension for arguing in Game 3 of the semifinals against Barva; I wonder how long the suspension would have been if he had actually done something. Aside from that suspension, we are mostly healthy for the first time in the Clausura tournament. Henry Martinez just got his mask to protect his facial injury.

San Ramon has a very skilled team; they have three players who have played D1 ball in the US, more than any other team in Costa Rica. They have the most rugged front court with Daniel Simmons, Jefney Anderson and high-flying Jerson Harris. When Darell St. Rose went down in the playoffs of Apertura, they brought in Greg Platter (Guard, Long Beach State) who's become one of the league's best players. Rounding out the lineup on the wings they have Kay Martinez and Amaurys Ripool, two long multifaceted players who can score in a variety of ways. They also have two of the league's best young players in Luis and Isaac Conejo, sons of famous Costa Rican goalkeeper Luis Gabelo Conejo. And to round things out, they have several players on the bench who can come in and play key minutes and hit big shots..

San Ramon has become the toughest place to play in the league. Their crowd is loud and boisterous, making noise the entire game. They've done such a great job of fostering community support (much kudos to Franklin). If the teams in this league did half as good a job, this would be a much better league overall.

Should be a fun series.

Clausura Semi-Finals: Sanatura vs Barva

Game 1: Franklyn Ferguson goes up against our interior defense.

Work has gotten in the way of blogging the last few weeks. We faced off against Barva in the semi-finals of Clausura. The first two games were tight affairs. Barva won the first game in San Joaquin de Flores. We won the second game in Escazu. Barva won the series in the third deciding game by an ample margin to move on to the Clausura Finals where they will face ARBA San Ramon.

We are left licking our wounds, waiting for the winner in the National Finals. San Ramon and Barva are squaring off today to determine the winner.

Here are some pictures from that semi final series.

Sanatura 58 Barva 69

Every game against the defending champ Barva had gone down to the wire, except for this one. With three losses in the Torneo de Clausura, Barva found itself in an unfamiliar place in third place in the standings heading towards the playoffs. This is the lowest they have been seeded in nine years. Going into Tuesday night's game, you could sense the urgency from Barva to get back to their winning ways.

Road Trip X2: at Limon

Gimnasio Eddy Bermudez, Limon

Last Sunday, our team got back on the bus to play at Limon for a Sunday afternoon game. By virtue of its location on the Caribbean coast, Limon is easily the hottest venue where we play regularly. Normally, the games are scheduled at night, but with this special Sunday schedule, the game was at 4 pm, which meant an even hotter gym than usual (reminded me of Nicaragua type heat). We pulled out of Desamparados shortly before noon for the second leg of our road trip from hell.

Road Trip X2: at PZ (Part 1)

Riots in Limon over the JAPDEVA strike last month led to our game getting re-scheduled. Little did we know at the time that it would get rescheduled for this past weekend, on the Sunday immediately after our trip to Perez Zeledon. That meant over a weekend we would log 250 kilometers round trip to Perez Zeledon (six hours on a bus) on Friday night and then 320 kilometers to Limon on Sunday (another six hours on the bus). Two tough road trips, two wins.

Sanatura 85 San Ramon 107

Greg Platter slicing through the defense

After a week of family vacation, I came back to a very important game: at home against San Ramon with first place on the line. In what is clearly becoming a three team race this season, this game had a lot of implications for the upcoming Clausura playoffs: home court, bracket position and momentum. One team showed up primed for this important matchup. Unfortunately, that was not our team.

Barva 66 Sanatura 68

Another Barva game, another tight game. What else can be expected? We've had a few overtime games, a double overtime game and various one possession games. So that this game went down to the wire should not be a surprise for those paying attention at home. This was a critical game for both teams, not only because of the seeding implications, but as a the latest bout between two heavyweights.

Validation

Let's get one thing straight. I've been a Heat fan since the franchise began back in 1988. Prior to that I was a fan of Magic's Lakers, but as soon as Miami got a team, I transitioned allegiances. I'm pretty sure I can name ten out of the Heat's opening day roster from that inaugural season, from Rory Sparrow to Sylvester Gray. So, believe me that I have followed this team closely since its inception, and not a fair-weather fan.

It's starting to sink in that the Miami Heat are the NBA champions this year. Last year when this team came together, my gut told me that it would take two seasons for this roster to get on the same page. The history of the NBA is that teams need to struggle before they breakthrough. Yu saw that with the dynasties of the 80s and 90s as each team took its lumps before winning a title. The Big 3 Celtics have been the only exception to the rule in recent memory. Heat fans were spoiled because they got so close last year. Had they not gotten cocky in the second half of Game Four last year against Dallas, there is little doubt in my mind they would have won the title. Instead Wade started showboating a little too early, got Dallas riled up and Miami couldn't find a way to close out that game...which led to the whole series unraveling.

Escazu 63 Sanatura 94

It was an oddly scheduled game game. Thursday night instead of a Friday or Saturday night. NBA Finals on TV and we have two starters playing with the national team in Puerto Rico. We've had so many postponed games lately, that we decided we wanted to get back on the court and avoid a backlog in the schedule later on. Escazu has a young team with a couple of veterans thrown in; our last game had been a lot closer than what the records or the score would suggest.

Costa Rica National Team

Last year I was invited to be part of the coaching staff of Costa Rica's National Team, which was a great experience. Besides winning the tournament in El Salvador, I really enjoyed getting to know some of the players off the court. It's an interesting challenge to take players who have competed all year and turn them into one effective team.

Title Hangover

Edited 7:24 pm


I got word just an hour ago that Lemark Clark passed away today. I never coached Lemark, but we talked on occasion as I tried to recruit him a couple of times: Lemark was a very talented young player who had a world of potential. About eighteen months ago, it was discovered that he had a serious heart condition and that his basketball playing days were over; if I recall correctly he got a heart transplant last year and it looked like he was getting better. I don't know the details but he passed away today on the operating table.


 We lost someone today and the whole hoops family hurts. We compete on the court and yeah sometimes we fight and bitch at each other, but at the end of the day I like to think that we are one brotherhood of hoops, all involved in a sport we love. RIP Lemark. 

One of the quirks of our season in Costa Rica is how the season is split into Apertura and Clausura. Win one of the two "halves" and you have an automatic ticket to the National Finals. That can be a very dangerous situation because their is a normal human tendency to relax after winning Apertura. One of the remarkable things about Barva in their championship run is how they have taken care of business in Clausura, even when they win Apertura.

My Favorite Tar Heel Players

I'm a fan of the unsung Carolina players, the guys that make their teammates better, that rotate over on help defense. Now, not all my favorites are the unsung type, but you'll definitely see a pattern.

1. Derrick Phelps:

Not a great scorer or passer, but he was a deluxe on-ball defender and was skilled in running a team and keeping everyone involved. I can't say exactly why I loved Derrick...maybe it was because he always put the team ahead of himself. Dean Smith loved the word savvy to describe players, and Phelps is the first guy that comes to mind when I hear that word.

National Finals Game 2: Barva 72 Sanatura 76

Defending champ Barva had not lost any games at home this season. We let a lead a game slip away in double overtime earlier in the season that really stung. In fact, if my memory is correct they have only lost once at home (to Escazu) in the last two seasons (or is it three seasons?). To go into Palacio de Deportes and get a win is no simple feat, let alone in the second game of a playoff series in front of a packed gym.

National Finals Game 1: Sanatura 81 Barva 80

In the two games we've played against defending champ Barva in the regular season, we've gone to overtime both times. In this first game of the Finals, we didn't need overtime to get a winner, but it was high drama til the final whistle. Either team could have won this game.

Semi-Finals Game 3: Sanatura 76 San Ramon 63

We've only lost twice this season, both in hard fought games going to overtime. Losing on Friday night wasn't a surprise; San Ramon has an excellent team playing in front of their very supportive crowd. The loss left a sour taste because we reverted to some poor habits from earlier in the season; a successful season is about growth, about a team improving as the season goes along so you can play your best basketball at the right time. Sometimes you need a loss to nudge that process along. We got that nudge on Friday night.

Semi-Finals Game 2: Sanatura 80 San Ramon 81

Out-played, out-coached and out-administrated. Pretty much all there is to say. San Ramon wanted the win more than we did. They played with fire and passion. Always a tough place to play, the San Ramon organization did a great job in creating a real playoff atmosphere. Game 3 will be Sunday at 4PM in San Ramon.

Very frustrating loss.

Edited to add:
San Ramon almost got jobbed by a very inept officiating crew last night. I try to not get into the officiating on this blog, not because we have such great officiating in this league, but because I know refs would take it personally and take it out on my team. The crew made a mistake and then didn't acknowledge it, which would have given San Ramon the win in regulation.

Semi-Finals Game #1: San Ramon 62 Sanatura 87

For those of you who don't live around here, it rains a lot in Costa Rica. We have two seasons: dry season (roughly from November til March) and then we have the rainy season (April-October). The first half of the rainy season is not too bad with a pretty regular afternoon showers that last few hours, while the second half of the rainy season brings sustained downpours that can last for days.

On to the Playoffs

We played the last game of the regular schedule of the Torneo de Apertura on Friday night against Escazu, 10-73. We had a few objectives going into the game which we fulfilled for the most part. The young Escazu team is much improved, even without several of their veteran guys on Friday. They will be one of the favorites in the National Games at the end of the year; this experience in First Division will be very valuable to several of those players.

Jackie Acuna

Interview with the league's leading scorer, Jackie Acuna, with the local channel in Perez Zeledon. Pretty good look at his career, gives you a good feel about what it means to play in this league.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=NZ5CY78vvfA

Barva 81 Sanatura 82 F-OT

Another Barva game. Another overtime thriller. Only this time we found a way to come out on top at the end of the game.

Switching up their starting lineup, Barva went with defensive ace Charles Plummer to set the tone for the first quarter. Playing aggressive defense, Barva broke out to a big lead to start the game. Our team looked tight, missing baskets inside and making poor passes that fed the Barva fast break. Six minutes in, and we still couldn't buy a basket; the scoreboard read 16-0, highlighting our offensive struggles. We limped to the end of the first quarter down 23-8.

Barva vs Sanatura, Round 2

Some details on tonight's rematch against Ferreteria Brenes Barva:

Place: Gimnasio Nacional
Time: 8PM
Tickets:  2,000 colones for general seating and 4,000 colones for preferred seating
TV: Ch33, Xpert TV. Game will not be shown live, it will be broadcast this Saturday at 8:30 pm on tape delay.

We lost a double overtime thriller in the first encounter. This game is the rematch heading into the playoffs. I would love to say that the number one seed is on the line, but I'm pretty sure the Federation will turn down our appeal of the San Ramon loss (curiously, no official word on that yet), which means we're playing for the second seed.  Barva is coming off a thrashing of Escazu, 115-53 (I believe the score was tied 21 all at the end of the first quarter). We beat Cartago by 22 on the road, giving us a chance to rotate our bench. This game should be a good showcase for both teams and the national basketball scene.

Some media coverage:

Con sangre en el ojo | Desamparados - Ferretería Brenes: gran juego hoy en basket | Diario Al DíaSANATURA-Desamparados recibe al hexacampeón en el Gimnasio Nacional
Ferreteros vapulean y se alistan para Sanatura : Ferreteria Brenes Barva

Sanatura 96 PZ 85

Games at Perez Zeledon require a three hour road trip over Cerro de la Muerte at three thousand meters of altitude. PZ schedules their weekend games on Fridays which forces players to scramble to get out of work early. Since most players in our league are not full time basketball players, it's not uncommon for players to miss the game if they can't get out of work. One time I ended up with only eight guys making the trip; we won by a comfortable margin but every foul call pushed us closer to the edge. So every time you go to PZ, the first challenge is purely logistical.

San Ramon 72 Sanatura 74

Okay so our number one fan fell asleep in the stands, but a hell of a game was played last night between San Ramon and Sanatura. In what will likely be a preview of the playoffs, we faced off against a tough San Ramon team last night, pulling out a tight win 74-72.

This was a different team than what we faced in San Ramon a month ago. They have since added Daniel Simmons and Kay Martinez, two of the best basketball players in Costa Rica. San Ramon now has a solid playing rotation that can easily go nine deep and can mix and match all different sorts of lineups. They also posses the best front court duo in the country with Simmons and the imposing Jefney Anderson; you have to account for them at all times which creates plenty of space for their wings.
 We knew this would be our toughest test since the Barva game.

The Return of Henry

Late last week we were able to broker a deal to sign local legend, Henry Martinez to the Sanatura team. Henry played for Sanatura for part of the season last year, making it a homecoming of sorts. Henry has had a storied career in Costa Rican hoops, winning several titles with several teams, playing for the national team and playing in foreign leagues.

I for one am glad because I had a personal record of approximately 1-11 against Henry. For the longest time, my teams just couldn't beat Henry. He was like an escape artist: he would find different ways to torment my teams. I'm glad we have him on our side for a change.

Tonight we have a tough game against San Ramon, our likely foe in the playoffs. Should be a great game.


The Return of Henry

Sanatura 102 Liceo Costa Rica 63

We're now entering the second half of the Torneo de Apertura; teams we faced at home in the first swing will now be road games, while previous road opponents will now visit the friendly confines of our gym (pictured above). So it was our turn to visit Liceo de Costa Rica last night as we kicked off the second swing through the league.

Sanatura 102 Escazu 62

Saturday night we went up against my old team Escazu. It was an effortless win against an overmatched squad. Escazu is making a go of it this year with a very young squad and a couple of veterans, but they just don't have the firepower to butt heads with the stronger teams. We won by 40 points, and to be honest we didn't play that well, particularly in the first half. Our bench had a strong showing in the second half which let us play everyone  some minutes.

Sanatura 87 Barva 96 (F-2OT)

We played the game everyone was expecting; the six time defending champion Barva versus the upstart challenger Sanatura. I'm sure Barva circled this game as soon as the schedule came out and details of our team became apparent; we were certainly looking forward to this game. On paper, it looks like an even matchup. Both teams are deep on the perimeter and the post. Games aren't played on paper, however, and Barva has a big advantage; they have played together for years while we put this team together in a few months. So the stage was set for an epic showdown on Tuesday night, the first of what should be several encounters.

Cartago 67 Sanatura 85

Friday night I saw a miracle. That night, we played a veteran laden team of Cartago. Their leading scorer is Alejandro Grijalba. In the past five years or so, Grijalba has been through two serious motorcycle accidents. The first time he was in intensive care for two weeks. His last accident was this past December The last one this past December where as he was leaving a gas station a speeding car plowed into him leading to some pretty serious injuries (Accident article). I don't think anyone expected him to be playing basketball again, let alone this season. And yet there he was on Friday, not only playing but carving up our defense for nifty moves and step back jumpers, scoring 29 points. Now I don't know Grijalba well...but I have to say I have the utmost respect for his passion and dedication.

Duke loses in the first round

I did not see this coming in the first round. I thought Duke overachieved all year long, ending up with a second seed in the tournament. I wasn't too impressed by the team before the season, but Coach K was able to squeeze out every possible win from this team. I thought the basketball gods were going to give us a Kentucky mauling of Duke, a karmic payback for the 20 year anniversary of the Laetner game.

 DBR has a good write up about last night's game.

Lehigh Takes Down Duke in Greensboro

Sanatura 84 Limon 66

Arguably the toughest place to play in this league is at Limon. First you start with a three hour ride down to the Caribbean coast. Then you factor in the heat and the humidity in a gym a stone's throw away from the ocean; add in a loud crowd that knows it's basketball and is really into the game. Finally, you top that off with what is usually a good team and that all factors into a tough roast test for any team.

PZ 92 Sanatura 115

Perez Zeledon has been the talk of the league early on with their new acquisitions, Dominican point guard Cesar Chaves and American forward Durell Sykes. The Dominican guy is good at getting to the basket and kicking out to shooters (more often than not sharpshooter, Jackie Acuña). The American forward is a handful on the baseline; he has some good hops and size which makes him a factor on the offensive glass. So going into the game we were focused on this quality opponent.

Al Dia Article

Looks like the media is starting to take notice. Nice write up about today's game.

Articulo Al Dia: "Desampa" expone el invicto

Sanatura 68 San Ramon 60

Road games are never easy in this league, and last night's game against San Ramon did not dissapoint. San Ramon is roughly an hour away from San Jose by bus, a little longer during rush hour. We left the national stadium a little before 6 PM to make the 8PM game in San Ramon.

Liceo Costa Rica 72 Sanatura 102


Fifteen minutes before the game, we get news that I am not able to coach the game because my coaching license is not approved; what made matters worse was that our Head Coach, Neil, also wasn't able to coach because of problems with his license. Without going into too much detail (because we never know who might be reading the blog), it's remarkable that I could coach tomorrow in a variety of leagues around the world, but I can't serve as an assistant in this league. I don't have a habit of getting angry, but I was furious at the Federation, obviously not the mindset you want going into a game. So after cooling down for about twenty minutes outside the gym (my poor son had to endure my hissy fit), I went back inside to watch the game. My reasoning was that we had put too much time and effort not to see our team play.

Opening Night pictures

Sanatura Desamparados: The Team

One of the challenges of coming to a new team is bringing together new faces in a short time frame. An underlying assumptions this year was that to have a chance at beating big, bad Barva you had to really stockpile talent and give some serious thought to how all the pieces fit. So it wasn't just a matter of going out and assembling players, it was how to craft an effective team.

Here's a look at our roster (name, position, former team):

WELCOME

Welcome to the blog. I wanted to document a season with a basketball team in Costa Rica's First Division. I've been coaching for a while in Costa Rica and I wanted to keep track for posterity's sake about this season.

After working on and off for the Escazu basketball team for the past five years, I took the big decision in January to seek out new horizons with a new team, Sanatura Desamparados. New challenges, new faces, new players and new problems. With this change came new partners in this basketball journey: Fernando Esquivel, Team President, and Neil Gottlieb, the Head Coach. My official role is Assistant Coach; Neil at one point brought up the idea o co-coaches, but I think it's important to have one guy in charge on the court, and in this case that will be Neil.

So what can you expect from this blog? A little bit of everything about a season of basketball in a developing country. This is not the NBA...or the NCAA...or junior college ball. Anything can and will happen in this league. My intent is to give the readers a taste of the ups and downs of a season in the tropics.

Why is this blog in English? I write faster and better in English. That doesn't mean we can change it up from time to time and write in Spanish, but this will largely be written in English.

Disclaimer: all views expressed in this blog are strictly my own and no one else's. If you don't like them, feel free to drop me a line or take it up with management.