Coaching in the Tropics: 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.

Michael Jackson against San Ramon's imposing frontline.

The San Ramon contingent made itself heard in the Gimnasio Nacional, bringing in a good crowd to support its team. San Ramon broke out to a lead early in the first half as the teams felt each other out. Eventually we turned the tide, getting contributions from a variety of players, and turned the tide to go up by 5 points. Henry Martinez, playing with his Rip Hamilton mask, came off the bench to provide an offensive spark, letting us stretch out the lead to nine points in the second quarter. San Ramon went to their bench to get big baskets from Isaac Conejo and Cristian Santamaria.

The mask of Zorro.

Chava & Conejo: the passing of the torch at point guard.

San Ramon had a surge of energy and points in the third quarter, narrowing the lead to five off baskets inside from Jefney Anderson and Amaurys Ripool. David Carnegie, who had a quiet first half, came alive in the quarter on both ends, making some crucial baskets and rebounds that put a stop to the San Ramon run. At one point we grew the lead to fifteen points, before San Ramon made a charge in the fourth quarter to cut it to single digits late in the game.

Game Notes

Henry Martinez led the scoring with 26 points. Greg Platter and Jefney Anderson had 14 points a piece for San Ramon.
The game was not televised, and that's a fiasco for basketball in Costa Rica. We are taking big steps backwards in media coverage for the sport. San Ramon and Barva played an exciting nail biter of a game on Sunday afternoon...except no one saw it on TV. The basketball federation has grossly mismanaged the media rights and obligations: to not have your most important games on TV is a catastrophe.
The Barva dynasty has come to an end. They had quite an impressive run over the last six years, defeating all contenders beyond the shadow of a doubt. Over that time they have been the model for how a sports team should be run and a blueprint for success. While there have been players critical to their success, Isaac St. Rose has been the central figure in that run: I don't think people understand how good he is and how hard he's worked on improving his game during that run. I don't know if he will be back next season (he's dropped hints to the contrary), but his accomplishments over the last eight seasons are staggering.