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
Sunday, December 2, 2012
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
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.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Sunday, November 25, 2012
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.
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
#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
#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
Friday, November 23, 2012
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.
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| Left to Right: Jackie Acuña (Perez Zeledon), Andres Umaña (Grecia), Clifford Smith (Barva), Dave Millinier (Sanatura Escazu), Jerson Myer (Limon), Daniel Simmons (San Ramon) |
Thursday, September 20, 2012
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:
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.
- 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.
- 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.
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