San Ramon 85 Escazu 93

In a five team league, the schedule can sometimes get funky. After losing to Barva last week, we had a full week between games allowing us to work on a few things before our game against defending champ Coopenae San Ramon. San Ramon has also been dealing with roster issues of its own as injuries and suspensions have limited their team from being in sync. So here was a key showdown with two teams trying to shape their identities going into this game.

Coopenae San Ramon had one big addition recently in filling their second foreigner spot. They brought in Nino Williams who played his college ball at Kansas State. Isaac Conejo has been dealing with a hand injury while Jefney Anderson was serving out a suspension picked up in the Torneo de Copa Finals.

The first half was a high scoring affair. We traded baskets for the whole twenty minutes. Neither team could break away, as each went on mini-scoring runs. Michael was big on the boards, but too many times he dribbled right into a San Ramon trap leading to a turnover. The score went into the half with San Ramon leading 45-43.




On of our points of emphasis in the locker room at halftime was to do a better job of controlling the ball; we had 13 turnovers in the first half! We did a better job of cleaning up our turnovers in the third quarter, and behind Michael Jackson's timely steals, were able to build a ten point lead.

In the beginning of the fourth quarter, we played zone for a few possessions. Jorge Arguello countered with a full court press, taking advantage that our point guard was on the bench. The zone did its job in the first three possessions, so well that I decided to ride it out a bit longer. Note to self: stick to the plan. San Ramon eventually moved the ball enough to find the gaps in the zone and get some baskets. Turnovers against the pass helped them get easy baskets, and in the blink of an eye our eleven point lead was gone. Now with a head full of steam, the San Ramon guys were flying all over the place, getting fast break baskets. Giorgio Milligan hit a big three to put them up by six with seven minutes to go.

With the game in the balance, Nick Leon took over down the stretch with some big baskets. Michael Jackson came in from his brief rest to clamp down the defensive end on the perimeter while Juan Carlos Rosich patrolled the inside. We were able to get some key stops in the last minutes, and with San Ramon running half court traps, Mike was able to find Juan Carlos for a pair of game-sealing dunks.

Notes

• Nick Leon had 35 points while Michael Jackson had 31. First time in my career that I've had two guys over 30 in the same game. Michael also had 12 rebounds, while Juan Carlos Rosich had 11 boards in little over twenty minutes. 
• San Ramon had a balanced scoring effort with five guys in double figures. Giorgio Milligan led their scoring with 22, while newcomer Nino Williams had nine rebounds. 

Barva 89 Escazu 75

Bartel Lopez challenging the shot.

The second game of the season was our home opener against Ferreteria Brenes Barva. Barva ended up winning the Torneo de Copa in a controversial final series.  Barva added Nicaraguan big man Bartel Lopez just before the season as their second foreigner. He is a shade below seven feet, with an incredibly long wingspan. I had first seen Bartel play in a junior tournament a few years ago when he was very raw; even then he was disruptive on defense, but limited on the offensive end. Over the years his game has gotten better, and he's now a factor on both ends of the court. He's a player that should be over in Europe, working on his game and making good money.

Unfortunately for us, he is here in Costa Rica, playing on the other team. He blocked a shot on our first possession and was in our guy's heads all night. Bartel showed a nice array of moves on the block, giving our big men trouble with his size. Our point guard Nick Leon made some big baskets in the first quarter, keeping the score close 22-19.





Barva stretched out the lead in the second quarter with back-to-back three pointers from Gabriel Moya and Kay Martinez. We had the defence extended on both shooters, but they made big shots over outstretched hands. Kay was aggressive with the ball all night. We had a brief offensive lull as Michael was struggling to get on track and our outside shots weren't falling, which Barva used to build a ten point lead. A three pointer from Michael at the buzzer cut it down to seven.

A renewed effort on covering Lopez inside was our focus in the third quarter, but Barva's guards started getting loose on defensive breakdowns. Our team is still coming together, but we still had more blown defensive assignments than one would like. Barva's coach, Willie Colon, uses a lot of off ball screens in his sets, which requires good communication and intensity. When you fail at these, you have problems. It was no surprise that Barva scored 30 points in the quarter, feasting on those mistakes. And while our offence came alive, the lead grew to 13 points.

A sluggish fourth quarter ensued as Barva protected its lead and we missed free throws...lots of free throws (about16 for the night). It would be convenient to say the missed free throws were the deciding factor, but the truth of the matter was that our execution needs to be better on both ends.

Kay Martinez led a balanced scoring attack with 22 points. Bartel Lopez had 17 points and 11 rebounds to go with four blocks. The leading scorers for Escazu were Michael Jackson and Nick Leon with 23 points apiece.

Notes

• Liceo de Costa Rica dropped out of the tournament yet again.  It was probably a pipe dream for them to participate in the first place. They had given little signs of life that they would participate; usually you would hear what players are playing with what team. Nothing was heard from Lice, which meant a young team was coming for the slaughter. That now reduces us to five teams in first division.
• We have a new president in the FECOBA (Costa Rican Basketball Federation) in Luis Blanco. I was an assistant with Luis on the national team. I will try to address that in a future post.

Escazu 84 Grecia 80

The Costa Rican basketball season is split into three parts: a worthless Torneo de Copa, and then the regular season split into Apertura and Clausura. These are two halves of the same season: a national final brings together the winner of each half. This is the same way the local soccer tournament is set up, so naturally this is the way the basketball federation has done it for years.

There are different paths to winning a title. Win Apertura, come up short in Clausura and win the National Final. Or improve enough in Clausura to win, go into the national final with momentum and take the title. Or better yet, dominate from wire to wire, taking both Apertura and Clausura, eliminating the need for a National Final. San Ramon won the title last year that way, leaving no doubt. 

This was the first game of Apertura. A new beginning for the season, at least the parts that count. We made some roster changes following the end of the Torneo de Copa. Nick Leon, who played his college ball at St. Peter's, assumed point guard duties, while Dave Milliner came to shore up the post rotation. The group was excited to get on the court after a couple of weeks of practice. 

Our first game was a trip to Grecian, where we lost a foul-marred game in the Copa tournament at the buzzer. Grecia got out to an early big lead. We came back behind some timely shooting from Clifford Smith. Grecia was able to go on another big run in the second quarter with Michael Jackson on the bench. A 2 point deficit became a 14 point breach at the half as Grecian got hot from the three point line to close the first half. 

The third quarter saw an improved defensive effort. A double technical foul got Michael engaged; he reeled off 8 points to help close the gap and flip the lead. Clifford continued his hot shooting with timely basket, while Diego Loria contributed with a pair three pointers and some intense defense. 

Grecia added an American guard, Korey Fisher who had a hot shooting night with 34 points. Amir Alvarado chipped in 26 of an array of shots all over the court.

Michael Jackson led our scoring with 26 points while Nick Leon scored 22 in his debut. Our next game is Tuesday agains Ferreteria Brenes Barva.  

Escazu 77 Barva 88

Our first road game was a visit to Ferreteria Barva, one of the league's traditional powerhouses. The team underwent some important changes, bringing in a slew of old and new faces. An experienced  coach from Puerto Rico, Wilo Colon, has come in with a new approach to turn things around. One of the other significant changes is that Barva will not be playing their games in the roomy Palacio de Deportes.  The team wants to play at the old Liceo de Barva gym, but an impasse with the school administration has them playing in San Joaquin Flores, the only court I know with gutters running down the sideline.

I was away from the team for a week on business. In that time we dropped a six point loss to defending champion San Ramon. With teams dropping out at the last second, we now have these weird gaps in our schedule with ten days between games. The practice before the Barva game, we had a practice injury to our big man Juan Carlos Rosich that required several stitches and will keep him on the shelf for the foreseeable future.

Barva got off to a hot start moving the ball around and getting good looks for their big man David Shedden. The game was back and forth through the first six minutes, but they started to build our lead  as we went to the bench. An offensive lull on our part allowed them to build a slight lead going into the second quarter. In the second quarter we had better ball movement, leading to a 30 point quarter effort and gaining the lead on Hernie Forrester's three pointer at the buzzer.

The shots stopped dropping in the third quarter, while Barva preyed on turnovers and misses to get on a big run. Coach Colon decide to change things up with a small ball lineup that helped him take a 15 point lead going into the final quarter. We had a few runs in the final quarter to get the lead back down to eight points, but Barva got timely baskets from Malcolm Leitford and Gabriel Moya to sustain their advantage and ensure the win.

Antonio Jones had 21 points and Clifford Smith had 20 for Escazu, while David Shedden led a balanced Barva scoring production with 22. Next up is an away game to Grecia.

Grecia 67 Escazu 91

The season starts off with a brief warm-up tournament known as the Torneo de Copa. This year only four teams decided to participate in the TdC: Barva, Grecia, San Ramon and Escazu. 

Our first game was against Grecia, which knocked us out of the tournament last year with a vicious blowout. A different season means a different team for both sides. The current Grecia squad features Amir Alvarado, one of the league's most versatile players, and Mario Bogantes, as well as a slew of young players. 

This was the first look at our revamped squad. We took part of last year's core and added in a few players. Coming back to the fold was Jeff Dixon and David Gourzong, two players that have been on various of my recent teams. We also brought in Jaffry Spencer, who's been a mainstay with the champion Barva teams. Spencer was one of those guys on the other team that was always a handful as a threat all over the court. I got to know him during my Barva stint, and am glad to have him on my side for a change. 

For one of our foreigner spots, we brought in Antonio Jones, a lefty point guard who's played with Perez Zeledon and Barva. In one of those crazy coincidences that happens in life, Antonio  is not only from Miami, but Coconut Grove, a place where my family lived for a couple of years in the 80s. Not only that, he played high school hoops for Gulliver, where I attended third grade (Go Raiders) and has always been a special place. So for the first time I have a Miami guy on the roster. How cool is that? Antonio is an explosive scorer who can hit the outside shot as well as get into the lane. 

Antonio replaces Brandon Rozzell who is tearing it up in Denmark. Our other big loss was budding star Victor Arias heading up to Dawson Community College in Montana; it's a great opportunity for Victor. Both guys are going to freeze this winter. 

The game against Grecia went pretty much as expected. This is a skeleton Grecia team taking a look at youngsters. Meanwhile, we were looking at our team under live fire for the first time. We played about five minutes of good basketball, 30 minutes of so-so basketball and five minutes of crap. Guys are still figuring out our systems, which leads to guys in the wrong position and thinking instead of just reacting. Antonio Jones was the leading scorer with 30 points with several other guys getting in double digits. Juan Carlos Rosich led the defensive effort with timely blocks and rebounds. Overall, it was the outcome to expect for a first game. 

Building a Team

Every season ends in some degree of disappointment for all but one team. That's just part of sports. I took over the Escazu team halfway through the season and we were able to go from fifth place to second place, in large part because I was able to bring in some good players. A few key injuries derailed us in the playoffs, ending the season on a sour note.

As the season ends, the process turns to the next season and its new challenges.

My off-season process goes through the following steps:

1. Evaluating your team: what worked, what didn't work, what players developed, what players are not a good fit for your program. I have found that it's best to let a few days pass so that you're not making knee-jerk decisions.
2. Sponsors & financial: the greatest challenge in Costa Rican sports is raising money for alternative sports. Football is king here, so raising sponsorships for other sports is a challenge. Year in, year out this is the greatest challenge for any franchise.
3. Recruiting your roster: one crucial step is figuring out who you keep from your current roster, and who wants to stay. Sometimes, things don't work out with players, either because of playing time, chemistry or things popping up in their personal life. One key aspect is other teams poaching your players, particularly teams with deeper pockets.
4. Free agents: Just like teams pick players off your roster, it's fair game to recruit players from other teams. I love it when teams call me to complain about going after their guys. Motherfucker, you took one of my guys last year, and now you're complaining that I'm going after your guy?
5. Season projection: besides the financial challenges, the creates challenge in Costa Rican basketball is the ever-changing landscape on the administrative side. What will the league look like? What crazy new rules will be implemented? Who is in charge of what team? What does the calendar look like? What do the rules look like?
6. Practice planning: once you know what the season will look like, I like to sit down and plan my practices for the pre-season and regular season. As time has passed, I've decided on a detailed pre-season plan, and then a more general monthly plan for the reminder of the season, so that I can adjust to the tempo of the season.

This has actually been one of the more successful off-seasons. We landed a landmark sponsorship deal with Coopeservidores, a local credit union. We put together a good roster combining young guys with experienced vets. With a month of practice under their belts, the players are looking forward to starting the games. 

Costa Rica Basketball 101

Updated 10/1/15
A few pointers about the structure of Costa Rican basketball:

• The best way to explain the league's structure is to think about European soccer. It's a very similar structure and philosophy.
• A few years ago, the league had eight teams, but that number has dwindled down to six. I compare it roughly to DII ball in the NCAA, though I think the better teams can compete with a low level DI school. The six teams projected to be in the league this year are:
• Ferreteria Brenes Barva, seven-time champs, Barva Web Page
• Escazu 
• Liceo de Costa Rica
• Copenae USJ San Ramon, defending champion
• Grecia
• Limon Sharks
• Typically, the bottom team each year drops down to Second Division and the top Second Division team comes up to First Division. The Second Division season has dragged on this year, but it looks like the winner may take the challenge of coming up to First Division.