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.

Back in the saddle

And we're back.

Back in Escazu that is. Let's do a quick recap. After the 2013 in with Escazu was eliminated in the Finals, I decided to take a break from coaching. Two emotional seasons that were virtually back-to back, as well as some national team duties left me a little burned out. So I was set to take a season off from basketball…except that some turn of events eventually led me back.

2013-14 season

San Ramon took the Apertura tournament. They brought in a hot-shooting guard from VCU, Brandon Rozzell, which gave them perimeter firepower to go along with their traditional strength inside. After winning the last title, Ferreteria Brenes Barva had a tumultuous tournament, losing Kay Martinez after an incident with the refs in a controversial loss to San Ramon. They were eventually bested in the Apertura Finals despite the best efforts of Antonio Jones to carry the team in the series.

The Ferreteria Brenes administration decided on a series of mid-season changes, setting aside Antonio Jones and Dale Carn and bringing in Escazu's Micahel Jackson and UWM big man, Jason McCoy, as well as bringing Cristian Chavarria out of retirement. Jorge Arguello also reached out to me to join their coaching staff as an assistant (I'll dedicate a future post about that experience). Barva eventually took the Clausura title, taking advantage of a key injury to Isaac Conejo. In the National Finals, Barva took a 2-0 lead, only to see full-strength San Ramon claw back into the series taking it to a fifth and final game. The fifth game was a tight game, with each team landing blows but neither team able to grab control of the game. Barva had a fleeting fourth quarter lead which San Ramon eventually narrow to a tie with nine seconds left. Rohel Wilson hit the shot of his career as the buzzer sounded to give Barva back-to-back titles.

2014-15 season

Looking to avenge their Finals loss, San Ramon put together a loaded squad, bringing in D3 standout Giorgio Milligan and Dijon Farr, as well as bringing in Kay Martinez, giving them their deepest squad in years. Brandon Rozzell defected to Barva, which brought back most of the previous title team. In the semifinals, Barva found a way to survive a resourceful Grecia, which won the first game and was up in the last quarter of the second only to see the series victory slip through their fingers. In the ensuing Apertura Final series, each team won a game before San Ramon obliterated Barva 83-50 in the deciding game. 

Just like in the previous year, Barva decided to enact wholesale changes, removing Jorge Arguello as head coach and cutting Brandon Rozzell. In the process, I was let go as well. Even though the new coach, Henry Martinez eventually asked me to stay, it was pretty clear to me that the Barva ownership didn't want me around. 

Eventually, I found myself taking over Escazu. They had finished in fifth place and out of the playoffs. I came onboard as Head Coach and we added a few players, including Brandon. The revamped roster caught people by surprise and we were able to finish second in the league. However the season took a toll on he roster and we lost both our point guards before the playoffs, where a hungry Grecia team put us out of our misery. San Ramon beat Barva and Grecia in convincing fashion to regain the title. 

And that's a wrap

2009 (Head Coach): We were just happy to be there. After beating mighty Liceo de Costa Rica as the third seed, we made it to my first Finals. We won the first game in Escazu, breaking a very long losing streak to Barva. We then lost two pretty close games at Barva in which we displayed some horrible free throw shooting. Then in the fourth game of the series, we lost a heartbreaker as Ike St Rose banked in a three point shot with seven seconds to go to win the game, a loss that has always haunted me. While I felt our chances would have been pretty good in a fifth game, that was only the Finals of Clausura; it was doubtful we would have outlasted Barva in a subsequent series. For personal reasons, I walked away from the team after the Finals.

I've now been Sub-Campeon four times, twice as Head Coach and twice as an Assistant Coach (and GM). It doesn't get any easier...if anything it's getting harder. To come up short time after time is a draining experience. I have to ponder my future as I look back.

Sanatura Escazu, Campeones de Clausura

Ike St Rose hoists the Clausura trophy.

I've been quiet for the past couple of weeks on the blog, but I wanted to make a quick entry and include some pictures.

My team, Sanatura Escazu won the Clausura Tournament, beating the defending national champion Coopenae USJ ARBA (aka San Ramon) in a series that went down to the wire. Now it's on to a best of five series against Ferreteria Brenes Barva to see who walks away with the national title.

Drenched in Gatorade with my Dad, Alfonso Robelo and Michael Jackson.

I can't be more effusive in my praise for the San Ramon program. From their administrators to their staff to their players to their fans. They have been top notch all the way through. My hat off's especially to Coach Josh Erickson and the work he has done with that team. It's not always easy for a foreign coach to come in and be accepted in this environment, but Josh has left his imprint not only on San Ramon but the entire Costa Rican basketball scene. As I've gotten older, I've learned to appreciate the precious opportunities where you can make new friends; I love talking hoops with Josh, something we couldn't really do lately because of competitive circumstances, but we got some catching up to do on the golf course.

Our crowd support in our two home games was great. Actually the atmosphere in all three games was awesome; the crowds were supportive of their team and respectful of the opponents (for the most part). It's what basketball in Costa Rica should be.

More than single out any one player on our team, it was truly a team effort. I'm still amazed when it's late in the season and we have 16 guys show up and practice hard. A lot is made about our stars, and they certainly deserve the praise, but the contributions down the line that go unnoticed are just as important.

Point Guard Alonso Sanchez with the trophy. 

Bustamante, Ike and Sebastian Lacayo.

Dave Millinier came up big in Game 3. 

Dario Fraile and David Carnegie.

Two of our rooks, Adrian Chavarria and Ronny Johnson

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Perez Zeledon 84 Escazu 100

We have a rule in Costa Rican basketball that forces teams to play players under the age of 21 a certain amount of minutes; our basketball federation believes this will help develop young talent by forcing teams to play young players. While the specifics of the rule has varied over the years, I think it's a poorly designed rule that has unintended consequences. I'm a big believer that players should earn their minutes. This rule force feeds minutes to players that are either not ready, or haven't earned that opportunity.

Escazu 74 Limon 63

A hot, humid night in Limon was the scene for our visit to the Caribbean coast. Players are drenched in sweat by the time they're finished warming up. I've always wondered how long it takes for guys playing for the home side to get used to the extra stickiness.

San Ramon 72 Escazu 79

And exhale.

Michael Jackson going in for the score.

In the second game of the Clausura tournament, we went to San Ramon and snatched a victory from the jaws of defeat in the last four minutes, overcoming a ten point lead in the last four minutes. So we expected a pissed off San Ramon team coming for some revenge. In Apertura, under similar circumstances, San Ramon came to our gym and throttled us, giving them a valuable home court advantage in the playoffs.