Costa Rican Liga Superior

[mvblair]

While the Costa Rican Liga Superior might not be the best league in Latin America, it is getting exciting.

Like most Latin American sports, the Liga Superior is divided into two separate tournaments: the Apertura (Opening), and the Clausura (Closing). The Apertura is the first part of the season and the Claurura is the second part. The winners of each tournament then play against each other in the end to determine the season champion.

This year, Barva, sponsored by the hardware store Ferreteria Brenes, won the Apertura tournament against Santa Cecilia. Now the Clausura tournament is underway.

Barva has the best record by far at 13-1. Their team includes Leandro Mateo, an Argentine immigrant, and Isaac Saint Rose, who played at John Brown in the NAIA. Rose is the league’s leading scorer and three-point shooter. They are a very well-balanced team.

But Saprissa, the club known mostly for their soccer team, just signed a former NBA player (the first big name import) named Khalid Reeves. Reeves played on the University of Arizona’s 1994 second-place team before going to the Miami Heat, New Jersey Nets, Charlotte Hornets, Dallas Mavericks, Detroit Pistons, and Chicago Bulls in just six years. Reeves is not taking a salary at Saprissa, choosing instead to play for his friend Joseph Lear, Sparissa Basket’s president. Saprissa also has the Panamanian beast Ivan Jaen. They recently lost Henry Martinez, Costa Rica's best player, to the Mexican League.

Limon, sponsored by Banco de Costa Rica, is an interesting team. Most of their players hail from the Jamaican-settled province of Limon. Limon doesn’t have any big stand-out players, but they seem to be the smartest team. They’ve got a great passing game. Limon is the only team to beat Barva since the Clausura tournament started.

The league standings are as follows:

Group A
1. Santa Cecilia 10-2
2. Liceo 10-3
3. Saprissa 6-3
4. Escazu 4-9
5. Perez Zelend. 2-10
6. Santa Ana 0-12
[b]Group B
1. Barva 13-1
2. Limon 9-3
3. Goicoechea 7-6
4. UCR 6-8
5. Turrialba 4-8
6. Seminario 3-9

No, Costa Rica is not the most talented league in Latin America. Basketball is a reletively new sport in Costa Rica. It doesn't have the popularity that it has in Puerto Rico, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, or even Venezuela and Panama, but it is growing. Hopefully the addition of Khalid Reeves will spark new interest in the sport and lead to more growth. Nevertheless, the Liga Superior is a lot of fun to follow.

--Matt

[J-Mart]

While the Costa Rican Liga Superior might not be the best league in Latin America, it is getting exciting.

Like most Latin American sports, the Liga Superior is divided into two separate tournaments: the Apertura (Opening), and the Clausura (Closing). The Apertura is the first part of the season and the Claurura is the second part. The winners of each tournament then play against each other in the end to determine the season champion.

This year, Barva, sponsored by the hardware store Ferreteria Brenes, won the Apertura tournament against Santa Cecilia. Now the Clausura tournament is underway.

Barva has the best record by far at 13-1. Their team includes Leandro Mateo, an Argentine immigrant, and Isaac Saint Rose, who played at John Brown in the NAIA. Rose is the league’s leading scorer and three-point shooter. They are a very well-balanced team.

But Saprissa, the club known mostly for their soccer team, just signed a former NBA player (the first big name import) named Khalid Reeves. Reeves played on the University of Arizona’s 1994 second-place team before going to the Miami Heat, New Jersey Nets, Charlotte Hornets, Dallas Mavericks, Detroit Pistons, and Chicago Bulls in just six years. Reeves is not taking a salary at Saprissa, choosing instead to play for his friend Joseph Lear, Sparissa Basket’s president. Saprissa also has the Panamanian beast Ivan Jaen. They recently lost Henry Martinez, Costa Rica's best player, to the Mexican League.

Limon, sponsored by Banco de Costa Rica, is an interesting team. Most of their players hail from the Jamaican-settled province of Limon. Limon doesn’t have any big stand-out players, but they seem to be the smartest team. They’ve got a great passing game. Limon is the only team to beat Barva since the Clausura tournament started.

The league standings are as follows:

Group A
1. Santa Cecilia 10-2
2. Liceo 10-3
3. Saprissa 6-3
4. Escazu 4-9
5. Perez Zelend. 2-10
6. Santa Ana 0-12
[b]Group B
1. Barva 13-1
2. Limon 9-3
3. Goicoechea 7-6
4. UCR 6-8
5. Turrialba 4-8
6. Seminario 3-9

No, Costa Rica is not the most talented league in Latin America. Basketball is a reletively new sport in Costa Rica. It doesn't have the popularity that it has in Puerto Rico, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, or even Venezuela and Panama, but it is growing. Hopefully the addition of Khalid Reeves will spark new interest in the sport and lead to more growth. Nevertheless, the Liga Superior is a lot of fun to follow.

--Matt

will Costa Rica play at the Liga?

[mvblair]

will Costa Rica play at the Liga?

I don't think so. I haven't found any comment by the clubs about it, but most of their extra money goes to the soccer teams.

--Matt

[alermac]

Can you tell us about the best Costa Rican players besides Henry Martinez?

PS: ¿Leandro Mateo is playing there? Wow. A few years ago, this was a promising center with an AMAZING dunking ability (i've never seen an Argentinean big guy dunking so brutally), but also very limited, so he kind of disappeared. How is he doing there?

[mvblair]

PS: ¿Leandro Mateo is playing there? Wow. A few years ago, this was a promising center with an AMAZING dunking ability (i've never seen an Argentinean big guy dunking so brutally), but also very limited, so he kind of disappeared. How is he doing there?

He's doing quite well here, where the level of play is obviously not as good as it is in Argentina. He seems to be pretty slow though. Do you have any more knowledge of him?

Here is a break-down of various Costa Rican players:

• Martinez, Henry - 6' - Martinez is perhaps Costa Rica's best player. He has been on the national team since 1996, winning the silver at the 2004 (2005?) Centrobasket. At last year's Centrobasket, he averaged something like 24 points and 7 rebounds. He played in Nicaragua and Costa Rica for several years and recently left Costa Rican club Saprissa for Mexico.
• Hall, Hernald, Hernol - 6'7" - Hall is the giant. He's 25-years-old. He's played for various Costa Rican teams, most notably Liceo. Right now, he is playing center for Polparma in Poland. He is averaging something like 5 points and 5 rebounds so far. He's been on the national team since 2000.
• Ferguson, Franklyn - 6'6" - Ferguson played for an NAIA school in Kansas. He played in the US semi-pro minor league World Basketball Association for a year as well as the now defunct North American Basketball League. He played at one point in the Uruguayan league but was replaced due to an injury. He also played for a short time at Boncourt in Switzerland. Of course he has played for various Costa Rican teams at different times. He's a good player but probably won't make many waves now that he's 30-years-old.
• Acuña, Jackie - 6'2" – Acuña was recently put on the national team. He’s a tall shooter for the league. He’s played for Perez Zeledon (a city known for men moving to the US) since entering the league in 2002.
• Correa, Jorge - 5'9" - At 5'9" and 29-years-old, it's odd that Correa has only recently been acknowledged by the Costa Rican Liga Superior. He's played 2 years for Perez Zeledon and is a quick, pure three-point shooter. I think he'll be on the national team soon.

[OSCAR_SCHMIDT]

Any Europeans playing at Costa Rica? Also, what about young domestic players, is there anyone who could play abroad in the future?

[mvblair]

Any Europeans playing at Costa Rica?

I don't think there are any Europeans in CR. At this point, the only import players we have are a few from Panama (including Ivan Jaen and Isaac Saint Rose, both great players), a US national who played in the NBA Khalid Reeves, and we had Dye Dedrick, also from the US, who played in the German and Portuguese D2 leagues). Also there is Leandro Mateo from Argentina.

Also, what about young domestic players, is there anyone who could play abroad in the future?

I don't really see any, but you never know. The best players from and in Costa Rica are all ages 25-35, because it's difficult to develop talent here, so when men mature with basketball experience and get stronger, they tend to get better.

--Matt

[alermac]

I just read in Latinbasket that Henry Martinez will play for an expansion team in Mexican league LNBP.

[mvblair]

I just read in Latinbasket that Henry Martinez will play for an expansion team in Mexican league LNBP.

Martinez left Saprissa Basket about a month ago for Mexico. I also just learned that he signed with that expansion team. Martinez's departure was a ]huge blow for Saprissa. He was their best player by far, and always the best player on the national team. They tried to replace him with Khalid Reeves, the ex-NBA and Arizona Wildcat star, but he hurt his knee at the end of the regular season, and Saprissa was quickly kicked out of the Clausura Tournament. Nevertheless, Saprissa, as winner of the Apertura Tournament, will need to play the winner of the that Clausura Tournament to determine the league champion.

[mvblair]

League Update
The Clausura Tournament is almost over. There are two teams left standing: Ferreteria Brenes Barva and Banco de Costa Rica Limon.

Barva is getting great contributions from Panamanian Isaac Saint Rose and Argentine Leandro Mateo. Saint Rose is a wonderful three-point shooter, while Mateo is a bull around the basket.

Limon, from the Caribbean coast, has a much more balanced game. Their forward Jeffery Spencer was the league MVP in 2002, but he seems to have slowed down a little since then. I believe that Darrell Saint Rose, a guard, is Isaac's brother.

[mvblair]

Limon Draws First Blood, Barva Licks Wounds

Banco de Costa Rica Limon defeated Ferreteria Brenes Barva in the first game of the Clausura Tournament finals. The well-balanced Caribbean team won 66-60. This was the first game of a three game series. If Limon wins again, they will face a depleted Saprissa Basket team for the season championship.

Marlon Samuels (188-F-73), Limon's 8-year veteran, spoke to reporters about the next game. "It's like in boxing, you've got to do a 1-2 to win," he said. "We won the first game, now we've got to win the second."

In their past 21 games, Barva has only lost to Limon. Twice.

"We achieved our objective, which was to win at home," said Limon's technically-orientated coach, Humberto Lynch . "It's the first step that this team has to take. We've got to think about what's next: an away game."

The second game will be played in the historic Central Valley city of Heredia, where Barva's supporters are sure to show up. If Barva wins tonight, the final game will also be disputed in Heredia.

Barva's coach, a dejected Luis Blanco , was disgusted with his team. "We need to change our attitude. There needs to be a huge change in our team if we want to go up against Saprissa in the finals."

[JGX]

http://www.nacion.com/ln_ee/2009/abril/16/deportes1935724.html

La fecha 10 del Apertura se inició el lunes 13 con el triunfo de Coopenae Liceo de Costa Rica (escolta de Barva, con 19 puntos) en casa de Santa Ana Blairplayer, 67-78, y la victoria de la UCR, 64-69, en Cartago, ante el San Luis Gonzaga.

[mvblair]

Well, OK. "The cat's out of the bag."

I played with a team in Costa Rica one year and I play a lot of pick-up basketball with some of the "pro" players. I'm pretty good. I guess Santa Ana was so impressed with me that they changed their name to the "Blair Players."

No, I'm just kidding, of course. I bought the team.

No, I'm kidding about that too. Really. Nobody was impressed with me and I barely have enough money to pay for me internet connection.

The team was actually sponsored by Joseph Blair. He's an ex-Arizona Wildcat who had a nice career in Italy and Turkey. He and some other ex-Wildcats (like Khalid Reeves) have invested in some Costa Rican teams. I think they basically gave the teams a couple thousand dollars.

Would anybody believe me if I said Joseph is my cousin?

[rikhardur]

Would anybody believe me if I said Joseph is my cousin?

Of course you are!

[J-Mart]

Would anybody believe me if I said Joseph is my cousin?

yep we would