Basketball in the Tropics

[lawtig02]

Was taking in the Mayan ruins at Copan and stumbled on a photo shoot of beauty pageant contestants.

A few decades back.

Have you been to Coba? Would recommend so much more than Chichen Itza, especially since you can't climb the pyramids at any of them now (for good reason).

 

[donbosco]

Have you been to Coba? Would recommend so much more than Chichen Itza, especially since you can't climb the pyramids at any of them now (for good reason).

Not been to Coba. I've only been to the Yucatan a couple of times.

Unless something has changed very recently you can still climb a couple of the pyramids at Tikal. I like some of the smaller ruin sites the best. Mixco Viejo is a fortified high mountain one in Guatemala. There is usually no one around when I've visited there.

Mixco Viejo - Alchetron, The Free Social Encyclopedia

Takalik Abaj is a Pacific Coast Guatemalan ruin site that is impressive in its lay-out too.

I've probably been to Iximche (near Antigua Guatemala) more than any other since it is pretty much a half-day trip from there.

I'd like to go back to Coban sooner rather than later. I understand the little town there has become right nice.

 

[lawtig02]

Not been to Coba. I've only been to the Yucatan a couple of times.

Unless something has changed very recently you can still climb a couple of the pyramids at Tikal. I like some of the smaller ruin sites the best. Mixco Viejo is a fortified high mountain one in Guatemala. There is usually no one around when I've visited there.

Mixco Viejo - Alchetron, The Free Social Encyclopedia

Takalik Abaj is a Pacific Coast Guatemalan ruin site that is impressive in its lay-out too.

I've probably been to Iximche (near Antigua Guatemala) more than any other since it is pretty much a half-day trip from there.

I'd like to go back to Coban sooner rather than later. I understand the little town there has become right nice.

Thanks! I'll try to find my way to some of those. I've fallen in love recently with the more rural, less touristy parts of Mundo Maya. Warm and welcoming people, amazing healthy food, and so easy to get there from the US.

 

[donbosco]

Thanks! I'll try to find my way to some of those. I've fallen in love recently with the more rural, less touristy parts of Mundo Maya. Warm and welcoming people, amazing healthy food, and so easy to get there from the US.

Let me know if you go to Guatemala. I've got a great friend, Kakchikel, whom I've known for 40 years, who is a guide.

Also got a buddy that owns a brewery.

Lots of stuff like that but I won't go on.

 

[CRHeel94]

The Town of Escazu

As previously mentioned, my club plays in a suburb to the west of San Jose. It is one of the more upscale suburbs of Costa Rica (and probably all of Central America) with several high-end malls, hotels and office parks. When we moved to Costa Rica in the 80s, the affluent areas of San Jose were in the eastern part of town (closest to the coffee plantations) and Escazu was off in the woods. Back in the 80s it was not uncommon to see cows roaming the streets; our house had an anti-hoof grill in the driveway. Some of the wealthier people fled the city and a good portion came to Escazu as different residential communities started popping up in the mountains. The population over that time went from about 25k to about 72k currently.

Escazu is actually divided into three parts: San Antonio, San Rafael, and Guachipelin. San Antonio is the highest part of the town stretching up the two main mountains. That area, which includes the central part of town (including the largest church and city hall) is what mostly resembles the Escazu of old, the small town life. San Rafael is what has been the most affluent part of town with a mix of stand alone houses, apartment buildings and a few residential communities. Gucahipelin use to be agricultural fields, but has undergone a radical transformation into largely residential communities from small 4-6 house projects to complexes that can include 100-200 units.

There is a historical tension in Escazu between the affluent and not so affluent. The townies have usually been here for a few generations. They tend to live in the center of Escazu or higher up the mountain. The affluent includes some old Escazu money, some old CR money that moved from other parts of SJ, young professionals who want to live closer to work and a healthy amount of expats (most work in multinationals and includes people from the US, Latin America and Europe). The townies resent the newbies a bit...you feel that undercurrent on some Escazu News groups, lamenting how Escazu has lost its small town values. The townies have political power (they have more votes) but the vast majority of municipal tax revenue comes from the newbies.

On elf the things I like about our club is that it helps bridge the gap between townies and newbies. If I were to take a guess at the makeup of our minor leagues, I'm guessing it's about 66% townie and 33% newbies. We have scholarships for about 30% of our young players and most of those are townies (as well as a few kids of immigrants). My son played on our junior club teams for 8 years; one of the things I liked about his experience is that he left his bubble and interacted with kids who came from more modest backgrounds, an experience many of his schoolmates just don't get. On our first division team we always strive to have some local players on the roster, usually guys who have come up through our junior leagues.

 

[CRHeel94]

The Escazu Dynasty

I started coaching at Escazu about 20 years ago. During that time I have taken a couple of breaks. Once because I had taken on a new job that was very demanding and I felt I needed to be focused on that task. The second time came after a bit of burnout; they tried to move the timing of the seasons in the calendar and basically did two seasons back to back. By the second season I was just exhausted mentally and needed to dedicate time to work and family.

When I took over Escazu in the mid 2000's, it was a faded power. They had won a title in 2001, but had struggled to make the playoffs in subsequent years as players and coaches bolted to richer teams. I ended up at Escazu by accident. I had been an assistant on a terrible team in my first year in first division basketball. The coach was a former player who I came across by accident; he asked me if I wanted to help out and I jumped at the chance. It was halfway through the season, the team was dysfunctional and it was a hot mess (we once had two guys from our team get ejected for fighting with each other during live play). The next year I vowed to find a better situation...had two teams on my list. The Escazu gym was five minutes away from my house, so I visited them. They took me in as an assistant and we had an okay year. The head coach bolted the following year to a different team. I had impressed the team owner during an exhibition game against Dartmouth (we lost by 7, they beat other teams by 25+).

I hit a sharp learning curve my first years, paying my dues and improving every year. The first year we beat the defending champs by 26, which helped bolster my credibility. We also got wiped out in some games. We made gradual improvements every year from eighth to seventh to fifth place. We made the Finals in my fourth year as we were able to recruit better players. After my first hiatus, I came back and made the Finals in my second season. Every time we made it to the finals we would face a team that would have a payroll three to four times larger. We competed but didn't have quite enough to win a five game series (we lost one Finals on a three point fadeaway buzzer beater).

In 2018, we put together a pretty good team...probably the third best team in the league, but we had a foreign player who was tough as nails, a guard from NY who played hard on both ends. I felt that we had a puncher's chance in the Finals, and that's how it came to be. We beat a better team in the Finals, showing some real toughness and clutch shooting. That first title was so sweet. We lost that foreign player I 2019 and fell in the Finals against one of our longtime rivals, San Ramon (the same guys we had beaten in 2018).

As I had stated previously, COVID came in and we had a reset of the rules. That first year we played in a bubble with no foreigners (unless they were already living in CR). The bubble was very close to our gym, which meant my guys had to hardly travel. That first year we got lucky with COVID, not missing any player games to positive tests. We won the title that year with a strong team; we are able to repeat the next two years, even with the easing of COVID restrictions (and the return of foreign players).

After winning three titles, we faced a new challenge in 2023. A new team bankrolled by a football club emerged, taking two of my best players that were from that town. Still I had a very strong team; we had a juggernaut that went undefeated into the Finals (our fourth straight) against this new team, the Pelicans. There I was in the locker room, feeling pretty good about my chances...but my star gringo wasn't there (25 ppg, second in rebounds, a 250 punt wrecking ball). Weird, he's always on time I said to myself. 20 minutes til tipoff and he's not there (traffic around the gym was crazy). I finally start up my pre-game chat and he walks in but something is off. My captain, who had been standing next to him, tells me that he thinks this guy is stoned out of his mind. The trainer and I check on him...yep his lips are blue. I made the call not to play him. We lose the game by 6 points in the last two minutes. We eventually lost the second game (and the series) on a nailbiter at their place that was also the first time I get ejected from a game. And that's how our dynasty came to an end.

 

[CRHeel94]

Escape 2025 in Review

After losing in the Finals in 2023, we had major roster turnover in 2024. We lost our star PG late in the free agency period and also lost our backup who signed early with another team in a bid to play more minutes. We lost our top two scorers as well as a couple of veteran role players. So 2024 was a rough year....we didnt really have a good pg situation which always affects the offense and our foreign import wasn't particularly good, so we swapped him for another guy who was a better but faded as season went on. We ended up with my first losing season at 11-12. We lost in the playoffs 2-1 to the second seed (which featured Coach K's grandson).

Going into 2025, I made some major changes. I wasn't sure I had a title contender on my hands, but I had a better team than in 2024. Brought back my backup pg who I felt was up to the job; also brought in another decent young backup pg. We brought in a good young wing to bolster the bench. We brought back a Dominican/CR player who is very talented but hard to coach. And we drafted a 6'7" post from Chicago to shore things up inside. Last year they had a In-Season Tournament which we won pretty easily. Things were looking good when late in the season we faced some adversity. First my American guy went down with a severe hamstring pull. Our captain is a 40 year old post nicknamed Dirk; he has great size and shoots well from outside. Also our best team defender. So we had depth when the American went down...it would just force Dirk to play more minutes.

Ended up the season in second place (lost on a tiebreaker IIRC). Cruised through our first playoff series. As Im getting to the road game I get a call from my son that he's being rushed to a hospital in NY...turns out his bad cold was a lung infection. I fly out the next day and stayed for more than a week. During that time, our team was waiting on the semifinal opponent. To make a long story short, we beat that other team in Game 1 by a good margin, and lose on the road in Game 3 by 5 in a game that we gave away at the very end. My kids made it out of surgery okay and I fly back to CR for Game 3 at our place. Tight game, but Dirk gets into foul trouble early. My crazy Dominican is running hot all game, can't quite get his shots to drop and he's bitching at the refs. And then in the third quarter there's a collision that takes out my leading scorer for the rest of the game. So there I am, three minutes left in the quarter, six points down and missing my American post, my leading scorer and Dirk with 4 fouls. The thought goes across my head..."Uh-oh, are we done". The young guys on my team responded, played some ferocious defense which leads to transition baskets and we come away with a 5 point win.

We get to the Finals (best of 5) against the number 1 team, a well balanced team that we have played tight all year. And we blow them out at their place in Game 1 by 27, but my best perimeter defender goes down with a torn ACL. In Game 2, the tables are reversed and they beat us by a comfortable 18; not only that but Dirk goes down with a foot injury. The other team moved Game 3 to a larger gym. My leading scorer who was still dealing with the aftereffects of his injury in the semis (he missed Games 1 and 2), shows up to this game with a stomach virus. He tries to play but we pull him after a couple of minutes. The other team wins by 23....I think I'm done. Game 4 takes place at a neutral site, but my Dominican comes out with the eye of the tiger. He's one of those guys who's extremely talented (can play 2-5, defend anyone, can take bigger guys inside) but who loses his concentration at the dumbest things and spends too much energy bitching at the refs and sometimes his teammates. In this game he comes out and puts up 28 points and 13 rebounds while locking down one of the Americans on the other team. Our PG (the former backup) has a great shooting night from outside and scored 32 points on way to a 25 point win and forcing a game 5.

So to this point all four games have been decided by blowout (the regular season games were one possession affairs). I surmised that Game 5 would be a dogfight, but I liked our chances. Our leading scorer finally looked 75% healthy. And our young guys had earned their playoff spurs. The game proved to be a classic...we would go up 5, they would rally and take the lead. Don't think either team lead by more than 6. My Dominican guy gets into foul trouble in the first half, meaning some untested post players had to play major minutes in Game 5 of the Finals. Boy did they respond, scoring timely baskets and holding their own against a 6'8" Nicaraguan shot blocker. Back and forth the game went til the last minutes. Their best player missed some clutch free throws down the stretch. Our leading scorer, who led the league in free throws attempted all year, was not getting any calls (first game all year with no free throws). Down 1, 26 seconds to go and we have the ball on an inbounds. First two options are covered, we get the ball on the mid block to our leading scorer. He feels the defender on his hip and turns around and fires an off balance jumper, expecting to get the contact. No call, but the shot amazingly goes in. Up by 1. They miss their next shot, we snag the ball, our PG cooly converts free throws. Up by 3. On their next possession they do a nice drive and kick to the corner for a 3, which they make. Now that shot came right in from of our bench and I could see that the guy was inside the line. Refs confer and they change it to a 2. We inbound, they foul, our PG cooly makes his free throws with two seconds on the clock. Up by 3.

And this is where it gets crazy. One of their American guys had crazy range from 3. We had told our guys in the last huddle, if it came down to that situation cover him from half court , but do not foul. So the other team inbounds to the American just beyond the free throw line takes two dribbles and fires from just across the half court line. My guy, very solid defender, was right on him...and fouls him. So they have 3 free throws to force OT. As the guy is stepping to the line I just keep reciting his FT% in my head (55%)...he is bound to miss one of the three, hopefully the first or second. They have that tall Nicaraguan rebounder, so I'm wary of them missing the third FT, and tipping in the miss for a win. American guy makes the first, but misses the second one badly. He then tries to shoot the third one off the rim, but misses the rim and only hits the backboard (a violation). One of my guys on the bench (the dude with the torn ACL) thinks the game is over and rushes te court...which is a technical foul. The other team makes the technical (down) 1, but we have possession of the ball. We inbound and win the game. National Champs.

Here's a clip with the foul:

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[CRHeel94]

Some key stats from 2025:
Four Factors Offense (first in pace, fourth in points per possession)
eFG% 47% Rank 4
ORB 27% Rk 3
TO% 17% Rk 8
FT 0.25 Rk 1

Four Factors Defense (first in points per possession)
eFG% 43% Rank 1
ORB 24% Rk 3
TO% 18% Rk 1
FT 0.17 Rk 5

 

[CRHeel94]

Teams of the LSB 2026

Here's a brief rundown of the teams that will participate in the league this year.

Santa Ana Jaguares: one of the newer teams in the league, this is their third year. This is actually the town where I live; their gym is about ten minutes from their house. they are basically run by two American guys. I'm expecting they will have three Americans on their roster, most likely coming in through the draft. The rest of the team is young guys who are cutting their teeth on first division basketball. They're breaking in a new coach this year who Ive never faced but I heard he likes to zone press and fire up a bunch of 3s.

Roswell: this team is located in San Jose, playing in two gyms at either end of the city. They had significant roster turnover after a rough season in 2024, as well as a change in coach. They're owned by a guy who has a construction company; he gets jobs for some of his players in his company. They have a couple of young wings who are pretty good. Their fortunes will depend on their foreigners; they pick towards the top of the draft so they should get a decent player. They could in theory have three foreign guys...owner told me that they will only bring down two, but I'm not sure I believe that. This team also has a strong woman's team that's usually in the title hunt.

Grecia: located about 45 minutes away from San Jose to the west in a semi-rural area that is booming lately. Last year this team made the semis on the backs of their American backcourt, which included the best guy in the league (6'3" guard from Oklahoma). This team is loaded with young players who are pushing up (they had five guys on the U19 National team). For the longest time their Americans have been the key, but I'm expecting their young guys to take a step forward.

Limon: located about 3.5 hours away from San Jose on the Caribbean coast, this is one of the toughest places to play. Their gym is about 100 yards from a seawall. Hot, humid, tsmall gym, their fans are really into games. This is the home of Costa Rica's black population; most of the black players in the league are from here, so it's always like coming back and playing at home. They usually have a strong, physical squad who likes to run. Their coach is a former player of mine who was a tough shooting guard back in the day. He runs mostly five out and ignores big guys. They've had good American guys in the past who have enjoyed living on the beach.

SEMEDES Heredia: this year's new squad is located just to the north of San Jose in the city of Heredia. This area has long been a hoops hotbed, but they've been without a basketball team for almost 8 years after one of the last dynasties of CR hoops decided to fold. This team is owned by a Doctor who owns a medical supplies company. He's putting some serious resources into the team, bringing in 3 guys from the National team as well as my starting PG fro last year. They also hired the most expensive coach in the league (a legend in his own mind...I'll write about him in a future post). They still have the points to bring in two American guys. I'm expecting this team to be really good.

San Ramon: Located about an hour to the west in the town of San Ramon, this was our biggest rival from 2017 to 2023. We met them in the Finals five times in that span. They have the league's best PG, son of a famous soccer goalie. They brought in one of the league's best wings for this season, which makes for a dangerous pairing. They have a couple of good young guys including a kid playing at Emory and Henry who I'm guessing will show up after his year is out). They have one of the best coaches in the league, a former player who was a total badass. And I believe they will still have room for one import. This is another title contender.

Seminario: This team is located in the eastern side of town. This franchise use to be a joint venture between Colegio de Abogados (the lawyer's professional association) and a local school with a rich tradition. The lawyers pulled their support so now it's just Seminario. That school has the richest tradition our basketball: I believe they have won 14 national titles in first division. They were also out of first division for about ten years. They were champions two years ago and lost to Escazu in last year's finals. They have one really good scoring guard surrounded by a bunch of shooters. They have had to swap out their imports every year, but have been good in finding good players. They are bringing back an athletic swingman from last year. This year they will only be allowed two imports, which could be a curveball. Their coach is full run and gun; they lead the league in three pointers taken (middle of pack in effectiveness) and are usually number 1 in points per game. Another title contender.

 

[donbosco]

I would live in Heredia in a heart beat. I guess I'd be a hoops fan. My wife loved it there too. What's the cost of living like there?

 

[CRHeel94]

I was just there yesterday for national team practice. Heredia is a great place to live, still retains some of that small town feel in some areas. Slightly higher up in the mountains than San Jose, which makes it cooler. That use to be the coffee growing region of the metro area, but urbanization has eaten up most of those lands. I'm guessing its cheaper than San Jose, but depends on what part of Heredia. Traffic on some of those main arteries can be a real hassle.

 

[CRHeel94]

Escazu 2026

An American friend (who may or may not be involved in taking wagers from persons in undisclosed locations on cultural events that include a ball) and myself basically bankroll the team. We pay the player's payroll; we have a counterpart (two local guys from Escazu) that runs the minor leagues for the club that does everything else (gets our courts, deals with the twos, deals with sponsors, etc). One of our frustrations is that after being so successful we have not raised much sponsorship money. So after this last title season, we set a hard limit; they needed to raise $15k for this upcoming season for us to re-up. They probably suspected I was bluffing, but they started feeling the heat when I started redirecting players in their direction telling them I wasn't sure I was back for this year. I formally renewed as coach about month ago.

We are in our third week of pre-season; we practice three nights a week. I currently have 20 guys at practice. Why so many? Our U24 team has won three national titles in a row, so I told them that I would give them a shot at first division. Also, we have a reserve squad this year, so I know some of those guys will play on that team. Let's take a look at some of the roster highlights:

Probable starters
Mac, (6'5", Center): crafty lefty who's very physical. He had left for a more lucrative offer last year, didn't enjoy the experience. Good rebounder, good around the rim, has some touch from the outside, his FT shooting has gone in the tank the last two seasons (like 40%)

Victor (6'4", PF): my crazy Dominican. I have a rule you can only have one crazy guy per team, and this is our crazy guy. In previous seasons has led the league in technical fouls. Can play inside or outside, can bring the ball up, can cover all five positions. When his head is on right, he can be the best player in the league. Terrible body language. Requires constant coaching. Second in scoring, second in rebounds.

Keishmer (6'2", Wing): one of my younger guys in the core (21). From the Caribbean coast. great athlete, very aggressive with the ball, great offensive rebounder, smart defender. He's just scratching the surface. Averaged 9.0 ppg coming off the bench. A little undersized for the 3 even in this league but he's a scrappy defender (did the best job guarding Norman Powell with the national team).

Yoshaekel (6'2", Combo guard): another young guy from the Caribbean, elite athlete, one of the fastest guys in the league, another guy who goes aggressive to the hole. Has the capacity to be an elite defender, but gets caught looking the wrong way on occasion. Can play both guard positions but he's better off the ball.

Machore (6'0", PG): young Panamanian guard. Played in 9 games last year, will have a bigger role this year. Has lived in CR for three years but hasn't had his papers in order. I'm in a fight with the league regarding his residency status. He is a pass first point guard who pushes the ball on the break. Tough as nails. Can't really shoot much from the outside. Has some Ed Cota to his game.

Key Reserves

Dirk (6'7", Post): my 40 year old team leader. Best perimeter shooter on the team, great team defender, good post defender and rebounder. Smart player. Coming off an injury...we're squeezing the last drops of basketball from him. Has been with me since the start. I will manage his minutes to avoid wear and tear.

Dylan (6'7", Center): young post player who's raw, Athletic, aggressive, a little clumsy which makes him foul prone. Has a nice shot out to 17 feet. Really need to work on his footwork in the post. He got his jaw broken by a sucker punch two years ago and missed the entire season. Came to basketball late, but has great potential. Played about ten minutes per game last year, think he should double that this year.

Chiri (6'2", SG): shooter off the bench, who struggled with his shot. He was a starter for us 4 seasons ago. Smart player (he's also a coach), but sometimes a little too smart. Struggled with erratic playing time last season (vicious cycle of missing shots leading to less playing time leading to more missed shots). Career 7% FT shooter who last year was at 47%. Not very athletic. Tries hard on defense. He's terrible at covering bad players (will leave them to come double on guys randomly, giving up open looks).

Andy (6'1", PG): might eventually be the starter, plays college ball at the NAIA level and having a nice season. More of a scoring guard, but capable of making the pass when the help arrives. Good defender, high basketball IQ. Will show up here in early May. Played with us two yers ago (missed last year because of a knee injury).

Julian (6'3", F): first year on the squad, he was the leading rebounder for the U24 team. Undersized as a 4, doesn't quite have the handle for a 3. Very athletic, hard nosed defender. We'll see who he does moving up a division. Has been taking it to Victor in practice (I expect a tussle at some point).

Those are my top 10 guys. Most of the remaining guys are young guys ranging from 18 to 20. There's a couple who I think can do a good job eventually in spot minutes, most of them are guards. Some are playing on the side in the university competition.

 

[CRHeel94]

Draft combine is being held in Houston this afternoon. I went two years ago which was an interesting experience. About 40 guys showed up, including a few walk-ups. Did drills for about 45 minutes (fast break, half court). Then they got separated into teams and played for about two hours. Kind of like in all-star games, guards dominate the ball and jack up some shots while big guys can get overlooked. Our league isn't very tall so teams are always looking for size, but given the pay scale is not like there's a dozen 6'10" guys in attendance.


My roster has pretty good balance right now and we will pick last in the first round, so I would take best player available with. alight preference for a scoring wing. I'm looking through the list of players who will be part of this year:

-30 guys on the list, I'm guessing about 12 get taken. All those guys agree to league pay scale. Once they're on the list, teams can't sign those guys directly. 9 guys have never played overseas before.

-Only see three guys that are 6'8" or taller. History suggests those guys will be taken at some point in the draft.

-See a lot of D2 and D3 schools, some NAIA. See a handful guys who started at D1 then went down a level (guy who was at Mercer, then dropped down).

-Hmm...theres a guard out of IUPUI...will have to look into that guy.

-Oh..hold up, there's a guy who played at UTEP and Georgia Southern. 6'6" swing.

-Dont see any guys with ties to NC...I always keep an eye on that.

-the crux here is a guy who was very productive at D3 or even NAIA versus a guy who hardly saw action at low D1.

Edited to add:
-I'm trying out ChatGPT on this list to give me the college stats for each guy...aside from one guy who it confused for another D1 player, it's pretty interesting.

 

[donbosco]

Curious...you mentioned an owner who had a construction company that employed some of his players. Do they all work jobs? Are the jobs tied to the teams/owners? Do the guys that are not from, for example, Escazu, live together in apartments. Do teams help put them up? Do the gringos speak much (or any) Spanish?

 

[CRHeel94]

As far as I can tell, of the local guys they all either work or study. Ten years ago you would have a handful who just lived off basketball, but as salaries rightsized, that has pretty much disappeared. On my team right now I have: 4 PE teachers, 1 call center, 1 data analyst at a bank, 1 guy working at McDonalds, 1 guy works for his family, 10 college students, 1 HS student. Most teams have a similar mix.

We have a team house for guys that came from different parts of Costa Rica. Five guys live there currently, we will house our American guy there as well. Every team does things differently, we are probably the only team that has that setup. two of those guys play in our junior teams, not the first division team.

The American guys that come down do not speak Spanish. 80% of my team speaks English to varying levels of proficiency (the HS student is weighing his college choices between USA, UF and going to Spain...his English is spotless).

 

[CRHeel94]

Wow...ChatGPT saved me some time. I fed in the file and it told me which players played D1 and which ones had notable stats at different levels. It then gave me a ranking based on level of play and ranking. Had to correct one thing, but it looks pretty accurate. That will help us focus on certain guys; we have a guy in Houston, one of the few teams to do that.

 

[donbosco]

Would you say that CR has the most advanced/developed professional system in Central America?

Got to be, right?

Would it compare with Mexico?

I wrote here about meeting some former US college players who were playing in Paraguay as well as my former student and semi-star (6-7 with hops) at UNC Asheville who played in Uruguay. I've not queried him that much about the pay he received in his several stops around the world -- I don't think he brought anything back home with him but good memories, i.e., no $$$, though I do remember him noting that he didn't have to pay any taxes on his earnings.

 

[donbosco]

I know you've seen this documentary but I'll leave it here for other folks.



It is outstanding.

 

[CRHeel94]

Would you say that CR has the most advanced/developed professional system in Central America?

Got to be, right?

Would it compare with Mexico?

I wrote here about meeting some former US college players who were playing in Paraguay as well as my former student and semi-star (6-7 with hops) at UNC Asheville who played in Uruguay. I've not queried him that much about the pay he received in his several stops around the world -- I don't think he brought anything back home with him but good memories, i.e., no $$$, though I do remember him noting that he didn't have to pay any taxes on his earnings.

The league in Nicaragua pays the most, a lot more than we do (they're funded by the government through municipalities and companies "encouraged" to sponsor teams). Most of their foreigners are Puerto Ricans, Dominicans and some Americans (Glen Rice Jr has played there a couple years). Think half their coaches are foreigners. Would guess their best team has a payroll of about $20-25k per month for half the year, which is about 5x my payroll.

Second on the list is Panama. Very disorganized league (varies from year to year, high turnover of teams, schedule is always in flux). Foreign guys are meh. But their local player quality is very good and deep.

Our league is on par with El Salvador. They have slightly better imports, we have better local guys (one of our local guys played as an import over there and averaged 18ppg). Their league is pretty well organized though it has some quirks that I think are stupid (you can swap out your foreigners at a point in the season, including the finals). Our league shuts down roster moves at the 60% mark of the season.

Honduras and Guate is a cut below. Each has unique geographic challenges. Usually short seasons.

Mexico has a ton of leagues. Lots of money from different sources over there. Their top two leagues (LNBP, CIBACOPA) are way better than what we have in Central America. Mexico, Puerto Rico, Argentina and Brazil have the best leagues in Latin America. Next tier is probably Chile, Colombia, Uruguay, Venezuela, and DR. Then you get to the tier where the CA leagues are located.

 

[CRHeel94]

Here's a guy who according to Chat GPTis the 15th guy ranked in the camp, to get an idea. This guy is borderline for getting taken.