In this series from Gregg Rosenberg, we'll take a look at how some of the state's prep basketball coaches philosophies around building a program.

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The thirteenth coach in the 'Building a Program' series: Sunnyslope's Ray Portela.

' I started playing at a very young age. With two older brothers, we were always active and competing against each other in a myriad of sports. When you have older brothers, and you don't win or compete, you typically hear about it from them, so you learn to compete at a young age.'

' I think I loved the realm of sports so much, that when I was done playing, I wanted to continue in some sort of facet. I moved back east to Boston after graduating from college and got a job as a Graduate Assistant at Tufts University with their football and basketball programs. From there it steamrolled into different positions in the coaching world. I came back one Holiday season, talked to Coach Mannix, and he said he was interested in bringing me onto his staff.'

'I always felt fortunate about the coaching I received while I played. I always looked up to Coach Dan Mannix, whom I played for at Sunnyslope, Charlie Katsiaficas, who was my college coach, and Rick Sharp, who coached me in football and is in the Pop Warner National Hall of Fame. I think they all in their own way, installed a work ethic, sense of discipline, and humility in me and challenged me to bring out the best in myself. I think that is a lot of what we do now as coaches, trying to bring out the best in all our players.

I am also a strong believer in always trying to get better as a person and as a coach, so I will watch coaches and what they do or attend clinics in search of something new. I don't know it all, and I will never know it all. There are lots of coaches out there that will have forgotten more basketball than I'll ever know, haha.'

'There are two we use at Slope. The first being "Together". We break each huddle with it, and I strongly believe in it throughout our program. Our team cannot accomplish anything without each other helping them out. I cannot accomplish anything without my assistant coaches, lower level coaches, or players. The season is a long journey, sometimes good and sometimes bad. I know it sounds cliche, but you can accomplish more together than as an individual.

Another phrase that we stress a lot is that of "Next Play". We want our players to be extremely mentally tough. We all know the game of basketball includes highs and lows. We try to stress to our guys that they must possess a mental toughness that will get them through the good and bad times. It also applies to life; we tell them there are going to be good times and bad times in life. You must have the toughness to get through those times and not create bad habits that might be detrimental to your life.'

'I am proud of all our current and former players in how they progress during their time here with us. If I had to give one story, it might have to be of a former player we had. I learned a lot as a coach from this young man. He would show up to our open gyms and to be honest, was not very good and he slowed down our drills. We were almost trying to get rid of him, but he kept showing up, and kept showing up, and little by little he improved every day. He was a great kid and a hard worker, and by the time his senior year rolled around, he was a major contributor to our team.

It just showed me two things, one, there is no attribute greater than persistence. People are going to tell you all the time that you can't do this or that, but if you believe in yourself strongly enough and work at it, you can accomplish a lot. Two, it taught me that all these kids are different. The light switch might suddenly turn on for a player later than some other players, so don't give up on them.'

'On the floor we as a coaching staff demand a lot of our players. We set the bar high for them and want them to reach those expectations. They fight it at times, come up with excuses and dislike me, but they're young and sometimes they don't know how much they are capable of. We try to stress to them no excuses, and that we are setting the bar high for them. When they finally see what they are capable of, it's not only enjoyable for them, it's enjoyable for our staff as well. I know I can get intense, but at the end of the day, I remind the players that I love all of them and just want what is best for them.

We stress playing tough man to man defense, sharing the ball offensively, and working for the great shot, not just a good shot.'

'I really bounce a lot of ideas off my assistant coach Andy Foster. He is a hardworking, dependable, individual that really cares about our program and our guys. I also consider him to be a very good friend. The thing I like about him is that he is not a "yes" man. I know I can ask him anything and get an honest opinion. I also go a lot to Coach Dan Mannix, who was the coach at Slope for 34 years. I consider him my mentor and he's been through everything I am going through, so it would be unwise of me not to go to him. Rich Caniglia, Steve Rosenbaum, Guillermo Diaz, and Kourtney Shirley are all very good, reliable assistants that I rely on a lot. I am very lucky to have them on my staff.

We are also lucky here in Arizona to have a close-knit community of coaches, whom I love bouncing ideas off. I know we compete against each other at times, but I respect the hell out of them, consider them friends, and value their opinions and what they do with their programs. '

'I truly enjoy seeing the smiles on our players faces when they are in the gym or they accomplish something great. That does it for me. I also love it when I get to interact with former players. I take them to dinner or lunch on occasion and when they repeat some of the things I had said or talk about old memories, or even joke around at my expense, that brings a smile to my face. When they send me a note or a text, or they come back for a game, those are the memories I enjoy the most. I just received a graduation announcement from a former player, one that quit for a season and came back his senior season. I knew his parents weren't big fans of mine, and honestly thought I would never hear from him again, but on this note he thanked me for always sharing a quote with them. He said I used to tell them all the time that the true test of a man is how you deal with adversity. He wrote that that one quote helped him tremendously in his time in college.

What we don't realize sometimes as coaches is how much something we say or do can have a profound effect on the future of an individual. That makes it worth it for me.'

'There are a couple of things that I've learned during my time at Slope that I wish I knew when I first started. The first being, that your players need to know that you care for them tremendously, on and off the court. I think that at times, we as coaches, get so caught up in wins and losses, that we don't get to know the individual and what makes them tick. I have learned that some of these guys will run through a wall for you if they know you care about them. They must see more than the "coach" side of you. They need to see the real you. Trust me, this is something I am telling myself everyday cause at times I get caught up in the on the court stuff.

You also have to realize to take time away from the court and not lose sight of the important people in your life. Take time to spend time with the family or loved ones. From practices, to games, to open gyms, to scouting, a lot of your time is taken away from basketball. I'd look at my kids and feel they grew so much, and I didn't realize it. Sometimes you must reset your priorities to value what is really important.'

'We do not have a middle school feeder program.'

'In the off season we primarily work on individual development. We primarily work on this during our open gyms with individual drills. There is no substitute for fundamentals in our game. From a simple hop-stop to different types of pivots, sometimes the simple basics get overlooked in our game.

We are also lucky enough to have a basketball class here at Slope, so we can work on individual drills there and work with our strength and conditioning instructor to do resistance training and plyometric work. It has been very beneficial for us in terms of getting our guys stronger and reducing injuries during the season.'

'I don't know, and I'm not really interested in knowing. Not trying to be rude, but it's not about me.'

'Yeah, I hope we do have a season, would stink if we don't. I think we have a chance to be a good team, just depends on how much the guys buy in. We have some talented guys on our team, but as we all know, sometimes being talented doesn't always get it done. We must make a commitment to playing defense, being mentally tough, and working for the greater good of the team. If we do all of that, we could be in the mix, but there are a lot of talented teams in 6A this season.'

One of the more professional coaches out there always has his teams playing hard over the years regardless if they are high level Division I players or just really good high school players. His players slowly get better every year and the coaching staff work in the off-season has to be part of their development.

This year, their starting-five talent rivals anyone in the AIA. They have a few pieces off the bench that can and will contribute, but if all five can stay healthy and on the court without foul trouble, they have a legit chance to give coach Portela another ring as he moves up to a tough 6A Conference.

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