2015 New Zealand NBL season | |
---|---|
League | New Zealand NBL |
Sport | Basketball |
Duration | 1 April – 5 July |
Number of games | 18 |
Number of teams | 8 |
Regular season | |
Minor premiers | Southland Sharks |
Season MVP | Torrey Craig (Wellington Saints) |
Top scorer | Aaron Fuller (Taranaki Mountainairs) |
Final Four | |
Champions | Southland Sharks |
Runners-up | Wellington Saints |
Finals MVP | Tai Wesley |
The 2015 NBL season was the 34th season of the National Basketball League. The season draw was supposed to be released in December 2014, but the withdrawal of Otago and Waikato prompted a rethink for the 2015 competition format. In the past, each team played each other twice in a 10-team competition, meaning each franchise had nine home games. However, with two fewer teams in 2015, it was decided the new format would be played over two and half rounds to keep incomes at a similar rate for the remaining sides. Each team was scheduled to play each other twice and play three of the sides in a third game. [1] [2]
The 2015 pre-season tournament was held at the Te Rauparaha Arena in Porirua on Saturday 21 March and Sunday 22 March. [3] [4] The Wellington Saints were the only team to go undefeated over the two days, finishing with a 3–0 record. [5] The regular season commenced on Wednesday 1 April in Invercargill with the Southland Sharks hosting the Manawatu Jets at Stadium Southland. [6]
In the regular-season finale on Sunday 28 June, Taranaki Mountainairs import Aaron Fuller set the National Basketball League record for points scored in a game. With 54 points, Fuller broke John Whorton's record of 50 points, which was set in 2003. [7] [8] Despite Fuller's 54 points and 19 rebounds, the Mountainairs lost to the Super City Rangers to finish the season with a winless record (0–18). The 2015 Mountainairs side joined the 1998 Northland Suns, 2009 Mountainairs and 2010 Otago Nuggets as the only sides in NBL history to go an entire season without a win. [9]
The Final Four weekend was held in Wellington for the fourth time in five years, with the semifinals on Saturday 4 July, followed by the championship game on Sunday 5 July. [10]
Team | City | Arena | Head Coach | Import | Import |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Canterbury Rams | Christchurch | Cowles Stadium | Mark Dickel | Mickell Gladness | Jermaine Taylor |
Hawke's Bay Hawks | Napier | Pettigrew Green Arena | Paora Winitana | Zack Atkinson | Suleiman Braimoh |
Manawatu Jets | Palmerston North | Arena Manawatu | Darron Larsen | Dion Harris | Brandon Jenkins |
Nelson Giants | Nelson | Saxton Stadium | Tim Fanning | McKenzie Moore | DeRonn Scott |
Southland Sharks | Invercargill | Stadium Southland | Paul Henare | Todd Blanchfield | Kevin Braswell |
Super City Rangers | Auckland | Otara Recreation Centre | Jeff Green | Jason Cadee | Tom Garlepp |
Taranaki Mountainairs | New Plymouth | TSB Stadium | Daryn Shaw | Aaron Fuller | Chris Hagan |
Wellington Saints | Wellington | TSB Bank Arena | Pero Cameron | Torrey Craig | Daniel Johnson |
Pos | |||
---|---|---|---|
Team | W | L | |
1 | Southland Sharks | 15 | 3 |
2 | Nelson Giants | 13 | 5 |
3 | Wellington Saints | 12 | 6 |
4 | Super City Rangers | 11 | 7 |
5 | Canterbury Rams | 9 | 9 |
6 | Manawatu Jets | 6 | 12 |
7 | Hawke's Bay Hawks | 6 | 12 |
8 | Taranaki Mountainairs | 0 | 18 |
Semi Finals | Final | ||||||||
1 | Southland Sharks | 95 | |||||||
4 | Super City Rangers | 80 | |||||||
Southland Sharks | 72 | ||||||||
Wellington Saints | 68 | ||||||||
2 | Nelson Giants | 85 | |||||||
3 | Wellington Saints | 97 |
Stats as of the end of the regular season
Category | Player | Team | Stat |
---|---|---|---|
Points per game | Aaron Fuller | Taranaki Mountainairs | 28.4 |
Rebounds per game | Jeremiah Trueman | Manawatu Jets | 12.4 |
Assists per game | Lindsay Tait | Wellington Saints | 8.9 |
Steals per game | Chris Hagan | Taranaki Mountainairs | 2.7 |
Blocks per game | Mickell Gladness | Canterbury Rams | 2.3 |
Lindsay Michael Tait is a New Zealand former professional basketball player.
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