2023 BAL season

Last updated

2023 BAL season
Al Ahly wins 2023 BAL championship.jpg
Al Ahly receiving the trophy after winning the final
League Basketball Africa League
Season2023
Dates11 March – 27 May 2023
Number of games38
Number of teams12
Season
Season MVP Nuni Omot
(Al Ahly)
Finals
Champions Flag of Egypt.svg Al Ahly (1st title)
  Runners-up Flag of Senegal.svg AS Douanes
Third place Flag of Mali.svg Stade Malien
Fourth place Flag of Angola.svg Petro de Luanda
Records
Biggest home win41 points
Petro de Landa 87–48 Cape Town Tigers
(30 April 2023)
Highest attendance9,874
AS Douanes 70–76 ABC Fighters
(11 March 2023)
Lowest attendance214
REG 64–48 Kwara Falcons
(12 March 2023)
Seasons

The 2023 BAL season, also known as BAL Season 3, was the third season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). [1] The season began on 11 March 2023 and ended on 27 May 2023. The playoffs were played in the BK Arena in Kigali, which hosted the final stage for a third season in a row. The regular season was played in Dakar, Senega and Cairo, Egypt, both venues hosted a conference for a second year in a row.

Contents

Al Ahly defeated AS Douanes in the final, which was played in the BK Arena in Kigali, for a first-ever BAL title. [2] As the winners, Al Ahly automatically qualified for the 2023 FIBA Intercontinental Cup Singapore. [3]

US Monastir were the defending champions, having won their first title in the previous edition, but were eliminated in the Sahara Conference.

Qualification

The first round of the qualifying stage consists of 20 teams that play in four groups of five, each held in different cities. In the Elite 16, the teams are joined by 6 teams that qualified during the previous 2022 BAL qualification. Two groups of five teams are played to determine the six teams that advance to the main tournament. [4]

On 21 September 2021, FIBA Africa announced the 26 teams in the qualifying tournaments as well as the six countries that would qualify directly. [4]

East Division

Group phase

Group A
(Niamey)
Group B
(Yaoundé)

PosTeamPldPts
1 Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg ABC Fighters 36
2 Flag of Mali.svg Stade Malien 35
3 Flag of Benin.svg Elan Coton (W)34
4 Flag of Niger.svg Nigelec (H)33
Source: Road to BAL
(H) Hosts; (W) Advanced with wild card

PosTeamPldPts
1 Flag of the Central African Republic.svg Bangui Sporting Club 24
2 Flag of Equatorial Guinea.svg Nueva Era 23
3 Flag of Gabon.svg Espoir 22
Source: Road to BAL

Elite 16

Group A
(Abidjan)
Group B
(Abidjan)

PosTeamPldPts
1 Flag of the Central African Republic.svg Bangui Sporting Club 36
2 Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg ABC Fighters 34
3 Flag of Morocco.svg AS Salé 34
4 Flag of Benin.svg Elan Coton 34
Source: Road to BAL

PosTeamPldPts
1 Flag of Mali.svg Stade Malien 36
2 Flag of Guinea.svg SLAC 35
3 Flag of Cameroon.svg FAP 34
4 Flag of Equatorial Guinea.svg Nueva Era 33
Source: Road to BAL

Final round

 
Semi-finals Final
 
      
 
18 November 2022
 
 
Flag of the Central African Republic.svg Bangui Sporting Club 61
 
19 November 2022
 
Flag of Guinea.svg SLAC 69
 
Flag of Guinea.svg SLAC 70
 
18 November 2022
 
Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg ABC Fighters 81
 
Flag of Mali.svg Stade Malien 59
 
 
Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg ABC Fighters 62
 
Third place game
 
 
19 November 2022
 
 
Flag of the Central African Republic.svg Bangui Sporting Club 59
 
 
Flag of Mali.svg Stade Malien 62

East Division

Group phase

Group A
(Dar es Salaam)
Group B
(Antananarivo)

PosTeamPldPts
1 Flag of Burundi.svg Urunani 36
2 Flag of Uganda.svg City Oilers 35
3 Flag of Tanzania.svg ABC (H)34
4 Flag of Zambia.svg Matero Magic 33
Source: Road to BAL
(H) Hosts

PosTeamPldPts
1 Flag of Madagascar.svg COSPN (H)24
2 Flag of Kenya.svg KPA 23
3 Flag of the Comoros.svg Djabal Iconi 22
Source: Road to BAL
(H) Hosts

Elite 16

Group C
(Johannesburg)
Group D
(Johannesburg)

PosTeamPldPts
1 Flag of Burundi.svg Urunani 35
2 Flag of South Africa.svg Cape Town Tigers 35
3Flag placeholder.svg NBA Academy Africa 35
4 Flag of Kenya.svg KPA 33
Source: Road to BAL

PosTeamPldPts
1 Flag of Uganda.svg City Oilers 36
2 Flag of Mozambique.svg Ferroviário da Beira 35
3 Flag of Zambia.svg Matero Magic 34
4 Flag of Madagascar.svg COSPN 33
Source: Road to BAL

Final round

 
Semi-finals Final
 
      
 
26 November
 
 
Flag of Burundi.svg Urunani 62
 
27 November
 
Flag of Mozambique.svg Ferroviário da Beira 68
 
Flag of Mozambique.svg Ferroviário da Beira 71
 
26 November
 
Flag of South Africa.svg Cape Town Tigers 81
 
Flag of Uganda.svg City Oilers 69
 
 
Flag of South Africa.svg Cape Town Tigers 75
 
Third place game
 
 
27 November
 
 
Flag of Burundi.svg Urunani 62
 
 
Flag of Uganda.svg City Oilers 71

Teams

Petro de Luanda was the first team to qualify for the season when it won the Angolan League on 10 May 2022. [5] The last qualified team was City Oilers who captured the third place in the Road to BAL East Division on 27 November 2022. The twelve teams of the 2023 BAL season were officially confirmed on 13 February 2023. [6] After an absence of a Nigerian representative in the 2022 season due to FIBA's punishment of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, [7] Kwara Falcons was directly qualified as winners of the Nigerian Premier League. [8]

Al Ahly, Kwara Falcons, ABC Fighters and Stade Malien will make their debut in the competition. ABC Fighters is the first team from Ivory Coast to play in the BAL, while City Oilers is the first team from Uganda. [9] [6]

Two teams, defending champions US Monastir and runners-up Petro de Luanda, appear in their third consecutive season.

TeamMethod of

qualification

Date of

qualification

Finals

appearance

Previous

appearance

Consecutive

appearances

Previous best

performance

Flag of Angola.svg Petro de Luanda Angolan Basketball League winners10 May 2022 [5] 3rd 2022 3Runners-up (2022)
Flag of Tunisia.svg US Monastir Championnat National A winners16 May 20223rd 2022 3Champions (2022)
Flag of Egypt.svg Al Ahly Egyptian Super League winners16 May 2022 [10] 1st1
Flag of Rwanda.svg REG RBL winners19 September 2022 [11] 2nd 2022 2Quarter-finals (2022)
Flag of Senegal.svg AS Douanes Nationale 1 winners15 October 2022 [12] 2nd 2021 1Quarter-finals (2021)
Flag of Nigeria.svg Kwara Falcons NBBF Premier League winners12 November 2022 [8] 1st1
Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg ABC Fighters Road to BAL West Division winners17 November 2022 [9] 1st1
Flag of Guinea.svg SLAC Road to BAL West Division runners-up17 November 2022 [13] 2nd 2022 2Quarter-finals (2022)
Flag of Mali.svg Stade Malien Road to BAL West Division third place18 November 2022 [14] 1st1
Flag of Mozambique.svg Ferroviário da Beira Road to BAL East Division runners-up26 November 2022 [15] 2nd 2022 2Group stage (2022)
Flag of South Africa.svg Cape Town Tigers Road to BAL East Division winners26 November 2022 [16] 2nd 2022 2Quarter-finals (2022)
Flag of Uganda.svg City Oilers Road to BAL East Division third place27 November 20221st1

Personnel

Augustí Julbe of Al Ahly was the only coach this season to already have won a BAL championship, as he won the 2021 title with Zamalek.

TeamHead coachCaptain
ABC Fighters Flag of Australia (converted).svg Liz Mills [17] Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg Stéphane Konaté
Al Ahly Flag of Spain.svg Augustí Julbe [18] Flag of Egypt.svg Seif Samir
AS Douanes Flag of Senegal.svg Pabi Guèye Flag of Senegal.svg Alkaly Ndour
Cape Town Tigers Flag of the United States.svg Rasheed Hazzard [19] Flag of South Africa.svg Pieter Prinsloo
City Oilers Flag of Uganda.svg Mandy Juruni Flag of Uganda.svg James Okello
Ferroviário da Beira Flag of Spain.svg Luís Lopes Hernandez [20] Flag of the United States.svg Will Perry
Kwara Falcons Flag of Nigeria.svg Baba Jubril Flag of Nigeria.svg Victor Ezeh
Petro de Luanda Flag of Brazil.svg José Neto [21] Flag of Angola.svg Carlos Morais
REG Flag of the United States.svg Dean Murray [22] Flag of Rwanda.svg Olivier Shyaka
SLAC Flag of Serbia.svg Željko Zečević Flag of Guinea.svg Ibrahima Kalil Fofana
Stade Malien Flag of Mali.svg Kaba Kanté Flag of Mali.svg Makan Keita
US Monastir Flag of Serbia.svg Miodrag Perišić [23] Flag of Tunisia.svg Radhouane Slimane

Foreign and Elevate players

Each BAL team was allowed to have four foreign players on its roster, including only two non-African players. Players in italics were signed only for the playoffs. If players have multiple nationalities, the nationality of an African nation is shown.

Each team also featured one player from the NBA Academy Africa, under the BAL Elevate program. [24] The players were drafted in an online meeting by the teams and the official list were announced on 28 February 2023. [25]

TeamPlayersElevate player [25]
1234
ABC Fighters [lower-roman 1] Flag of Tunisia.svg Omar Abada [28] Flag of Kenya.svg Tylor Ongwae [28] Flag of Guinea.svg Ousmane Dramé [28] Flag of Niger.svg Abdoulaye Harouna [26] Flag of Nigeria.svg Joy Ighovodja
Al Ahly Flag of South Sudan.svg Nuni Omot [29] Flag of Nigeria.svg Michael Fakuade [30] Flag of the United States.svg Michael Thompson [29] Flag of New Zealand.svg Corey Webster [31] Flag of Mali.svg Ladji Camara
AS Douanes Flag of Ghana.svg Matthew Bryan-Amaning [32] Flag of Nigeria.svg Michael Ochereobia [33] Flag of the United States.svg Terrell Stoglin [34] Flag of the United States.svg Chris Crawford [35] Flag of South Sudan.svg Khaman Maluach
Cape Town Tigers [lower-roman 2] Flag of the Central African Republic.svg Evans Ganapamo [36] Flag of Nigeria.svg Michael Gbinije [36] Flag of the United States.svg Zaire Wade [37] Flag of the United States.svg Marvin Smith Jr. [38] Flag of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.svg Parby Musongela
City Oilers Flag of South Sudan.svg Ngor Barnaba [39] Flag of the United States.svg Falando Jones [39] Flag of the United States.svg James Justice Jr. [40] Flag of Nigeria.svg Obe Ezekiel
Ferroviário da Beira Flag of Senegal.svg Makhtar Gueye [41] Flag of Mali.svg Bourama Sidibe [42] Flag of the United States.svg William Perry [42] Flag of the United States.svg Najeal Young [42] Flag of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.svg Paul Kabenga Mbiya
Kwara Falcons Flag of Sierra Leone.svg Sita Conteh [43] Flag of Cameroon.svg Kevin Nyemeck [43] Flag of the United States.svg A. J. Wilson [44] Flag of the United States.svg Ruot Monyyong [43] Flag of Senegal.svg Modou Fall Thiam [45]
Petro de Luanda Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg Solo Diabate [46] Flag of Hungary.svg Damian Hollis [47] Flag of Lebanon.svg Ater Majok [48] Flag of Egypt.svg Seifeldin Hendaway
REG Flag of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.svg Pitchou Kambuy Manga [49] Flag of Cameroon.svg Beleck Bell Engelbert [49] Flag of the United States.svg Cleveland Thomas [50] Flag of the United States.svg Delwan Graham [49] Flag of Cameroon.svg Ulrich Chomche
SLAC Flag of Nigeria.svg Michael Nwabuzor [39] Flag of Nigeria.svg Uchenna Iroegbu [39] Flag of the United States.svg Dane Miller Jr. [51] Flag of the Philippines.svg Sedrick Barefield [39] Flag of South Sudan.svg Mabilmawut Mabil
Stade Malien Flag of Nigeria.svg Kelvin Amayo [52] Flag of the United States.svg Gregory Foster [38] Flag of the United States.svg Brian Bridgeford [52] Flag of Morocco.svg John Wilkins [52] Flag of Nigeria.svg Rueben Chinyelu
US Monastir Flag of Senegal.svg Ibrahima Thomas [53] Flag of Ukraine.svg Jerome Randle [54] Flag of Nigeria.svg Churchill Abass

Notes

  1. The ABC Fighters played the regular season with Chudier Bile (South Sudan), Alex Robinson (United States) and Chris Obekpa (Nigeria) as import players. They switched the three players ahead of the playoffs. [26] [27]
  2. The Cape Town Tigers played in the regular season with Josh Hall as an import player, however, Hall was released and replaced with Marvin Smith Jr. ahead of the playoffs.


Notable transactions

Pre-season

US Monastir, as champions of the 2022 BAL season, participated in the 2023 FIBA Intercontinental Cup. It was the second time a BAL team participated in the FIBA Intercontinental Cup. In the competition, played in February and hosted in La Laguna in Spain, Monastir finished fourth after two losses against CB Canarias and Rio Grande Valley Vipers. [57]

ESPN declared Petro de Luanda, last year's runners-up, as the title favourites in their annual season preview. [58]

Combine

The league hosted their official second BAL Combine on 15 and 16 January 2023 at The One Ball Training Center in Paris. [59] The combine featured 30 players and was directed by former NBA head coach Quin Snyder. [60] Several players signed a contract with a BAL team after participating in the Combine. [61]

Signed players from the 2023 BAL Combine
PlayerTeam
Adonis Filer REG
Chudier Bile ABC Fighters
Makhtar Gueye Ferroviário da Beira
Zaire Wade Cape Town Tigers

Schedule

The schedule for the 2023 season was officially released on 13 February 2023. [6]

PhaseRoundDraw dateGames
QualifyingFirst Round12–30 October 2022
Elite 163 November 202214–27 November 2022
Group phaseSahara Conference11–21 March 2023
Nile Conference26 April – 6 May 2023
PlayoffsQuarter-finals21–27 May 2023
Semi-finals
Final and third place

Regular season

The regular season is played from 11 March to 6 May 2023. The twelve teams are divided into two conferences of six teams each. Teams in each group play each other one time, whereafter the top four teams advance to the playoffs.

Sahara Conference

The games of the Sahara Conference were played from 11 March to 21 March 2023 and were hosted in the Dakar Arena in Dakar, Senegal for a second consecutive season. Stade Malien finished as Conference winner, due to their head-to-head point difference that determined the ranking of five teams with a 3–2 record. The defending BAL champions, US Monastir, missed the playoffs after they lost on the last game day.

PosTeamPldWLPFPAPDPCTQualification SML ASD REG ABC USM KWA
1 Flag of Mali.svg Stade Malien 532378361+17.600 [lower-alpha 1] Advance to playoffs 84–64 68–78
2 Flag of Senegal.svg AS Douanes (H)532350331+19.600 [lower-alpha 1] 74–58 70–76
3 Flag of Rwanda.svg REG 532356344+12.600 [lower-alpha 1] 69–55 79–84 64–48
4 Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg ABC Fighters 5323893901.600 [lower-alpha 1] 71–90 73–80 90–74
5 Flag of Tunisia.svg US Monastir 5323813887.600 [lower-alpha 1] 60–76 85–74
6 Flag of Nigeria.svg Kwara Falcons 50534138140.000 74–78 68–75 76–79
Source: BAL, Flashscore
(H) Hosts
Notes:
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Five tied teams were ranked on point differential in the games against each other: 1) Stade Malien +13; 2) AS Douanes +12; 3) REG –4; 4) ABC Fighters –4; 5) US Monastir –18.

Nile Conference

The games of the Nile Conference will be played from 26 April to 6 May 2023 and will be played in the Hassan Moustafa Sports Hall in 6th of October, Cairo, Egypt.

Petro de Luanda went undefeated and won the conference, after defeating four teams with a margin of at least 17 points. In the most notable match-up of the conference, Petro de Luanda defeated Al Ahly on a buzzer-beater by Gerson Gonçalves.

PosTeamPldWLPFPAPDPCTQualification PDL AAH CFV CTT SLC COI
1 Flag of Angola.svg Petro de Luanda 550463363+1001.000Advance to playoffs 91–90 87–48 89–71
2 Flag of Egypt.svg Al Ahly (H)541425380+45.800 92–73 80–70
3 Flag of Mozambique.svg Ferroviário da Beira 52341646246.400 [lower-alpha 1] 76–101 82–76
4 Flag of South Africa.svg Cape Town Tigers 52335439844.400 [lower-alpha 1] 75–91 80–70
5 Flag of Guinea.svg SLAC 51440942718.200 [lower-alpha 2] 78–95 97–109 68–75
6 Flag of Uganda.svg City Oilers 51437541237.200 [lower-alpha 2] 70–72 96–75 68–96
Source: BAL, Flashscore
(H) Hosts
Notes:
  1. 1 2 Head-to-head: Ferroviário da Beira defeated Cape Town Tigers 82–76 on 3 May 2023.
  2. 1 2 Head-to-head: SLAC defeated City Oilers 96–68 on 2 May 2023.

Playoffs

The playoffs were held from 21 May to 27 May 2023 in the BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda for the third consecutive season.

Bracket

 
Quarterfinals Semifinals Final
 
          
 
21 May
 
 
Flag of Egypt.svg Al Ahly 94
 
25 May
 
Flag of Rwanda.svg REG 77
 
Flag of Egypt.svg Al Ahly 78
 
21 May
 
Flag of Mali.svg Stade Malien 73
 
Flag of Mali.svg Stade Malien 78
 
27 May
 
Flag of South Africa.svg Cape Town Tigers 69
 
Flag of Egypt.svg Al Ahly 80
 
22 May
 
Flag of Senegal.svg AS Douanes 65
 
Flag of Angola.svg Petro de Luanda 88
 
25 May
 
Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg ABC Fighters 84
 
Flag of Angola.svg Petro de Luanda 86
 
22 May
 
Flag of Senegal.svg AS Douanes 92 Third place game
 
Flag of Senegal.svg AS Douanes 93
 
26 May
 
Flag of Mozambique.svg Ferroviário da Beira 73
 
Flag of Angola.svg Petro de Luanda 65
 
 
Flag of Mali.svg Stade Malien 73
 

Individual awards

Nuni Omot received the BAL Hakeem Olajuwon Most Valuable Player Award Nuni Omot receives BAL MVP 2023.jpg
Nuni Omot received the BAL Hakeem Olajuwon Most Valuable Player Award

The winner of the Coach of the Year award was announced on 26 May. [63] The Defensive Player of the Year, Sportsmanship Award and Most Valuable Player were announced on 27 May. The BAL's community service award, the Ubuntu Award, was decided by an online fan vote and the winner was announced on 30 January 2024. [64]

Statistics

Individual statistic leaders

CategoryPlayerTeam(s)Statistic
Points per game Falando Jones City Oilers 21.6
Rebounds per game Aliou Diarra Stade Malien 12.8
Assists per game Cleveland Thomas REG 6.7
Steals per game Dane Miller Jr. SLAC 3.2
Blocks per gameAliou DiarraStade Malien2.3
Minutes per gameDane Miller Jr.SLAC39.3
FG%Dane Miller Jr.SLAC55.6%
3P% Ibrahima Thomas US Monastir 44.8%
FT% Will Perry Ferroviário da Beira 96.7%

Individual game highs

CategoryPlayerTeamStatistic
Points Will Perry Ferroviário da Beira 41
Rebounds Aliou Diarra Stade Malien 16
Assists Cleveland Thomas REG 10
Dane Miller Jr. SLAC
Will PerryFerroviário da Beira
Steals Ulrich Kra ABC Fighters 6
BlocksAliou DiarraStade Malien5
Ater Majok Petro de Luanda
Mouhamadou Diagne AS Douanes
Three pointersWill PerryFerroviário da Beira9

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