2016 New Zealand NBL season
LeagueNew Zealand NBL
SportBasketball
Duration10 March – 4 June
Number of games18
Number of teams7
Regular season
  Minor premiersCanterbury Rams
Season MVPMcKenzie Moore (Canterbury Rams)
Top scorerEric Devendorf (Super City Rangers)
Final Four
ChampionsWellington Saints
  Runners-upSuper City Rangers
Finals MVPTai Wesley
New Zealand NBL seasons

The 2016 NBL season was the 35th season of the National Basketball League. The league's team total dropped to an all-time low for the 2016 season, with the departure of the Manawatu Jets leaving the competition with seven teams.[1][2][3]

The 2016 pre-season tournament was held at the Te Rauparaha Arena in Porirua from Friday 26 February through Sunday 28 February.[4] The four-team event featured the Canterbury Rams (2–1), Nelson Giants (3–0), Wellington Saints (0–3) and a Porirua invitational team (1–2).[5][6][7] The regular season commenced on Thursday 10 March in Wellington with the Wellington Saints hosting the Super City Rangers at TSB Bank Arena. The season contained 12 weeks of regular season games and a Final Four series on Queens' Birthday weekend in June.[8] As the only team based north of Hawke's Bay, the Rangers utilised two new 'home' venues around the Upper North Island, Te Awamutu and Whangarei, providing increased exposure for elite basketball in that area of the country.[8]

The regular season concluded with the Rams earning a playoff berth for the first time since 2002 and their first minor premiership since 1993,[9][10] while the Hawks recorded their first winless season in franchise history and joined the 1998 Northland Suns, 2009 Taranaki Mountainairs, 2010 Otago Nuggets and 2015 Taranaki Mountainairs as the only sides in NBL history to go an entire season without a win.[11]

For the first time in the competition's history, Invercargill hosted the Final Four weekend, with the semifinals on Friday 3 June, followed by the championship game on Saturday 4 June.[12][13]

Team information

Team City Arena Colours Head Coach Import Import
Canterbury Rams Christchurch Cowles Stadium     New Zealand Mark Dickel United States Justin Graham United States McKenzie Moore
Hawke's Bay Hawks Napier Pettigrew Green Arena       New Zealand Kirstin Daly-Taylor United States Kareem Johnson United States Chris Porter
Nelson Giants Nelson Trafalgar Centre     United States Tim Fanning United States Raymond Cowels United States Ben Strong
Southland Sharks Invercargill Stadium Southland       New Zealand Judd Flavell Australia Nick Kay Australia Mitch Norton
Super City Rangers Auckland AUT North Shore       New Zealand Jeff Green United States Eric Devendorf United States Terrence Roberts
Taranaki Mountainairs New Plymouth TSB Stadium     New Zealand Ross McMains United States Marcus Johnson United States Daniel Miller
Wellington Saints Wellington TSB Bank Arena     United States Kevin Braswell United States Torrey Craig United States Bryan Davis

Summary

Regular season standings

Pos
Team W L
1 Canterbury Rams 13 5
2 Wellington Saints 13 5
3 Southland Sharks 11 7
4 Super City Rangers 9 9
5 Nelson Giants 9 9
6 Taranaki Mountainairs 8 10
7 Hawke's Bay Hawks 0 18

Final Four

Semi-finals Final
      
1 Canterbury Rams 85
4 Super City Rangers 104
  Super City Rangers 82
Wellington Saints 94
2 Wellington Saints 79
3 Southland Sharks 75

Awards

Player of the Week

Round Player Team Ref
1 Torrey Craig Wellington Saints [14]
Leon Henry Wellington Saints [14]
Ben Strong Nelson Giants [14]
2 Finn Delany Nelson Giants [15]
3 Jordair Jett Southland Sharks [16]
4 Jordair Jett Southland Sharks [17]
5 McKenzie Moore Canterbury Rams [18]
6 Torrey Craig Wellington Saints [19]
Terrence Roberts Super City Rangers [19]
7 Marcel Jones Canterbury Rams [20]
8 Raymond Cowels Nelson Giants [21]
9 Marcel Jones Canterbury Rams [22]
10 Nick Kay Southland Sharks [23][24]
11 Ben Strong Nelson Giants [25]
12 Dion Prewster Wellington Saints [26]

Statistics leaders

Stats as of the end of the regular season[27]

Category Player Team Stat
Points per game Eric Devendorf Super City Rangers 25.8
Rebounds per game Alex Pledger Southland Sharks 11.4
Assists per game McKenzie Moore Canterbury Rams 8.2
Steals per game McKenzie Moore Canterbury Rams 3.4
Blocks per game Daniel Miller Taranaki Mountainairs 1.9

Regular season

Final Four

References

  1. ^ "Manawatu Jets out of 2016 National Basketball League". Stuff.co.nz. 12 November 2015. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  2. ^ Anderson, Niall (12 November 2015). "Manawatu Jets Out Of 2016 NBL". NZhoops.co.nz. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  3. ^ Anderson, Niall (14 December 2015). "2016 NBL Draw Released, Includes One Live Streamed Game A Week". NZhoops.co.nz. Archived from the original on 27 December 2015. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  4. ^ "2016 NBL pre-season tournament". Australiabasket.com. 28 February 2016. Archived from the original on 9 June 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  5. ^ Rollo, Phillip (28 February 2016). "Nelson Giants satisfied with early efforts at National Basketball League's Blitz". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  6. ^ Egan, Brendon (28 February 2016). "Mixed bag from Canterbury Rams at National Basketball League pre-season". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  7. ^ Hyslop, Liam (28 February 2016). "Wellington Saints set for fitness blitz after being blitzed at the Blitz". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  8. ^ a b "DRAW FOR NATIONAL BASKETBALL LEAGUE 2016". Basketball.org.nz. 23 December 2015. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  9. ^ Egan, Brendon (26 May 2016). "Canterbury Rams claim NBL regular season title". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  10. ^ Egan, Brendon (29 May 2016). "Super City Rangers await Canterbury Rams in National Basketball League semifinals". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  11. ^ Anderson, Niall (9 May 2016). "Promise for Bay Hawks despite 0-14 record". NZHerald.co.nz. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  12. ^ Savory, Logan (31 May 2016). "Wellington Saints owner Nick Mills says Southland Sharks crowd worth 10 points". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  13. ^ Savory, Logan (2 June 2016). "The big five in the 2016 New Zealand Basketball League finals". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  14. ^ a b c "HENRY, CRAIG AND STRONG ARE PLAYERS OF THE WEEK". Basketball.org.nz. 16 March 2016. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
  15. ^ "GIANTS FORWARD FINN DELANY WINS ROUND 2 HONOURS". Basketball.org.nz. 24 March 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  16. ^ "PLAYER OF THE WEEK GOES TO JETT". Basketball.org.nz. 30 March 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  17. ^ "JETT WINS SECOND STRAIGHT PLAYER OF THE WEEK". Basketball.org.nz. 7 April 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  18. ^ "MOORE IS PLAYER OF THE WEEK". Basketball.org.nz. 13 April 2016. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  19. ^ a b "ROBERTS AND CRAIG SHARE PLAYER OF THE WEEK". Basketball.org.nz. 20 April 2016. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  20. ^ "JONES IS ROUND 7 PLAYER OF THE WEEK". Basketball.org.nz. 27 April 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  21. ^ "COWELLS IS ROUND EIGHT PLAYER OF THE WEEK". Basketball.org.nz. 4 May 2016. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  22. ^ "JONES GRABS SECOND PLAYER OF THE WEEK". Basketball.org.nz. 11 May 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  23. ^ "NBL PREVIEW (ROUND 11)". Basketball.org.nz. 19 May 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  24. ^ "NBL Final Four Media Guide" (PDF). Basketball.org.nz. p. 2. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  25. ^ "NBL PREVIEW (ROUND 12)". Basketball.org.nz. 26 May 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  26. ^ "PREWSTER EARNS ROUND 12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK". Basketball.org.nz. 1 June 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  27. ^ "NBL Season Leaders". Twitter. 29 May 2016. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  28. ^ Egan, Brendon (5 June 2016). "Canterbury Ram McKenzie Moore takes out NBL MVP award". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  29. ^ a b "MOORE TAKES OUT NBL MVP". Basketball.org.nz. 8 June 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  30. ^ Reive, Christopher (5 June 2016). "Taranaki Mountain Airs' Logan Elers, Ross McMains and Bernie Smith among NBL award winners". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  31. ^ "And the Final Four MVP goes to Tai Wesley!..." Twitter. 4 June 2016. Retrieved 5 June 2016.

External links

New Zealand NBL seasons
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