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]
| 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 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 information
edit| Team | City | Arena | Head coach | Import | Import |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canterbury Rams | Christchurch | Cowles Stadium | |||
| Hawke's Bay Hawks | Napier | Pettigrew Green Arena | |||
| Manawatu Jets | Palmerston North | Arena Manawatu | |||
| Nelson Giants | Nelson | Saxton Stadium | |||
| Southland Sharks | Invercargill | Stadium Southland | |||
| Super City Rangers | Auckland | Otara Recreation Centre | |||
| Taranaki Mountainairs | New Plymouth | TSB Stadium | |||
| Wellington Saints | Wellington | TSB Bank Arena |
Summary
editRegular season standings
edit| 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 |
Final Four
edit| 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 | |||||||
Awards
editPlayer of the Week
editStatistics leaders
editStats 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 |
Regular season
edit- Most Valuable Player: Torrey Craig (Wellington Saints)[24]
- NZ Most Valuable Player: Lindsay Tait (Wellington Saints)
- Most Outstanding Guard: Torrey Craig (Wellington Saints)
- Most Outstanding NZ Guard: Lindsay Tait (Wellington Saints)
- Most Outstanding Forward: Tai Wesley (Southland Sharks)
- Most Outstanding NZ Forward/Centre: Josh Duinker (Nelson Giants)
- Scoring Champion: Aaron Fuller (Taranaki Mountainairs)
- Rebounding Champion: Jeremiah Trueman (Manawatu Jets)
- Assist Champion: Lindsay Tait (Wellington Saints)
- Rookie of the Year: Josh Duinker (Nelson Giants)
- Coach of the Year: Paul Henare (Southland Sharks)
- All-Star Five:
- G: McKenzie Moore (Nelson Giants)
- G: Torrey Craig (Wellington Saints)
- F: Todd Blanchfield (Southland Sharks)
- F: Tai Wesley (Southland Sharks)
- C: Aaron Fuller (Taranaki Mountainairs)
Final Four
edit- Finals MVP: Tai Wesley (Southland Sharks)[24][25]
References
edit- ^ Southland Sharks to host opening game of NZ National Basketball League
- ^ Home games a strong feature in draw for Jets season
- ^ P-TOWN PRE-SEASON DAY ONE
- ^ P-TOWN PRESEASON: DAY TWO
- ^ "NBL Preseason Wrap-Up". Archived from the original on 2 February 2016. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
- ^ "2015 NBL Draw Released". Archived from the original on 10 February 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
- ^ Taranaki Mountain Airs' import smashes NBL scoring record but still loses
- ^ "Aaron Fuller Breaks NBL Record With 54 Points". Archived from the original on 30 June 2015. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
- ^ Basketball: Nuggets closing on unwanted record
- ^ 2015 BARTERCARD NBL SEMI-FINALS PREVIEW
- ^ TAIT WINS OPENING PLAYER OF THE WEEK
- ^ a b WESLEY AND FULLER ARE JOINT PLAYER’S OF THE WEEK
- ^ SAINTS CRAIG IS R3 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
- ^ BRAIMOH IS ROUND FOUR PLAYER OF THE WEEK
- ^ MOORE IS ROUND 5 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
- ^ TWO IN A ROW FOR MOORE
- ^ GARLEPP WINS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
- ^ SHARKS BLANCHFIELD IS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
- ^ BRASWELL IS R9 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
- ^ MOORE WINS THIRD PLAYER OF THE WEEK
- ^ a b CRAIG AND WESLEY WIN WEEKLY AWARD
- ^ ASTON NABS WEEKLY AWARD
- ^ FULLER GRABS LAST WEEKLY AWARD
- ^ a b CRAIG WINS MVP
- ^ Southland Sharks players keen to return to defend National Basketball League title