2015 New Zealand NBL season
| 2015 New Zealand NBL season | |
|---|---|
| League | National Basketball League |
| 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 |
| Final Four MVP | Tai Wesley |
The 2015 New Zealand National Basketball League season was the 34th running of the competition. 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 teams pulling out of the 2015 season, 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]
The 2015 pre-season tournament was held at the Te Rauparaha Arena in Porirua on Saturday 21 March and Sunday 22 March.[2][3] The Wellington Saints were the only team to go undefeated over the two days, finishing with a win/loss record of 3–0.[4] The regular season commenced on Wednesday 1 April in Invercargill with the Southland Sharks hosting the Manawatu Jets at Stadium Southland.[5]
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.[6][7] 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.[8]
The Final Four weekend was held in Wellington, with the semi-finals on Saturday 4 July, followed by the grand final on Sunday 5 July.[9]
The teams for this season were: Canterbury Rams, Hawke's Bay Hawks, Manawatu Jets, Nelson Giants, Southland Sharks, Super City Rangers, Taranaki Mountainairs and Wellington Saints.[10]
Contents
Team information
| 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 |
Standings
| # | Regular Season Standings | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | PTS | |
| 1 | Southland Sharks | 15 | 3 | 83 | 30 |
| 2 | Nelson Giants | 13 | 5 | 72 | 26 |
| 3 | Wellington Saints | 12 | 6 | 67 | 24 |
| 4 | Super City Rangers | 11 | 7 | 61 | 22 |
| 5 | Canterbury Rams | 9 | 9 | 50 | 18 |
| 6 | Manawatu Jets | 6 | 12 | 33 | 12 |
| 7 | Hawke's Bay Hawks | 6 | 12 | 33 | 12 |
| 8 | Taranaki Mountainairs | 0 | 18 | 0 | 0 |
Final Four
| Semi-finals | Grand Final | ||||||||
| 1 | Southland Sharks | 95 | |||||||
| 4 | Super City Rangers | 80 | |||||||
| File:Gold Cup icon.svg | Southland Sharks | 72 | |||||||
| Wellington Saints | 68 | ||||||||
| 2 | Nelson Giants | 85 | |||||||
| 3 | Wellington Saints | 97 | |||||||
Awards
Player of the Week
Statistics leaders
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 |
Regular season
- Most Valuable Player: Torrey Craig (Wellington Saints)[24]
- NZ Most Valuable Player: Lindsay Tait (Wellington Saints)
- Regular Season Winners: Southland Sharks (15–3)
- Keith Carr Trophy – Most Outstanding Guard: Torrey Craig (Wellington Saints)
- John Macdonald Trophy – Most Outstanding NZ Guard: Lindsay Tait (Wellington Saints)
- Commissioners Cup – Most Outstanding Forward: Tai Wesley (Southland Sharks)
- Stan Hill Trophy – Most Outstanding NZ Forward/Centre: Josh Duinker (Nelson Giants)
- Garry Pettis Memorial Trophy – Leading Individual Rebounder: Jeremiah Trueman (12.4) (Manawatu Jets)
- Dave Taylor Trophy – Leading Assists: Lindsay Tait (8.9) (Wellington Saints)
- Leading Scorer: Aaron Fuller (28.4) (Taranaki Mountainairs)
- Nial Forsyth Trophy – Best Team Free Throws: Nelson Giants
- Rookie of the Year: Josh Duinker (Nelson Giants)
- Coach of the Year: Paul Henare (Southland Sharks)
- Referee of the Year: Tim Brown (Auckland)
- Media Award: Logan Savory (Southland Times)
- 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
- Final Four MVP: Tai Wesley (Southland Sharks)[25]
See also
References
- ↑ Southland Sharks to host opening game of NZ National Basketball League
- ↑ P-TOWN PRE-SEASON DAY ONE
- ↑ P-TOWN PRESEASON: DAY TWO
- ↑ NBL Preseason Wrap-Up
- ↑ 2015 NBL Draw Released
- ↑ Taranaki Mountain Airs' import smashes NBL scoring record but still loses
- ↑ Aaron Fuller Breaks NBL Record With 54 Points
- ↑ Basketball: Nuggets closing on unwanted record
- ↑ 2015 BARTERCARD NBL SEMI-FINALS PREVIEW
- ↑ Home games a strong feature in draw for Jets season
- ↑ TAIT WINS OPENING PLAYER OF THE WEEK
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 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 WEEKK
- ↑ MOORE WINS THIRD PLAYER OF THE WEEK
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 CRAIG AND WESLEY WIN WEEKLY AWARD
- ↑ ASTON NABS WEEKLY AWARD
- ↑ FULLER GRABS LAST WEEKLY AWARD
- ↑ CRAIG WINS MVP
- ↑ Southland Sharks players keen to return to defend National Basketball League title
