2019–20 NBL season

National Basketball League
	Logo of the league sponsored by Hungry Jack's
Competition details
Season	2019–20
Teams	9
Games played	126 (regular season); 9 (semi-finals); 3 (Grand Final)
Dates	3 October 2019 – 15 March 2020
TV	Australia: SBS Viceland; ESPN; New Zealand: Sky Sport; Online: SBS On Demand; NBL TV; Twitch; Facebook Watch;
Final positions
Champions	Perth Wildcats; (10th title)
Runners-up	Sydney Kings
Semifinalists	Cairns Taipans; Melbourne United
Awards
MVP	Bryce Cotton; (Wildcats)
Finals MVP	Bryce Cotton; (Wildcats)
Fans MVP	Scott Machado; (Taipans)
Rookie of the Year	LaMelo Ball; (Hawks)
Best Defensive Player	D. J. Newbill; (Taipans)
Most Improved Player	Will Magnay; (Bullets)
Best Sixth Man	Jason Cadee; (Bullets)
Coach of the Year	Mike Kelly; (Taipans)
Statistical leaders
Efficiency	Jordan Hunter; (Kings) 73%
Points	Bryce Cotton; (Wildcats) 22.2
Rebounds	Cameron Oliver; (Taipans) 9.7
Assists	Scott Machado; (Taipans) 7.5
Records
Biggest home win	45 points; United 125–80 Kings; (2 March 2020)
Biggest away win	23 points; Wildcats 76–99 Taipans; (18 October 2019); United 81–104 Kings; (14 December 2019); Hawks 79–102 Kings; (24 January 2020)
Highest scoring	224 points; 36ers 113–111 Phoenix; (13 December 2019)
Winning streak	6 games; Melbourne United; (2 – 29 November 2019); Sydney Kings; (4 October – 4 November 2019); Brisbane Bullets; (5 January – 7 February 2020)
Losing streak	10 games; Illawarra Hawks; (4 January – 15 February 2020)
Highest attendance	17,514 – Qudos Bank Arena; Kings vs Hawks; (17 November 2019)
Lowest attendance	2,054 – ILT Stadium Southland; Breakers vs Wildcats; (3 November 2019)
Total attendance	896,408
Average attendance	6,903
	← 2018–19 2020-21 → All statistics correct as of 17 March 2020. NBL seasons

The 2019–20 NBL season was the 42nd season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. With the addition of South East Melbourne Phoenix for this season, a total of nine teams contested in the 2019–20 season. The regular season was played between October 2019 and February 2020, followed by a post-season in February and March 2020.[1]

Australian broadcast rights to the season were held by SBS Viceland in the first year of a two-year deal. All 126 games were available live and free on streaming platforms such as SBS On Demand. ESPN also broadcast 59 games including all games after 7.30pm AEDT.[2] In New Zealand, Sky Sport were the official league broadcaster.[3] The NBL also became the first Australian sports body to broadcast their matches online with them signing a two year deal with Twitch which included all pre-season games.[4] The NBL also signed a deal with Facebook Watch, which broadcast 52 games across the season in America.[5]

Teams

Nine teams competed in the 2019–20 season with the South East Melbourne Phoenix entering the league for the first time.[6]

Stadiums and locations

Hawks

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Adelaide 36ers	Adelaide	Adelaide Entertainment Centre	11,300
Brisbane Bullets	Brisbane	Nissan Arena	5,000
Cairns Taipans	Cairns	Cairns Convention Centre	5,300
Illawarra Hawks	Wollongong	WIN Entertainment Centre	6,000
Illawarra Hawks	Wollongong	AIS Arena	5,200
Melbourne United	Melbourne	Melbourne Arena	10,500
New Zealand Breakers	Auckland	Spark Arena	9,300
		Eventfinda Stadium	4,400
		ILT Stadium Southland	4,000
Perth Wildcats	Perth	Perth Arena	14,800
South East Melbourne Phoenix	Melbourne	Melbourne Arena	10,500
South East Melbourne Phoenix	Melbourne	State Basketball Centre	3,200
Sydney Kings	Sydney	Qudos Bank Arena	18,200

Personnel and sponsorship

Team	Coach	Captain	Main sponsor	Kit manufacturer
Adelaide 36ers	Joey Wright	Brendan Teys Kevin White	Scouts Australia	First Ever
Brisbane Bullets	Andrej Lemanis	Jason Cadee Mika Vukona	Tyrepower
Cairns Taipans	Mike Kelly	Nathan Jawai D. J. Newbill	CQUniversity
Illawarra Hawks	Matt Flinn	David Andersen Todd Blanchfield	SLAM Media Inc.
Melbourne United	Dean Vickerman	Chris Goulding	SodaStream
New Zealand Breakers	Dan Shamir	Thomas Abercrombie	Sky Sport
Perth Wildcats	Trevor Gleeson	Damian Martin	Pentanet
South East Melbourne Phoenix	Simon Mitchell	Mitch Creek	Dreamstreet Lending
Sydney Kings	Will Weaver	Kevin Lisch	HOSTPLUS

Pre-season

The pre-season games started on 19 June 2019 and ended on 16 October 2020. The pre-season featured games in China, the Philippines and the United States, and featured the NBLxNBA 2019 Tour in which five NBL teams played a total of seven games.

Ladder

2019-20 NBL pre-season ladder

Ladder

Information

Pos.	Name	Pld.	W.	L.	Last 5	Streak	Home	Away	For	Against	Pts %	Win %
1	Sydney Kings	5	4	1	4-1	W3	1-0	3-1	486	394	123.35%	80.00%
2	Cairns Taipans	9	6	3	4-1	W4	3-1	3-2	811	763	106.29%	66.67%
3	SEM Phoenix (NT)	9	6	3	4-1	W2	3-2	3-1	819	784	104.46%	66.67%
4	Melbourne United	12	6	6	2-3	L2	4-3	2-3	1167	1095	106.58%	50.00%
5	Brisbane Bullets	8	4	4	3-2	W3	1-1	3-3	676	676	100.00%	50.00%
6	Illawarra Hawks	6	3	3	2-3	L2	1-1	2-2	598	631	94.77%	50.00%
7	Adelaide 36ers	10	4	6	1-4	L2	1-1	3-5	892	920	96.96%	40.00%
8	Perth Wildcats (RC)	7	2	5	1-4	L1	1-2	1-3	625	671	93.14%	28.57%
9	NZ Breakers	6	1	5	0-5	L5	0-0	1-5	501	574	87.28%	16.67%

Total Rounds

11 weeks

Total Games

46 games

Legend

(NT) New Team
(RC) Reigning Champion

Updated: 17 October 2019

NBL Blitz ladder

2019 NBL Blitz ladder

Ladder

Information

Pos.	Name	Pld.	W.	L.	Qtr Won	Last 5	Streak	For	Against	Pts %	Win %	Pts.
1	Brisbane Bullets	2	2	0	6.5	2-0	W2	198	142	139.44%	100.00%	12.5
2	Cairns Taipans	2	2	0	5	2-0	W2	187	167	111.98%	100.00%	11
3	South East Melbourne Phoenix (NT)	2	2	0	5	2-0	W2	198	182	108.79%	100.00%	11
4	Sydney Kings	2	1	1	5	1-1	W1	190	167	113.77%	50.00%	8
5	New Zealand Breakers	2	1	1	5	1-1	L1	192	178	107.87%	50.00%	8
6	Melbourne United	2	1	1	5	1-1	W1	186	188	98.94%	50.00%	8
7	Illawarra Hawks	2	1	1	1.5	1-1	L1	213	229	93.01%	50.00%	4.5
8	Adelaide 36ers (RC)	2	0	2	3.5	0-2	L2	184	192	95.83%	0.00%	3.5
9	Perth Wildcats	2	0	2	2.5	0-2	L2	190	225	84.44%	0.00%	2.5
10	NBL1 All Stars (NT)	2	0	2	1	0-2	L2	125	193	64.77%	0.00%	1

Total Rounds

4 days

Games per Team

2

Total Games

10

Legend

(NT) New Team
(RC) Reigning Champion

Updated: 22 September 2019

Regular season

The regular season started on 3 October 2019 and finished on 16 February 2020.

Ladder

2019-20 NBL ladder

Ladder

Information

Pos.	Name	Pld.	W.	L.	Last 5	Streak	Home	Away	For	Against	Pts %	Win %
1	Sydney Kings	28	20	8	4-1	W2	12-2	8-6	2642	2472	106.88%	71.43%
2	Perth Wildcats (RC)	28	19	9	4-1	W3	11-3	8-6	2529	2409	104.98%	67.86%
3	Cairns Taipans	28	16	12	3-2	L2	11-3	5-9	2587	2547	101.57%	57.14%
4	Melbourne United	28	15	13	4-1	W3	9-5	6-8	2638	2560	103.05%	53.57%
5	Brisbane Bullets	28	15	13	3-2	W1	10-4	5-9	2607	2557	101.96%	53.57%
6	NZ Breakers	28	15	13	4-1	W4	9-5	6-8	2514	2468	101.86%	53.57%
7	Adelaide 36ers	28	12	16	1-4	L2	8-6	4-10	2654	2768	95.88%	42.86%
8	SEM Phoenix (NT)	28	9	19	0-5	L8	6-8	3-11	2671	2761	96.74%	32.14%
9	Illawarra Hawks	28	5	23	0-5	L10	3-11	2-12	2354	2654	88.70%	17.86%

Total Rounds

20

Games per Team

28

Total Games

126

Legend

(NT) New Team
(RC) Reigning Champion

Updated: 16 February 2020[7]

Ladder Progression

Numbers highlighted in green indicate that the team finished the round inside the top four.
Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished first on the ladder in that round.
Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished last place on the ladder in that round.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Adelaide 36ers	–	8	4	4	5	6	6	5	5	6	4	5	5	5	5	7	7	7	7	7
Brisbane Bullets	2	4	5	5	4	5	5	6	7	7	7	7	8	7	6	5	4	4	5	5
Cairns Taipans	7	7	6	6	8	8	7	7	6	4	6	4	4	4	3	3	3	3	3	3
Illawarra Hawks	6	5	7	9	9	9	9	8	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9
Melbourne United	5	6	8	8	6	4	3	3	4	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	5	6	6	4
New Zealand Breakers	–	–	9	7	7	7	8	9	8	8	8	8	7	6	8	6	6	5	4	6
Perth Wildcats	4	2	3	2	2	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
South East Melbourne Phoenix	3	3	2	3	3	2	4	4	3	5	5	6	6	8	7	8	8	8	8	8
Sydney Kings	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1

Finals Series

The 2019–20 Finals was played in February and March 2020, consisting of two best-of-three semi-final series and a best-of-five Grand Final series.[8] In the semi-finals, the higher seed hosted the first and third games. In the Grand Final, the higher seed hosts the first, third and fifth games.

Despite the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic and multiple other sporting events being cancelled due to the pandemic, the Grand Final series started on 8 March 2020. Before Game 2 it was decided that the remaining games would be played without crowds, however Games 4 and 5 were later cancelled.[9][10] The Perth Wildcats were named champions of the season, after they built a 2–1 lead in the series before it was cancelled.[11]

Playoff Bracket

Semi-finals					Grand final


1	Sydney Kings	86	80	89

4	Melbourne United	80	125	87
					1	Sydney Kings	86	97	96	X	X

					2	Perth Wildcats	88	85	111	X	X
2	Perth Wildcats	108	74	93

3	Cairns Taipans	107	85	82

Awards

Pre-season

Most Valuable Player (Ray Borner Medal): John Roberson (South East Melbourne Phoenix)
3 Point Shootout: David Barlow (Melbourne United)
Dunk Contest: Terry Armstrong (South East Melbourne Phoenix)

Regular Season

Player of the Week

Rounds	Player	Team
Round 1	Mitch Creek	South East Melbourne Phoenix
Round 2	Bryce Cotton	Perth Wildcats
Round 3	Andrew Bogut	Sydney Kings
Round 4	Shawn Long	Melbourne United
Round 5	Jason Cadee	Brisbane Bullets
Round 6	LaMelo Ball	Illawarra Hawks
Round 7	Jerome Randle	Adelaide 36ers
Round 8	LaMelo Ball	Illawarra Hawks
Round 9	Cameron Oliver	Cairns Taipans
Round 10	Nick Kay	Perth Wildcats
Round 11	John Roberson	South East Melbourne Phoenix
Round 11	Jerome Randle	Adelaide 36ers
Round 12	Scotty Hopson	New Zealand Breakers
Round 13	Lamar Patterson	Brisbane Bullets
Round 14	Dane Pineau	South East Melbourne Phoenix
Round 15	Scott Machado	Cairns Taipans
Round 16	Scotty Hopson	New Zealand Breakers
Round 17	Miles Plumlee	Perth Wildcats
Round 18	Nick Kay	Perth Wildcats
Round 19	Cameron Oliver	Cairns Taipans
Round 20	Chris Goulding	Melbourne United

Awards Night

Most Valuable Player (Andrew Gaze Trophy): Bryce Cotton (Perth Wildcats)
Rookie of the Year: LaMelo Ball (Illawarra Hawks)
Best Defensive Player: D. J. Newbill (Cairns Taipans)
Best Sixth Man: Jason Cadee (Brisbane Bullets)
Most Improved Player: Will Magnay (Brisbane Bullets)
Fans MVP: Scott Machado (Cairns Taipans)
Coach of the Year (Lindsay Gaze Trophy): Mike Kelly (Cairns Taipans)
Referee of the Year: Vaughan Mayberry
GameTime by Kmart: Dane Pineau (South East Melbourne Phoenix)
All-NBL First Team:
All-NBL Second Team:

Post Season

Semi-Finals MVP: Nick Kay (Perth Wildcats), Jae'Sean Tate (Sydney Kings)
Grand Final Series MVP (Larry Sengstock Medal): Bryce Cotton (Perth Wildcats)

References

"#NBL20 Schedule Released". National Basketball League. 18 July 2019. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
Mark, David (31 July 2019). "National Basketball League now on SBS and ESPN after Nine opts out of its broadcast deal". ABC. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
"NBL and Breakers Team Up with SKY Sport". National Basketball League. 5 June 2019. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
Ward, Roy (11 October 2019). "NBL strikes 'revolutionary' live stream deal with Twitch". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
Ward, Roy (24 September 2019). "Lots to like: Facebook could open floodgates for NBL". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
"South East Melbourne Phoenix Set To Rise". National Basketball League. 17 November 2018. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
"2019–20 NBL Ladder | NBL". nbl.com.au. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
"Schedule for Hungry Jack's NBL Finals Presented by MG". nbl.com.au.
"NBL game two to be played in isolation". The West Australian. 13 March 2020.
"Remaining NBL Grand Final Series Games Cancelled | NBL". nbl.com.au.
"NBL news: NBL names Perth Wildcats champions, Sydney Kings". Fox Sports. 19 March 2020.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] "#NBL20 Schedule Released". National Basketball League. 18 July 2019. Retrieved 7 July 2019.

[2] Mark, David (31 July 2019). "National Basketball League now on SBS and ESPN after Nine opts out of its broadcast deal". ABC. Retrieved 23 October 2019.

[3] "NBL and Breakers Team Up with SKY Sport". National Basketball League. 5 June 2019. Retrieved 7 July 2019.

[4] Ward, Roy (11 October 2019). "NBL strikes 'revolutionary' live stream deal with Twitch". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 22 October 2019.

[5] Ward, Roy (24 September 2019). "Lots to like: Facebook could open floodgates for NBL". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 23 October 2019.

[6] "South East Melbourne Phoenix Set To Rise". National Basketball League. 17 November 2018. Retrieved 7 July 2019.

[7] "2019–20 NBL Ladder | NBL". nbl.com.au. Retrieved 22 February 2020.

[8] "Schedule for Hungry Jack's NBL Finals Presented by MG". nbl.com.au.

[9] "NBL game two to be played in isolation". The West Australian. 13 March 2020.

[10] "Remaining NBL Grand Final Series Games Cancelled | NBL". nbl.com.au.

[11] "NBL news: NBL names Perth Wildcats champions, Sydney Kings". Fox Sports. 19 March 2020.