National Basketball League (NBL) New Zealand
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| National Basketball League (NBL) New Zealand | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Sport | Basketball |
| Founded | 1982 |
| No. of teams | 10 |
| Country |  New Zealand |
| Current champions | Hawkes Bay Hawks |
| Official website | Basketball New Zealand |
The National Basketball League New Zealand (NBL) is New Zealand's top basketball competition.
Contents |
[edit] History
It was first set up in 1982 and is played in the New Zealand winter. The League usually kicks off at the end of March or in early April and runs until mid July - early August.
The league has been fairly amateur in the past but in recent years has turned semi-professional.
The New Zealand NBL features many players from the national side "The Tall Blacks" and members from New Zealand's professional basketball team in the Australian league: The New Zealand Breakers.
In 2003, the league signed a deal with TV2 New Zealand to become "the home of hoops". In 2003 and 2004, Sunday afternoon games were screened live on TV2, however in 2006, NBL hoops has been screened at 11 am on a Saturday morning. The semi finals and grand finals are screened live, free to air .
[edit] Foreign Players
Teams are currently allowed two imports. In the past the sides have relied heavily on American imports, but in recent years many of the teams have leaned towards using Australian imports from teams in the Australian NBL.
Recent New Zealand international players who have starred in the New Zealand NBL dominating scoring, have been Dillon Boucher, Aaron Olson, Lindsay Tait, Paul Henare, Paora Winitana, Pero Cameron, Tony Rampton, Lee Rapson, Mark Dickel, and Phill Jones. Current Maccabi Tel Aviv and Tall Black player Kirk Penney also played for North Harbour back in the late 1990's.
[edit] Teams
- Auckland Stars from Auckland
- North Harbour Heat from North Shore
- Waikato Pistons from Hamilton
- Manawatu Jets from Palmerston North
- Hawkes Bay Hawks from Napier
- Taranaki Mountain Airs from New Plymouth
- Wellington Saints from Wellington
- Nelson Giants from Nelson
- Canterbury Rams from Christchurch
- Otago Nuggets from Dunedin
The league has a number of defunct teams, the most recent teams to feature, but who don't play any more are the Northland Suns from Whangarei (exited 1998), the Hutt Valley Lakers (exited 1996) and the Waitakere Rangers (exited 1995).
[edit] League Format
The current league format consists of 18 regular season games, with each of the ten sides playing each other once at their home arena and once away at the oppositions away venue. After 18 regular season games the top four teams go onto the playoffs. The league's playoff system works as follows
Finals Week One
Top finisher vs second finisher ( winner straight to final ) Third finisher vs fourth finisher ( loser eliminated )
Finals Week Two
Loser 1 vs 2 vs winner 3 vs 4 ( loser eliminated , winner progresses to grand final )
Finals Week Three
Grand Final
[edit] Past Champions
Since the outset of the competition , Auckland has been the benchmark - the team to beat . Their 2 season winning streak was cut down as they were beaten by Hawkes bay in the final. The New Zealand NBL champions are as follows :
- 1982 Auckland
- 1983 Auckland
- 1984 Wellington
- 1985 Wellington
- 1986 Canterbury
- 1987 Wellington
- 1988 Wellington
- 1989 Canterbury
- 1990 Canterbury
- 1991 Hutt Valley
- 1992 Canterbury
- 1993 Hutt Valley
- 1994 Nelson
- 1995 Auckland
- 1996 Auckland
- 1997 Auckland
- 1998 Nelson
- 1999 Auckland
- 2000 Auckland
- 2001 Waikato
- 2002 Waikato
- 2003 Wellington
- 2004 Auckland
- 2005 Auckland
- 2006 Hawkes Bay
