BS Leiden

Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden
Nickname	ZZ Leiden
Leagues	Dutch Basketball League, FIBA Europe Cup
Founded	1958
History	BS Leiden Mercasol Leiden Parker Leiden Elmex Leiden Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden
Arena	Vijf Meihal
Arena Capacity	2,000
Location	Leiden, Netherlands
Team colors	Blue, Navy, White
Main sponsor	Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden
President	Marcel Verburg
Team manager	Rob van Hooven
Head coach	Eddy Casteels
Championships	3 Dutch Championships 2 Dutch Cups 2 Dutch Supercups
Uniforms
Home Away

BS Leiden, mostly known for sponsorship reason as Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden or ZZ Leiden, is a basketball club based in Leiden, Netherlands that plays in the Dutch first division Dutch Basketball League (DBL). Their home games are played at Vijf Meihal, which has 2,000 seats.^[1]

ZZ Leiden has won the national championship three times, the NBB Cup twice, the Dutch Basketball Supercup twice as well.

History

The old Leiden team (1958–1988)

Tony Parker, Sr. (right) going up against Lace Strong (left), while playing for Parker Leiden in 1980.

On September 23, 1958 the club was founded as Bona Stars by Ton Kallenberg, a physical education professor at a school in Leiden. In 1967 the club entered the eredivisie, the highest professional basketball league in the Netherlands under the name BS Leiden. When Parker became the main sponsor of the club in 1977 Leiden won its first national championship. In 1983, Leiden was forced to leave the eredivisie, because the absence of a main sponsor. The team played five years in the Promotiedivisie, the highest non-professional league, before pulling out of the Dutch basketball pyramid.

The Rise of ZZ (2006–2010)

On February 16, 2006 it was announced that Leiden would return at the highest stage in the Netherlands.^[2] The team got a new main sponsor in Zorg en Zekerheid and would play its games in the Vijf Meihal.

After being quarter- and semifinalist in a few seasons, Leiden returned to the top of the Netherlands in 2010. Leading players of the ZZ team were Danny Gibson, who was named the DBL Most Valuable Player Award in 2009–10, and Seamus Boxley. The club won its first NBB Cup, by beating ABC Amsterdam in the championship game. In the Semi-final, heavy favorites Groningen were defeated. In the Playoffs Semi-finals, ZZ once again faced Groningen. The team put up an impressive fight against the top seed, but eventually fell short 3–2.

Back on top (2010–present)

In the 2010–11 season, ZZ Leiden came back on top of the Dutch basketball world as best club. In the regular season, the team finished first. The second DBL title was eventually won, after beating Groningen 4–3 in the Finals. The deciding game 7 turned out to be historic, including three overtimes, which ended in 96-95.^[3]

The following year the team its second NBB Cup, but was defeated in the Finals of the DBL. ZZ Leiden also reached the Round of 16 in the EuroChallenge 2011-12 after their second place in the first group stage this season. In 2013 the team got its third national championship, by going undefeated in the play-offs and beating Aris Leeuwarden in the Finals.

The 2013–14 was a struggling one for Leiden. The team ended on the 4th place in the regular season and lost in the Semifinals to Groningen. After the end of the season, Leiden decided to part ways with head coach Toon van Helfteren.^[4] Van Helfteren eventually won six trophies with Leiden.

Main sponsor Zorg en Zekerheid extended their contract with 3 years in the 2014 offseason,^[5] and a new head coach was signed in Eddy Casteels.^[6] In the 2014–15 season, Leiden finished 2nd in the regular season, but once again was eliminated by Groningen in the Semi-finals.

Logos and names

• 

  Former logo of the parent club

Players

Current roster

Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name 1.5 !G 4 NED ! Jansen, Rogier 1.5 !G 5 NED ! Averink, Kasper 2.0 !SG 6 NED ! de Jong, Worthy 1.0 !PG 12 USA ! Wright, Cashmere (I) 5.0 !C 14 NED ! Koenis, Thomas 3.5 !F 10 NED ! van der List, Jeroen 4.0 !PF 11 NED ! Kherrazi, Mohamed (C) 4.5 !F/C 13 NED ! Versteeg, Floris 3.5 !F 14 NED ! Driessen, Jan 5.0 !C 20 NED ! Nelemans, Bas	Head coach Eddy Casteels Legend (C) Team captain (I) Import player Injured Roster – Transactions Updated: December 21, 2015

Notable players

Trophies

• Dutch Championships (3):

1978, 2011, 2013

Runner-up: 1979, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1985, 2012

• Dutch Cups (2):

2010, 2012

Runner-up: 2014

• Dutch Supercups (2):

2011, 2012

Runner-up: 2013, 2014

Season by season

Coaches

Club symbol Toon van Helfteren played for and coached the team

Coach	From	To	Honours
Toon van Helfteren	2008	2014	2 Dutch Basketball Leagues, 2 NBB Cups, 2 Dutch Supercups
Eddy Casteels	2014	present

Trivia

• Leiden competed in the 1982 FIBA Intercontinental Cup. They won 1 match and finished 6th en last.

References

External links

• Official website (Dutch)
• ZZ Leiden at eurobasket.com