2008–09 NBL season

The 2008–09 NBL season was the 31st season of competition since its establishment in 1979. A total of 10 teams contested the league.

2008–09 NBL season
League	National Basketball League
Season	2008–09
Dates	13 September 2008 – 13 March 2009
Teams	10
TV partner(s)	Australia: Fox Sports New Zealand: Māori Television
Regular season
Season champions	South Dragons
Season MVP	Kirk Penney (New Zealand)
Finals
Champions	South Dragons (1st title)
Runners-up	Melbourne Tigers
Semifinalists	New Zealand Breakers Townsville Crocodiles
Finals MVP	Donta Smith (South)
Statistical leaders
Points Kirk Penney (New Zealand) 24.1 Rebounds Luke Schenscher (Adelaide) 10.8 Assists Shane Heal (Gold Coast) 5.7

2008–09 league participants

Team	Region	CEO	Coach	Home ground	Capacity
Adelaide 36ers	SA	Mal Hemmerling	Scott Ninnis	Distinctive Homes Dome	8,000
Cairns Taipans	QLD	Denis Keeffe	Mark Beecroft	Cairns Convention Centre	5,300
Gold Coast Blaze	QLD	David Claxton	Brendan Joyce	Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre	5,269
Melbourne Tigers	VIC	Seamus McPeake	Alan Westover	State Netball Centre	3,500
New Zealand Breakers	NZL	Richard Clarke	Andrej Lemanis	North Shore Events Centre	4,400
Perth Wildcats	WA	Nick Marvin	Conner Henry	Challenge Stadium	4,500
South Dragons	VIC	Ryan Gardiner	Brian Goorjian	Hisense Arena	10,500
Sydney Spirit[1]	NSW	Steve Aquilina[2]	Rob Beveridge	State Sports Centre	5,006
Townsville Crocodiles	QLD	Ian Smythe	Trevor Gleeson	Townsville Entertainment Centre	5,257
Wollongong Hawks	NSW	TBD	Eric Cooks	WIN Entertainment Centre	6,000

• On 30 June 2008 the Brisbane Bullets confirmed they would be handing back the team's license to the NBL. The NBL confirmed there will be no Brisbane team participating in the 2008/09 season.^[3]
• On 2 July 2008 the NBL announced that two bids for the Sydney Kings license had failed and that there would be no second Sydney team in the 2008/09 season.^[4]
• On 29 July 2008 the Singapore Slingers announced that they had decided to withdraw from the competition permanently due to the dramatic increase in international travel costs.^[5]

Preseason transactions

Coach	Recruited From	Signed By
Phil Smyth	Adelaide 36ers	Released[6]
Scott Ninnis	36ers Academy	Adelaide 36ers[7]
Scott Fisher	Perth Wildcats	Released[8]
Bill Tomlinson	Sydney Kings	Sydney Kings[9]
Brian Goorjian	Sydney Kings	South Dragons[10]
Conner Henry	Perth Wildcats	Perth Wildcats[11]

Player	Recruited From	Signed By
Lanard Copeland	Adelaide 36ers	Retired[12]
Darryl McDonald	Melbourne Tigers	Retired[13]
Jason Crowe	Gold Coast Blaze	Released[14]
Nic Campbell	Gold Coast Blaze	Released[14]
Jared Newson	Cairns Taipans	Released[15]
Sean Lampley	Melbourne Tigers	Released[16]
Galen Young	Townsville Crocodiles	Released[17]
Mike Helms	Singapore Slingers	Released[18]
John Philip	Wollongong Hawks	Released[19]
Darren Ng	Adelaide 36ers	Singapore Slingers[20]
Jacob Holmes	South Dragons	Adelaide 36ers[21]
Mark Worthington	Sydney Kings	South Dragons[22]
Mika Vukona	New Zealand Breakers	South Dragons[22]
Daniel Johnson	Pepperdine University	Melbourne Tigers[23]
Brad Hill	South Dragons	Adelaide 36ers[24]
Rod Grizzard	Singapore Slingers	Melbourne Tigers[16]
Jason Smith	Sydney Kings	Sydney Spirit
Luke Schenscher	Brose Baskets	Adelaide 36ers[25]
C. J. Bruton	Brisbane Bullets	New Zealand Breakers[26]
Dillon Boucher	Brisbane Bullets	New Zealand Breakers[26]
Ryan Kersten	New Zealand Breakers	Adelaide 36ers[27]
Sam Harris	Old Dominion	Singapore Slingers[28]
Jayson Castro	Harbour Centre Batang Pier	Singapore Slingers[29]
Drew Williamson	Townsville Crocodiles	West Sydney Razorbacks[30]
Cameron Rigby	Wollongong Hawks	Brisbane Bullets[31]
Chris Daniel	New Zealand Breakers	Singapore Slingers[32]
Brad Williamson	Brisbane Bullets	Townsville Crocodiles[33]
Shane Heal	South Dragons	Gold Coast Blaze[34]
Paora Winitana	New Zealand Breakers	Adelaide 36ers[35]
David Gruber	Frankston Blues	West Sydney Razorbacks[36]
Steven Broom	Brisbane Bullets	Townsville Crocodiles[37]
Darnell Hinson	West Sydney Razorbacks	Perth Wildcats[38]
Darius Rice	Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants	Singapore Slingers[39]
Thomas Abercrombie	Washington State	New Zealand Breakers[40]
Corey Webster	Lambeth College	New Zealand Breakers[40]
Rhys Martin	Brisbane Bullets	Wollongong Hawks[41]
Adam Tanner	University of Denver	New Zealand Breakers[42]
Glen Saville	Sydney Kings	Wollongong Hawks[43]
Eric Sandrin	Ulsan Mobis Phoebus	Singapore Slingers[44]
Kerry Williams	Cairns Marlins	Cairns Taipans[45]
Adam Gibson	Brisbane Bullets	South Dragons[46]
Stephen Weigh	University of Utah	Perth Wildcats[47]
Anthony Petrie	West Sydney Razorbacks	Wollongong Hawks[48]
Russell Hinder	Sydney Kings	Townsville Crocodiles[49]
Ian Crosswhite	Sydney Kings	Cairns Taipans[50]
Dave Thomas	Melbourne Tigers	Cairns Taipans[51]
Sam Mackinnon	Brisbane Bullets	Melbourne Tigers[52]
Jason Smith	Sydney Kings	Sydney Spirit[53]
Isiah Victor	Sydney Kings	Perth Wildcats[54]
Rhys Carter	West Sydney Razorbacks	South Dragons[55]
Dusty Rychart	Brisbane Bullets	Wollongong Hawks[56]
Derrick Low	Washington State	Sydney Spirit[57]
Aaron Bruce	Baylor University	Adelaide 36ers[58]
Steve Constanzo	Townsville Heat	Townsville Crocodiles[59]
Greg Vanderjagt	Townsville Crocodiles	Gold Coast Blaze[60]
James Quinn	Illawarra Hawks	Wollongong Hawks[61]
Mark Tyndale	Temple University	Adelaide 36ers[62]
Chris Goulding	Brisbane Bullets	Perth Wildcats[63]
Cameron Tovey	Sydney Kings	Townsville Crocodiles[64]
Ben Knight	Singapore Slingers	Perth Wildcats[65]
Tim Labka	Bankstown Bruins	Wollongong Hawks[66]
Anthony Olah	Gold Coast Goannas	Gold Coast Blaze[67]
James Orr	Frankston Blues	South Dragons[68]
Peter Hoban	Forestville Eagles	Adelaide 36ers[69]
Zac Carter	Southern Districts Spartans	Gold Coast Blaze[70]
Ebi Ere	Brisbane Bullets	Melbourne Tigers[71]
Tremmell Darden	Spirou Charleroi	South Dragons[72]
Daniel Dillon	University of Arizona	South Dragons[73]

Mid-season transactions

Coach	Recruited From	Signed By
Alan Black	Cairns Taipans	Released[74]
Mark Beecroft	Cairns Taipans	Cairns Taipans[74]

Player	Recruited From	Signed By
Tariq Naqqash	East Central University	South Dragons[75]
Luke Kendall	Sydney Kings	Perth Wildcats[76]
Anthony Susnjara	Keflavik	Townsville Crocodiles[77]
Juaquin Hawkins	Gold Coast Blaze	Released[78]
Justin Bowen	Austin Toros	Gold Coast Blaze
Mark Tyndale	Adelaide 36ers	Released[79]
Julius Hodge	Free Agent	Adelaide 36ers[80]
Cortez Groves	South Dragons	Released[81]
Liam Rush	Sydney Spirit	Sundsvall Dragons[82]
Larry Abney	Cairns Taipans	Released[83]
Blagoj Janev	Singapore Slingers	Sydney Spirit[84]
Stephen Black	Cairns Taipans	Released[85]
Donta Smith	Shanxi Zhongyu	South Dragons[86]
Luke Kendall	Perth Wildcats	Melbourne Tigers[87]
Dave Thomas	Cairns Taipans	Melbourne Tigers[88]
Rod Grizzard	Melbourne Tigers	Released[88]
Julian Khazzouh	Sydney Spirit	Hanzevast Capitals[89]
Shane McDonald	Singapore Slingers	Perth Wildcats[90]
Julius Hodge	Adelaide 36ers	Released[91]
Rod Grizzard	Melbourne Tigers	Adelaide 36ers[92]

Sponsors

Team	Major sponsor
Adelaide 36ers	Sprint Auto Parts
Cairns Taipans	Skytrans Airlines
Gold Coast Blaze	QDeck
Melbourne Tigers	OAMPS Insurance Brokers
New Zealand Breakers	Bartercard
Perth Wildcats	Saville Australia
South Dragons	Crazy John's
Townsville Crocodiles	McDonald's
West Sydney Razorbacks	Westbus
Wollongong Hawks	Australian Health Management[93]

Apparel

Team	Provider	Home colour	Away colour
Adelaide 36ers	Adidas	Blue	Yellow
Cairns Taipans	Kombat	Orange	White
Gold Coast Blaze	G2 Game Gear[94]	Sky Blue	White
Melbourne Tigers	Kombat	Red	Yellow
New Zealand Breakers	SAS Sports	Black	White
Perth Wildcats	Hoop 2 Hoop	Red	White
South Dragons	Kombat	Black	White
Townsville Crocodiles	Kombat	Green	White
Sydney Spirit	Blades	Blue	White
Wollongong Hawks	G2 Game Gear	Red	White

Regular season

The 2008-09 regular season took place over 22 rounds between 13 September 2008 and 14 February 2009.

Round 1

Date	Home	Score	Away	Venue	Crowd	Boxscore
13/09/2008	Cairns Taipans	98–92	South Dragons	Cairns Convention Centre	3,830	boxscore
14/09/2008	Sydney Spirit	102–112	Melbourne Tigers	State Sports Centre	1,573	boxscore
17/09/2008	South Dragons	97–81	Perth Wildcats	Hisense Arena	3,202	boxscore
18/09/2008	New Zealand Breakers	114–93	Wollongong Hawks	North Shore Events Centre	3,492	boxscore
19/09/2008	Adelaide 36ers	109–82	Townsville Crocodiles	Adelaide Arena	4,749	boxscore
19/09/2008	Gold Coast Blaze	75–85	Cairns Taipans	Gold Coast Convention Centre	3,031	boxscore
20/09/2008	Melbourne Tigers	92–76	Gold Coast Blaze	State Netball and Hockey Centre	2,497	boxscore
20/09/2008	Wollongong Hawks	111–99	Sydney Spirit	WIN Entertainment Centre	2,834	boxscore
21/09/2008	Perth Wildcats	87–91	South Dragons	Challenge Stadium	4,400	boxscore

Round 2

Date	Home	Score	Away	Venue	Crowd	Boxscore
24/09/2008	Adelaide 36ers	99–89	Sydney Spirit	Adelaide Arena	4,010	boxscore
25/09/2008	New Zealand Breakers	120–111	Melbourne Tigers	North Shore Events Centre	3,751	boxscore
25/09/2008	South Dragons	89–91	Townsville Crocodiles	Hisense Arena	3,413	boxscore
26/09/2008	Perth Wildcats	94–80	Gold Coast Blaze	Challenge Stadium	4,000	boxscore
27/09/2008	Sydney Spirit	112–105	Adelaide 36ers	AIS Arena	1,322	boxscore
27/09/2008	Townsville Crocodiles	100–96	Cairns Taipans	Townsville Entertainment Centre	4,511	boxscore

Round 3

Date	Home	Score	Away	Venue	Crowd	Boxscore
1/10/2008	Perth Wildcats	105–92	Wollongong Hawks	Challenge Stadium	4,200	boxscore
2/10/2008	New Zealand Breakers	118–80	Adelaide 36ers	North Shore Events Centre	3,200	boxscore
2/10/2008	Gold Coast Blaze	90–107	South Dragons	Gold Coast Convention Centre	2,786	boxscore
3/10/2008	Cairns Taipans	77–101	Melbourne Tigers	Cairns Convention Centre	3,969	boxscore
4/10/2008	Wollongong Hawks	95–114	South Dragons	WIN Entertainment Centre	2,516	boxscore
4/10/2008	Townsville Crocodiles	97–80	Perth Wildcats	Townsville Entertainment Centre	4,184	boxscore

Round 4

Date	Home	Score	Away	Venue	Crowd	Boxscore
8/10/2008	Melbourne Tigers	101–105	Perth Wildcats	State Netball and Hockey Centre	2,074	boxscore
9/10/2008	New Zealand Breakers	111–122	Cairns Taipans	North Shore Events Centre	4,066	boxscore
10/10/2008	Wollongong Hawks	85–82	Perth Wildcats	WIN Entertainment Centre	2,338	boxscore
10/10/2008	Gold Coast Blaze	92–98	Sydney Spirit	Gold Coast Convention Centre	3,091	boxscore
11/10/2008	Melbourne Tigers	119–91	Adelaide 36ers	State Netball and Hockey Centre	2,636	boxscore
11/10/2008	Sydney Spirit	101–86	Perth Wildcats	State Sports Centre	1,624	boxscore

Round 5

Date	Home	Score	Away	Venue	Crowd	Boxscore
15/10/2008	Perth Wildcats	89–77	Wollongong Hawks	Challenge Stadium	3,800	boxscore
16/10/2008	New Zealand Breakers	120–108	Gold Coast Blaze	North Shore Events Centre	3,500	boxscore
17/10/2008	Wollongong Hawks	105–95	Adelaide 36ers	WIN Entertainment Centre	2,329	boxscore
17/10/2008	Sydney Spirit	101–106	South Dragons	Sydney Entertainment Centre	1,476	boxscore
17/10/2008	Townsville Crocodiles	93–107	Perth Wildcats	Townsville Entertainment Centre	4,274	boxscore
18/10/2008	South Dragons	108–80	Melbourne Tigers	Hisense Arena	9,308	boxscore
18/10/2008	Cairns Taipans	102–87	Gold Coast Blaze	Cairns Convention Centre	4,368	boxscore

Round 6

Date	Home	Score	Away	Venue	Crowd	Boxscore
22/10/2008	Townsville Crocodiles	103–101	Sydney Spirit	Townsville Entertainment Centre	3,858	boxscore
22/10/2008	Cairns Taipans	101–92	New Zealand Breakers	Cairns Convention Centre	3,258	boxscore
24/10/2008	Wollongong Hawks	98–96	Gold Coast Blaze	WIN Entertainment Centre	2,646	boxscore
25/10/2008	Melbourne Tigers	110–97	Townsville Crocodiles	State Netball and Hockey Centre	2,780	boxscore
25/10/2008	South Dragons	94–65	Cairns Taipans	Hisense Arena	4,200	boxscore
25/10/2008	Gold Coast Blaze	113–116	New Zealand Breakers	Gold Coast Convention Centre	3,269	boxscore
25/10/2008	Adelaide 36ers	93–104	Perth Wildcats	Adelaide Arena	5,238	boxscore
26/10/2008	Sydney Spirit	99–86	Wollongong Hawks	State Sports Centre	1,350	boxscore

Round 7

Date	Home	Score	Away	Venue	Crowd	Boxscore
29/10/2008	Wollongong Hawks	101–93	Cairns Taipans	WIN Entertainment Centre	1,877	boxscore
30/10/2008	New Zealand Breakers	103–99	Perth Wildcats	North Shore Events Centre	3,532	boxscore
1/11/2008	South Dragons	96–87	Sydney Spirit	Hisense Arena	3,851	boxscore
1/11/2008	Melbourne Tigers	123–111	Gold Coast Blaze	State Netball and Hockey Centre	2,074	boxscore
1/11/2008	Cairns Taipans	87–89	Wollongong Hawks	Cairns Convention Centre	3,390	boxscore
1/11/2008	Townsville Crocodiles	97–106	New Zealand Breakers	Townsville Entertainment Centre	4,212	boxscore
2/11/2008	Adelaide 36ers	108–76	Sydney Spirit	Adelaide Arena	3,890	boxscore

Round 8

Date	Home	Score	Away	Venue	Crowd	Boxscore
5/11/2008	Gold Coast Blaze	115–106	Townsville Crocodiles	Gold Coast Convention Centre	2,388	boxscore
6/11/2008	New Zealand Breakers	86–96	Adelaide 36ers	North Shore Events Centre	2,974	boxscore
7/11/2008	Sydney Spirit	80–98	Melbourne Tigers	State Sports Centre	1,680	boxscore
8/11/2008	Melbourne Tigers	84–86	New Zealand Breakers	State Netball and Hockey Centre	3,387	boxscore
8/11/2008	South Dragons	95–83	Gold Coast Blaze	Hisense Arena	3,812	boxscore
8/11/2008	Adelaide 36ers	70–71	Cairns Taipans	Adelaide Arena	4,565	boxscore
8/11/2008	Perth Wildcats	115–78	Townsville Crocodiles	Challenge Stadium	4,223	boxscore

Round 9

Date	Home	Score	Away	Venue	Crowd	Boxscore
12/11/2008	South Dragons	97–82	Adelaide 36ers	Hisense Arena	3,318	boxscore
12/11/2008	Sydney Spirit	115–93	Gold Coast Blaze	State Sports Centre	1,430	boxscore
12/11/2008	Cairns Taipans	81–93	New Zealand Breakers	Cairns Convention Centre	3,243	boxscore
14/11/2008	Wollongong Hawks	110–111	Gold Coast Blaze	WIN Entertainment Centre	2,585	boxscore
15/11/2008	Townsville Crocodiles	108–119	New Zealand Breakers	Townsville Entertainment Centre	4,152	boxscore
15/11/2008	Perth Wildcats	86–78	Cairns Taipans	Challenge Stadium	4,200	boxscore
16/11/2008	Gold Coast Blaze	96–108	Adelaide 36ers	Gold Coast Convention Centre	2,238	boxscore

Round 10

Date	Home	Score	Away	Venue	Crowd	Boxscore
19/11/2008	Melbourne Tigers	99–98	Cairns Taipans	State Netball and Hockey Centre	2,480	boxscore
20/11/2008	New Zealand Breakers	112–98	South Dragons	North Shore Events Centre	3,010	boxscore
21/11/2008	Sydney Spirit	110–108	Adelaide 36ers	State Sports Centre	1,456	boxscore
22/11/2008	Townsville Crocodiles	121–113	Wollongong Hawks	Townsville Entertainment Centre	4,046	boxscore
22/11/2008	Cairns Taipans	85–101	Perth Wildcats	Cairns Convention Centre	3,340	boxscore
22/11/2008	Adelaide 36ers	100–106	South Dragons	Adelaide Arena	5,358	boxscore

Round 11

Date	Home	Score	Away	Venue	Crowd	Boxscore
26/11/2008	South Dragons	102–64	Cairns Taipans	Hisense Arena	3,894	boxscore
26/11/2008	Townsville Crocodiles	113–105	Melbourne Tigers	Townsville Entertainment Centre	3,762	boxscore
27/11/2008	New Zealand Breakers	108–94	Perth Wildcats	North Shore Events Centre	3,062	boxscore
29/11/2008	Sydney Spirit	103–94	South Dragons	State Sports Centre	2,572	boxscore
29/11/2008	Cairns Taipans	90–94	Townsville Crocodiles	Cairns Convention Centre	3,483	boxscore
29/11/2008	Gold Coast Blaze	88–110	New Zealand Breakers	Gold Coast Convention Centre	2,551	boxscore
29/11/2008	Adelaide 36ers	101–96	Wollongong Hawks	Adelaide Arena	4,462	boxscore
29/11/2008	Perth Wildcats	95–108	Melbourne Tigers	Marrara Indoor Stadium	1,500	boxscore

Round 12

Date	Home	Score	Away	Venue	Crowd	Boxscore
3/12/2008	Wollongong Hawks	78–112	South Dragons	WIN Entertainment Centre	2,059	boxscore
4/12/2008	New Zealand Breakers	88–104	Townsville Crocodiles	North Shore Events Centre	3,226	boxscore
5/12/2008	Cairns Taipans	78–92	Sydney Spirit	Cairns Convention Centre	2,954	boxscore
6/12/2008	South Dragons	101–83	Wollongong Hawks	Hisense Arena	4,812	boxscore
6/12/2008	Townsville Crocodiles	92–87	Sydney Spirit	Townsville Entertainment Centre	3,807	boxscore
6/12/2008	Adelaide 36ers	102–94	Melbourne Tigers	Adelaide Arena	4,881	boxscore
7/12/2008	Gold Coast Blaze	129–97	Perth Wildcats	Gold Coast Convention Centre	2,021	boxscore

Round 13

Date	Home	Score	Away	Venue	Crowd	Boxscore
10/12/2008	Adelaide 36ers	100–79	Townsville Crocodiles	Adelaide Arena	4,208	boxscore
13/12/2008	Melbourne Tigers	98–107	South Dragons	State Netball and Hockey Centre	3,500	boxscore
13/12/2008	Gold Coast Blaze	88–97	Cairns Taipans	Gold Coast Convention Centre	2,489	boxscore
13/12/2008	Townsville Crocodiles	104–99	Wollongong Hawks	Townsville Entertainment Centre	3,913	boxscore
13/12/2008	Perth Wildcats	129–120	Adelaide 36ers	Challenge Stadium	4,200	boxscore

Round 14

Date	Home	Score	Away	Venue	Crowd	Boxscore
17/10/2008	Gold Coast Blaze	91–88	Wollongong Hawks	Gold Coast Convention Centre	2,152	boxscore
17/12/2008	Cairns Taipans	63–69	Melbourne Tigers	Cairns Convention Centre	3,746	boxscore
18/12/2008	New Zealand Breakers	114–70	Sydney Spirit	North Shore Events Centre	3,841	boxscore
20/12/2008	Melbourne Tigers	128–101	Wollongong Hawks	State Netball and Hockey Centre	3,025	boxscore
20/12/2008	South Dragons	88–84	Townsville Crocodiles	Hisense Arena	3,814	boxscore
20/12/2008	Adelaide 36ers	107–104	Gold Coast Blaze	Adelaide Arena	4,948	boxscore
20/12/2008	Perth Wildcats	94–118	New Zealand Breakers	Challenge Stadium	4,300	boxscore
21/12/2008	Sydney Spirit	101–90	Townsville Crocodiles	State Sports Centre	1,240	boxscore

Round 15

Date	Home	Score	Away	Venue	Crowd	Boxscore
26/12/2008	South Dragons	117–87	Gold Coast Blaze	Hisense Arena	3,898	boxscore
27/12/2008	Wollongong Hawks	121–117	Sydney Spirit	WIN Entertainment Centre	1,874	boxscore
27/12/2008	Melbourne Tigers	91–109	Adelaide 36ers	State Netball and Hockey Centre	3,097	boxscore
27/12/2008	Perth Wildcats	97–76	Townsville Crocodiles	Challenge Stadium	4,200	boxscore

Round 16

Date	Home	Score	Away	Venue	Crowd	Boxscore
31/12/2008	Townsville Crocodiles	105–95	South Dragons	Townsville Entertainment Centre	4,644	boxscore
31/12/2008	Cairns Taipans	105–112	Wollongong Hawks	Cairns Convention Centre	3,853	boxscore
31/12/2008	Gold Coast Blaze	103–94	Adelaide 36ers	Gold Coast Convention Centre	2,233	boxscore
2/01/2009	Wollongong Hawks	111–94	New Zealand Breakers	WIN Entertainment Centre	2,175	boxscore
3/01/2009	South Dragons	90–99	Perth Wildcats	Hisense Arena	4,069	boxscore
3/01/2009	Sydney Spirit	86–85	New Zealand Breakers	Whitlam Centre	920	boxscore
4/01/2009	Gold Coast Blaze	88–105	Townsville Crocodiles	Gold Coast Convention Centre	2,374	boxscore

Round 17

Date	Home	Score	Away	Venue	Crowd	Boxscore
7/01/2009	Adelaide 36ers	106–99	Wollongong Hawks	Adelaide Arena	6,307	boxscore
9/01/2009	Perth Wildcats	77–81	Cairns Taipans	Challenge Stadium	4,100	boxscore
10/01/2009	Sydney Spirit	88–79	Wollongong Hawks	State Sports Centre	1,469	boxscore
10/01/2009	South Dragons	115–112	New Zealand Breakers	Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Centre	1,994	boxscore
10/01/2009	Adelaide 36ers	107–86	Cairns Taipans	Adelaide Arena	5,039	boxscore
11/01/2009	Melbourne Tigers	108–81	Perth Wildcats	State Netball and Hockey Centre	2,930	boxscore
11/01/2009	Townsville Crocodiles	115–92	Gold Coast Blaze	Townsville Entertainment Centre	4,457	boxscore

Round 18

Date	Home	Score	Away	Venue	Crowd	Boxscore
14/01/2009	Melbourne Tigers	99–79	Sydney Spirit	State Netball and Hockey Centre	2,922	boxscore
15/01/2009	New Zealand Breakers	95–86	Townsville Crocodiles	North Shore Events Centre	3,349	boxscore
16/01/2009	Cairns Taipans	79–70	Adelaide 36ers	Cairns Convention Centre	3,679	boxscore
16/01/2009	Gold Coast Blaze	107–116	Melbourne Tigers	Gold Coast Convention Centre	2,711	boxscore
17/01/2009	Wollongong Hawks	94–108	Melbourne Tigers	WIN Entertainment Centre	2,555	boxscore
17/01/2009	Townsville Crocodiles	128–105	Adelaide 36ers	Townsville Entertainment Centre	4,349	boxscore
17/01/2009	Perth Wildcats	114–84	Sydney Spirit	Challenge Stadium	3,800	boxscore

Round 19

Date	Home	Score	Away	Venue	Crowd	Boxscore
21/01/2009	Adelaide 36ers	110–88	Gold Coast Blaze	Adelaide Arena	4,965	boxscore
22/01/2009	New Zealand Breakers	85–103	Melbourne Tigers	North Shore Events Centre	3,000	boxscore
24/01/2009	Melbourne Tigers	96–89	New Zealand Breakers	State Netball and Hockey Centre	2,842	boxscore
24/01/2009	Wollongong Hawks	95–97	Townsville Crocodiles	WIN Entertainment Centre	1,983	boxscore
24/01/2009	Cairns Taipans	89–83	Sydney Spirit	Cairns Convention Centre	3,407	boxscore
24/01/2009	Perth Wildcats	96–90	Gold Coast Blaze	Challenge Stadium	4,100	boxscore

Round 20

Date	Home	Score	Away	Venue	Crowd	Boxscore
26/01/2009	Melbourne Tigers	92–86	South Dragons	State Netball and Hockey Centre	3,500	boxscore
28/01/2009	Sydney Spirit	78–88	Perth Wildcats	State Sports Centre	1,480	boxscore
29/01/2009	New Zealand Breakers	94–101	South Dragons	North Shore Events Centre	3,200	boxscore
30/01/2009	Wollongong Hawks	104–113	Melbourne Tigers	WIN Entertainment Centre	1,525	boxscore
31/01/2009	Townsville Crocodiles	123–92	Cairns Taipans	Townsville Entertainment Centre	4,867	boxscore
31/01/2009	Gold Coast Blaze	139–119	Sydney Spirit	Gold Coast Convention Centre	2,627	boxscore
31/01/2009	Adelaide 36ers	107–92	Perth Wildcats	Adelaide Arena	5,350	boxscore

Round 21

Date	Home	Score	Away	Venue	Crowd	Boxscore
4/02/2009	South Dragons	97–77	Adelaide 36ers	Hisense Arena	4,621	boxscore
4/02/2009	Sydney Spirit	81–89	Cairns Taipans	State Sports Centre	920	boxscore
6/02/2009	Wollongong Hawks	103–98	New Zealand Breakers	WIN Entertainment Centre	2,740	boxscore
6/02/2009	Townsville Crocodiles	101–98	South Dragons	Townsville Entertainment Centre	4,485	boxscore
7/02/2009	Cairns Taipans	88–93	Gold Coast Blaze	Cairns Convention Centre	4,022	boxscore
7/02/2009	Adelaide 36ers	102–91	New Zealand Breakers	Adelaide Arena	8,000	boxscore
7/02/2009	Perth Wildcats	106–88	Sydney Spirit	Challenge Stadium	4,000	boxscore
8/02/2009	South Dragons	93–83	Melbourne Tigers	Hisense Arena	8,093	boxscore

Round 22

Date	Home	Score	Away	Venue	Crowd	Boxscore
11/02/2009	Melbourne Tigers	103–87	Townsville Crocodiles	State Netball and Hockey Centre	2,802	boxscore
12/02/2009	New Zealand Breakers	103–69	Cairns Taipans	North Shore Events Centre	3,100	boxscore
13/02/2009	Wollongong Hawks	102–95	Adelaide 36ers	WIN Entertainment Centre	5,674	boxscore
14/02/2009	Sydney Spirit	97–107	New Zealand Breakers	State Sports Centre	1,282	boxscore
14/02/2009	Gold Coast Blaze	114–104	Wollongong Hawks	Gold Coast Convention Centre	3,347	boxscore
14/02/2009	Cairns Taipans	80–82	South Dragons	Cairns Convention Centre	4,107	boxscore
14/02/2009	Perth Wildcats	100–86	Melbourne Tigers	Challenge Stadium	4,200	boxscore

Ladder

Pos	2008–09 NBL season v t e
	Team	Pld	W	L	PCT	Last 5	Streak	Home	Away	PF	PA	PP
1	South Dragons	30	22	8	73.33%	4–1	W2	13–2	9–6	2968	2692	110.25%
2	Melbourne Tigers	30	20	10	66.67%	3–2	L1	11–4	9–6	3030	2846	106.47%
3	New Zealand Breakers	30	18	12	60.00%	2–3	W2	10–5	8–7	3087	2910	106.08%
4	Perth Wildcats1	30	17	13	56.67%	4–1	W2	11–4	6–9	2880	2822	102.06%
5	Townsville Crocodiles1	30	17	13	56.67%	4–1	L1	12–3	5–10	2956	2978	99.26%
6	Adelaide 36ers	30	15	15	50.00%	3–2	L1	12–3	3–12	2956	2929	100.92%
7	Wollongong Hawks2	30	11	19	36.67%	2–3	L1	9–6	2–13	2924	3077	95.03%
8	Sydney Spirit2	30	11	19	36.67%	0–5	L8	9–6	2–13	2823	2987	94.51%
9	Cairns Taipans2	30	11	19	36.67%	1–4	L3	5–10	6–9	2589	2767	93.57%
10	Gold Coast Blaze	30	8	22	26.67%	3–2	W3	6–9	2–13	2927	3132	93.45%

Updated to match(es) played on 14 February 2009. Source: NBL.com.au

The NBL tie-breaker system as outlined in the NBL Rules and Regulations states that in the case of an identical win–loss record, the results in games played between the teams will determine order of seeding.

¹Perth Wildcats won Head-to-Head (3-1).

²3-way Head-to-Head between Wollongong Hawks (5-2), Sydney Spirit (3-4) and Cairns Taipans (2-4).

Finals

Main article: 2009 NBL Finals

Playoff bracket

	Elimination Finals					Semifinals							Grand Final
						1	South Dragons	94	77	101
	4	Perth Wildcats	96			5	Townsville Crocodiles	81	82	78
	5	Townsville Crocodiles	103										1	South Dragons	93	83	84	95	102
													2	Melbourne Tigers	81	88	67	108	81
						2	Melbourne Tigers	117	103	X
	3	New Zealand Breakers	131			3	New Zealand Breakers	99	97	X
	6	Adelaide 36ers	101

Elimination Finals

Date	Home	Score	Away	Venue	Crowd	Boxscore
18/02/2009	Perth Wildcats	96–103	Townsville Crocodiles	Challenge Stadium	4,400	boxscore
19/02/2009	New Zealand Breakers	131–101	Adelaide 36ers	North Shore Events Centre	4,000	boxscore

Semi-finals

Date	Home	Score	Away	Venue	Crowd	Boxscore
24/02/2009	South Dragons	94–81	Townsville Crocodiles	Hisense Arena	3,613	boxscore
25/02/2009	Melbourne Tigers	117–99	New Zealand Breakers	State Netball and Hockey Centre	2,998	boxscore
26/02/2009	Townsville Crocodiles	82–77	South Dragons	Townsville Entertainment Centre	4,505	boxscore
27/02/2009	New Zealand Breakers	97–103	Melbourne Tigers	North Shore Events Centre	4,500	boxscore
28/02/2009	South Dragons	101–78	Townsville Crocodiles	Hisense Arena	3,007	boxscore

Grand Final

Date	Home	Score	Away	Venue	Crowd	Boxscore
4/03/2009	South Dragons	93–81	Melbourne Tigers	Hisense Arena	4,211	boxscore
6/03/2009	Melbourne Tigers	88–83	South Dragons	State Netball and Hockey Centre	3,096	boxscore
8/03/2009	South Dragons	84–67	Melbourne Tigers	Hisense Arena	8,201	boxscore
11/03/2009	Melbourne Tigers	108–95	South Dragons	State Netball and Hockey Centre	3,500	boxscore
13/03/2009	South Dragons	102–81	Melbourne Tigers	Hisense Arena	8,922	boxscore

Player of the Week

Round	Player	Team
1	Kirk Penney	New Zealand Breakers
2	Corey Williams	Townsville Crocodiles
3	Mark Worthington	South Dragons
4	Darnell Mee	Cairns Taipans
5	Joe Ingles	South Dragons
6	Luke Schenscher	Adelaide 36ers
7	Sam Mackinnon	Melbourne Tigers
8	Kirk Penney	New Zealand Breakers
9	Rick Rickert	New Zealand Breakers
10	Julius Hodge	Adelaide 36ers
11	Matthew Knight	Sydney Spirit
12	Justin Bowen	Gold Coast Blaze
13	Ian Crosswhite	Cairns Taipans
14	Tony Ronaldson	New Zealand Breakers
15	Julius Hodge	Adelaide 36ers
16	Isiah Victor	Perth Wildcats
17	Luke Schenscher	Adelaide 36ers
18	Ebi Ere	Melbourne Tigers
19	Adam Ballinger	Adelaide 36ers
20	James Harvey	Gold Coast Blaze
21	John Rillie	Townsville Crocodiles
22	Shawn Redhage	Perth Wildcats

Player of the Month

Month	Player	Team
September/October	Kirk Penney	New Zealand Breakers
November	Kirk Penney	New Zealand Breakers
December	Julius Hodge	Adelaide 36ers
January/February	Luke Schenscher	Adelaide 36ers

Coach of the Month

Month	Player	Team
September/October	Brian Goorjian	South Dragons
November	Andrej Lemanis	New Zealand Breakers
December	Scott Ninnis	Adelaide 36ers
January/February	Al Westover	Melbourne Tigers

NBL awards

• Most Valuable Player: Kirk Penney, New Zealand Breakers
• Rookie of the Year: Aaron Bruce, Adelaide 36ers
• Best Defensive Player: Adam Gibson, South Dragons
• Best Sixth Man: Phill Jones, New Zealand Breakers
• Most Improved Player: Matthew Knight, Sydney Spirit
• Coach of the Year: Brian Goorjian, South Dragons
• Finals MVP: Donta Smith, South Dragons
• All-NBL First Team:
  • Kirk Penney – New Zealand Breakers^[95]
  • Chris Anstey – Melbourne Tigers
  • C. J. Bruton – New Zealand Breakers
  • Ebi Ere – Melbourne Tigers
  • Mark Worthington – South Dragons
• All-NBL Second Team:
  • Corey Williams – Townsville Crocodiles
  • Luke Schenscher – Adelaide 36ers
  • Adam Ballinger – Adelaide 36ers
  • Shawn Redhage – Perth Wildcats
  • Glen Saville – Wollongong Hawks
• All-NBL Third Team:
  • Matthew Knight – Sydney Spirit
  • James Harvey – Gold Coast Blaze
  • David Barlow – Melbourne Tigers
  • Joe Ingles – South Dragons
  • Adam Gibson – South Dragons

Television coverage

•  Australia – Fox Sports
•  New Zealand – Maori TV

Radio coverage

Team	Station
Adelaide 36ers	891 ABC Adelaide
Cairns Taipans	4CA FM
Melbourne Tigers	Tiger Radio
New Zealand Breakers	Radio Sport
Perth Wildcats	SportFM
South Dragons	Dragons Radio
Townsville Crocodiles	4TO FM