2009–10 Dutch Basketball League

The 2009–10 Dutch Basketball League (DBL) was the 50th season of the Dutch Basketball League, the highest professional basketball league in the Netherlands. GasTerra Flames dominated throughout the regular season and lost just three games. Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden player Danny Gibson was league top scorer and won the Most Valuable Player award.^[1] GasTerra Flames eventually won its third title in team history, by beating World Class Aviation Academy Giants 4–1 in the playoff finals.^[2]

Dutch Basketball League
Players of GasTerra Flames celebrating winning the DBL title
Season	2009–10
Teams	10
Regular season
Top seed	GasTerra Flames
Season MVP	Danny Gibson
Finals
Champions	GasTerra Flames (4th title)
Runners-up	WCAA Giants
Statistical leaders
Points Danny Gibson 18.8 Rebounds Patrick Hilliman 10.1 Assists Torey Thomas 7.2 Index Rating Elijah Palmer 21.1
← 2008–09 2010–11 →

It was the first year the league was named the Dutch Basketball League (DBL), after previously being known as the Eredivisie.

Teams

Team	City	Arena	Head coach
ABC Amsterdam	Amsterdam	Sporthallen Zuid	Ferry Steenmetz
WCAA Giants	Bergen op Zoom	Sporthal Boulevard	Erik Braal
EiffelTowers Den Bosch	's-Hertogenbosch	Maaspoort	Don Beck Maarten van Gent (ad. int.)
GasTerra Flames	Groningen	Martiniplaza	Marco van den Berg
De Friesland Aris	Leeuwarden	Sporthal Kalverdijkje	Pete Miller
Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden	Leiden	Vijf Meihal	Toon van Helfteren
Matrixx Magixx	Nijmegen	De Horstacker	Michael Schuurs
Rotterdam Challengers	Rotterdam	Topsportcentrum Rotterdam	Zlatko Jezerkic
Upstairs Weert	Weert	Sporthal Boshoven	Olivier van Kempen
Landstede	Zwolle	ZBC Hal	Adriaan van Bergen

Regular season

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	GasTerra Flames	36	33	3	3126	2580	+546	66	Qualification for playoffs
2	WCAA Giants	36	24	12	2915	2619	+296	48
3	EiffelTowers Den Bosch	36	24	12	2963	2751	+212	48
4	Matrixx Magixx	36	23	13	2893	2677	+216	46
5	ZZ Leiden	36	22	14	2836	2685	+151	44
6	De Friesland Aris	36	19	17	2887	2900	−13	38
7	ABC Amsterdam	36	14	22	2571	2658	−87	28
8	Upstairs Weert	26	12	14	2687	2977	−290	24
9	Landstede	36	5	31	2537	2955	−418	10
10	Rotterdam Challengers	36	4	32	2291	2904	−613	8

Source: DBL

Playoffs

Scene of the playoff final between GasTerra Flames and WCAA Giants

The playoffs started on 22 April and ended 25 May 2010. The winner of the playoffs was crowned Dutch national champion. In the quarterfinals a best-of-three format is used, while in the semifinals and finals are played in respectively a best-of-five format and best-of-seven format. The higher seeded team had home advantage and played games one, three, five and seven (if possible) at home. Small bold numbers indicate team seeding.

	Quarterfinals 22–25 April										Semifinals 1–13 May										Finals 15–25 May
	1 GasTerra Flames						106	77
	8 Upstairs Weert						68	61
											1 GasTerra Flames			67	79	67	88	80
											5 ZZ Leiden			76	74	63	90	70
	4 Matrixx Magixx						62	62
	5 ZZ Leiden						67	94
																					1 GasTerra Flames			89	80	84	60	79
																					2 WCAA Giants			65	76	79	62	74
	2 WCAA Giants						71	78
	7 ABC Amsterdam						54	74
											2 WCAA Giants				93	92	95	83
											6 De Friesland Aris				80	77	97	71
	3 EiffelTowers Den Bosch						82	75
	6 De Friesland Aris						85	87

Source: Eurobasket

Statistical leaders

Category	Player	Team	Statistics
Points per game	Danny Gibson	Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden	18.8
Rebounds per game	Patrick Hilliman	Rotterdam Challengers	10.1
Assists per game	Torey Thomas	Matrixx Magixx	7.2
Steals per game	Torey Thomas	Matrixx Magixx	2.9
Blocks per game	James Hughes	Matrixx Magixx	1.7

Awards

Most Valuable Player

• Danny Gibson (Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden)

All-Star Team

• Danny Gibson (Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden)
• Ronny LeMelle (Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden)
• Kees Akerboom, Jr. (EiffelTowers Den Bosch)
• Patrick Hilliman (Rotterdam Challengers)
• Matt Haryasz (GasTerra Flames)

Rookie of the Year

• Mohamed Kherrazi (ABC Amsterdam)

Coach of the Year

• Toon van Helfteren (Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden)

Statistical Player of the Year

• Elijah Palmer (Upstairs Weert)

In European competitions

Club	Competition	Result	W–L	Ref
ABC Amsterdam	EuroChallenge	Regular season	0–6	[3]
EiffelTowers Den Bosch		Last 16	6–6	[4]