2015–16 Dutch Basketball League

The 2015–16 Dutch Basketball League season was the 56th season of the Dutch Basketball League, the highest professional basketball league in the Netherlands. The seasons started on October 6, 2015 and ended May 27, 2016. The defending champion was SPM Shoeters Den Bosch. Donar won its fifth national title, after beating Landstede 1–4 in the Final.

Dutch Basketball League
Season	2015–16
Duration	October 6, 2015 – May 27, 2016
Games played	6 October 2,016 – 4 April 2,017 (Regular season) 21 April – 27 May 2,017 (Playoffs)
Teams	8
TV partner(s)	Ziggo Sport
Regular season
Top seed	Landstede
Season MVP	Worthy de Jong
Finals
Champions	Donar 5th title
Runners-up	Landstede
Playoffs MVP	Lance Jeter
Statistical leaders
Points Javier Duren 17.7 Rebounds Ross Bekkering 10.5 Assists Nigel Van Oostrum 8.1 Index Rating Ross Bekkering 21.3
← 2014–15 2016–17 →

Import players

Each team was allowed to play with a maximum of four foreign players, according to DBL regulations.

Team	Players
Aris Leeuwarden	Javier Duren	Joe O'Shea	Josiah Heath	Ali Fraser
Apollo Amsterdam
Donar	Lance Jeter	Chase Fieler	Dražen Bubnić	Will Sullivan
SPM Shoeters Den Bosch	Dejan Kravić
Challenge Sports Rotterdam	La'Shard Anderson	Sergio De Randamie
Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden	Cashmere Wright	Marquise Simmons
Landstede Basketbal	Ricardo Glenn	Tyson Hinz	Grant Gibbs	Steve McWhorter
BSW	Thomas Dreesen

Teams

Apollo Amsterdam

Aris Leeuwarden

Challenge Sports

Donar

Landstede

SPM Shoeters

BSW

ZZ Leiden

Location of teams in 2015–16 Dutch Basketball League

On June 18, 2015, it was announced that all teams from the 2014–15 season would return.^[1]

Club	Location	Venue	Capacity
Apollo Amsterdam	Amsterdam	Apollohal	1,500
Donar	Groningen	MartiniPlaza	4,350
SPM Shoeters Den Bosch	's-Hertogenbosch	Maaspoort Sports and Events	2,800
BSW	Weert	Sporthal Boshoven	Un­known
Landstede	Zwolle	Landstede Sportcentrum	1,200
Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden	Leiden	Vijf Meihal	2,000
Aris Leeuwarden	Leeuwarden	Kalverdijkje	1,700
Challenge Sports Rotterdam	Rotterdam	Topsportcentrum	1,000

Personnel and kits

Team	Coach	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Apollo Amsterdam	Patrick Faijdherbe	Peak	–
Aris Leeuwarden	Michael Schuurs[Note Schuurs]	Jako	Univé
BSW	Pascal Meurs	Spalding	–
Challenge Sports Rotterdam	Armand Salomon	Peak	Challenge Sports
Donar	Erik Braal	Burned	Mini
Landstede	Herman van den Belt	Hummel	Landstede
SPM Shoeters Den Bosch	Sam Jones	Joma	SPM Shoes & Boots
Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden	Eddy Casteels	Panzeri Sport	Zorg & Zekerheid

1. ^
   Note Schuurs: Klaas Stoppels took over from Schuurs in February 2016, after Schuurs had medical reasons to sit down the rest of the season.

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Aris Leeuwarden	Tom Simpson	End of contract	–	Pre-season	Michael Schuurs	23 May 2015[2]
Donar	Ivica Skelin		–		Erik Braal	21 June 2015[3]
BC Apollo Amsterdam	Jaanus Liivak		–		Patrick Faijdherbe	9 June 2015[4]
BSW	Niels Vorenhout		–		Pascal Meurs	17 July 2015[5]
Aris Leeuwarden	Michael Schuurs	Health issues	26 February 2016	6th	Klaas Stoppels	26 February 2016[6]

Regular season

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Landstede	28	22	6	2202	1909	+293	44	Qualification to semi-finals
2	ZZ Leiden	28	22	6	2150	1844	+306	44
3	Donar	28	21	7	2316	1917	+399	42	Qualification to quarter-finals
4	SPM Shoeters Den Bosch	28	16	12	2128	2003	+125	32
5	Apollo Amsterdam	28	10	18	1938	2102	−164	20
6	Challenge Sports Rotterdam	28	9	19	2039	2201	−162	18
7	Aris Leeuwarden	28	9	19	2023	2290	−267	18
8	BSW	28	3	25	1864	2394	−530	6

Source: Dutch Basketball League, Scoresway

Playoffs

Scene of a Finals game in MartiniPlaza, Groningen

	Quarterfinals 21–23 April					Semifinals 30 April–12 May					Finals 17–27 May
						1	Landstede	4
	4	SPM Shoeters Den Bosch	2			4	SPM Shoeters Den Bosch	2
	5	Apollo Amsterdam	0								1	Landstede	1
											3	Donar	4
						2	ZZ Leiden	2
	3	Donar	2			3	Donar	4
	6	Challenge Sports Rotterdam	0

Final standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	Qualification
1	Donar (C, O)	42	31	11	Qualification to Champions League qualifying rounds
2	Landstede	39	27	12
3	ZZ Leiden	34	24	10
4	SPM Shoeters Den Bosch	34	18	16
5	Apollo Amsterdam	30	10	20
6	Challenge Sports Rotterdam	30	9	21
7	Aris Leeuwarden	28	9	19
8	BSW	28	3	25

Source: DBL
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners

Awards

The award winners were announced on April 16.^[7]

Player and team awards for the 2015–16 season
Most Valuable Player
Worthy de Jong − ZZ Leiden Ross Bekkering − Donar Grant Gibbs − Landstede Basketbal
Playoffs MVP
Lance Jeter − Donar
Defensive Player of the Year
Mohamed Kherrazi − ZZ Leiden
Coach of the Year
Herman van den Belt − Landstede Basketbal
DBL MVP Under 23
Maarten Bouwknecht − SPM Shoeters Den Bosch
Statistical Player of the Year
Ross Bekkering − Donar
Sixth Man of the Year
Rogier Jansen − ZZ Leiden
Rookie of the Year
Freek Vos − Landstede Basketbal
Most Improved Player
Grant Gibbs − Landstede Basketbal

Statistical leaders

To be included a player had to have played at least 70% of his teams number of games.

Efficiency Pos Player Club PIR 1 Ross Bekkering Donar 21.3 2 Lance Jeter Donar 18.9 3 Tyson Hinz Landstede 18.9

Points Pos Player Club PPG 1 Javier Duren Aris Leeuwarden 17.7 2 Worthy de Jong ZZ Leiden 17.2 3 Thomas Dreesen BS Weert 16.7

Rebounds Pos Player Club RPG 1 Ross Bekkering Donar 10.5 2 Ricardo Glenn Landstede 9.5 3 Dejan Kravic SPM Shoeters 9.4

Assists Pos Player Club APG 1 Nigel Van Oostrum Aris Leeuwarden 8.1 2 Aron Royé Apollo Amsterdam 4.5 3 Leon Williams SPM Shoeters 4.0