2016–17 KML season

The 2016–17 Korvpalli Meistriliiga season (also known as the Alexela Korvpalli Meistriliiga for sponsorship reasons) was the 92nd season of top-tier basketball in Estonia. BC Kalev/Cramo came into the season as defending champions of the 2015–16 season.^[1]

Alexela Korvpalli Meistriliiga1
Season	2016–17
Duration	2 October 2016 – 22 May 2017
Games played	110 (Regular season) 26 (Playoffs)
Teams	9
TV partner(s)	TV6, Delfi TV
Regular season
Top seed	BC Kalev/Cramo
Season MVP	Thomas van der Mars
Finals
Champions	BC Kalev/Cramo (9th title)
Runners-up	AVIS UTILITAS Rapla
Third place	Tartu Ülikool
Fourth place	Pärnu Sadam
Finals MVP	Branko Mirković
Awards
Best Defender	Mihkel Kirves
Best Young Player	Siim-Markus Post
Coach of the Year	Aivar Kuusmaa
Statistical leaders
Points Đorđe Dželetović 18.31 Rebounds Thomas van der Mars 12.32 Assists Tanel Sokk 5.32
← 2015–16 2017–18 → 1Sponsored league name, referring to Alexela.

The season began on 2 October 2016 and concluded on 22 May 2017 with BC Kalev/Cramo defeating AVIS UTILITAS Rapla 4 games to 0 in the finals to win their 9th Estonian Championship.^[2]

Teams

Venues and locations

G4S
BC Kalev
TLÜ/Kalev
TTÜ KK

Tarvas

Pärnu

Rapla

Tartu

Valga

Locations of the 2016–17 Korvpalli Meistriliiga teams

Team	Home city	Arena	Capacity
AVIS UTILITAS Rapla	Rapla	Sadolin Sports Hall	818
BC Kalev/Cramo	Tallinn	Saku Suurhall	7,200
BC Valga-Valka/Maks & Moorits	Valga	Valga Sports Hall	561
G4S Noorteliiga	Tallinn	Audentes Sports Center	1,030
Pärnu Sadam	Pärnu	Pärnu Sports Hall	1,820
Rakvere Tarvas/Palmse Metall	Rakvere	Rakvere Sports Hall	2,747
Tartu Ülikool	Tartu	University of Tartu Sports Hall	1,650
TLÜ/Kalev	Tallinn	Audentes Sports Center	1,030
TTÜ KK		TTÜ Sports Hall	1,000

Personnel and sponsorship

Team	Head coach	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
AVIS UTILITAS Rapla	Aivar Kuusmaa	Indrek Kajupank	Spalding	Avis
BC Kalev/Cramo	Alar Varrak	Gregor Arbet	Nike	Cramo
BC Valga-Valka/Maks & Moorits	Kristaps Zeids	Renato Lindmets	SMV	Maks & Moorits
G4S Noorteliiga	Indrek Visnapuu	Karl Robin Jürjens	Peak	G4S
Pärnu Sadam	Heiko Rannula	Silver Leppik	Nike	Port of Pärnu
Rakvere Tarvas/Palmse Metall	Andres Sõber	Mario Paiste	Nike	Rakvere
Tartu Ülikool	Gert Kullamäe	Tanel Sokk	Nike	University of Tartu
TLÜ/Kalev	Raido Roos	Reimo Tamm	Peak	City of Tallinn
TTÜ KK	Rait Käbin	Kiur Akenpärg	Erreà	Tallinn University of Technology

Coaching changes

Team	Outgoing coach	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming coach	Date of appointment
Pärnu Sadam	Mait Käbin	Mutual consent	1 June 2016	Pre-season	Heiko Rannula	1 September 2016
TLÜ/Kalev	Kalle Klandorf	Mutual consent	1 January 2017	8th	Raido Roos	1 January 2017[3]
BC Valga-Valka/Maks & Moorits	Juris Umbraško	Sacked	10 February 2017[4]	8th	Kristaps Zeids	10 February 2017

Regular season

During the regular season teams will play 4 rounds for 32 games (2 at home and 2 away) with following exceptions:

• Tartu Ülikool will play 1 round at home against teams other than BC Kalev/Cramo (1 round at home and 2 rounds away in total).
• BC Kalev/Cramo will play 2 rounds away against teams other than Tartu Ülikool (2 rounds away in total).
• G4S Noorteliiga will play 2 rounds (1 round at home and 1 round away in total).

Double points will be awarded to teams winning those games.^[5]

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	Pts	PCT	Qualification
1	BC Kalev/Cramo	32	29	3	61	.906	Qualification to Playoffs
2	Tartu Ülikool	32	29	3	61	.906
3	AVIS UTILITAS Rapla	32	20	12	52	.625
4	Pärnu Sadam	32	17	15	49	.531
5	TTÜ KK	32	16	16	48	.500
6	BC Valga-Valka/Maks & Moorits	32	12	20	44	.375
7	TLÜ/Kalev	32	12	20	44	.375
8	Rakvere Tarvas/Palmse Metall	32	9	23	41	.281
9	G4S Noorteliiga	32	0	32	32	.000

Source: Korvpalli Meistriliiga

Results

Home \ Away	RAP	KAL	VAL	G4S	PÄR	TRV	TRT	TLK	TTÜ
AVIS UTILITAS Rapla		82–66	87–59	83–57	75–62	90–67	73–79	79–76	101–91
	77–80	80–78		93–91	92–57	65–68	63–70	89–83
BC Kalev/Cramo							86–63
						85–75
BC Valga-Valka/Maks & Moorits	76–82	73–79		108–53	80–91	89–106	67–89	77–74	78–92
70–72	76–83			89–99	100–70	56–82	87–103	66–68
G4S Noorteliiga	64–81	69–102	75–80		69–83	75–107	59–102	62–87	64–71
	59–112
Pärnu Sadam	65–59	62–94	86–93	101–55		69–81	68–81	73–49	82–79
64–49	71–74	74–90			87–72	62–67	75–84	76–67
Rakvere Tarvas/Palmse Metall	61–81	77–107	85–86	83–65	75–86		77–105	70–80	82–80
61–91	77–103	76–97		70–93		67–91	69–88	65–83
Tartu Ülikool	96–66	77–76	85–69	88–57	88–69	110–64		86–65	94–72
	69–71
TLÜ/Kalev	74–98	64–74	76–88	94–67	80–88	61–65	63–110		67–68
76–72	64–88	59–84		69–75	86–87	67–97		85–92
TTÜ KK	100–82	84–89	98–87	83–75	89–71	94–72	64–75	62–82
85–78	80–108	102–77		71–85	92–86	54–85	73–80

Source: Korvpalli Meistriliiga
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Playoffs

Main article: 2017 KML Playoffs

The playoffs began on 10 April and ended on 22 May. The tournament concluded with BC Kalev/Cramo defeating AVIS UTILITAS Rapla 4 games to 0 in the finals.

Bracket

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals
	1	BC Kalev/Cramo	3
	8	Rakvere Tarvas/Palmse Metall	0
						1	BC Kalev/Cramo	3
						4	Pärnu Sadam	0
	4	Pärnu Sadam	3
	5	TTÜ KK	0
											1	BC Kalev/Cramo	4
											3	AVIS UTILITAS Rapla	0
	2	Tartu Ülikool	3
	7	TLÜ/Kalev	0
						2	Tartu Ülikool	1			Third place
						3	AVIS UTILITAS Rapla	3
	3	AVIS UTILITAS Rapla	3								2	Tartu Ülikool	3
	6	BC Valga-Valka/Maks & Moorits	0								4	Pärnu Sadam	0

Individual statistics

Players qualify to this category by having at least 50% games played.

Points

Rank	Name	Team	Games	Points	PPG
1	Đorđe Dželetović	TLÜ/Kalev	16	293	18.31
2	Joonas Järveläinen	TTÜ KK	28	478	17.07
3	Domagoj Bubalo	Pärnu Sadam	25	412	16.48
4	Sten Olmre	TTÜ KK	28	439	15.68
5	Thomas van der Mars	AVIS UTILITAS Rapla	38	587	15.45

Rebounds

Rank	Name	Team	Games	Rebounds	RPG
1	Thomas van der Mars	AVIS UTILITAS Rapla	38	468	12.32
2	Domagoj Bubalo	Pärnu Sadam	25	201	8.04
3	Joonas Järveläinen	TTÜ KK	28	219	7.82
4	Madis Soodla	G4S Noorteliiga	13	98	7.54
5	Venky Jois	Tartu Ülikool	31	228	7.35

Assists

Rank	Name	Team	Games	Assists	APG
1	Tanel Sokk	Tartu Ülikool	31	165	5.32
2	Sten Sokk	BC Kalev/Cramo	25	108	4.32
3	Norman Käbin	Pärnu Sadam	20	82	4.10
4	Sten Olmre	TTÜ KK	28	113	4.04
5	Mario Paiste	Rakvere Tarvas/Palmse Metall	24	88	3.67

All-Star Game

The 2017 All-Star Game was played on 16 February 2017 in Tallinn at the Saku Suurhall. Team Blue won the game 159–152 (139–136). The MVP of the game was Rain Veideman, who scored 37 points.

Team White Pos Player Team Starters G Demonte Harper BC Kalev/Cramo G Martin Paasoja AVIS UTILITAS Rapla F Janari Jõesaar Tartu Ülikool F Karl Johan Lips Rakvere Tarvas/Palmse Metall C Thomas van der Mars AVIS UTILITAS Rapla Reserves G Carlos Jürgens G4S Noorteliiga G Kristo Saage TLÜ/Kalev G Mandell Thomas Tartu Ülikool F Erik Keedus BC Kalev/Cramo F Mark Tollefsen BC Kalev/Cramo F Kristjan Voolaid AVIS UTILITAS Rapla C Domagoj Bubalo Pärnu Sadam Head coach: Aivar Kuusmaa (AVIS UTILITAS Rapla)

Team Blue Pos Player Team Starters G Domen Bratož AVIS UTILITAS Rapla G Rain Veideman BC Kalev/Cramo F Indrek Kajupank AVIS UTILITAS Rapla F Janar Talts Tartu Ülikool C Mickell Gladness BC Kalev/Cramo Reserves G Sten Olmre TTÜ KK G Sten Sokk BC Kalev/Cramo G Rasham Suárez AVIS UTILITAS Rapla F Taavi Jurkatamm G4S Noorteliiga F Saimon Sutt Pärnu Sadam F Ivars Žvīgurs BC Valga-Valka/Maks & Moorits C Reinar Hallik Pärnu Sadam Head coach: Gert Kullamäe (Tartu Ülikool)

Team White v Team Blue

16 February 2017	Team White	152–159	Team Blue	Tallinn
18:30	Scoring by quarter: 34–32, 34–32, 34–43, 50–52
	Pts: Jõesaar 22 Rebs: Paasoja 9 Asts: Saage 8 PIR: van der Mars 28	Boxscore	Pts: Veideman 37 Rebs: Gladness 11 Asts: five players 5 PIR: Veideman 41	Arena: Saku Suurhall Attendance: 4,400 Referees: Rain Peerandi, Madis Allik, Ivo Kitsing

Awards

Most Valuable Player

• Thomas van der Mars (AVIS UTILITAS Rapla)

Finals Most Valuable Player

• Branko Mirković (BC Kalev/Cramo)

Best Defender

• Mihkel Kirves (Pärnu Sadam)^[6]

Best Young Player

• Siim-Markus Post (Rakvere Tarvas/Palmse Metall)^[6]

Coach of the Year

• Aivar Kuusmaa (AVIS UTILITAS Rapla)^[6]

All-KML Team

Pos	Player	Team
PG	Branko Mirković	BC Kalev/Cramo
SG	Martin Paasoja	AVIS UTILITAS Rapla
SF	Janari Jõesaar	Tartu Ülikool
PF	Indrek Kajupank	AVIS UTILITAS Rapla
C	Thomas van der Mars	AVIS UTILITAS Rapla

Player of the Month

Month	Player	Team
October[7]	Sten Olmre	TTÜ KK
November[8]	Thomas van der Mars	AVIS UTILITAS Rapla
December[9]	Reinar Hallik	Pärnu Sadam
January[10]	Đorđe Dželetović	TLÜ/Kalev
February[11]	Domagoj Bubalo	AVIS UTILITAS Rapla
March[12]	Janari Jõesaar	Tartu Ülikool

See also

• 2016–17 Basketball Champions League
• 2016–17 FIBA Europe Cup
• 2016–17 VTB United League
• 2016–17 Baltic Basketball League
• 2016–17 Latvian Basketball League