2017–18 KML season

The 2017–18 Korvpalli Meistriliiga season (also known as the Alexela Korvpalli Meistriliiga for sponsorship reasons) was the 93rd season of top-tier basketball in Estonia.

Alexela Korvpalli Meistriliiga1
Season	2017–18
Duration	5 October 2017 – 24 May 2018
Games played	98 (Regular season) 23 (Playoffs)
Teams	8
TV partner(s)	TV6, Delfi TV
Regular season
Top seed	Kalev/Cramo
Finals
Champions	Kalev/Cramo (10th title)
Runners-up	University of Tartu
Third place	AVIS UTILITAS Rapla
Fourth place	Port of Pärnu
Finals MVP	Kristjan Kangur
Statistical leaders
Points Dominique Hawkins 16.96 Rebounds Levi Giese 9.20 Assists Tanel Sokk 5.03
← 2016–17 2018–19 → 1Sponsored league name, referring to Alexela.

The season began on 5 October 2017 and concluded on 24 May 2017 with Kalev/Cramo defeating University of Tartu 4 games to 0 in the finals to win their 10th Estonian Championship.^[1]

Teams

G4S
Kalev/Cramo
Kalev/TLÜ
TTÜ

Pärnu

Rapla

Tartu

Valga

Locations of the 2017–18 Korvpalli Meistriliiga teams

Venues and locations

Team	Home city	Arena	Capacity
G4S Noorteliiga	Tallinn	Audentes Sports Centre	1,030[2]
Kalev/Cramo	Tallinn	Kalev Sports Hall	1,870[3]
		Saku Suurhall	7,200[4]
Port of Pärnu	Pärnu	Pärnu Sports Hall	1,820[5]
AVIS UTILITAS Rapla	Rapla	Sadolin Sports Hall	818[6]
Tallinna Kalev/TLÜ	Tallinn	Kalev Sports Hall	1,870[3]
TTÜ	Tallinn	TTÜ Sports Hall	1,000[7]
University of Tartu	Tartu	University of Tartu Sports Hall	1,650[8]
Valga-Valka/Maks & Moorits	Valga	Valga Sports Hall	561[9]

Personnel and sponsorship

Team	Head coach	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
G4S Noorteliiga	Indrek Visnapuu	Ron Arnar Pehka	Peak	G4S
Kalev/Cramo	Donaldas Kairys	Cedric Simmons	Nike	Cramo
Port of Pärnu	Heiko Rannula	Rannar Raap	Nike	Port of Pärnu
AVIS UTILITAS Rapla	Aivar Kuusmaa	Indrek Kajupank	Spalding	AVIS
Tallinna Kalev/TLÜ	Gert Kullamäe	Reimo Tamm	Adidas	City of Tallinn
TTÜ	Rait Käbin	Rain Koort	Nike	Tallinn University of Technology
University of Tartu	Priit Vene	Tanel Sokk	Nike	University of Tartu
Valga-Valka/Maks & Moorits	Kristaps Zeids	Robert Peterson	Teamshield	Maks & Moorits

Coaching changes

Team	Outgoing coach	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming coach	Date of appointment
University of Tartu	Gert Kullamäe	Mutual consent	23 May 2017[10]	Pre-season	Priit Vene	13 June 2017[11]
Tallinna Kalev/TLÜ	Raido Roos	Sacked	30 October 2017[12]	4th	Kalle Klandorf	30 October 2017
Kalev/Cramo	Alar Varrak	Sacked	22 November 2017[13]	1st	Donaldas Kairys	24 November 2017[14]
Tallinna Kalev/TLÜ	Kalle Klandorf	Mutual consent	6 January 2018[15]	6th	Gert Kullamäe	6 January 2018

Regular season

During the regular season teams will play 4 rounds for 28 games (2 at home and 2 away) with following exception:

• 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.^[16]

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	PCT	Qualification
1	Kalev/Cramo	26	25	1	2367	1754	+613	.962	Advance to Semifinals
2	University of Tartu	26	19	7	2170	1939	+231	.731
3	AVIS UTILITAS Rapla	26	15	11	2039	1986	+53	.577	Advance to Quarterfinals
4	Valga-Valka/Maks & Moorits	26	12	14	2111	2149	−38	.462
5	Port of Pärnu	26	11	15	2019	1989	+30	.423
6	Tallinna Kalev/TLÜ	26	10	16	1931	2077	−146	.385
7	TTÜ	26	6	20	1988	2118	−130	.231
8	G4S Noorteliiga	14	0	14	835	1448	−613	.000

Source: Turniiritabel

Results

Home \ Away	G4S	KAL	PÄR	RAP	TLÜ	TTÜ	UT	VAL	G4S	KAL	PÄR	RAP	TLÜ	TTÜ	UT	VAL
G4S Noorteliiga		44–112	67–110	80–103	63–94	48–89	71–100	84–108
Kalev/Cramo	126–51		88–72	78–76	98–53	90–63	86–70	97–73			89–68	84–70	97–64	85–62	73–75	92–66
Port of Pärnu	107–56	78–87		73–78	72–78	85–80	70–82	83–66		86–93		70–75	68–72	74–64	64–83	79–95
AVIS UTILITAS Rapla	92–60	53–90	74–71		65–64	88–80	84–78	79–90		65–100	73–80		94–64	92–76	73–89	91–75
TLÜ/Kalev	108–66	59–84	76–80	56–78		85–91	85–77	87–73		72–86	68–75	76–70		63–76	64–95	87–68
TTÜ	101–46	71–86	53–80	72–73	75–82		79–83	89–85		92–105	67–76	75–97	77–79		74–88	81–88
University of Tartu	88–59	68–73	78–62	75–64	90–80	79–71		82–70		82–90	84–67	77–65	87–78	79–84		98–86
Valga-Valka/Maks & Moorits	110–40	67–91	93–87	77–67	99–77	97–74	91–87			54–87	70–82	76–100	73–60	85–72	76–96

Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: Tulemused
Legend: Blue = home team win; Red = away team win.

Playoffs

Main article: 2018 KML Playoffs

The playoffs began on 17 April and ended on 24 May 2018. The tournament concluded with Kalev/Cramo defeating University of Tartu 4 games to 0 in the finals.

Bracket

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals
						1	Kalev/Cramo	3
	4	Valga-Valka/Maks & Moorits	1			5	Port of Pärnu	0
	5	Port of Pärnu	3								1	Kalev/Cramo	4
											2	University of Tartu	0
						2	University of Tartu	3
	3	AVIS UTILITAS Rapla	3			3	AVIS UTILITAS Rapla	0
	6	Tallinna Kalev/TLÜ	2								Third place
											3	AVIS UTILITAS Rapla	3
											5	Port of Pärnu	1

Individual statistics

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

Points

Rank	Name	Team	Games	Points	PPG
1	Dominique Hawkins	AVIS UTILITAS Rapla	23	390	16.96
2	Vytenis Čižauskas	University of Tartu	27	444	16.44
3	Nolan Cressler	AVIS UTILITAS Rapla	34	551	16.21
4	Isaiah Briscoe	Kalev/Cramo	24	383	15.96
5	Levi Giese	TTÜ	20	316	15.80

Rebounds

Rank	Name	Team	Games	Rebounds	RPG
1	Levi Giese	TTÜ	20	184	9.20
2	Bamba Fall	Tallinna Kalev/TLÜ	31	272	8.77
3	Carl Engström	University of Tartu	30	229	7.63
4	Rain Raadik	Valga-Valka/Maks & Moorits	30	225	7.50
5	Julius Kazakauskas	University of Tartu	21	151	7.19

Assists

Rank	Name	Team	Games	Assists	APG
1	Tanel Sokk	University of Tartu	29	146	5.03
2	Vytenis Čižauskas	University of Tartu	27	134	4.96
3	Dominique Hawkins	AVIS UTILITAS Rapla	23	103	4.48
4	Isaiah Briscoe	Kalev/Cramo	24	104	4.33
5	Norman Käbin	TTÜ	26	109	4.19

All-Star Game

The 2018 All-Star Game was played on 16 February 2018 in Tallinn at the Saku Suurhall. Team Olybet LBL won the game 127–126 in overtime. The MVP of the game was Isaiah Briscoe, who scored 39 points.

Team Alexela KML Pos Player Team Starters G Isaiah Briscoe Kalev/Cramo G Saimon Sutt Port of Pärnu F Janar Talts University of Tartu F Kristjan Kangur (C) Kalev/Cramo C Cedric Simmons Kalev/Cramo Reserves G Dominique Hawkins AVIS UTILITAS Rapla G Sten Olmre TTÜ G Kristo Saage Tallinna Kalev/TLÜ G Egert Haller Valga-Valka/Maks & Moorits F Indrek Kajupank AVIS UTILITAS Rapla F Mihkel Kirves Port of Pärnu F Devonte Upson AVIS UTILITAS Rapla C Bamba Fall Tallinna Kalev/TLÜ Head coach: Donaldas Kairys (Kalev/Cramo)

Team Olybet LBL Pos Player Team Starters G Aigars Šķēle Ventspils G Edgars Jeromanovs (C) Jūrmala F Roberts Freimanis Ventspils F Kristaps Miglinieks Valga-Valka/Maks & Moorits C Jurijs Aleksejevs Jēkabpils Reserves G Jānis Kaufmanis Valmiera/ORDO G Mārcis Vītols Ogre G Alex Pérez VEF Rīga G Haralds Kārlis Valmiera/ORDO G Toms Leimanis Valga-Valka/Maks & Moorits F Linards Jaunzems Latvijas Universitāte F Mareks Mejeris VEF Rīga C Viktors Iļjins Valmiera/ORDO Head coach: Roberts Štelmahers (Ventspils)

Team Alexela KML v Team Olybet LBL

16 February 2018	Team Alexela KML	126–1270OT	Team Olybet LBL	Tallinn
18:30	Scoring by quarter: 33–41, 24–32, 31–29, 33–19, Overtime: 5–6
	Pts: Briscoe 39 Rebs: Kangur, Sutt 6 Asts: five players 3 PIR: Briscoe 33	Boxscore	Pts: Freimanis 19 Rebs: Freimanis, Mejeris 6 Asts: Pérez 7 PIR: Leimanis, Pérez 22	Arena: Saku Suurhall Referees: Madis Allik, Aleksei Mohov, Ivar Kitsing

Awards

Finals Most Valuable Player

• Kristjan Kangur (Kalev/Cramo)^[17]

Best Young Player

• Matthias Tass (Kalev/Cramo / TTÜ)^[17]

Best Defender

• Mihkel Kirves (Port of Pärnu)^[17]

Coach of the Year

• Donaldas Kairys (Kalev/Cramo)^[17]

All-KML Team

Pos	Player	Team
PG	Tanel Sokk	University of Tartu
SG	Isaiah Briscoe	Kalev/Cramo
SF	Dominique Hawkins	AVIS UTILITAS Rapla
PF	Bojan Subotić	Kalev/Cramo
C	Janar Talts	University of Tartu

Player of the Month

Month	Player	Team
October[18]	Egert Haller	Valga-Valka/Maks & Moorits
November[19]	Bamba Fall	Tallinna Kalev/TLÜ
December[20]	Janari Jõesaar	Kalev/Cramo
January[21]	Branko Mirković	Kalev/Cramo
February[22]	Janar Talts	University of Tartu
March[23]	Kristjan Kitsing	University of Tartu

See also

• 2017–18 Basketball Champions League
• 2017–18 FIBA Europe Cup
• 2017–18 VTB United League
• 2017–18 Baltic Basketball League
• 2017–18 Latvian Basketball League