2018–19 Dutch Basketball League

The 2018–19 Dutch Basketball League (DBL) was the 59th season of the Dutch Basketball League, the highest professional basketball league in the Netherlands. The regular season started on 6 October 2018 and ended 30 April 2019. The best eight teams qualify for the playoffs which start on 2 May 2019. Donar was the defending champion.

Dutch Basketball League
Season	2018–19
Dates	6 October 2018 – 1 June 2019
Games played	184
Teams	10
Regular season
Top seed	ZZ Leiden
Champions League	Donar
FIBA Europe Cup	Landstede ZZ Leiden
Season MVP	Darius Thompson
Finals
Champions	Landstede 1st title
Runners-up	Donar
Playoffs MVP	Kaza Kajami-Keane
Statistical leaders
Points Darius Thompson 19.4 Rebounds Tony Washington 11.3 Assists Maurice Watson Jr. 7.9 Index Rating Darius Thompson 23.5
← 2017–18 2019–20 →

The season saw Landstede Zwolle win its first domestic championship, after defeating defending champions Donar in the finals.^[1]

Format

Due to the increase of teams from nine to ten, the format for the DBL season was changed. The eight highest-placed teams during the regular season qualify for the play-offs, while the two last-placed teams are eliminated. In the quarter-finals, a best-of-three series is played. In the semi-finals, a best-of-five series is played. The finals are decided through a best-of-seven series.^[2]

Teams

Apollo

Suns

Aris

Feyenoord

Donar

Landstede

New Heroes

BAL

ZZ Leiden

Windmills

Location of teams in the 2018–19 Dutch Basketball League

On 3 May 2018, the DBL officially announced the Dutch Windmills would make their debut in the upcoming season.^[3] Forward Lease Rotterdam changed its name to Feyenoord Basketball, as the team became a part of the multi-sports club of association football club Feyenoord.^[4]

Despite reaching the semi-finals of the NBB Cup and being in the fifth place in the DBL, Windmills struggled with financial problems throughout the season. In December 2018, Windmills was refused entrance to its home arena due to its payment arrears.^[5] On 10 April 2019, it was announced that Windmills would withdraw from the DBL. Its results in the second half of the competition were scrapped by the DBL.^[6]

Arenas and locations

Club	Location	Venue	Capacity
Apollo Amsterdam	Amsterdam	Apollohal	1,500
Aris Leeuwarden	Leeuwarden	Kalverdijkje	1,700
BAL	Weert	Sporthal Boshoven	1,000
Den Helder Suns	Den Helder	Sporthal Sportlaan	1,000
Donar	Groningen	MartiniPlaza	4,350
Dutch Windmills	Dordrecht	Sporthal de Boulevard	1,100
Feyenoord	Rotterdam	Topsportcentrum	1,000
Landstede	Zwolle	Landstede Sportcentrum	1,200
New Heroes	's-Hertogenbosch	Maaspoort	2,800
ZZ Leiden	Leiden	Vijf Meihal	2,000

Personnel and sponsorship

Team	Head coach	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Apollo Amsterdam	Patrick Faijdherbe	Dimeo van der Horst	Adidas	Paul Meijering
Aris Leeuwarden	Anne van Dijk (interim)	David Michaels	Jako	Friezon
BAL	Radenko Varagić[7]	Daan Rosenmuller	Spalding	–
Den Helder Suns	Peter van Noord	Tom Koopman	Burned	–
Donar	Erik Braal[8]	Jason Dourisseau	Macron	Hepro Kunststof Kozijnen
Dutch Windmills	Geert Hammink	Alec Wintering	–	PyrOil
Feyenoord	Jan Stalman (interim)	Ties Theeuwkens	Adidas	Autohaag Zeeuw
Landstede	Herman van den Belt	Nigel van Oostrum	Burned	Landstede
New Heroes	Ivica Skelin	Stefan Wessels	Burned	New Heroes[9]
ZZ Leiden	Rolf Franke[10]	Mohamed Kherrazi	Peak	Zorg en Zekerheid[11]

Coaching changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
ZZ Leiden	Paul Vervaeck	End of contract	30 May 2018[12]	Pre-season	Rolf Franke	11 June 2018[10]
Feyenoord	Armand Salomon	End of contract	23 June 2018[13]		Richard den Os	23 June 2018[13]
New Heroes	Silvano Poropat	Mutual consent	27 August 2018[14]		Ivica Skelin	4 September 2018[15]
Feyenoord	Richard den Os	Resigned	10 March 2019[16]	8th (7–19)	Jan Stalman (interim)	10 March 2019
Aris Leeuwarden	Tony van den Bosch	Signed with Okapi Aalstar	8 April 2019[17]	8th (9–22)	Anne van Dijk (interim)	8 April 2019

Players

Foreign players

In 2017, league policy was changed and the number of allowed foreign players per team was increased from 4 to 5.^[18] Additional was the restriction that a team is not allowed to have five foreign players on the court at the same time.

Club	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Player 4	Player 5	Left during season
Apollo Amsterdam
Aris Leeuwarden	Nick Masterson[19]	David Michaels[20]	Griffin Kinney[21]	Deividas Kumelis[22]	Darian Anderson[23]	Jonathan Williams[24][25]
BAL	Tony Washington[26]
Den Helder Suns	Alex Laurent[27]	Steve Harris[28]	Thibault Vanderhaegen[29]			Lavone Holland[30][31]
Donar	Drago Pašalić[32]	Lance Jeter[33]	Teddy Gipson[34]	Grant Sitton[35]	LaRon Dendy[36]	Jordan Callahan[37][38] Jobi Wall[39]
Dutch Windmills	Shavon Coleman[40]	Bennett Koch[41]	Ryan Richardson[42]	LaVonte Dority[43]	Alec Wintering[44]
Feyenoord	Justin Gordon[45]	Emanuele Montaguti[46]	Trevor Setty[47]			La'Shard Anderson[45][48] Marius Mwendanga[49]
Landstede	Noah Dahlman[50]	Sherron Dorsey-Walker[50]	Kaza Kajami-Keane[51]	Kayel Locke[52]		Franko House[53]
New Heroes	Jonathon Williams[54]	Keshun Sherrill[55]	Payton Henson[56]	Vernon Taylor[57]		Steven Cook[58] Darrell Davis[59] Torian Graham[60]
ZZ Leiden	Kenneth Simms[61]	Clayton Vette[62]	Maurice Watson Jr.[63]	Darius Thompson[64]	Sergio De Randamie[65]

Notable transactions

Transactions including players who have won a DBL award, were named to an All-DBL Team or were DBL All-Stars.

Date	Player	From	To
14 June 2018[66]	Jessey Voorn	ZZ Leiden	New Heroes
25 November 2018[67]	Lance Jeter	Pieno žvaigždės	Donar

Notable retirements

Player	Date	Team	Playing career	Notable honors
Tjoe de Paula	19 April 2018[68]	Den Helder Suns	2001–2018	2x DBL champion DBL Rookie of the Year
Kees Akerboom Jr.	31 May 2018[69]	New Heroes	2001–2018	11x DBL All-Star 3x DBL champion

Regular season

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	ZZ Leiden	34	31	3	2950	2409	+541	62	Qualification to play-offs
2	Landstede	34	28	6	2844	2314	+530	56
3	New Heroes	34	26	8	2752	2313	+439	52
4	Donar	34	22	12	2833	2457	+376	44
5	Den Helder Suns	34	12	22	2489	2758	−269	24
6	Apollo Amsterdam	34	10	24	2469	2855	−386	20
7	Aris Leeuwarden	34	9	25	2409	2765	−356	18
8	Feyenoord	34	9	25	2401	2747	−346	18
9	BAL	34	5	29	2267	2828	−561	10
10	Dutch Windmills[a] (D)	18	10	8	1282	1270	+12	0	Expelled

Source: DBL
(D) Disqualified
Notes:

1. Dutch Windmills withdrew during the third round. Only matches of the two first rounds count for the standings.

Results

Home \ Away	AMS	LEE	BAL	DHE	WIN	DON	FEY	LAN	NHO	ZZL	AMS	LEE	BAL	DHE	WIN	DON	FEY	LAN	NHO	ZZL
Apollo Amsterdam	—	94–80	91–71	92–80	59–71	73–85	91–89	60–91	66–106	61–93	—	88–59	80–60	92–80	—	58–72	89–78	63–87	85–79	83–91
Aris Leeuwarden	77–65	—	75–69	88–85	74–80	60–97	90–79	57–110	73–84	81–95	70–78	—	72–53	62–93	—	65–60	75–100	71–78	63–82	69–92
BAL	91–78	63–60	—	91–102	74–82	60–104	85–72	71–89	49–80	65–82	68–75	79–65	—	64–78	—	60–78	85–72	64–94	71–79	55–97
Den Helder Suns	77–68	67–68	95–64	—	55–76	73–91	76–67	67–80	55–88	73–78	102–82	76–66	95–64	—	—	67–96	80–69	44–76	76–87	57–68
Dutch Windmills	71–69	78–73	70–52	73–46	—	75–76	60–69	64–78	59–81	73–79	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Donar	86–55	91–57	90–51	110–83	68–69	—	90–59	84–90	80–75	71–73	101–57	61–76	101–67	96–63	—	—	111–72	56–78	82–80	76–81
Feyenoord	67–52	83–72	68–70	72–69	60–77	77–79	—	77–89	64–76	80–91	78–56	57–103	69–54	72–69	—	66–82	—	75–66	60–74	58–97
Landstede	100–73	82–54	84–69	89–54	76–49	88–81	85–48	—	67–74	71–81	104–59	88–87	71–58	92–57	—	101–96	90–64	—	76–69	70–77
New Heroes	87–63	97–67	80–39	91–70	77–46	73–65	86–57	71–65	—	83–91	87–72	79–59	89–72	97–81	—	69–63	104–72	77–73	—	65–74
ZZ Leiden	93–72	96–75	100–73	97–76	91–66	83–77	88–64	82–87	72–67	—	89–58	91–64	103–84	83–61	—	82–85	92–68	79–82	89–59	—

Source: DBL
Legend: Blue = home team win; Red = away team win.

• Note: Dutch Windmills withdrew from the tournament during the third round. Only matches of the two first rounds would count for the league table.

Playoffs

Bracket

	Quarter-finals					Semi-finals					Finals
	1	ZZ Leiden	2
	8	Feyenoord	0
						1	ZZ Leiden	0
						4	Donar	3
	4	Donar	2
	5	Den Helder Suns	0
											4	Donar	2
											2	Landstede	4
	2	Landstede	2
	7	Aris Leeuwarden	0
						2	Landstede	3
						3	New Heroes Den Bosch	1
	3	New Heroes Den Bosch	2
	6	Apollo Amsterdam	0

Quarter-finals

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3
ZZ Leiden	2–0	Feyenoord	96–72	103–68	0
Landstede	2–0	Aris Leeuwarden	92–70	100–72	0
New Heroes	2–0	Apollo Amsterdam	88–59	94–62	0
Donar	2–0	Den Helder Suns	102–52	75–69	0

Semi-finals

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5
ZZ Leiden	0–3	Donar	76–77	71–84	63–93	0	0
Landstede	3–1	New Heroes	63–89	75–67	76–68	75–74	0

Finals

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5	Game 6	Game 7
Donar	2–4	Landstede	72–69	53–62	70–84	88–88	53–85	71–78	0

Final standings

The final standings are based upon performance in the playoffs.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	Qualification
1	Landstede (C)	46	37	9	Qualification to FIBA Europe Cup regular season
2	Donar	45	29	16	Qualification to Champions League qualifying rounds[a]
3	ZZ Leiden	39	33	6	Qualification to FIBA Europe Cup qualifying rounds
4	New Heroes	40	29	11
5	Den Helder Suns	36	12	24
6	Apollo Amsterdam	36	10	26
7	Aris Leeuwarden	36	9	27
8	Feyenoord	36	9	27
9	BAL	34	5	29
10	Dutch Windmills[b] (D)	18	10	8	Expelled

Source: DBL
(C) Champions; (D) Disqualified
Notes:

1. Landstede rejected its invitation for the 2019–20 Basketball Champions League, moving its place to Donar.
2. Dutch Windmills withdrew during the third round. Only matches of the two first rounds count for the standings.

Awards

Award	Player	Team
Most Valuable Player	Darius Thompson	ZZ Leiden
Playoffs MVP	Kaza Kajami-Keane	Landstede Zwolle
Statistical Player of the Year	Darius Thompson	ZZ Leiden
Defensive Player of the Year	Mohamed Kherrazi	ZZ Leiden
Coach of the Year	Rolf Franke	ZZ Leiden
MVP U23	Rienk Mast	Donar
Most Improved Player	Rienk Mast	Donar
Sixth Man of the Year	Sergio De Randamie	ZZ Leiden
Rookie of the Year	Boy van Vliet	Den Helder Suns

Dutch clubs in European competitions

Team	Competition	Progress
Donar	Champions League	Second qualifying round
	FIBA Europe Cup	Round of 16
New Heroes Den Bosch		Regular season
ZZ Leiden		Round of 16

See also

• 2018–19 NBB Cup
• 2018 Dutch Basketball Supercup