2018–19 Latvian–Estonian Basketball League

The 2018–19 Latvian–Estonian Basketball League, known as OlyBet Latvian–Estonian Basketball League for sponsorship reasons, was the inaugural season of the newly formed Latvian–Estonian Basketball League, the combined top basketball division of Latvia and Estonia.

Estonian-Latvian Basketball League
Saku Suurhall in Tallinn hosted the Final Four
Season	2018–19
Duration	28 September 2018 – 6 April 2019
Games played	222
Teams	15
TV partner(s)	Best4Sport TV, TTV, Delfi TV
Regular season
Season MVP	Rihards Lomažs
Finals
Champions	Ventspils (1st title)
Runners-up	VEF Rīga
Third place	Kalev/Cramo
Fourth place	Ogre
Statistical leaders
Points Justin Johnson 21.4 Rebounds Jurijs Aleksejevs 9.3 Assists Tony Wroten 7.6
2019–20 →

The season began on 28 September 2018, with the 2018 Estonian champions Kalev/Cramo hosting a game against the 2018 Latvian champions Ventspils. The Final Four was played at the Saku Suurhall in Tallinn, Estonia, with Ventspils winning the inaugural title.

Competition format

The competition format follows the usual double round-robin format. During the course of the regular season, which lasts from 28 September 2018 to 24 March 2018, all the teams play each other twice, once at home and once away, for a total of 28 games. Teams receive two points for a win and one point for a loss. Teams are ranked by total points, with the eight highest-ranked teams advancing to the double-legged quarter-finals. The winning teams will determine the champion in a Final Four tournament.^[1][2][3]

Teams

Kalev
Kalev/TLÜ
TalTech

Pärnu

Rapla

Tartu Ülikool

Valga-Valka

Ventspils

LU
VEF Rīga

Liepāja

Jūrmala

Ogre

Valmiera

Jēkabpils

Location of the 2018–19 Latvian–Estonian Basketball League teams

15 teams, 7 from Estonia and 8 from Latvia, are contesting the league in the 2018–19 season.

Venues and locations

Team	Home city	Arena
Avis Utilitas Rapla	Rapla	Sadolin Sports Hall
Jūrmala Betsafe	Jūrmala	Jurmala State Gymnasium Sports Hall
Jēkabpils/SMScredit.lv	Jēkabpils	Jēkabpils Sports Hall
Kalev/Cramo	Tallinn	Kalev Sports Hall
Latvijas Universitāte	Rīga	Elektrum Olympic Sports Center
Liepāja	Liepāja	Liepāja Olympic Center
Ogre	Ogre	Ogre 1st Secondary School
Pärnu Sadam	Pärnu	Pärnu Sports Hall
Tallinna Kalev/TLÜ	Tallinn	Sõle Sports Centre
TalTech	Tallinn	TalTech Sports Hall
Tartu Ülikool	Tartu	University of Tartu Sports Hall
Valga-Valka/Maks & Moorits	Valga	Valga Sports Hall
Valmiera Glass VIA	Valmiera	Vidzeme Olympic Center
VEF Rīga	Rīga	Elektrum Olympic Sports Center
Ventspils	Ventspils	Ventspils Olympic Center

Personnel and sponsorship

Team	Head coach	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Avis Utilitas Rapla	Toomas Annuk	Indrek Kajupank	Spalding	Fenikss Casino
Jūrmala Betsafe	Mārtiņš Gulbis	Uģis Pinete	Spalding	Betsafe
Jēkabpils/SMScredit.lv	Marko Žarković	Rodrigo Būmeisters	Joma	PATA
Kalev/Cramo	Donaldas Kairys	Kristjan Kangur	Nike	Cramo
Latvijas Universitāte	Guntis Endzels	Linards Jaunzems	Nike	University of Latvia
Liepāja	Artūrs Štālbergs	Mareks Jurevičus	Erreà
Ogre	Artūrs Visockis-Rubenis	Kristaps Dārgais	Erreà	Kronus
Pärnu Sadam	Heiko Rannula	Rannar Raap	Nike	Port of Pärnu
Tallinna Kalev/TLÜ	Martin Müürsepp	Mario Paiste	Nike	City of Tallinn
TalTech	Rait Käbin	Jaan Puidet	Nike	Tallinn University of Technology
Tartu Ülikool	Priit Vene	Julius Kazakauskas	Nike	University of Tartu
Valga-Valka/Maks & Moorits	Mikhail Karpenko	Timo Eichfuss	Teamshield	SynotTip
Valmiera Glass ViA	Roberts Zeile	Jānis Kaufmanis	Spalding	Valmiera Glass
VEF Rīga	Jānis Gailītis	Mareks Mejeris	Adidas	Mākslai vajag telpu
Ventspils	Roberts Štelmahers	Māris Gulbis	Joma	Port of Ventspils

Regular season

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	PCT	Qualification
1	Ventspils	28	27	1	2516	1996	+520	.964	Advanced to play-offs and national championships
2	VEF Rīga	28	26	2	2567	1931	+636	.929
3	Kalev/Cramo	28	25	3	2583	2046	+537	.893
4	Ogre	28	18	10	2533	2307	+226	.643
5	TalTech	28	16	12	2306	2297	+9	.571
6	Tartu Ülikool	28	14	14	2202	2249	−47	.500
7	Avis Utilitas Rapla	28	13	15	2242	2284	−42	.464[a]
8	Pärnu Sadam	28	13	15	2156	2222	−66	.464[a]
9	Jūrmala Betsafe	28	13	15	2175	2232	−57	.464[a]	Qualification for Latvian championship
10	Tallinna Kalev/TLÜ	28	12	16	2276	2250	+26	.429	Qualification for Estonian championship
11	Latvijas Universitāte	28	9	19	1972	2193	−221	.321	Qualification for Latvian championship
12	Valmiera Glass/ViA	28	8	20	2214	2414	−200	.286
13	Liepāja	28	7	21	2151	2500	−349	.250[b]
14	Valga-Valka/Maks & Moorits	28	7	21	1976	2286	−310	.250[b]
15	Jēkabpils/SMScredit.lv	28	2	26	1884	2546	−662	.071

Source: estlatbl.com
Notes:

1. Rapla 2–2 (+10); Pärnu 2–2 (-1); Jūrmala 2–2 (-9)
2. Liepāja 2–0 Valga-Valka

Results

Home \ Away	RAP	JUR	JEK	KAL	LAT	LIE	OGR	PAR	TLU	TCH	TRT	VLG	VIA	VEF	VEN
Avis Utilitas Rapla	—	68–71	104–80	77–84	77–74	99–96	83–95	94–85	69–87	71–89	97–71	81–83	100–88	71–77	72–93
Jūrmala Betsafe	67–60	—	79–61	66–78	80–62	101–96	90–84	89–93	71–74	82–85	89–95	66–85	81–69	73–96	62–72
Jēkabpils/SMScredit.lv	69–79	72–77	—	64–102	57–90	71–63	68–113	78–85	54–88	65–76	74–93	61–79	49–71	68–123	58–115
Kalev/Cramo	81–68	103–84	104–56	—	94–69	97–57	118–92	88–77	93–92	107–68	104–71	97–59	88–79	82–91	97–85
Latvijas Universitāte	75–97	55–62	89–76	71–97	—	78–70	60–86	75–70	53–66	78–76	72–77	76–84	80–71	64–91	61–89
Liepāja	82–89	81–87	81–65	80–107	70–78	—	75–93	62–93	94–88	91–98	89–78	85–76	73–71	70–106	66–110
Ogre	84–77	104–83	106–72	78–93	62–67	95–68	—	99–74	94–77	97–102	99–89	86–73	92–71	75–90	92–94
Pärnu Sadam	62–73	87–72	76–67	66–93	82–64	96–83	79–86	—	70–65	48–70	76–82	91–79	87–82	72–76	72–82
Tallinna Kalev/TLÜ	83–86	96–99	85–82	72–79	84–88	73–60	83–81	85–91	—	76–81	82–84	87–61	120–109	83–93	65–84
TalTech	82–78	80–75	110–71	66–100	84–78	99–82	84–92	91–84	83–99	—	86–94	78–66	99–73	72–95	78–92
Tartu Ülikool	85–76	79–59	101–55	58–77	82–64	86–68	91–94	52–68	75–66	79–68	—	71–72	70–76	75–81	59–85
Valga-Valka/Maks & Moorits	70–85	67–90	59–70	54–88	62–58	80–102	65–81	70–79	78–90	64–87	79–83	—	74–69	54–82	65–82
Valmiera Glass ViA	69–82	77–103	84–82	71–84	87–63	87–93	71–86	77–75	63–86	86–75	106–98	88–84	—	76–95	97–108
VEF Rīga	102–68	81–59	102–63	84–66	82–70	102–47	111–108	91–56	95–56	86–72	99–41	96–78	92–61	—	89–90
Ventspils	100–61	72–58	112–76	91–82	78–60	97–67	99–79	97–62	80–68	88–67	88–83	77–56	95–85	61–59	—

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

Play-offs

The quarter-finals were played with a double-legged format while the semi-finals and final in a Final Four format was hosted at the Saku Suurhall in Tallinn, Estonia.

Bracket

	Quarter-finals 27 March – 2 April						Semi-finals 5 April						Final 6 April
	Pärnu Sadam	80	80	160
	Ventspils	83	94	177
							Ventspils			84
							Ogre			80
	TalTech	87	59	146
	Ogre	81	85	166
													Ventspils			102
													VEF Rīga			80
	Avis Utilitas Rapla	65	71	136
	VEF Rīga	90	121	211
							VEF Rīga			90
							Kalev/Cramo			80			Third place
	Tartu Ülikool	59	59	118
	Kalev/Cramo	84	96	180
													Ogre			85
													Kalev/Cramo			87

Quarter-finals

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Pärnu Sadam	160–177	Ventspils	80–83	80–94
Avis Utilitas Rapla	136–211	VEF Rīga	65–90	71–121
Tartu Ülikool	118–180	Kalev/Cramo	59–84	59–96
TalTech	146–166	Ogre	87–81	59–85

Semi-finals

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Ventspils	84–80	Ogre
VEF Rīga	90–80	Kalev/Cramo

Third place game

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Ogre	85–87	Kalev/Cramo

Final

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Ventspils	102–80	VEF Rīga

Individual statistics

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

Points

Rank	Name	Team	Games	Points	PPG
1	Justin Johnson	Liepāja	27	579	21.44
2	Jānis Kaufmanis	Valmiera Glass ViA	28	554	19.79
3	Arnas Velička	Tartu Ülikool	29	551	19.00
4	Linards Jaunzems	Latvijas Universitāte	25	463	18.52
5	Toomas Raadik	TalTech	30	531	17.70

Rebounds

Rank	Name	Team	Games	Rebounds	RPG
1	Jurijs Aleksejevs	Jēkabpils/SMScredit.lv / Jūrmala Betsafe	27	250	9.26
2	Julius Kazakauskas	Tartu Ülikool	27	230	8.52
3	Kristaps Dārgais	Ogre	32	268	8.38
4	Mihkel Kirves	Pärnu Sadam	29	241	8.31
5	Guntis Sīpoliņš	Valga-Valka/Maks & Moorits / Liepāja	28	228	8.14

Assists

Rank	Name	Team	Games	Assists	APG
1	Tony Wroten	Kalev/Cramo	18	137	7.61
2	Aaron Johnson	Ventspils	30	202	6.73
3	Jabril Durham	VEF Rīga	28	180	6.43
4	Rinalds Sirsniņš	Ogre	32	204	6.38
5	Norman Käbin	TalTech	28	163	5.82

Awards

Most Valuable Player

• Rihards Lomažs ( Ventspils)

Player of the Month

Month	Player	Team
October	Julius Kazakauskas	Tartu Ülikool
November	Kaspars Bērziņš	Ogre
December	Toomas Raadik	TalTech
January	Dominique Hawkins	Avis Utilitas Rapla
February	Toomas Raadik	TalTech

Estonian championship

Main article: 2019 KML Play-offs

Bracket

	Quarterfinals				Semifinals				Finals
					Kalev/Cramo	3
					Pärnu Sadam	0
	Avis Utilitas Rapla	1
	Pärnu Sadam	3
									Kalev/Cramo	3
									Tallinna Kalev/TLÜ	0
					TalTech	0
					Tallinna Kalev/TLÜ	3			Third place
	Tartu Ülikool	1
	Tallinna Kalev/TLÜ	3
									Pärnu Sadam	3
									TalTech	0

Quarterfinals

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5
Tartu Ülikool	1–3	Tallinna Kalev/TLÜ	78–73	70–87	77–83	96–97	0
Avis Utilitas Rapla	1–3	Pärnu Sadam	60–83	57–82	82–80	76–88	0

Semifinals

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5
Kalev/Cramo	3–0	Pärnu Sadam	91–85	102–62	89–72	0	0
TalTech	0–3	Tallinna Kalev/TLÜ	75–78	86–94	92–97	0	0

Third place series

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5
Pärnu Sadam	3–0	TalTech	75–68	79–73	89–63	0	0

Finals

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5
Kalev/Cramo	3–0	Tallinna Kalev/TLÜ	87–78	101–73	105–83	0	0

Latvian championship

The six best Latvian teams qualified for the national play-offs, that started on 10 April 2019.^[4]

Quarterfinals and semifinals are played in a best-of-five games format (1-1-1-1-1) while the final in a best of seven one.

Bracket

	Quarterfinals				Semifinals				Finals
					Ventspils	3
					Jūrmala Betsafe	0
	Jūrmala Betsafe	3
	Latvijas Universitāte	0
									Ventspils	1
									VEF Rīga	4
					VEF Rīga	3
					Ogre	0			Third place
	Ogre	3
	Valmiera Glass ViA	0
									Ogre	3
									Jūrmala Betsafe	0

Quarterfinals

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5
Ogre	3–0	Valmiera Glass ViA	100–81	93–82	73–67	0	0
Jūrmala Betsafe	3–0	Latvijas Universitāte	72–56	60–55	90–59	0	0

Semifinals

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5
Ventspils	3–0	Jūrmala Betsafe	86–78	91–63	85–72	0	0
VEF Rīga	3–0	Ogre	110–71	104–77	90–85	0	0

Third place series

The team with the higher seed played game one, two, five and seven (if necessary) at home.

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5
Ogre	3–0	Jūrmala Betsafe	78–60	97–90	83–78	0	0

Finals

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5	Game 6	Game 7
Ventspils	1–4	VEF Rīga	75–81	80–71	77–81	90–98	69–82	0	0

Estonian and Latvian clubs in European competitions

Team	Competition	Progress
Ventspils	Champions League	Regular season
	FIBA Europe Cup	Round of 16