2018 New Zealand NBL season

The 2018 NBL season was the 37th season of the National Basketball League. In 2018, the league welcomed back the Manawatu Jets after a two-season hiatus.

2018 New Zealand NBL season
League	New Zealand NBL
Sport	Basketball
Duration	26 April – 5 August
Number of games	18
Number of teams	8
Regular season
Minor premiers	Wellington Saints
Season MVP	Shea Ili (Wellington Saints)
Top scorer	Daishon Knight (Manawatu Jets)
Final Four
Champions	Southland Sharks
Runners-up	Wellington Saints
Finals MVP	Reuben Te Rangi

The regular season commenced on Thursday 26 April in Napier with the Hawke's Bay Hawks hosting the Southland Sharks at Pettigrew Green Arena.^[1] The season contained 14 weeks of regular season games followed by a Final Four weekend in August. The competition included a one-week international break, from 25 June to 1 July, and started later than normal due to the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.^[2]

Team information

Team	City	Arena	Colours	Head coach	Import	Import	Import
Canterbury Rams	Christchurch	Cowles Stadium		Mark Dickel	Winston Shepard	Xavier Thames	Julian Washburn
Hawke's Bay Hawks	Napier	Pettigrew Green Arena		Zico Coronel	Angus Brandt	Jamie Skeen
Manawatu Jets	Palmerston North	Arena Manawatu		Tim McTamney	Kuran Iverson	Daishon Knight	Brandon Lucas
Nelson Giants	Nelson	Trafalgar Centre		Jamie Pearlman	Kyle Adnam	Jerry Evans Jr.	Damon Heuir
Southland Sharks	Invercargill	Stadium Southland		Judd Flavell	Orlando Coleman	Conor Morgan	Jarrad Weeks
Super City Rangers	Auckland	The Trusts Arena		Jeff Green	Okesene Ale	Clayton Wilson
Taranaki Mountainairs	New Plymouth	TSB Stadium		Trent Adam	Javonte Douglas	Xavier Smith	Roger Woods
Wellington Saints	Wellington	TSB Bank Arena		Kevin Braswell	Shaun Bruce	Majok Majok	L. J. Peak

Summary

Regular season standings

Pos	Team	W	L	Qualification
1	Wellington Saints	15	3	Final Four
2	Nelson Giants	14	4
3	Southland Sharks	13	5
4	Hawke's Bay Hawks	12	6
5	Canterbury Rams	8	10
6	Super City Rangers	4	14
7	Taranaki Mountainairs	3	15
8	Manawatu Jets	3	15

Source: New Zealand National Basketball League

Final Four

	Semi-finals					Final
	1	Wellington Saints	99
	4	Hawke's Bay Hawks	73
							Wellington Saints	96
							Southland Sharks	98
	2	Nelson Giants	93
	3	Southland Sharks	98

Awards

Player of the Week

Round	Player	Team	Ref
1	Javonte Douglas	Taranaki Mountainairs	[3]
2	Kyle Adnam	Nelson Giants	[4]
3	Kuran Iverson	Manawatu Jets	[5]
4	Winston Shepard	Canterbury Rams	[6]
5	Shea Ili	Wellington Saints	[7]
6	Ethan Rusbatch	Hawke's Bay Hawks	[8]
7	Shea Ili	Wellington Saints	[9]
8	Julian Washburn	Canterbury Rams	[10]
9	Lindsay Tait	Super City Rangers	[11]
10
11	Finn Delany	Nelson Giants	[12]
12	Daishon Knight	Manawatu Jets	[13]
13	Orlando Coleman	Southland Sharks	[14]
14	Dominique Kelman-Poto	Super City Rangers	[15]

Statistics leaders

Stats as of the end of the regular season^[16]

Category	Player	Team	Stat
Points per game	Daishon Knight	Manawatu Jets	28.9
Rebounds per game	Kuran Iverson	Manawatu Jets	11.1
Assists per game	Lindsay Tait	Super City Rangers	7.6
Steals per game	Winston Shepard	Canterbury Rams	2.3
Blocks per game	Xavier Smith	Taranaki Mountainairs	1.7

Regular season

• Most Valuable Player: Shea Ili (Wellington Saints)^[17][18]
• NZ Most Valuable Player: Shea Ili (Wellington Saints)
• Most Outstanding Guard: Shea Ili (Wellington Saints)
• Most Outstanding NZ Guard: Shea Ili (Wellington Saints)
• Most Outstanding Forward: Finn Delany (Nelson Giants)
• Most Outstanding NZ Forward/Centre: Finn Delany (Nelson Giants)
• Scoring Champion: Daishon Knight (Manawatu Jets)
• Rebounding Champion: Kuran Iverson (Manawatu Jets)
• Assist Champion: Lindsay Tait (Super City Rangers)
• Rookie of the Year: Max Darling (Canterbury Rams)
• Coach of the Year: Jamie Pearlman (Nelson Giants)
• All-Star Five:
  • G: Shea Ili (Wellington Saints)
  • G: Jarrad Weeks (Southland Sharks)
  • F: Winston Shepard (Canterbury Rams)
  • F: Finn Delany (Nelson Giants)
  • C: Angus Brandt (Hawke's Bay Hawks)

Final Four

• Finals MVP: Reuben Te Rangi (Southland Sharks)^[19]