2019–20 NBL season

  • SBS Viceland
    ESPN
New Zealand:
  • Sky Sport
Online:
  • SBS On Demand
    NBL TV
    Twitch
    Facebook Watch
Regular seasonSeason championsSydney KingsSeason MVPUnited States Bryce Cotton (Perth)FinalsChampionsPerth Wildcats (10th title)  Runners-upSydney KingsSemifinalistsCairns Taipans
Melbourne UnitedFinals MVPUnited States Bryce Cotton (Perth)Statistical leaders
Points United States Bryce Cotton (Perth) 22.5
Rebounds United States Shawn Long (Melbourne) 9.4
Assists Brazil Scott Machado (Cairns) 7.9
Efficiency Australia Jordan Hunter (Sydney) 73%
RecordsBiggest home win45 points
United 125–80 Kings
(2 March 2020)Biggest away win23 points
Wildcats 76–99 Taipans
(18 October 2019)
United 81–104 Kings
(14 December 2019)
Hawks 79–102 Kings
(24 January 2020)Highest scoring224 points
36ers 113–111 Phoenix
(13 December 2019)Winning streak6 games
Melbourne United
(2 – 29 November 2019)
Sydney Kings
(4 October – 4 November 2019)
Brisbane Bullets
(5 January – 7 February 2020)Losing streak10 games
Illawarra Hawks
(4 January – 15 February 2020)Highest attendance17,514 – Qudos Bank Arena
Kings vs Hawks
(17 November 2019)Lowest attendance2,054 – ILT Stadium Southland
Breakers vs Wildcats
(3 November 2019)Total attendance896,408Average attendance6,903 NBL seasons
All statistics correct as of 17 March 2020.

The 2019–20 NBL season was the 42nd season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979.[1]

Teams

Nine teams competed in the 2019–20 Season with the addition of South East Melbourne Phoenix.[2]


Team Location Coach Captain Stadium Capacity Founded Main Sponsor
Adelaide 36ers Adelaide United States Joey Wright Australia Brendan Teys
Australia Kevin White
Adelaide Entertainment Centre 11,300 1982 Scouts Australia
Brisbane Bullets Brisbane Australia Andrej Lemanis Rotating captaincy Nissan Arena 5,000 1979 Tyrepower
Cairns Taipans Cairns United States Mike Kelly Australia Nathan Jawai
United States D. J. Newbill
Cairns Convention Centre 5,300 1999 CQUniversity
Illawarra Hawks Wollongong Australia Matt Flinn Australia David Andersen
Australia Todd Blanchfield
WIN Entertainment Centre 6,000 1979 SLAM Media Inc.
AIS Arena 5,200
Melbourne United Melbourne Australia Dean Vickerman Australia Chris Goulding Melbourne Arena 10,500 1984 SodaStream
New Zealand Breakers Auckland Israel Dan Shamir New Zealand Thomas Abercrombie Spark Arena 9,300 2003 Sky Sport
Eventfinda Stadium 4,400
ILT Stadium Southland 4,000
Perth Wildcats Perth Australia Trevor Gleeson Australia Damian Martin Perth Arena 14,800 1982 Pentanet
South East Melbourne Phoenix Melbourne Australia Simon Mitchell Australia Mitch Creek
Australia Adam Gibson
Melbourne Arena 10,500 2019 Dreamstreet Lending
State Basketball Centre 3,200
Sydney Kings Sydney United States Will Weaver Australia Kevin Lisch Qudos Bank Arena 18,200 1988 Hostplus

Off-season changes

Pre-season

The pre-season games started on 19 June 2019 and ended on 16 October 2019. The pre-season featured games in China, the Philippines and the United States, and featured the NBLxNBA 2019 Tour in which five NBL teams played a total of seven games.

Ladder

2019–20 NBL pre-season ladder
Ladder Information
Pos. Nat. Name Pld. W. L. Last 5 Streak Home Away For Against Pts % Win %
1 Australia Sydney 5 4 1 4–1 W3 1–0 3–1 486 394 123.35% 80.00%
2 Australia Cairns 9 6 3 4–1 W4 3–1 3–2 811 763 106.29% 66.67%
3 Australia S.E. Melbourne (NT) 9 6 3 4–1 W2 3–2 3–1 819 784 104.46% 66.67%
4 Australia Melbourne 12 6 6 2–3 L2 4–3 2–3 1167 1095 106.58% 50.00%
5 Australia Brisbane 8 4 4 3–2 W3 1–1 3–3 676 676 100.00% 50.00%
6 Australia Illawarra 6 3 3 2–3 L2 1–1 2–2 598 631 94.77% 50.00%
7 Australia Adelaide 10 4 6 1–4 L2 1–1 3–5 892 920 96.96% 40.00%
8 Australia Perth (RC) 7 2 5 1–4 L1 1–2 1–3 625 671 93.14% 28.57%
9 New Zealand New Zealand 6 1 5 0–5 L5 0–0 1–5 501 574 87.28% 16.67%

Total Rounds
11 weeks

Total Games
46 games


Legend
  • (NT) New Team
  • (RC) Reigning Champion

  • Updated: 17 October 2019


NBL Blitz ladder

2019 NBL Blitz ladder
Ladder Information
Pos. Nat. Name Pld. W. L. QW Last 5 Streak For Against Pts % Win % Pts.
1 Australia Brisbane 2 2 0 6.5 2–0 W2 198 142 139.44% 100.00% 12.5
2 Australia Cairns 2 2 0 5 2–0 W2 187 167 111.98% 100.00% 11
3 Australia S.E. Melbourne (NT) 2 2 0 5 2–0 W2 198 182 108.79% 100.00% 11
4 Australia Sydney 2 1 1 5 1–1 W1 190 167 113.77% 50.00% 8
5 New Zealand New Zealand 2 1 1 5 1–1 L1 192 178 107.87% 50.00% 8
6 Australia Melbourne 2 1 1 5 1–1 W1 186 188 98.94% 50.00% 8
7 Australia Illawarra 2 1 1 1.5 1–1 L1 213 229 93.01% 50.00% 4.5
8 Australia Adelaide (RC) 2 0 2 3.5 0–2 L2 184 192 95.83% 0.00% 3.5
9 Australia Perth 2 0 2 2.5 0–2 L2 190 225 84.44% 0.00% 2.5
10 Australia NBL1 All Stars (NT) 2 0 2 1 0–2 L2 125 193 64.77% 0.00% 1

Total Rounds
4 days
Games per Team
2
Total Games
10


Legend
  • (NT) New Team
  • (RC) Reigning Champion

  • Updated: 22 September 2019


Regular season

The 2019–20 regular season took place over 20 rounds between 3 October 2019 and 16 February 2020.

Ladder

Pos 2019–20 NBL season
  • v
  • t
  • e
Team Pld W L PCT Last 5 Streak Home Away PF PA PP
1 Sydney Kings 28 20 8 71.43% 4–1 W2 12–2 8–6 2642 2472 106.88%
2 Perth Wildcats 28 19 9 67.86% 4–1 W3 11–3 8–6 2529 2409 104.98%
3 Cairns Taipans 28 16 12 57.14% 3–2 L2 11–3 5–9 2587 2547 101.57%
4 Melbourne United 28 15 13 53.57% 4–1 W3 9–5 6–8 2638 2560 103.05%
5 Brisbane Bullets 28 15 13 53.57% 3–2 W1 10–4 5–9 2607 2557 101.96%
6 New Zealand Breakers 28 15 13 53.57% 4–1 W4 9–5 6–8 2514 2468 101.86%
7 Adelaide 36ers 28 12 16 42.86% 1–4 L2 8–6 4–10 2654 2768 95.88%
8 S.E. Melbourne Phoenix 28 9 19 32.14% 0–5 L8 6–8 3–11 2671 2761 96.74%
9 Illawarra Hawks 28 5 23 17.86% 0–5 L10 3–11 2–12 2354 2654 88.70%

Updated to match(es) played on 16 February 2020. Source: NBL.com.au

The NBL tie-breaker system as outlined in the NBL Rules and Regulations states that in the case of an identical win–loss record, the overall points percentage between the teams will determine order of seeding.

1Melbourne United won on overall points percentage. Brisbane Bullets finished 5th on overall points percentage.

Ladder progression

  • Numbers highlighted in green indicate that the team finished the round inside the top four.
  • Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished first on the ladder in that round.
  • Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished last place on the ladder in that round.
2019–20 NBL season
  • v
  • t
  • e
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Adelaide 36ers 8 4 4 5 6 6 5 5 6 4 5 5 5 5 7 7 7 7 7
Brisbane Bullets 2 4 5 5 4 5 5 6 7 7 7 7 8 7 6 5 4 4 5 5
Cairns Taipans 7 7 6 6 8 8 7 7 6 4 6 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3
Illawarra Hawks 6 5 7 9 9 9 9 8 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
Melbourne United 5 6 8 8 6 4 3 3 4 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 5 6 6 4
New Zealand Breakers 9 7 7 7 8 9 8 8 8 8 7 6 8 6 6 5 4 6
Perth Wildcats 4 2 3 2 2 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
S.E. Melbourne Phoenix 3 3 2 3 3 2 4 4 3 5 5 6 6 8 7 8 8 8 8 8
Sydney Kings 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Finals

The 2020 NBL Finals were played in February and March 2020, consisting of two best-of-three semi-final series and a best-of-five Grand Final series.[3] In the semi-finals, the higher seed hosted the first and third games. In the Grand Final, the higher seed hosts the first, third and fifth games.

Despite the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic and multiple other sporting events being cancelled due to the pandemic, the Grand Final series started on 8 March 2020. Beginning with Game 2, all remaining games would be played behind closed doors with no spectators. After Game 3, the Sydney Kings (who were trailing 2–1 in the series) announced that they would pull out of the Grand Final due to COVID-19 concerns. The NBL therefore cancelled the remainder of the series, and named the Perth Wildcats as NBL champions by default.[4][5][6]

Playoff bracket

Semifinals Grand Final
          
1 Sydney Kings 86 80 89
4 Melbourne United 80 125 87
1 Sydney Kings 86 97 96
2 Perth Wildcats 88 85 111
2 Perth Wildcats 108 74 93
3 Cairns Taipans 107 85 82


Awards

Pre-season

Regular season

Player of the Week

Rounds Player Team
Round 1 Mitch Creek South East Melbourne Phoenix
Round 2 Bryce Cotton Perth Wildcats
Round 3 Andrew Bogut Sydney Kings
Round 4 Shawn Long Melbourne United
Round 5 Jason Cadee Brisbane Bullets
Round 6 LaMelo Ball Illawarra Hawks
Round 7 Jerome Randle Adelaide 36ers
Round 8 LaMelo Ball Illawarra Hawks
Round 9 Cameron Oliver Cairns Taipans
Round 10 Nick Kay Perth Wildcats
Round 11 John Roberson South East Melbourne Phoenix
Jerome Randle Adelaide 36ers
Round 12 Scotty Hopson New Zealand Breakers
Round 13 Lamar Patterson Brisbane Bullets
Round 14 Dane Pineau South East Melbourne Phoenix
Round 15 Scott Machado Cairns Taipans
Round 16 Scotty Hopson New Zealand Breakers
Round 17 Miles Plumlee Perth Wildcats
Round 18 Nick Kay Perth Wildcats
Round 19 Cameron Oliver Cairns Taipans
Round 20 Chris Goulding Melbourne United

Awards night

Post-season

Media

Australian Broadcast Rights to the 2019–20 season were held by SBS Viceland in the first year of a two-year deal. All 126 games were available live and free on streaming platforms such as SBS On Demand. ESPN also broadcast 59 games including all games after 7.30pm AEDT.[7] In New Zealand, Sky Sport were the official league broadcaster.[8] The NBL also became the first Australian sports body to broadcast their matches online with them signing a two-year deal with Twitch which included all pre-season games.[9] The NBL also signed a deal with Facebook Watch, which broadcast 52 games across the season in the United States.[10]

References

  1. ^ "#NBL20 Schedule Released". National Basketball League. 18 July 2019. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
  2. ^ "South East Melbourne Phoenix Set To Rise". National Basketball League. 17 November 2018. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
  3. ^ "Schedule for Hungry Jack's NBL Finals Presented by MG". nbl.com.au.
  4. ^ "NBL game two to be played in isolation". The West Australian. 13 March 2020.
  5. ^ "Remaining NBL Grand Final Series Games Cancelled | NBL". nbl.com.au.
  6. ^ "NBL news: NBL names Perth Wildcats champions, Sydney Kings". Fox Sports. 19 March 2020.
  7. ^ Mark, David (31 July 2019). "National Basketball League now on SBS and ESPN after Nine opts out of its broadcast deal". ABC. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  8. ^ "NBL and Breakers Team Up with SKY Sport". National Basketball League. 5 June 2019. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
  9. ^ Ward, Roy (11 October 2019). "NBL strikes 'revolutionary' live stream deal with Twitch". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  10. ^ Ward, Roy (24 September 2019). "Lots to like: Facebook could open floodgates for NBL". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 23 October 2019.

External links

  • Official website