2016–17 NBL season

2016–17 NBL season
League	National Basketball League
Season	2016–17
Dates	6 October 2016 – 5 March 2017
Number of teams	8
TV partner(s)	Australia: Fox Sports SBS New Zealand: Sky Sport Online: NBL TV
Regular season
Season champions	MVP	Bryce Cotton (Perth)
Statistical leaders
Points Bryce Cotton (Perth) 22.1 Rebounds Josh Boone (Melbourne) 9.3 Assists Jerome Randle (Adelaide) 5.3
Records
Total attendance	725,749[1] (6,048 per game)
NBL seasons
← 2015–16 2017–18 →

The 2016–17 NBL season was the 39th season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. A total of eight teams contested the league. The regular season was played between October 2016 and February 2017,^[2] followed by a post-season featuring the top four in late February and March 2017.

During the off-season Townsville Crocodiles folded with Brisbane Bullets returning.

Australian broadcast rights to the season were held by Fox Sports, in the second year of a five-year deal, with one game per week simulcast on SBS. In New Zealand, Sky Sport are the official league broadcaster.

Pre-season

2016 NBL All-Australian Tour of China

NBL All-Australian Team won the series 2–1.

2016 Australian Basketball Challenge

A pre-season tournament featuring all eight teams and two invited

Cup.

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23 September 2016	Perth Wildcats	109–66	Tianjin Ronggang Gold Lions	Brisbane Convention Centre, Brisbane
NBL TV

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23 September 2016	Sydney Kings	94–65	New Zealand Breakers	Brisbane Convention Centre, Brisbane
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23 September 2016	Brisbane Bullets	117–73	Zhejiang Golden Bulls	Brisbane Convention Centre, Brisbane
NBL TV

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24 September 2016	Cairns Taipans	93–83	Adelaide 36ers	Brisbane Convention Centre, Brisbane
NBL TV

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24 September 2016	Illawarra Hawks	123–75	Zhejiang Golden Bulls	Brisbane Convention Centre, Brisbane
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24 September 2016	Melbourne United	133–62	Tianjin Ronggang Gold Lions	Brisbane Convention Centre, Brisbane
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24 September 2016	Brisbane Bullets	83–79	Sydney Kings	Brisbane Convention Centre, Brisbane
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25 September 2016	New Zealand Breakers	68–79	Cairns Taipans	Brisbane Convention Centre, Brisbane
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25 September 2016	Illawarra Hawks	98–77	Perth Wildcats	Brisbane Convention Centre, Brisbane
NBL TV

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25 September 2016	Tianjin Ronggang Gold Lions	93–102	Zhejiang Golden Bulls	Brisbane Convention Centre, Brisbane
NBL TV

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25 September 2016	Adelaide 36ers	97–100	Melbourne United	Brisbane Convention Centre, Brisbane
NBL TV

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26 September 2016	Perth Wildcats	81–69	Sydney Kings	Brisbane Convention Centre, Brisbane
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26 September 2016	Adelaide 36ers	103–89	New Zealand Breakers	Brisbane Convention Centre, Brisbane
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26 September 2016	Brisbane Bullets	61–91	Cairns Taipans	Brisbane Convention Centre, Brisbane
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26 September 2016	Illawarra Hawks	94–86	Melbourne United	Brisbane Convention Centre, Brisbane
NBL TV

Illawarra Hawks are pre-season champions.

Regular season

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Round 13

Round 14

Round 15

Round 16

Round 17

Round 18

Round 19

Ladder

Pos	2016–17 NBL season v t e
	Team	Pld	W	L	PCT	Last 5	Streak	Home	Away	PF	PA	PP
1	Adelaide 36ers	28	17	11	60.71%	1–4	L4	9–5	8–6	2582	2505	103.07%
2	Cairns Taipans1	28	15	13	53.57%	4–1	W3	10–4	5–9	2305	2301	100.17%
3	Perth Wildcats1	28	15	13	53.57%	4–1	W2	10–4	5–9	2294	2257	101.64%
4	Illawarra Hawks1	28	15	13	53.57%	3–2	W1	9–5	6–8	2486	2444	101.72%
5	New Zealand Breakers	28	14	14	50.00%	3–2	W2	9–5	5–9	2353	2387	98.58%
6	Melbourne United2	28	13	15	46.43%	2–3	L2	9–5	4–10	2351	2337	100.60%
7	Sydney Kings2	28	13	15	46.43%	2–3	L2	7–7	6–8	2295	2311	99.31%
8	Brisbane Bullets	28	10	18	35.71%	1–4	L4	6–8	4–10	2268	2392	94.82%

Updated to match(es) played on 12 February 2017. 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 results in games played between the teams will determine order of seeding.

¹3-way Head-to-Head between Cairns Taipans (5-3), Perth Wildcats (4-4) and Illawarra Hawks (3-5).

²Melbourne United won Head-to-Head (3-1).

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.

2016–17 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
Adelaide 36ers	5	6	4	4	6	7	8	7	5	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Brisbane Bullets	2	2	3	3	5	4	2	3	2	6	4	7	5	6	8	8	8	8	8
Cairns Taipans	8	8	8	7	4	6	6	6	4	8	6	6	8	7	7	7	4	5	2
Illawarra Hawks	1	7	7	8	7	5	5	4	3	3	2	2	3	3	2	2	2	2	4
Melbourne United	7	4	5	5	8	8	7	8	6	5	8	4	2	4	3	4	7	3	6
New Zealand Breakers	3	5	6	6	3	3	4	5	8	7	5	5	7	8	6	3	6	7	5
Perth Wildcats	4	3	2	2	2	2	3	2	7	4	7	8	6	2	5	5	5	4	3
Sydney Kings	6	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	3	3	4	5	4	6	3	6	7

Finals

The 2016–17 National Basketball League finals were played in late February and March 2017, consisting of two best-of-three semi-final series and the best-of-five Grand Final series. In the semi-finals, the higher seed hosted the first and third games. In the Grand Final, the higher seed hosted the first, third and fifth games.

Playoff Seedings

1. Adelaide 36ers
2. Cairns Taipans
3. Perth Wildcats
4. Illawarra Hawks

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 results in games played between the teams will determine order of seeding.

Playoff bracket

	Semifinals							Grand Final
	1	Adelaide 36ers	93	94	98
	4	Illawarra Hawks	78	100	106
								3	Perth Wildcats	89	89	95	X	X
								4	Illawarra Hawks	77	77	86	X	X
	2	Cairns Taipans	69	66	X
	3	Perth Wildcats	91	74	X

Semi-finals

Adelaide 36ers (1) vs. Illawarra Hawks (4)

Cairns Taipans (2) vs. Perth Wildcats (3)

Grand final

Perth Wildcats (3) vs. Illawarra Hawks (4)

Awards

Player of the Month

Month	Player	Team
October	Chris Goulding	Melbourne United
November	Brad Newley	Sydney Kings
December	Kevin Lisch	Sydney Kings
January	Jerome Randle	Adelaide 36ers

Coach of the Month

Month	Player	Team
October	Andrew Gaze	Sydney Kings
November	Joey Wright	Adelaide 36ers
December	Joey Wright	Adelaide 36ers
January	Joey Wright	Adelaide 36ers

Pre-season

• Most Valuable Player (Ray Borner Medal): Cameron Gliddon, Cairns Taipans

Season

• Most Valuable Player (Andrew Gaze Trophy): Jerome Randle, Adelaide 36ers^[3]
• Rookie of the Year: Anthony Drmic, Adelaide 36ers^[4]
• Best Defensive Player: Torrey Craig, Brisbane Bullets^[5]
• Best Sixth Man: Rotnei Clarke, Illawarra Hawks^[6]
• Most Improved Player: Nathan Sobey, Adelaide 36ers^[7]
• Coach of the Year (Lindsay Gaze Trophy): Joey Wright, Adelaide 36ers^[8]
• Referee of the Year: Vaughan Mayberry^[9]
• All-NBL First Team:
  • Jerome Randle – Adelaide 36ers^[10]
  • Casper Ware – Melbourne United
  • Casey Prather – Perth Wildcats
  • Daniel Johnson – Adelaide 36ers
  • Andrew Ogilvy – Illawarra Hawks
• All-NBL Second Team:
  • Kevin Lisch – Sydney Kings
  • Nathan Sobey – Adelaide 36ers
  • Brad Newley – Sydney Kings
  • Torrey Craig – Brisbane Bullets
  • Daniel Kickert – Brisbane Bullets

Finals

• Grand Final Series MVP (Larry Sengstock Medal): Bryce Cotton, Perth Wildcats

References