# 2018–19 Úrvalsdeild karla (basketball)

The 2018–19 Úrvalsdeild karla was the 68th season of the Úrvalsdeild karla, the top tier men's basketball league in Iceland. The season started on 4 October 2018 and ended on 4 May 2019. KR won its sixth title in a row by defeating ÍR 3–2 in the Finals.

## Competition format

The participating teams first played a conventional round-robin schedule with every team playing each opponent once home and once away for a total of 22 games. The top eight teams qualified for the championship playoffs whilst the two last qualified were relegated to Division 1.

## Teams

| Team | City, Region | Arena | Head coach |
| Breiðablik | Kópavogur | Smárinn | Pétur Ingvarsson |
| Grindavík | Grindavík | Mustad Höllin | Jóhann Þór Ólafsson |
| Haukar | Hafnarfjörður | Schenkerhöllin | Ívar Ásgrímsson |
| ÍR | Reykjavík | Hertz Hellirinn | Borce Ilievski |
| Keflavík | Keflavík | TM Höllin | Sverrir Þór Sverrisson |
| KR | Reykjavík | DHL Höllin | Ingi Þór Steinþórsson |
| Njarðvík | Njarðvík | green/white | Einar Árni Jóhannsson |
| Skallagrímur | Borgarnes | Fjósið | Finnur Jónsson |
| Stjarnan | Garðabær | Ásgarður | Arnar Guðjónsson |
| Tindastóll | Sauðárkrókur | Sauðárkrókur | Israel Martín |
| Valur | Reykjavík | Origo-höllin | Ágúst Björgvinsson |
| Þór Þorlákshöfn | Þorlákshöfn | Icelandic Glacial Höllin | Baldur Þór Ragnarsson |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Replaced with | Date of appointment |
| Njarðvík | Daníel Guðmundsson | End of contract | 24 March 2018 | Off-season | Einar Árni Jóhannsson | 25 March 2018 |
| Stjarnan | Hrafn Kristjánsson | End of contract | 27 March 2018 | Off-season | Arnar Guðjónsson | 6 April 2018 |
| Keflavík | Friðrik Ingi Rúnarsson | Retired | 28 March 2018 | Off-season | Sverrir Þór Sverrisson | 5 April 2018 |
| Breiðablik | Chris Woods | End of contract | 18 April 2018 | Off-season | Pétur Ingvarsson | 18 April 2018 |
| KR | Finnur Freyr Stefánsson | End of contract | 5 June 2018 | Off-season | Ingi Þór Steinþórsson | 12 June 2018 |

## Regular season
### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Stjarnan | 22 | 17 | 5 | 2034 | 1755 | +279 | 34 | Qualification to playoffs |
| 2 | Njarðvík | 22 | 17 | 5 | 1967 | 1810 | +157 | 34 | Qualification to playoffs |
| 3 | Tindastóll | 22 | 16 | 6 | 1910 | 1705 | +205 | 32 | Qualification to playoffs |
| 4 | Keflavík | 22 | 15 | 7 | 1936 | 1790 | +146 | 30 | Qualification to playoffs |
| 5 | KR | 22 | 15 | 7 | 1917 | 1837 | +80 | 30 | Qualification to playoffs |
| 6 | Þór Þorl | 22 | 12 | 10 | 2021 | 1942 | +79 | 24 | Qualification to playoffs |
| 7 | ÍR | 22 | 10 | 12 | 1875 | 1950 | −75 | 20 | Qualification to playoffs |
| 8 | Grindavík | 22 | 9 | 13 | 1908 | 1988 | −80 | 18 | Qualification to playoffs |
| 9 | Valur | 22 | 8 | 14 | 1989 | 2061 | −72 | 16 | |
| 10 | Haukar | 22 | 8 | 14 | 1803 | 1948 | −145 | 16 | |
| 11 | Skallagrímur | 22 | 4 | 18 | 1846 | 2056 | −210 | 8 | Relegated to Division 1 |
| 12 | Breiðablik | 22 | 1 | 21 | 1873 | 2237 | −364 | 2 | Relegated to Division 1 |

### Results

| Home \ Away | BRE | GRI | HAU | IR | KEF | KR | NJA | SKA | STJ | TIN | VAL | THO |
| Breiðablik | — | 103–104 | 93–105 | 68–99 | 86–108 | 76–99 | 70–102 | 93–83 | 87–102 | 82–117 | 69–93 | 107–110 |
| Grindavík | 95–86 | — | 111–102 | 81–85 | 62–97 | 94–103 | 79–90 | 90–83 | 92–99 | 100–96 | 90–88 | 82–95 |
| Haukar | 96–92 | 73–83 | — | 66–84 | 81–64 | 83–74 | 85–72 | 82–80 | 76–107 | 73–66 | 92–102 | 73–106 |
| ÍR | 92–82 | 76–101 | 92–74 | — | 74–94 | 72–80 | 88–94 | 96–95 | 83–106 | 85–90 | 118–100 | 95–96 |
| Keflavík | 88–80 | 88–77 | 80–65 | 102–70 | — | 85–79 | 85–88 | 104–82 | 68–66 | 78–92 | 101–77 | 91–75 |
| KR | 103–68 | 85–95 | 97–88 | 71–69 | 80–76 | — | 55–71 | 109–93 | 88–87 | 93–86 | 96–89 | 86–85 |
| Njarðvík | 108–103 | 94–63 | 99–89 | 95–98 | 97–90 | 85–67 | — | 113–84 | 99–95 | 75–76 | 85–80 | 82–76 |
| Skallagrímur | 91–90 | 93–88 | 80–79 | 99–96 | 95–97 | 78–94 | 82–89 | — | 80–94 | 82–90 | 96–105 | 74–89 |
| Stjarnan | 102–73 | 91–73 | 100–89 | 94–77 | 99–83 | 95–84 | 82–76 | 82–72 | — | 68–77 | 107–71 | 89–73 |
| Tindastóll | 94–70 | 71–70 | 79–61 | 92–51 | 89–68 | 88–91 | 95–73 | 89–73 | 58–79 | — | 97–94 | 84–68 |
| Valur | 114–102 | 100–96 | 88–95 | 82–83 | 77–86 | 79–95 | 86–90 | 100–77 | 97–92 | 73–93 | — | 96–87 |
| Þór Þorl | 132–93 | 90–80 | 99–76 | 88–92 | 99–103 | 95–88 | 80–90 | 87–74 | 79–98 | 98–90 | 114–98 | — |

## Playoffs

The playoffs are played between the eight first qualified teams with a 1-1-1-1-1 format, playing seeded teams games 1, 3 and 5 at home.

### Bracket

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | | | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| 1 | Stjarnan | 3 | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Grindavík | 1 | | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Grindavík | 1 | | | 1 | Stjarnan | 2 | | | |
| | | | | | 7 | ÍR | 3 | | | |
| 4 | Keflavík | 0 | | | 7 | ÍR | 3 | | | |
| 5 | KR | 3 | | | | | | | | |
| 5 | KR | 3 | | | | | | 7 | ÍR | 2 |
| (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | 7 | ÍR | 2 |
| (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | (Pairings are reseeded after the first round) | 5 | KR | 3 |
| 2 | Njarðvík | 2 | | | | | | | | | 5 | KR | 3 |
| 7 | ÍR | 3 | | | | | | | | |
| 7 | ÍR | 3 | | | 5 | KR | 3 | | | |
| | | | | | 6 | Þór Þorl | 1 | | | |
| 3 | Tindastóll | 2 | | | 6 | Þór Þorl | 1 | | | |
| 6 | Þór Þorl | 3 | | | | | | | | |

### Quarterfinals

| Team 1 | Series | Team 2 | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 |
| Stjarnan | 3–1 | Grindavík | 89–80 | 84–82 | 98–81 | 83–76 | 0 |
| Njarðvík | 2–3 | ÍR | 76–71 | 85–70 | 64–70 | 79–87 | 74–86 |
| Tindastóll | 2–3 | Þór Þorl | 112–105 | 87–73 | 67–87 | 83–92 | 93–94 |
| Keflavík | 0–3 | KR | 76–77 | 77–86 | 64–85 | 0 | 0 |

### Semifinals

| Team 1 | Series | Team 2 | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 |
| Stjarnan | 2–3 | ÍR | 96–63 | 76–85 | 62–68 | 90–75 | 79–83 |
| KR | 3–1 | Þór Þorl | 99–91 | 90–102 | 98–89 | 108–93 | 0 |

### Finals

| Team 1 | Series | Team 2 | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 |
| KR | 3–2 | ÍR | 83–89 | 86–73 | 86–89 | 80–75 | 98–70 |

## Notable occurrences

* On April 20, Dagur Kár Jónsson exercised an escape clause in his contract and left Grindavík to sign back with his hometown club of Stjarnan, much to the dismay of Grindavík's board as they claimed that he had stated to them that he would stay at the club for next season.
* On April 28, Valur signed former Njarðvík player and long time Icelandic national team member Ragnar Nathanaelsson.
* On May 8, Tindastóll signed ÍR key player Danero Thomas.
* On May 23, Njarðvík signed Jeb Ivey who helped the club to a championship in 2006.
* On June 8, KR's all-time leading scorer, Brynjar Þór Björnsson, left the club and signed with rivals Tindastóll.
* On June 27, it was reported that Njarðvík had signed former Höttur and Haukar player Gerald Robinson.
* On July 3, it was reported that Sigtryggur Arnar Björnsson wanted to leave Tindastóll and join Grindavík, and that he considered his contract with the club not valid as the club did not send it to the Icelandic Basketball Federation within 30 days from its signing as the federations rules stipulated. The chairman of Tindastól in turn said that they viewed the contract as valid and that they expected Sigtryggur to report to the team for training camp before the season. The next day the clubs reported that they had reached an agreement and Sigtryggur signed with Grindavík later that day.
* On July 17, Stjarnan signed Icelandic national team member Ægir Steinarsson after he rejecting an offer from KR.
* On July 18, KR signed point guard and Haukar long time captain, Emil Barja.
* On July 19, KR signed small forward Julian Boyd who had previously played for London Lightning of the National Basketball League of Canada.
* On July 25, recently signed Dagur Kár Jónsson left Stjarnan and signed with Raiffeisen Flyers Wels of the Österreichische Basketball Bundesliga. It was the second time during the off-season that he had used an escape clause in his contract to sign with a new team.
* On August 15, it was reported that Tindastóll signed two-time Basketligan champion Dino Butorac.
* On August 16, Stjarnan signed Finnish national team member Antti Kanervo.
* On August 17, ÍR signed national team member Sigurður Þorsteinsson who played for Grindavík during the 2017–18 season.
* On August 23, it was reported that Stjarnan had signed Paul Jones who played the previous season with Haukar, helping them to the best record in the league.
* On September 11, Keflavík signed former BC Palanga player Mantas Mockevičius.
* On September 12, Valur signed Bulgarian national team member Aleks Simeonov.
* On September 17, long-time Stjarnan player Marvin Valdimarsson announced that he was leaving the team and joining 2. deild karla club Ungmennafélag Álftaness.
* On September 15, it was reported that Þór Þorlákshöfn had signed Kinu Rochford.
* On September 27, Njarðvík released Gerald Robinson.
* On October 5, ÍR signed Gerald Robinson who was released by Njarðvík the previous week.
* On October 13, Grindavík signed Lewis Clinch instead of Terrell Vinston who tore his left ACL two days earlier. Vinston would later heavily criticize Grindavík for how it handled his injury.
* On October 25, KR's chairman Böðvar Guðjónsson confirmed that Pavel Ermolinskij had resumed training with the team after sitting out the first three games of the season.
* On November 15, Njarðvík signed national team member Elvar Már Friðriksson who had recently been released by Denain Voltaire Basket after a roster overhaul.
* On November 15, KR signed back reigning Úrvalsdeild Domestic Player of the Year, Kristófer Acox, after he reached an agreement with Denain Voltaire Basket to be released from his contract with the club.
* On November 19, it was reported that Valur starting guard, Oddur Rúnar Kristjánsson, had failed a drug test and was likely facing a 4-year suspension.
* On December 9, Tindastóll's guard Brynjar Þór Björnsson set the Úrvalsdeild record for most three-pointers made in a game when he made 16 of 31 three-point shots, on his way to 48 points, in a victory against Breiðablik, breaking Frank Booker's 27-year-old record.
* On December 18, it was reported that Haukar had released starting center Marquese Oliver who had been averaging 19.9 points and 11.6 rebounds per game.
* On December 19, it was reported that Stjarnan had released Paul Jones after a disappointing start for the club, who were predicted as the favorites to win the national championship prior to the season. In 10 games for Stjarnan, he was the team's leading scorer with 20.2 points per game while also averaging 7.1 rebounds and shooting 40.0% from the three-point range.
* On December 21, Keflavík announced it had signed former BC Neptūnas player Mindaugas Kačinas.
* On December 23, it was reported that Stjarnan had signed former Basketligaen Most Valuable Player Brandon Rozzell for the rest of the season.
* On January 3, Breiðablik announced it had signed Jameel McKay and Kofi Josephs to replace Christian Covile and Jure Gunjina.
* On January 3, Tindastóll signed Axel Kárason for the rest of the season.
* On January 6, Valur announced that BCM Gravelines-Dunkerque of the French LNB Pro A had bought up the contract of Kendall Anthony. At the time of his departure, Anthony was averaging 31.5 points, 8.8 assists in 8 games, while shooting 64.1% from three-point range and 94.0% from the free throw line, leading the league in each category. In his place, Valur signed Dominique Rambo.
* On January 10, Breiðablik coach Pétur Ingvarsson revealed that starting center Snorri Hrafnkelsson would miss the rest of the season due to a concussion, his third in his career.
* On January 17, it was reported that Stjarnan had signed Austrian national team member Filip Kramer.
* On January 19, it was reported that Ingvi Þór Guðmundsson was returning to Grindavík after spending the first half of the season with Saint Louis University.
* On January 25, Tindastóll announced it had signed Michael Ojo for the rest of the season.
* On February 1, Njarðvík announced that it had released Julijan Rajic and signed French center Eric Katenda in his place.
* On 20 March, the head coach of Keflavík, Sverrir Þór Sverrisson, stated that fan favorite Mantas Mockevičius was AWOL from the team and would therefore not play for it again this season.
* On 23 March, ÍR's Kevin Capers was suspended for game 2 of ÍR's first round series against Njarðvík in the Úrvalsdeild playoffs for striking Jón Arnór Sverrisson in the head in game one.
* On 1 April, following Njarðvík's first round loss to ÍR, Jeb Ivey announced his retirement from professional basketball.