# 2017–18 KML season

The 2017–18 Korvpalli Meistriliiga season (also known as the Alexela Korvpalli Meistriliiga for sponsorship reasons) was the 93rd season of top-tier basketball in Estonia.
The season began on 5 October 2017 and concluded on 24 May 2017 with Kalev/Cramo defeating University of Tartu 4 games to 0 in the finals to win their 10th Estonian Championship.

## Teams
### Venues and locations

| Team | Home city | Arena | Capacity |
| G4S Noorteliiga | Tallinn | Audentes Sports Centre | 1,030 |
| Kalev/Cramo | Tallinn | Kalev Sports Hall | 1,870 |
| Kalev/Cramo | Tallinn | Saku Suurhall | 7,200 |
| Port of Pärnu | Pärnu | Pärnu Sports Hall | 1,820 |
| AVIS UTILITAS Rapla | Rapla | Sadolin Sports Hall | 818 |
| Tallinna Kalev/TLÜ | Tallinn | Kalev Sports Hall | 1,870 |
| TTÜ | Tallinn | TTÜ Sports Hall | 1,000 |
| University of Tartu | Tartu | University of Tartu Sports Hall | 1,650 |
| Valga-Valka/Maks & Moorits | Valga | Valga Sports Hall | 561 |

### Personnel and sponsorship

| Team | Head coach | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| G4S Noorteliiga | Indrek Visnapuu | Ron Arnar Pehka | Peak | G4S |
| Kalev/Cramo | Donaldas Kairys | Cedric Simmons | Nike | Cramo |
| Port of Pärnu | Heiko Rannula | Rannar Raap | Nike | Port of Pärnu |
| AVIS UTILITAS Rapla | Aivar Kuusmaa | Indrek Kajupank | Spalding | AVIS |
| Tallinna Kalev/TLÜ | Gert Kullamäe | Reimo Tamm | Adidas | City of Tallinn |
| TTÜ | Rait Käbin | Rain Koort | Nike | Tallinn University of Technology |
| University of Tartu | Priit Vene | Tanel Sokk | Nike | University of Tartu |
| Valga-Valka/Maks & Moorits | Kristaps Zeids | Robert Peterson | Teamshield | Maks & Moorits |

### Coaching changes

| Team | Outgoing coach | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming coach | Date of appointment |
| University of Tartu | Gert Kullamäe | Mutual consent | 23 May 2017 | Pre-season | Priit Vene | 13 June 2017 |
| Tallinna Kalev/TLÜ | Raido Roos | Sacked | 30 October 2017 | 4th | Kalle Klandorf | 30 October 2017 |
| Kalev/Cramo | Alar Varrak | Sacked | 22 November 2017 | 1st | Donaldas Kairys | 24 November 2017 |
| Tallinna Kalev/TLÜ | Kalle Klandorf | Mutual consent | 6 January 2018 | 6th | Gert Kullamäe | 6 January 2018 |

## Regular season

During the regular season teams will play 4 rounds for 28 games (2 at home and 2 away) with following exception:
* G4S Noorteliiga will play 2 rounds (1 round at home and 1 round away in total).
Double points will be awarded to teams winning those games.

### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | PCT | Qualification |
| 1 | Kalev/Cramo | 26 | 25 | 1 | 2367 | 1754 | +613 | .962 | Advance to Semifinals |
| 2 | University of Tartu | 26 | 19 | 7 | 2170 | 1939 | +231 | .731 | Advance to Semifinals |
| 3 | AVIS UTILITAS Rapla | 26 | 15 | 11 | 2039 | 1986 | +53 | .577 | Advance to Quarterfinals |
| 4 | Valga-Valka/Maks & Moorits | 26 | 12 | 14 | 2111 | 2149 | −38 | .462 | Advance to Quarterfinals |
| 5 | Port of Pärnu | 26 | 11 | 15 | 2019 | 1989 | +30 | .423 | Advance to Quarterfinals |
| 6 | Tallinna Kalev/TLÜ | 26 | 10 | 16 | 1931 | 2077 | −146 | .385 | Advance to Quarterfinals |
| 7 | TTÜ | 26 | 6 | 20 | 1988 | 2118 | −130 | .231 | |
| 8 | G4S Noorteliiga | 14 | 0 | 14 | 835 | 1448 | −613 | .000 | |

### Results

| Home \ Away | G4S | KAL | PÄR | RAP | TLÜ | TTÜ | UT | VAL | KAL | PÄR | RAP | TLÜ | TTÜ | UT | VAL |
| G4S Noorteliiga | | 44–112 | 67–110 | 80–103 | 63–94 | 48–89 | 71–100 | 84–108 | | | | | | | |
| Kalev/Cramo | 126–51 | | 88–72 | 78–76 | 98–53 | 90–63 | 86–70 | 97–73 | | 89–68 | 84–70 | 97–64 | 85–62 | 73–75 | 92–66 |
| Port of Pärnu | 107–56 | 78–87 | | 73–78 | 72–78 | 85–80 | 70–82 | 83–66 | 86–93 | | 70–75 | 68–72 | 74–64 | 64–83 | 79–95 |
| AVIS UTILITAS Rapla | 92–60 | 53–90 | 74–71 | | 65–64 | 88–80 | 84–78 | 79–90 | 65–100 | 73–80 | | 94–64 | 92–76 | 73–89 | 91–75 |
| TLÜ/Kalev | 108–66 | 59–84 | 76–80 | 56–78 | | 85–91 | 85–77 | 87–73 | 72–86 | 68–75 | 76–70 | | 63–76 | 64–95 | 87–68 |
| TTÜ | 101–46 | 71–86 | 53–80 | 72–73 | 75–82 | | 79–83 | 89–85 | 92–105 | 67–76 | 75–97 | 77–79 | | 74–88 | 81–88 |
| University of Tartu | 88–59 | 68–73 | 78–62 | 75–64 | 90–80 | 79–71 | | 82–70 | 82–90 | 84–67 | 77–65 | 87–78 | 79–84 | | 98–86 |
| Valga-Valka/Maks & Moorits | 110–40 | 67–91 | 93–87 | 77–67 | 99–77 | 97–74 | 91–87 | | 54–87 | 70–82 | 76–100 | 73–60 | 85–72 | 76–96 | |

## Playoffs

The playoffs began on 17 April and ended on 24 May 2018. The tournament concluded with Kalev/Cramo defeating University of Tartu 4 games to 0 in the finals.

### Bracket

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| | | | 1 | Kalev/Cramo | 3 | | | |
| 4 | Valga-Valka/Maks & Moorits | 1 | 5 | Port of Pärnu | 0 | | | |
| 5 | Port of Pärnu | 3 | | | | 1 | Kalev/Cramo | 4 |
| | | | | | | 2 | University of Tartu | 0 |
| | | | 2 | University of Tartu | 3 |
| 3 | AVIS UTILITAS Rapla | 3 | 3 | AVIS UTILITAS Rapla | 0 |
| 6 | Tallinna Kalev/TLÜ | 2 | | | | Third place | Third place | Third place |
| | | | | | | 3 | AVIS UTILITAS Rapla | 3 |
| | | | | | | 5 | Port of Pärnu | 1 |

## Individual statistics

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

### Points

| Rank | Name | Team | Games | Points | PPG |
| 1 | Dominique Hawkins | AVIS UTILITAS Rapla | 23 | 390 | 16.96 |
| 2 | Vytenis Čižauskas | University of Tartu | 27 | 444 | 16.44 |
| 3 | Nolan Cressler | AVIS UTILITAS Rapla | 34 | 551 | 16.21 |
| 4 | Isaiah Briscoe | Kalev/Cramo | 24 | 383 | 15.96 |
| 5 | Levi Giese | TTÜ | 20 | 316 | 15.80 |

### Rebounds

| Rank | Name | Team | Games | Rebounds | RPG |
| 1 | Levi Giese | TTÜ | 20 | 184 | 9.20 |
| 2 | Bamba Fall | Tallinna Kalev/TLÜ | 31 | 272 | 8.77 |
| 3 | Carl Engström | University of Tartu | 30 | 229 | 7.63 |
| 4 | Rain Raadik | Valga-Valka/Maks & Moorits | 30 | 225 | 7.50 |
| 5 | Julius Kazakauskas | University of Tartu | 21 | 151 | 7.19 |

### Assists

| Rank | Name | Team | Games | Assists | APG |
| 1 | Tanel Sokk | University of Tartu | 29 | 146 | 5.03 |
| 2 | Vytenis Čižauskas | University of Tartu | 27 | 134 | 4.96 |
| 3 | Dominique Hawkins | AVIS UTILITAS Rapla | 23 | 103 | 4.48 |
| 4 | Isaiah Briscoe | Kalev/Cramo | 24 | 104 | 4.33 |
| 5 | Norman Käbin | TTÜ | 26 | 109 | 4.19 |

## All-Star Game

The 2018 All-Star Game was played on 16 February 2018 in Tallinn at the Saku Suurhall. Team Olybet LBL won the game 127–126 in overtime. The MVP of the game was Isaiah Briscoe, who scored 39 points.
Team Alexela KML :
| Pos | Player | Team |
| Starters |||
| G | Isaiah Briscoe | Kalev/Cramo |
| G | Saimon Sutt | Port of Pärnu |
| F | Janar Talts | University of Tartu |
| F | Kristjan Kangur (C) | Kalev/Cramo |
| C | Cedric Simmons | Kalev/Cramo |
| Reserves |||
| G | Dominique Hawkins | AVIS UTILITAS Rapla |
| G | Sten Olmre | TTÜ |
| G | Kristo Saage | Tallinna Kalev/TLÜ |
| G | Egert Haller | Valga-Valka/Maks & Moorits |
| F | Indrek Kajupank | AVIS UTILITAS Rapla |
| F | Mihkel Kirves | Port of Pärnu |
| F | Devonte Upson | AVIS UTILITAS Rapla |
| C | Bamba Fall | Tallinna Kalev/TLÜ |
| Head coach: Donaldas Kairys (Kalev/Cramo) |||
Team Olybet LBL :
| Pos | Player | Team |
| Starters |||
| G | Aigars Šķēle | Ventspils |
| G | Edgars Jeromanovs (C) | Jūrmala |
| F | Roberts Freimanis | Ventspils |
| F | Kristaps Miglinieks | Valga-Valka/Maks & Moorits |
| C | Jurijs Aleksejevs | Jēkabpils |
| Reserves |||
| G | Jānis Kaufmanis | Valmiera/ORDO |
| G | Mārcis Vītols | Ogre |
| G | Alex Pérez | VEF Rīga |
| G | Haralds Kārlis | Valmiera/ORDO |
| G | Toms Leimanis | Valga-Valka/Maks & Moorits |
| F | Linards Jaunzems | Latvijas Universitāte |
| F | Mareks Mejeris | VEF Rīga |
| C | Viktors Iļjins | Valmiera/ORDO |
| Head coach: Roberts Štelmahers (Ventspils) |||

## Awards
### Finals Most Valuable Player

* Kristjan Kangur (Kalev/Cramo)

### Best Young Player

* Matthias Tass (Kalev/Cramo / TTÜ)

### Best Defender

* Mihkel Kirves (Port of Pärnu)

### Coach of the Year

* Donaldas Kairys (Kalev/Cramo)

### All-KML Team

| Pos | Player | Team |
| PG | Tanel Sokk | University of Tartu |
| SG | Isaiah Briscoe | Kalev/Cramo |
| SF | Dominique Hawkins | AVIS UTILITAS Rapla |
| PF | Bojan Subotić | Kalev/Cramo |
| C | Janar Talts | University of Tartu |

### Player of the Month

| Month | Player | Team |
| October | Egert Haller | Valga-Valka/Maks & Moorits |
| November | Bamba Fall | Tallinna Kalev/TLÜ |
| December | Janari Jõesaar | Kalev/Cramo |
| January | Branko Mirković | Kalev/Cramo |
| February | Janar Talts | University of Tartu |
| March | Kristjan Kitsing | University of Tartu |