# 2014–15 Dutch Basketball League

The 2014–15 season was the 55th season of the Dutch Basketball League, the highest professional basketball league in the Netherlands. The defending champion was Donar from Groningen.
The league started the season with nine teams, after Matrixx Magixx did not enter. In December the number of teams was reduced to eight, after Den Helder Kings went bankrupt.
Top seeded SPM Shoeters won the league, by beating Donar 4–1 in the Finals.

## Teams

Before the season Matrixx Magixx announced it was withdrawing from the DBL, because the club could not complete its budget. Consequently, the league started with nine teams instead of ten. In December 2014, Port of Den Helder Kings left as well following its bankruptcy.
| Club | City | Arena | Capacity | Head coach | Main sponsor | Kit manufacturer |
| Apollo Amsterdam | Amsterdam | Apollohal | 1,500 | Jaanus Liivak | – | Peak |
| Port of Den Helder Kings | Den Helder | KingsDome | 1,500 | Jean-Marc Jaumin | Port of Den Helder | Macron |
| SPM Shoeters Den Bosch | 's-Hertogenbosch | Maaspoort | 2,800 | Sam Jones | SPM Shoes & Boots | Joma |
| Donar | Groningen | MartiniPlaza | 4,310 | Ivica Skelin | – | Kix |
| Challenge Sports Rotterdam | Rotterdam | Topsportcentrum | 1,000 | Armand Salomon | Challenge Sports | Kelme |
| Aris Leeuwarden | Leeuwarden | Sporthal Kalverdijkje | 1,700 | Tom Simpson | Univé | Jako |
| Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden | Leiden | Vijf Meihal | 2,000 | Eddy Casteels | Zorg en Zekerheid | Panzari Sports |
| BSW | Weert | Sporthal Boshoven | | Niels Vorenhout | Maxxcom | Spalding |
| Landstede Basketbal | Zwolle | Landstede Sportcentrum | 1,200 | Herman van den Belt | Landstede | Hummel |

### Notes

    ^1 Den Helder Kings was declared bankrupt and all records of the team were expunged on 15 December 2014.
    ^2 Till 1 January 2015, BSW was known as "Maxxcom BSW" for sponsorship reasons.

## Regular season
### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | SPM Shoeters Den Bosch | 28 | 24 | 4 | 2374 | 1884 | +490 | 48 | Qualification to semifinals |
| 2 | ZZ Leiden | 28 | 22 | 6 | 2418 | 2006 | +412 | 44 | Qualification to semifinals |
| 3 | Donar | 28 | 21 | 7 | 2225 | 1903 | +322 | 42 | Qualification to quarterfinals |
| 4 | Landstede | 28 | 20 | 8 | 2322 | 1999 | +323 | 40 | Qualification to quarterfinals |
| 5 | Challenge Sports Rotterdam | 28 | 8 | 20 | 2204 | 2426 | −222 | 16 | Qualification to quarterfinals |
| 6 | Aris Leeuwarden | 28 | 8 | 20 | 2202 | 2464 | −262 | 16 | Qualification to quarterfinals |
| 7 | Apollo Amsterdam | 28 | 5 | 23 | 1880 | 2297 | −417 | 10 | |
| 8 | BSW | 28 | 4 | 24 | 1765 | 2322 | −557 | 8 | |
| 9 | Port of Den Helder Kings (D) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Expelled |
* 1 2 Challenge Sports Rotterdam won head-to-head 2–2 (+40) vs Aris Leeuwarden.

### Results

| | AMS | DBO | GRO | LEE | ROT | LEI | WEE | ZWO |
| Apollo Amsterdam | | 52–88 | 56–85 | 76–82 | 66–90 | 75–87 | 61–64 | 46–77 |
| Apollo Amsterdam | | 70–92 | 60–77 | 82–62 | 87–80 | 73–76 | 82–62 | 58–72 |
| SPM Shoeters Den Bosch | 111–60 | | 76–59 | 93–66 | 81–59 | 82–77 | 95–57 | 79–56 |
| SPM Shoeters Den Bosch | 87–57 | | 84–79 | 108–80 | 108–65 | 91–78 | 80–61 | 70–92 |
| Donar Groningen | 79–55 | 78–67 | | 86–54 | 85–75 | 70–72 | 92–62 | 74–78 |
| Donar Groningen | 74–55 | 69–63 | | 80–56 | 93–77 | 70–65 | 92–50 | 68–78 |
| Aris Leeuwarden | 89–97 | 72–94 | 92–86 | | 91–92 | 81–101 | 73–61 | 79–87 |
| Aris Leeuwarden | 97–91 | 75–89 | 79–97 | | 87–73 | 76–89 | 91–85 | 77–83 |
| Challenge Sports Rotterdam | 96–70 | 65–90 | 52–70 | 110–85 | | 73–86 | 93–81 | 88–92 |
| Challenge Sports Rotterdam | 72–68 | 74–95 | 78–104 | 74–75 | | 72–109 | 84–58 | 58–89 |
| Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden | 95–66 | 66–67 | 72–81 | 113–81 | 97–89 | | 102–55 | 76–54 |
| Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden | 97–61 | 65–69 | 76–72 | 94–83 | 107–76 | | 85–45 | 93–80 |
| BS Weert | 75–64 | 56–88 | 53–71 | 65–94 | 81–83 | 59–73 | | 56–84 |
| BS Weert | 69–80 | 49–80 | 64–67 | 86–75 | 83–82 | 53–99 | | 62–83 |
| Landstede Zwolle | 77–74 | 82–81 | 73–84 | 89–77 | 94–89 | 79–86 | 85–59 | |
| Landstede Zwolle | 68–66 | 65–66 | 81–83 | 84–56 | 94–85 | 73–82 | 84–54 | |

## Playoffs

Because the number of teams in the DBL decreased to nine, a new play-off format was chosen. After the seeds 3–6 played a best-of-three series in the quarter-finals, the semi-finals and finals would be played in a best-of-seven format.
| Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final | Final | Final | Final | Final | Final | Final |
| 4Landstede | 4Landstede | 4Landstede | 4Landstede | 4Landstede | 4Landstede | 105 | 81 | | | | | | | | |
| 5Challenge Sports Rotterdam | 5Challenge Sports Rotterdam | 5Challenge Sports Rotterdam | 5Challenge Sports Rotterdam | 5Challenge Sports Rotterdam | 5Challenge Sports Rotterdam | 62 | 73 | | | | | | | | |
| 5Challenge Sports Rotterdam | 5Challenge Sports Rotterdam | 5Challenge Sports Rotterdam | 5Challenge Sports Rotterdam | 5Challenge Sports Rotterdam | 5Challenge Sports Rotterdam | 62 | 73 | 1SPM Shoeters | 85 | 66 | 74 | 86 | 82 | 68 | 87 |
| | | | | | | | | 4Landstede | 70 | 87 | 88 | 73 | 63 | 78 | 77 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1SPM Shoeters | 1SPM Shoeters | 1SPM Shoeters | 93 | 70 | 80 | 62 | 85 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 3Donar | 3Donar | 3Donar | 54 | 61 | 72 | 67 | 64 |
| 3Donar | 3Donar | 3Donar | 3Donar | 3Donar | 3Donar | 101 | 87 | | | | | | | | | 3Donar | 3Donar | 3Donar | 54 | 61 | 72 | 67 | 64 |
| 6Aris Leeuwarden | 6Aris Leeuwarden | 6Aris Leeuwarden | 6Aris Leeuwarden | 6Aris Leeuwarden | 6Aris Leeuwarden | 66 | 73 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 6Aris Leeuwarden | 6Aris Leeuwarden | 6Aris Leeuwarden | 6Aris Leeuwarden | 6Aris Leeuwarden | 6Aris Leeuwarden | 66 | 73 | 2ZZ Leiden | 2ZZ Leiden | 86 | 63 | 69 | 59 | 85 | 71 | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | 3Donar | 3Donar | 80 | 78 | 79 | 63 | 56 | 77 |

### Championship team
## Awards

| Award | Player | Team |
| Most Valuable Player | Lance Jeter | Donar |
| Playoffs MVP | Brandyn Curry | SPM Shoeters Den Bosch |
| Statistical Player of the Year | Joe Burton | Landstede Basketbal |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Mohamed Kherrazi | Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden |
| Coach of the Year | Ivica Skelin | Donar |
| MVP U23 | Yannick Franke | Challenge Sports Rotterdam |
| Most Improved Player | Yannick Franke | Challenge Sports Rotterdam |
| Sixth Man of the Year | Dylon Cormier | Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden |
| Rookie of the Year | Daan Rosenmuller | BSW |
All-Star Team :
| Lance Jeter | Donar |
| Brandyn Curry | SPM Shoeters Den Bosch |
| Worthy de Jong | Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden |
| Mark Sanchez | Donar |
| Joe Burton | Landstede Basketbal |
All-Rookie Team :
| Nigel Van Oostrum | Aris Leeuwarden |
| Mick Fleuren | BSW |
| Daan Rosenmuller | BSW |
| Nigel Onuoha | Challenge Sports Rotterdam |
| Jan Driessen | Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden |
All-Defense Team :
| J.T. Tiller | Landstede Basketbal |
| Worthy de Jong | Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden |
| Mohamed Kherrazi | Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden |
| Stefan Wessels | SPM Shoeters Den Bosch |
| Joe Burton | Landstede Basketbal |

## Individual statistics
### Points

| Rank | Name | Team | PPG |
| 1 | Yannick Franke | Challenge Sports Rotterdam | 19.64 |
| 2 | Marquise Simmons | Aris Leeuwarden | 16.30 |
| 3 | Lance Jeter | Donar | 15.80 |

### Rebounds

| Rank | Name | Team | RPG |
| 1 | Kenneth van Kempen | BSW | 11.00 |
| 2 | Ryan Watkins | Aris Leeuwarden | 10.15 |
| 3 | Marquise Simmons | Aris Leeuwarden | 8.04 |

### Assists

| Rank | Name | Team | APG |
| 1 | Lance Jeter | Donar | 4.96 |
| 2 | Brandyn Curry | SPM Shoeters | 4.92 |
| 3 | Rogier Jansen | ZZ Leiden | 4.85 |

## Notable occurrences

* On May 29, 2014, health insurance company Zorg en Zekerheid extended its sponsorship contract with ZZ Leiden for three more years.
* On May 13, 2014, it was announced ZZ Leiden and head coach Toon van Helfteren, who won six trophies with the club, would part ways. On May 30, the Belgian Eddy Casteels coach was hired as new head coach.
* On June 6, 2014, Matrixx Magixx announced the club was close to bankruptcy after having difficulties in finding a new main sponsor to replace The Magixx.
    On July 21, 2014, Magixx announced it would withdraw its participation for this season, after they couldn't reach a high enough budget.
* On September 29, 2014, the first game ever of the Dutch Talent League (DTL) was played. This league was the newly formed development league of the DBL, mainly made for players under age 25.
* On August 9, 2014, Apollo Amsterdam announced that it would play in the DBL after working a long time to reach the DBL budget standard. This would mean the return of a team from Amsterdam since the departure of ABC in 2010.
* On August 16, 2014, GasTerra Flames announced it would be named "Donar" again.
* On August 29, 2014, the DBL announced for the season a new play-off system would be used. Six teams would qualify this season, compared to eight last year. In the quarter-finals, the first and second seeds received byes.
* On December 2, 2014, Den Helder Kings was declared bankrupt. Consequently, the club was expelled from the DBL.

## In European competitions

| Club | Competition | Result | W–L | Ref |
| SPM Shoeters Den Bosch | EuroChallenge | Last 16 | 4–8 | |