# 2020–21 Dutch Basketball League

The 2020–21 Dutch Basketball League (DBL) was the 61st season of the Dutch Basketball League, the highest professional basketball league in the Netherlands. The season started on 3 October 2020 and ended on 27 May 2021.
It was the first season after the 2019–20 season was ended prematurely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The league expanded to 12 teams with the addition of Yoast United, Almere Sailors and The Hague Royals. This marked the highest number of teams since the 2007–08 season. ZZ Leiden won its fourth national title after defeating Heroes Den Bosch in the Finals.
On 15 October 2020, the season was suspended for at least four weeks due to government regulations regarding the pandemic. On 19 December 2020, it was announced the competition would restart in January 2021 with a new format.

## Teams

After falling sponsorship revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the DBL lowered the minimum budget for teams from €300,000 to €150,000 .
On 1 May 2020, Apollo Amsterdam announced it will not play in the DBL season because of uncertainty due to the pandemic. The DBL announced the remaining eight teams will return for the 2020–21 season. On 5 August, it was announced Basketball Community Gelderland has obtained a licence. On 20 August, it was announced Apollo Amsterdam has obtained a license. On 27 August, the DBL announced the entrance of The Hague Royals and Almere Sailors. BC Gelderland later revealed Yoast United as their new club name.

### Stadiums and locations

    Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.
| Club | Location | Venue | Capacity |
| Almere Sailors | Almere | Topsportcentrum Almere | 3,000 |
| Apollo Amsterdam | Amsterdam | Apollohal | 1,500 |
| Aris Leeuwarden | Leeuwarden | Kalverdijkje | 1,700 |
| BAL | Weert | Sporthal Boshoven | 1,000 |
| Den Helder Suns | Den Helder | Sporthal Sportlaan | 1,000 |
| Donar | Groningen | MartiniPlaza | 4,350 |
| Feyenoord | Rotterdam | Topsportcentrum Rotterdam | 2,500 |
| Heroes Den Bosch | 's-Hertogenbosch | Maaspoort | 2,800 |
| Landstede Hammers | Zwolle | Landstede Sportcentrum | 1,200 |
| The Hague Royals | The Hague | Sportcampus Zuiderpark | 3,500 |
| Yoast United | Bemmel | De Schaapskooi | 650 |
| ZZ Leiden | Leiden | Vijf Meihal | 2,000 |

### Sponsored club names

As is common practice in European basketball, the following clubs carried the name of their sponsor this season:
| Club | Sponsored name | Until |
| Feyenoord | Zeeuw & Zeeuw Feyenoord | 2021 |
| Yoast United | Yoast United | 2023 |

### Personnel and kits

| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Main sponsor |
| Almere Sailors | Gregory Tjin-A-Koeng (interim) | Mike Osepa | Erreà | Flevo Makelaardij |
| Apollo Amsterdam | Erwin van der Hart | Floris Versteeg | Nike | Paul Meijering Steel |
| Aris Leeuwarden | Ferried Naciri | Craig Osaikhwuwuomwan | Jako | Friezon |
| BAL | Radenko Varagić | Roel van Overbeek | Spalding | Enerparking |
| Den Helder Suns | Peter van Noord | Boyd van der Vuurst de Vries | Burned | – |
| Donar | Pete Miller (interim) | Thomas Koenis | Macron | Amysoft |
| Feyenoord | Toon van Helfteren | Jeroen van der List | Adidas | Zeeuw & Zeeuw |
| Heroes Den Bosch | Jean-Marc Jaumin | Stefan Wessels | Macron | Data City |
| Landstede Hammers | Herman van den Belt | Nigel van Oostrum | Acerbis | Landstede |
| The Hague Royals | Bert Samson | Eric Kibi | Burned | |
| Yoast United | Matthew Otten | Matthew van Tongeren | Jako | Yoast SEO |
| ZZ Leiden | Geert Hammink | Marijn Ververs | Peak | Zorg en Zekerheid |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| ZZ Leiden | Rolf Franke | End of contract | 30 March 2020 | Pre-season | Geert Hammink | 17 May 2020 |
| Donar | Erik Braal | End of contract | 14 April 2020 | Pre-season | Ivan Rudež | 17 April 2020 |
| Apollo Amsterdam | Patrick Faijdherbe | End of contract | 31 March 2020 | Pre-season | Laki Lakner | 1 May 2020 |
| Yoast United | None | None | None | Pre-season | Matthew Otten | 9 August 2020 |
| The Hague Royals | None | None | None | Pre-season | Bert Samson | 20 June 2020 |
| Almere Sailors | None | None | None | Pre-season | Eric Kropf | 13 August 2020 |
| Apollo Amsterdam | Laki Lakner | Resigned | 24 January 2021 | 11th (0–3) | Erwin van der Hart | 27 January 2021 |
| Almere Sailors | Eric Kropf | Fired | 10 March 2021 | 12th (1–9) | Gregory Tjin-A-Koeng | 10 March 2021 |
| Donar | Ivan Rudež | Fired | 12 April 2021 | 3rd | Pete Miller | 12 April 2021 |

## Regular season
### Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | ZZ Leiden | 11 | 9 | 2 | 1022 | 838 | +184 | 18 | Advance to Elite A |
| 2 | Donar | 11 | 9 | 2 | 924 | 736 | +188 | 18 | Advance to Elite A |
| 3 | Landstede Hammers | 11 | 9 | 2 | 956 | 783 | +173 | 18 | Advance to Elite A |
| 4 | Heroes Den Bosch | 11 | 8 | 3 | 951 | 836 | +115 | 16 | Advance to Elite A |
| 5 | Den Helder Suns | 11 | 7 | 4 | 939 | 866 | +73 | 14 | Advance to Elite A |
| 6 | Feyenoord | 11 | 7 | 4 | 890 | 760 | +130 | 14 | Advance to Elite A |
| 7 | Yoast United | 11 | 6 | 5 | 898 | 876 | +22 | 12 | Advance to Elite B |
| 8 | BAL | 11 | 5 | 6 | 854 | 886 | −32 | 10 | Advance to Elite B |
| 9 | Apollo Amsterdam | 11 | 2 | 9 | 777 | 941 | −164 | 4 | Advance to Elite B |
| 10 | Aris Leeuwarden | 11 | 2 | 9 | 709 | 852 | −143 | 4 | Advance to Elite B |
| 11 | The Hague Royals | 11 | 1 | 10 | 663 | 912 | −249 | 2 | Advance to Elite B |
| 12 | Almere Sailors | 11 | 1 | 10 | 755 | 1052 | −297 | 2 | Advance to Elite B |

### Results

| Home \ Away | ALM | AMS | ARI | BAL | DON | DHE | FEY | HDB | LAN | THR | YOA | ZZL |
| Almere Sailors | — | 74–67* | | 64–81 | 48–120 | 84–98 | 53–84 | | | | 64–101 | |
| Apollo Amsterdam | | — | | 70–81 | | 87–97 | | 67–95 | 77–105 | | | 76–103 |
| Aris Leeuwarden | 78–69 | 60–63 | — | | 58–89 | | | 72–74 | | | 60–89 | |
| BAL | | | 81–58 | — | 55–96 | | | 88–89 | | 92–65 | 75–86 | |
| Donar | | 76–55 | | | — | 84–78 | 67–85 | 87–70 | 82–55 | | | |
| Den Helder Suns | | | 78–60 | 90–74 | | — | 85–78 | 94–86 | 71–81 | | | 85–93 |
| Zeeuw & Zeeuw Feyenoord | | 90–54 | 82–56 | 87–88 | | | — | | 83–82 | 68–46 | | 84–87 |
| Heroes Den Bosch | 119–74 | | | | | | 73–71 | — | | 92–46 | 94–77 | 88–87 |
| Landstede Hammers | 95–68 | | 86–58 | 85–70 | | | | 73–71 | — | 97–47 | | |
| The Hague Royals | 85–78 | 71–80 | 66–86 | | 53–67 | 52–89 | | | | — | 68–73 | |
| Yoast United | | 89–81 | | | 81–89 | 87–74 | 69–78 | | 74–106 | | — | 72–87 |
| ZZ Leiden | 124–79 | | 75–63 | 96–69 | 98–67 | | | | 82–91 | 90–64 | | — |

## Elite A
### Table and Results

Teams carry the results from the regular season with them and play each other twice. All six teams are already qualified for the play-offs.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification | ZZL | HDB | DON | LAN | FEY | DHE |
| 1 | ZZ Leiden | 21 | 17 | 4 | 1916 | 1674 | +242 | 34 | Advance to Playoffs | — | 78–86 | 96–91 | 96–93 | 84–78 | 90–81 |
| 2 | Heroes Den Bosch | 21 | 16 | 5 | 1935 | 1627 | +308 | 32 | Advance to Playoffs | 106–90 | — | 68–81 | 99–76 | 83–79 | 107–58 |
| 3 | Donar | 21 | 14 | 7 | 1787 | 1547 | +240 | 28 | Advance to Playoffs | 72–96 | 71–78 | — | 66–79 | 87–76 | 100–102 |
| 4 | Landstede Hammers | 21 | 13 | 8 | 1739 | 1599 | +140 | 26 | Advance to Playoffs | 58–79 | 65–87 | 72–91 | — | 87–77 | 94–70 |
| 5 | Feyenoord | 21 | 10 | 11 | 1739 | 1608 | +131 | 20 | Advance to Playoffs | 92–96 | 106–87 | 80–99 | 78–70 | — | 104–71 |
| 6 | Den Helder Suns | 21 | 9 | 12 | 1708 | 1828 | −120 | 18 | Advance to Playoffs | 79–89 | 87–105 | 64–105 | 73–89 | 84–79 | — |

## Elite B
### Table and Results

Teams carry the results from the regular season with them and play each other twice. The two highest ranked teams qualify for the playoffs as seventh and eight seed.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification | YOA | BAL | AMS | THR | ARI | ALM |
| 1 | Yoast United | 21 | 16 | 5 | 1758 | 1564 | +194 | 32 | Advance to Playoffs | — | 86–79 | 81–66 | 95–60 | 74–56 | 96–87 |
| 2 | BAL | 21 | 12 | 9 | 1682 | 1586 | +96 | 24 | Advance to Playoffs | 80–82 | — | 90–70 | 75–49 | 91–69 | 96–58 |
| 3 | Apollo Amsterdam | 21 | 6 | 15 | 1522 | 1701 | −179 | 12 | | 71–83 | 59–64 | — | 83–79 | 82–78 | 77–80 |
| 4 | The Hague Royals | 21 | 6 | 15 | 1375 | 1649 | −274 | 12 | | 63–74 | 77–76 | 73–69 | — | 72–49 | 81–82 |
| 5 | Aris Leeuwarden | 21 | 4 | 17 | 1386 | 1629 | −243 | 8 | | 73–100 | 57–72 | 58–75 | 61–63 | — | 90–72 |
| 6 | Almere Sailors | 21 | 3 | 18 | 1503 | 1960 | −457 | 6 | | 53–89 | 93–105 | 74–93 | 73–95 | 76–86 | — |

## Playoffs

The format of the playoffs was changed due to the compressed schedule. Quarterfinals were played as two-legged series, the semifinals as a best-of-three series and the finals as a best-of-five series.

### Bracket

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals |
| 1 ZZ Leiden | 183 | | |
| 8 BAL | 148 | | |
| 8 BAL | 148 | 1 ZZ Leiden | 2 |
| | | 4 Landstede Hammers | 1 |
| 4 Landstede Hammers | 180 | 4 Landstede Hammers | 1 |
| 5 Feyenoord | 158 | | | | |
| 5 Feyenoord | 158 | | | 1 ZZ Leiden | 3 |
| | | | | 2 Heroes Den Bosch | 0 |
| 2 Heroes Den Bosch | 174 | | | 2 Heroes Den Bosch | 0 |
| 7 Yoast United | 161 | | | | |
| 7 Yoast United | 161 | 2 Heroes Den Bosch | 2 | | |
| | | 3 Donar | 1 |
| 3 Donar | 188 | 3 Donar | 1 |
| 6 Den Helder Suns | 158 | | |

### Quarterfinals

The quarterfinals were played in a two-legged format and were played on 8 May and 11 May 2021.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| ZZ Leiden | 183–148 | BAL | 86–77 | 97–71 |
| Donar | 188–154 | Den Helder Suns | 83–75 | 105–79 |
| Heroes Den Bosch | 174–161 | Yoast United | 89–91 | 85–70 |
| Landstede Hammers | 180–158 | Feyenoord | 97–76 | 83–82 |

### Semifinals

The semifinals were played in a best of three series and were played on 15 May, 18 May and 20 May.
| Team 1 | Series | Team 2 | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 |
| ZZ Leiden | 2–1 | Landstede Hammers | 97–87 | 85–90 | 91–74 |
| Heroes Den Bosch | 2–1 | Donar | 97–76 | 71–79 | 82–74 |

### Finals

ZZ Leiden reached the finals for the first time since 3 years, Heroes Den Bosch for the first time since 6 years. It is the sixth time the teams met each other in the finals, the last time being in 2012.
| Team 1 | Series | Team 2 | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 |
| ZZ Leiden | 3–0 | Heroes Den Bosch | 112–87 | 89–82 | 90–74 |

## Statistics
### Individual statistic leaders

| Category | Player | Team(s) | Statistic |
| Points per game | Emmanuel Nzekwesi | ZZ Leiden | 20.3 |
| Rebounds per game | Quatarrius Wilson | BAL | 10.1 |
| Assists per game | Austin Luke | Yoast United | 9.3 |
| Steals per game | Bolden Brace | Den Helder Suns | 2.6 |
| Blocks per game | Bart Bijnsdorp | The Hague Royals | 1.4 |
| Turnovers per game | Deividas Kumelis | The Hague Royals | 4.8 |
| Minutes per game | Juan Davis | Feyenoord | 33.3 |
| FG% | Andrés Ibargüen | Yoast United | 69.1% |

### Individual game highs

| Category | Player | Team | Statistic |
| Points | Austin Luke | Yoast United | 43 |
| Rebounds | Quatarrius Wilson (2×) | BAL | 18 |
| Rebounds | Eric Kibi | The Hague Royals | 18 |
| Assists | Deividas Kumelis | The Hague Royals | 16 |
| Steals | Arūnas Mikalauskas | Feyenoord | 8 |
| Blocks | Four players | Four player | 4 |
| Three pointers | Austin Luke | Yoast United | 9 |

## Final standings

BAL, winners of the DBL Cup, refused to apply for the FIBA Europe Cup.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | Qualification |
| 1 | ZZ Leiden (C) | 29 | 24 | 5 | Qualification to Champions League qualifying rounds |
| 2 | Heroes Den Bosch | 29 | 19 | 10 | Qualification to FIBA Europe Cup |
| 3 | Donar | 26 | 17 | 9 | Qualification to FIBA Europe Cup qualifying rounds |
| 4 | Landstede Hammers | 26 | 16 | 10 | |
| 5 | Feyenoord | 23 | 10 | 13 | |
| 6 | Den Helder Suns | 23 | 9 | 14 | |
| 7 | Yoast United | 23 | 17 | 6 | |
| 8 | BAL (W) | 23 | 12 | 11 | |
| 9 | Apollo Amsterdam | 21 | 6 | 15 | |
| 10 | The Hague Royals | 21 | 6 | 15 | |
| 11 | Aris Leeuwarden | 21 | 4 | 17 | |
| 12 | Almere Sailors | 21 | 3 | 18 | |

## Dutch clubs in European competitions

| Team | Competition | Progress |
| Donar | Champions League | First qualifying round |
| Donar | FIBA Europe Cup | Regular season |
| Heroes Den Bosch | FIBA Europe Cup | Regular season |