# 2017–18 Dutch Basketball League

The 2017–18 Dutch Basketball League (DBL) was the 58th season of the Dutch Basketball League, the highest professional basketball league in the Netherlands. The regular season started on 7 October 2017 and ended 21 April 2018. Donar is the defending champion. The playoffs started on 1 May and ended 29 May 2018. Donar captured its seventh championship, its third in a row and fourth in fifth years, after defeating ZZ Leiden in the finals.

## Teams

Den Helder Suns entered the DBL for this season, which meant the return of a teams from Den Helder since the departure of Kings three seasons ago. Starting from the 2017–18 season, BSW Weert was dissolved and replaced by BAL.

### Arenas and locations

| Club | Location | Venue | Capacity |
| 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 |
| Forward Lease Rotterdam | Rotterdam | Topsportcentrum | 1,000 |
| Landstede | Zwolle | Landstede Sportcentrum | 1,200 |
| New Heroes | 's-Hertogenbosch | Maaspoort | 2,800 |
| Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden | Leiden | Vijf Meihal | 2,000 |

### Personnel and sponsorship

| Team | Head coach | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| Apollo Amsterdam | Patrick Faijdherbe | Dimeo van der Horst | Adidas | |
| Aris Leeuwarden | Tony van den Bosch | Stefan Mladenovic | Jako | Friezon |
| BAL | Radenko Varagic | | Spalding | |
| Den Helder Suns | Peter van Noord | Tjoe de Paula | Burned | Envinity |
| Donar | Erik Braal | Jason Dourisseau | Burned | Hepro |
| Forward Lease Rotterdam | Armand Salomon | Ties Theeuwkens | Peak | Forward Lease |
| Landstede | Herman van den Belt | Nigel Van Oostrum | Burned | Landstede |
| New Heroes | Silvano Poropat | Stefan Wessels | Burned | New Heroes |
| ZZ Leiden | Paul Vervaeck | Mohamed Kherrazi | Peak | Zorg en Zekerheid |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| New Heroes | Sander van der Holst | Mutual consent | May 31, 2017 | Pre-season | Silvano Poropat | May 31, 2017 |
| Aris Leeuwarden | Klaas Stoppels | End of contract | June 15, 2017 | Pre-season | Tony van den Bosch | June 15, 2017 |

## Foreign players

For the 2017–18 season, league policy was changed and the number of allowed foreign players per team was increased from 4 to 5. Additional was the restriction that a team is not allowed to have five foreign players on the court at the same time.
| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 | Player 5 | Left during season |
| Apollo Amsterdam | Benjamin Janssens | | | | | Micheal Madanly |
| Aris Leeuwarden | Emile Blackman | Nate Kratch | Deividas Kumelis | David Michaels | | Meshack Lufile |
| BAL | | | | | | |
| Den Helder Suns | LaVonte Dority | Alex Laurent | Quinterian McConico | | | |
| Donar | Drago Pašalić | Brandyn Curry | Bradford Burgess | Teddy Gipson | Evan Bruinsma | Stephen Domingo |
| Forward Lease Rotterdam | Ordane Kanda-Kanyndia | Trevor Setty | Marcel Boyd | Joey Puddister | Micheal Madanly | Chris Commons |
| Landstede | Noah Dahlman | Jordan Gregory | Sherron Dorsey-Walker | Franko House | | |
| New Heroes | Mike Miklusak | Keshun Sherrill | Norville Carey | Anthony Marshall | | |
| ZZ Leiden | Sergio De Randamie | Clayton Vette | Carrington Love | | | |
* ↑ Stephen Domingo of Donar suffered a season-ending injury in January 2018, opening up space for Bradford Burgess.

## Regular season

In the regular season, teams play against each other four times home-and-away in double a round-robin format. The six first qualified teams advance to the playoffs. The regular season started on 7 October 2017 and will end 21 April 2018.

### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Donar | 32 | 28 | 4 | 2686 | 2031 | +655 | 56 | Qualification to semifinals |
| 2 | Landstede | 32 | 24 | 8 | 2556 | 2244 | +312 | 48 | Qualification to semifinals |
| 3 | ZZ Leiden | 32 | 24 | 8 | 2598 | 2292 | +306 | 48 | Qualification to quarterfinals |
| 4 | New Heroes | 32 | 24 | 8 | 2618 | 2289 | +329 | 48 | Qualification to quarterfinals |
| 5 | Forward Lease Rotterdam | 32 | 15 | 17 | 2467 | 2636 | −169 | 30 | Qualification to quarterfinals |
| 6 | Aris Leeuwarden | 32 | 10 | 22 | 2184 | 2448 | −264 | 20 | Qualification to quarterfinals |
| 7 | Apollo Amsterdam | 32 | 9 | 23 | 2350 | 2583 | −233 | 18 | |
| 8 | Den Helder Suns | 32 | 6 | 26 | 2164 | 2671 | −507 | 12 | |
| 9 | BAL | 32 | 4 | 28 | 2212 | 2641 | −429 | 8 | |

### Results
#### First round

| Home \ Away | APO | ARI | BAL | DHE | DON | ROT | LAN | NEW | ZZL |
| Apollo Amsterdam | — | 82–76 | 109–114 | 85–67 | 47–78 | 71–84 | 76–84 | 67–79 | 64–83 |
| Aris Leeuwarden | 79–73 | — | 73–76 | 84–82 | 20–0 | 69–80 | 61–81 | 48–99 | 64–66 |
| BAL | 54–79 | 80–96 | — | 76–82 | 67–93 | 65–79 | 88–91 | 63–81 | 73–76 |
| Den Helder Suns | 84–74 | 74–78 | 60–79 | — | 69–86 | 73–76 | 76–73 | 56–82 | 78–100 |
| Donar | 88–55 | 112–65 | 76–49 | 98–62 | — | 82–49 | 79–68 | 85–65 | 91–69 |
| Forward Lease Rotterdam | 80–82 | 83–74 | 79–62 | 95–77 | 68–106 | — | 92–89 | 81–91 | 77–76 |
| Landstede | 97–72 | 87–66 | 80–59 | 87–47 | 60–75 | 85–65 | — | 72–65 | 69–65 |
| New Heroes | 89–64 | 88–47 | 82–48 | 91–65 | 73–95 | 74–68 | 87–65 | — | 68–60 |
| ZZ Leiden | 82–69 | 77–55 | 101–78 | 87–49 | 75–63 | 92–74 | 74–64 | 83–81 | — |

#### Second round

| Home \ Away | APO | ARI | BAL | DHE | DON | RDM | LAN | NEW | ZZL |
| Apollo Amsterdam | — | 55–74 | 85–70 | 94–72 | 81–87 | 84–91 | 65–105 | 82–93 | 79–100 |
| Aris Leeuwarden | 70–68 | — | 82–67 | 85–80 | 46–70 | 72–75 | 73–85 | 82–90 | 72–81 |
| BAL | 55–80 | 54–79 | — | 80–87 | 66–79 | 93–81 | 57–67 | 61–88 | 46–75 |
| Den Helder Suns | 56–80 | 69–66 | 85–83 | — | 73–95 | 77–86 | 44–80 | 73–77 | 68–84 |
| Donar | 90–61 | 85–61 | 84–71 | 78–56 | — | 89–65 | 84–68 | 71–80 | 103–112 |
| Forward Lease Rotterdam | 65–67 | 79–63 | 77–69 | 72–55 | 66–95 | — | 74–92 | 80–89 | 92–94 |
| Landstede | 73–69 | 88–66 | 88–65 | 84–49 | 55–86 | 111–74 | — | 86–78 | 82–81 |
| New Heroes | 78–73 | 90–79 | 92–75 | 91–52 | 48–96 | 114–86 | 68–69 | — | 86–78 |
| ZZ Leiden | 87–60 | 72–59 | 74–70 | 89–66 | 61–85 | 102–74 | 64–71 | 79–61 | — |

## Play-offs

In the quarterfinals a best-of-three format is used, while in the semifinals and finals are played in a best-of-seven format. The play-offs start on 1 May and ended 29 May 2018.

### Bracket

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals |
| 4New Heroes | 1 | | |
| 5Rotterdam | 2 | | |
| 5Rotterdam | 2 | 1Donar | 4 |
| | | 5Rotterdam | 0 |
| | | | | 1Donar | 4 |
| | | | | 3ZZ Leiden | 0 |
| 3ZZ Leiden | 2 | | | 3ZZ Leiden | 0 |
| 6Aris Leeuwarden | 1 | | | | |
| 6Aris Leeuwarden | 1 | 2Landstede | 0 | | |
| | | 3ZZ Leiden | 4 |

### Quarterfinals

The legs were played on 1 May, 3 May and (if necessary) on 5 May. The team with the higher seed played game one and three (if necessary) at home.
| Team 1 | Series | Team 2 | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 |
| ZZ Leiden | 2–1 | Aris Leeuwarden | 85–77 | 64–56 | 66–55 |
| New Heroes | 1–2 | Forward Lease Rotterdam | 99–64 | 97–93 (ot) | 89–92 |

### Semifinals

The legs were played on 8 May, 10 May, 12 May, 15 May and (if necessary) 17 May, 19 May and 20 May. The team with the higher seed played game one, three, five and seven (if necessary) at home.
| Team 1 | Series | Team 2 | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 | Game 6 | Game 7 |
| Donar | 4–0 | Forward Lease Rotterdam | 96–77 | 85–114 | 98–74 | 107–51 |
| Landstede | 0–4 | ZZ Leiden | 79–81 | 74–78 | 73–78 | 60–63 |

### Finals

The legs were played on 22 May, 24 May, 26 May, 29 May and (if necessary) 31 May, 2 June and 3 June. The team with the higher seed played game one, three, five and seven (if necessary) at home.
| Team 1 | Series | Team 2 | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 | Game 6 | Game 7 |
| Donar | 4–0 | ZZ Leiden | 105–66 | 78–71 | 80–69 | 73–66 |

## Final standings

Teams are ranked based on the playoff round in which they were eliminated and their regular season records.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | |
| 1 | Donar (C, O) | 40 | 36 | 4 | Qualification for Champions League qualifying rounds |
| 2 | ZZ Leiden | 43 | 30 | 13 | Qualification for FIBA Europe Cup qualifying rounds |
| 3 | Landstede | 36 | 24 | 12 | |
| 4 | Forward Lease Rotterdam | 39 | 17 | 22 | |
| 5 | New Heroes | 35 | 25 | 10 | Qualification for FIBA Europe Cup qualifying rounds |
| 6 | Aris Leeuwarden | 35 | 11 | 24 | |
| 7 | Apollo Amsterdam | 32 | 9 | 23 | |
| 8 | Den Helder Suns | 32 | 6 | 26 | |
| 9 | BAL | 32 | 4 | 28 | |
* ↑ Donar won the match on November 17, 2017, 56–84 over Aris Leeuwarden. However, the result was reverted because Donar had five foreign players playing on the court at the same time, violating the DBL's foreigner policy.
* ↑ New Heroes qualified for the 2018–19 FIBA Europe Cup, after Landstede and Rotterdam denied the invitation.

## Awards

| Award | Player | Club |
| Most Valuable Player | Brandyn Curry | Donar |
| Play-offs MVP | Brandyn Curry | Donar |
| MVP Under-23 | Boyd van der Vuurst de Vries | Den Helder Suns |
| Rookie of the Year | Boyd van der Vuurst de Vries | Den Helder Suns |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Sean Cunningham | Donar |
| All-Defense Team | Sean Cunningham | Donar |
| All-Defense Team | Carrington Love | ZZ Leiden |
| All-Defense Team | Mohamed Kherrazi | ZZ Leiden |
| All-Defense Team | Stefan Wessels | New Heroes |
| All-Defense Team | Thomas Koenis | Donar |

## Statistics
### Statistical leaders

| Category | Player | Team | Average |
| Points | Ordane Kanda-Kanyinda | Forward Lease Rotterdam | 18.8 |
| Rebounds | Roel Aarts | BAL | 8.1 |
| Assists | Carrington Love | ZZ Leiden | 6.8 |
| Steals | Worthy de Jong | ZZ Leiden | 3.0 |
| Blocks | Berend Weijs | Apollo Amsterdam | 1.3 |
| Turnovers | Ordane Kanda-Kanyinda | Forward Lease Rotterdam | 3.8 |
| 2P% | Stefan Wessels | New Heroes | .671 |
| 3P% | Brandyn Curry | Donar | .423 |
| FT% | Brandyn Curry | Donar | .901 |

## In European competitions

| Club | Competition | Performance | Record | Ref |
| Donar | Champions League | Third qualifying round | 2–1–3 | |
| Donar | FIBA Europe Cup | Semi-finals | 12–6 | |