# 2018–19 NBL Canada season

The 2018–19 NBL Canada season is the eighth season of the National Basketball League of Canada. The regular season ran from November 15, 2018, to March 31, 2019.

## League changes

The league originally intended to move the St. John's Edge to the Atlantic Division following the addition of the expansion Sudbury Five. However, after the NBL lost the Niagara River Lions and was back to four teams in Ontario, the league decided to play as a single table for the regular season schedule to ease the Edge's travel. The league still uses each team's overall record in a divisional table for playoff qualification as done in previous seasons.

### Offseason coaching changes

* The Cape Breton Highlanders hired Bernardo Fitz-Gonzalez, a former Colombia national basketball team player, after former coach Rob Spon left the team after one season.
* The St. John's Edge hired Doug Plumb after former coach Jeff Dunlap left to become an assistant at California State University, Northridge.
* The Sudbury Five hired Logan Stutz as its inaugural head coach and general manager.

### Midseason coaching changes

* The London Lightning fired Keith Vassell following a 4–4 start to the season after leading the team to a championship the previous season. He was replaced by Elliott Etherington.
* The St. John's Edge head coach Doug Plumb resigned in March 2019 and was replaced by assistant Steven Marcus as interim head coach.

## Teams

2018-19 National Basketball League of Canada :
| Division | Team | City | Arena | Capacity |
| Atlantic | Cape Breton Highlanders | Sydney, Nova Scotia | Centre 200 | 5,000 |
| Atlantic | Halifax Hurricanes | Halifax, Nova Scotia | Scotiabank Centre | 10,500 |
| Atlantic | Island Storm | Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island | Eastlink Centre | 4,000 |
| Atlantic | Moncton Magic | Moncton, New Brunswick | Avenir Centre | 8,800 |
| Atlantic | Saint John Riptide | Saint John, New Brunswick | Harbour Station | 6,603 |
| Central | KW Titans | Kitchener, Ontario | Kitchener Memorial Auditorium | 7,312 |
| Central | London Lightning | London, Ontario | Budweiser Gardens | 9,000 |
| Central | St. John's Edge | St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador | Mile One Centre | 6,750 |
| Central | Sudbury Five | Sudbury, Ontario | Sudbury Community Arena | 4,640 |
| Central | Windsor Express | Windsor, Ontario | WFCU Centre | 6,500 |

### Map of teams
## Regular season

Standings as of 31 March 2019:
| Atlantic Division | GP | W | L | PCT | GB | Div |
| z — Moncton Magic | 40 | 27 | 13 | .675 | — | 18–7 |
| x — Halifax Hurricanes | 40 | 25 | 15 | .625 | 2 | 13–11 |
| x — Cape Breton Highlanders | 40 | 19 | 21 | .475 | 8 | 13–9 |
| x — Saint John Riptide | 40 | 17 | 23 | .425 | 10 | 10–15 |
| Island Storm | 40 | 12 | 28 | .300 | 15 | 7–19 |
| Central Division | GP | W | L | PCT | GB | Div |
| c — London Lightning | 40 | 22 | 18 | .550 | — | 16–11 |
| x — St. John's Edge | 40 | 21 | 19 | .525 | 1 | 7–7 |
| x — Sudbury Five | 40 | 21 | 19 | .525 | 1 | 14–14 |
| x — KW Titans | 40 | 19 | 21 | .475 | 3 | 14–12 |
| Windsor Express | 40 | 17 | 23 | .425 | 5 | 10–17 |
Notes
* z – Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs
* c – Clinched home court advantage for the division playoffs
* x – Clinched playoff spot

### Attendance

As of the end of the regular season
| Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
| 1 | St. John's Edge | 75,884 | 6,080 | 2,156 | 3,794 | +11.6%$^†$ |
| 2 | London Lightning | 60,799 | 8,024 | 1,324 | 3,040 | −27.7%$^†$ |
| 3 | Halifax Hurricanes | 41,894 | 4,473 | 1,123 | 2,095 | +7.0%$^†$ |
| 4 | Sudbury Five$^1$ | 40,952 | 3,480 | 1,299 | 2,048 | n/a$^†$ |
| 5 | Saint John Riptide | 31,453 | 4,012 | 471 | 1,573 | −16.5%$^†$ |
| 6 | KW Titans | 26,022 | 5,036 | 499 | 1,301 | +2.9%$^†$ |
| 7 | Cape Breton Highlanders | 24,762 | 4,108 | 576 | 1,238 | −8.6%$^†$ |
| 8 | Island Storm | 24,482 | 1,825 | 899 | 1,224 | −34.7%$^†$ |
| 9 | Windsor Express | 23,056 | 1,624 | 650 | 1,153 | +18.3%$^†$ |
| 10 | Moncton Magic | 23,048 | 1,964 | 862 | 1,152 | +7.6%$^†$ |
| | League total | 372,352 | 8,024 | 471 | 1,862 | −7.1%$^†$ |
Source: Notes: 1: New team.

## Playoffs

| Division Semifinals | Division Semifinals | Division Semifinals | Division Finals | Division Finals | Division Finals | NBL Canada Finals | NBL Canada Finals | NBL Canada Finals |
| A1 | Moncton | 3 | | | | | | |
| A4 | Saint John | 0 | | | | | | |
| A4 | Saint John | 0 | A1 | Moncton | 4 | | | |
| Atlantic Division | Atlantic Division | Atlantic Division | A1 | Moncton | 4 | | | |
| Atlantic Division | Atlantic Division | Atlantic Division | A2 | Halifax | 3 | | | |
| A2 | Halifax | 3 | A2 | Halifax | 3 | | | |
| A3 | Cape Breton | 2 | | | | | | |
| A3 | Cape Breton | 2 | | | | A1 | Moncton | 4 |
| | | | | | | C2 | St. John's | 0 |
| C1 | London | 2 | | | | | | | C2 | St. John's | 0 |
| C4 | Kitchener–Waterloo | 3 | | | | | | |
| C4 | Kitchener–Waterloo | 3 | C4 | Kitchener–Waterloo | 2 | | | |
| Central Division | Central Division | Central Division | C4 | Kitchener–Waterloo | 2 | | | |
| Central Division | Central Division | Central Division | C2 | St. John's | 4 | | | |
| C2 | St. John's | 3 | C2 | St. John's | 4 | | | |
| C3 | Sudbury | 2 | | | | | | |
Bold Series winner Italic Team with home-court advantage

## Statistics

As of games played 31 March 2019

### Individual statistic leaders

| Category | Player | Team | Statistic |
| Points per game | Braylon Rayson | Sudbury Five | 25.0 |
| Rebounds per game | Bryce Washington | Saint John Riptide | 11.25 |
| Assists per game | Cliff Clinkscales | Halifax Hurricanes | 6.80 |
| Blocks per game | Ty Walker | Windsor Express | 2.23 |
| Three pointers | Jaylen Bland | Sudbury Five | 4.54 |

### Individual game highs

| Category | Player | Team | Statistic |
| Points | Braylon Rayson | Sudbury Five | 49 |
| Rebounds | Obinna Oleka | St. John's Edge | 24 |
| Assists | Cliff Clinkscales | Halifax Hurricanes | 18 |

## Awards
### Player of the Week award

| For games in week ending | Player of the week | Player of the week | Canadian player of the week | Canadian player of the week |
| For games in week ending | Player | Team | Player | Team |
| November 18, 2018 | Jaylen Bland | Sudbury Five | Gentrey Thomas | Moncton Magic |
| November 25, 2018 | Bruce Massey | Cape Breton Highlanders | Jamal Reynolds | Cape Breton Highlanders |
| December 2, 2018 | Gabe Freeman | Halifax Hurricanes | Tyler Scott | Island Storm |
| December 9, 2018 | Maurice Jones | St. John's Edge | Joel Friesen | KW Titans |
| December 16, 2018 | Doug Herring Jr. | Moncton Magic | Grandy Glaze | Sudbury Five |
| December 23, 2018 | Joel Kindred | Halifax Hurricanes | Aaron Redpath | Cape Breton Highlanders |
| December 30, 2018 | Bruce Massey (2) | Cape Breton Highlanders | Garrett Williamson | London Lightning |
| January 6, 2019 | Mike Poole | Halifax Hurricanes | Junior Cadougan | St. John's Edge |
| January 13, 2019 | Bruce Massey (3) | Cape Breton Highlanders | Guillaume Boucard | Island Storm |
| January 20, 2019 | Juan Patillo | Windsor Express | Garrett Williamson (2) | London Lightning |
| January 27, 2019 | Cory Dixon | Sudbury Five | Tyrrel Tate | Windsor Express |
| February 3, 2019 | Glen Davis | St. John's Edge | Terry Thomas | Halifax Hurricanes |
| February 10, 2019 | Mike Poole (2) | Halifax Hurricanes | Mamadou Gueye | Sudbury Five |
| February 17, 2019 | Frank Bartley | Saint John Riptide | Junior Cadougan (2) | St. John's Edge |
| February 24, 2019 | Trey Kell | Moncton Magic | Junior Cadougan (3) | St. John's Edge |
| March 3, 2019 | Braylon Rayson | Sudbury Five | Guillaume Boucard (2) | Island Storm |
| March 10, 2019 | Chris Jones | Windsor Express | Yohanny Dalembert | Sudbury Five |
| March 17, 2019 | Frank Bartley (2) | Saint John Riptide | Alex Campbell | Island Storm |
| March 24, 2019 | Braylon Rayson (2) | Sudbury Five | Terry Thomas (2) | Halifax Hurricanes |
| March 31, 2019 | Marcus Capers | London Lightning | Jamal Reynolds (2) | Cape Breton Highlanders |

### Coach of the Month award

| Month | Player | Team |
| November | Joe Salerno | Moncton Magic |
| December | Bernado Fitz-Gonzalez | Cape Breton Highlanders |
| January | Bill Jones | Windsor Express |
| February | Mike Leslie | Halifax Hurricanes |
| March | Joe Salerno (2) | Moncton Magic |

### End-of-season awards

Source:
* Most Valuable Player: Braylon Rayson, Sudbury Five
* Canadian Player of the Year: Guillaume Boucard, Island Storm
* Newcomer of the Year: Jaylen Bland, Sudbury Five
* Defensive Player of the Year: Rhamel Brown, Halifax Hurricanes
* Rookie of the Year: Frank Bartley, Saint John Riptide
* Sixth Man of the Year: Jamal Reynolds, Cape Breton Highlanders
* Most Improved Player of the Year: Junior Cadougan, St. John's Edge
* Coach of the Year: Joe Salerno, Moncton Magic

## Draft

The 2018–19 NBL Canada Draft and Combine was held on August 25–26.
| Rnd. | Pick | Player | Nationality | Team | School / club team |
| 1 | 1 | Miles Seward | Canada | Moncton Magic | Harcum College |
| 1 | 2 | Aaron Jackson | United States | KW Titans | East Carolina |
| 1 | 3 | Charles Boozer | United States | Cape Breton Highlanders | Iowa State |
| 1 | 4 | Brent Arrington | United States | Saint John Riptide | Morehead State |
| 1 | 5 | Darnell Landon | Canada | Saint John Riptide | Mayville State |
| 1 | 6 | Gabe McCray | United States | Saint John Riptide | South Carolina State |
| 1 | 7 | Edward Asamoah | Canada | Moncton Magic | Bridgeport |
| 1 | 8 | Funsho Dimeji | Canada | Sudbury Five | Durham |
| 1 | 9 | Chris Early | United States | St. John's Edge | Chattanooga |
| 1 | 10 | Jonathan Wallace | Canada | London Lightning | Guelph |
| 1 | 11 | Davon Eley | United States | Halifax Hurricanes | Lakeland |
| 2 | 1 | Miroslav Jaksic | Serbia | Windsor Express | Oklahoma Christian |
| 2 | 2 | Matthew Hart | United States | KW Titans | George Washington |
| 2 | 3 | Benjamin Batts Jr. | United States | Cape Breton Highlanders | LSU–Shreveport |
| 2 | 4 | Marcus Jones | Canada | Cape Breton Highlanders | Windsor |
| 2 | 5 | David Atkinson | United States | Saint John Riptide | Salem |
| 2 | 6 | Daniel Dooley | Canada | Windsor Express | Guelph |
| 2 | 7 | Aaron Edison | United States | St. John's Edge | Santa Monica |
| 2 | 8 | Jameel Williamson | Canada | London Lightning | St. Francis Xavier |
| 2 | 9 | Donell Tuff | United States | Halifax Hurricanes | Albany State |