2014–15 Baltic Basketball League

The 2014–15 Baltic Basketball League was the 11th season of the Baltic Basketball League.

2014–15 Baltic Basketball League
Season2014–15
DurationOctober 14, 2014 – April 2, 2015
Games played124
Teams22
TV partner(s)Viasat Sport Baltic
Regular season
Top seedŠiauliai
Finals
ChampionsLithuania Šiauliai (2nd title)
  Runners-upLatvia Ventspils
Third placeLithuania Juventus
Fourth placeEstonia Tartu Ülikool/Rock
Finals MVPLithuania Gintaras Leonavičius
Statistical leaders
Points United States Brandis Raley-Ross 21.2
Rebounds Lithuania Ronaldas Rutkauskas 10.4
Assists Greece Nikos Gkikas 5.9
All statistics correct as of April 3, 2015.

This season’s competition included 8 teams from Estonia, 6 each from Latvia and Lithuania, and one team apiece representing Finland and Russia.[1] For the regular season the teams were divided into three groups and competed in a round-robin competition system, with each team facing their opponent twice. Top four teams of each group and the best fifth placed team qualified for the eight-finals. The three teams who participated in FIBA EuroChallenge and Eurocup competitions – Šiauliai, Tartu Ülikool/Rock and Ventspils – begin their journey at the start of the play-offs, seeded respectively first, second and third based on last season’s results. All play-off games were played in home-and-away series.

In the Finals Lithuanian team Šiauliai defended their title by beating Latvian side Ventspils 156–150 on aggregate score. Third place belonged to Lithuanian side Juventus who beat Estonian team Tartu Ülikool/Rock with aggregate score of 125–123.

Teams

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Key to colors
Champion Runner-up Third place Fourth place Quarterfinalist Top 16 Regular season
Country (League) Teams Teams (ranking in 2013–14 national championship)
  Estonia (KML) 8 Kalev/Cramo (1) TÜ/Rock (2) Rakvere Tarvas (3) TLÜ/Kalev (4) TTÜ (5) Pärnu (6) TYCO Rapla (7) Valga/Maks & Moorits (8)
  Latvia (LBL) 6 Ventspils (1) Jēkabpils (3) Jūrmala/Fēnikss (4) Valmiera (5) Liepāja/Triobet (6) Barons/LDz (7)
  Lithuania (LKL) 6 Prienai (4) Pieno žvaigždės (5) Šiauliai (6) Juventus (7) Nevėžis (8) Lietkabelis (9)
  Finland (Korisliiga) 1 Pyrintö (1)
  Russia (BSL) 1 Dynamo Moscow (7)

Team information

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Group Team Location Arena Head coach
Group A Barons/LDz   Rīga, Latvia Mārupe Sports Centre   Edgars Teteris
Jūrmala/Fēnikss   Jūrmala, Latvia Lapmežciema Sports Centre   Arnis Vecvagars
Kalev/Cramo   Tallinn, Estonia Tallinn Arena   Alar Varrak
Pärnu   Pärnu, Estonia Pärnu Sports Hall   Mait Käbin
Pieno žvaigždės   Pasvalys, Lithuania Pieno žvaigždės Arena   Mantas Šernius
Pyrintö   Tampere, Finland Pyynikin Palloiluhalli   Pieti Poikola
Group B Jēkabpils   Jēkabpils, Latvia Jēkabpils Sporta Nams   Edmunds Valeiko
Valmiera   Valmiera, Latvia Vidzeme Olympic Centre   Gatis Melderis
TLÜ/Kalev   Tallinn, Estonia Kalev Sports Hall   Kalle Klandorf
Valga/Maks & Moorits   Valga, Estonia Valga Sports Hall   Varis Krūmiņš
Lietkabelis   Panevėžys, Lithuania Cido Arena   Mindaugas Budzinauskas
Prienai   Prienai, Lithuania Prienai Arena   Tadas Stankevičius
TTÜ   Tallinn, Estonia TTÜ Sports Hall   Heino Lill
Group C Liepāja/Triobet   Liepāja, Latvia Liepāja Olympic Centre   Uvis Helmanis
Rakvere Tarvas   Rakvere, Estonia Rakvere Spordihall   Andres Sõber
TYCO Rapla   Rapla, Estonia Sadolin Sports Hall   Aivar Kuusmaa
Juventus   Utena, Lithuania Utena Arena   Dainius Adomaitis
Nevėžis   Kėdainiai, Lithuania Kėdainiai Arena   Virginijus Sirvydis
Dynamo Moscow   Moscow, Russia Krylatskoe Sport Palace   Mikhail Solovyov
Starting from playoffs Šiauliai   Šiauliai, Lithuania Šiauliai Arena   Gediminas Petrauskas
TÜ/Rock   Tartu, Estonia University of Tartu Sports Hall   Gert Kullamäe
Ventspils   Ventspils, Latvia Ventspils Olympic Centre   Roberts Štelmahers

Regular season

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The four best teams in each group and the best 5th placed team, which will be determined by place in the group; higher goal difference of all games in the group; higher number of goals in all games in the group, not accounting the games against the team placed 7th, will qualify for the 8th-finals.
Source: Changes in the BBL Regulations concerning the qualification for the Eighth-Finals

On 5 January 2015, Dynamo Moscow released an official statement announcing that the team will withdraw from the Baltic Basketball League, citing complicated economic situations and a tight match schedule. Results of all games played by Dynamo Moscow were nullified.
Source: Dynamo Moscow pull out from BBL

Group A

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Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1.   Pieno žvaigždės 10 8 2 880 763 +117 18 Playoffs
2.   Kalev/Cramo 10 7 3 820 740 +80 17
3.   Pyrintö 10 5 5 794 757 +37 15
4.   Barons/LDz 10 4 6 772 847 –75 14
5.   Pärnu 10 3 7 755 796 –41 13
6.   Jūrmala/Fēnikss 10 3 7 689 807 –118 13 Eliminated

Group B

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Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1.   Valmiera 12 10 2 952 848 +104 22 Playoffs
2.   Lietkabelis 12 9 3 1059 875 +184 21
3.   Jēkabpils 12 9 3 905 836 +69 21
4.   Prienai 12 5 7 917 898 +19 17
5.   TTÜ 12 4 8 830 964 –134 16 Eliminated
6.   Valga/Maks & Moorits 12 4 8 902 962 –60 16
7.   TLÜ/Kalev 12 1 11 808 990 –182 13

Group C

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Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1.   Juventus 8 7 1 679 552 +127 15 Playoffs
2.   Liepāja/Triobet 8 6 2 659 610 +49 14
3.   Rakvere Tarvas 8 4 4 630 634 –4 12
4.   TYCO Rapla 8 3 5 575 634 –59 11
5.   Nevėžis 8 0 8 556 669 –113 8 Eliminated
6.   Dynamo Moscow Withdrew[2]

Playoffs

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Bracket

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Eightfinals
January 29, 2015 – February 12, 2015
Quarterfinals
February 25, 2015 – March 5, 2015
Semifinals
March 11, 2015 – March 22, 2015
Finals
March 25, 2015 – April 1, 2015
                    
1   Šiauliai 108 82 190
16   Pärnu 71 70 141
1   Šiauliai 103 78 181
8   Lietkabelis 81 66 147
8   Lietkabelis 64 96 160
9   Kalev/Cramo 78 75 153
1   Šiauliai 73 60 133
4   Juventus 69 60 129
4   Juventus 58 84 142
13   Barons/LDz 82 58 140
4   Juventus 65 85 150
5   Pieno žvaigždės 76 65 141
5   Pieno žvaigždės 94 89 183
12   Rakvere Tarvas 87 68 155
1   Šiauliai 68 88 156
3   Ventspils 70 80 150
2   TÜ/Rock 100 73 173
15   Prienai 68 67 135
2   TÜ/Rock 59 71 130
7   Liepāja/Triobet 49 71 120
7   Liepāja/Triobet 67 105 172
10   Jēkabpils 62 83 145
2   TÜ/Rock 49 72 121
3   Ventspils 74 76 150
3   Ventspils 105 70 175
14   TYCO Rapla 75 55 130
3   Ventspils 70 78 148
11   Pyrintö 64 59 123
6   Valmiera 73 84 157
11   Pyrintö 107 78 185

Player statistics

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Players qualify to this category by having at least 50% games played.
Source: Baltic Basketball League player statistics (2014–15)

Points

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Rank Player Team Games Points Average
1.   Brandis Raley-Ross   Rakvere Tarvas 11 233 21.18
2.   Justin Hurt   Valmiera 8 155 19.38
3.   Ronaldas Rutkauskas   Pärnu 9 168 18.67
4.   Jurijs Aleksejevs   Valga/Maks & Moorits 12 212 17.67
5.   Joonas Järveläinen   TTÜ 10 169 16.90

Assists

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Rank Player Team Games Assists Average
1.   Nikos Gkikas   Ventspils 8 47 5.88
2.   Paulius Ivanauskas   Prienai 14 74 5.29
3.   Vytenis Čižauskas   Valmiera 12 61 5.08
4.   Kyle Lamonte   Pieno žvaigždės 7 35 5.00
5.   Andrius Mažutis   Liepāja/Triobet 14 69 4.93

Rebounds

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Rank Player Team Games Rebounds Average
1.   Ronaldas Rutkauskas   Pärnu 9 94 10.44
2.   Jurijs Aleksejevs   Valga/Maks & Moorits 12 125 10.42
3.   Kaspars Cipruss   Barons/LDz 7 68 9.71
4.   Damon Williams   Pyrintö 14 127 9.07
5.   Robertas Grabauskas   TLÜ/Kalev 12 105 8.75

Efficiency

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Rank Name Team Games Efficiency Average
1.   Ronaldas Rutkauskas   Pärnu 9 202 22.44
2.   Jurijs Aleksejevs   Valga/Maks & Moorits 12 234 19.50
3.   Janar Talts   TÜ/Rock 8 152 19.00
4.   Brandis Raley-Ross   Rakvere Tarvas 11 209 19.00
5.   Damon Williams   Pyrintö 14 252 18.00

Awards

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MVP of the Month

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Month Player Team Ref.
October 2014   Kristers Zeidaks   TYCO Rapla [1]
November 2014   Rolands Freimanis   Kalev/Cramo [2]
December 2014   Ronaldas Rutkauskas   Pärnu [3]
January 2015   Laimonas Kisielius   Pieno žvaigždės [4]
February 2015   Evaldas Kairys   Pieno žvaigždės [5]

Last updated: March 3, 2015.
Source: BBL Homepage

References

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  1. ^ "BBL Season 11 starting soon". bbl.net. 10 September 2014.
  2. ^ Dynamo Moscow pull out from BBL; BBL, 5 January 2015
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