2016–17 NBL Canada season
Sports season
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The 2016–17 NBL Canada season was the sixth season of the National Basketball League of Canada (NBLC).[1]
| 2016–17 NBL Canada season | |
|---|---|
| League | National Basketball League of Canada |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Duration | December 26, 2016 – April 30, 2017 |
| Games | 40 |
| Teams | 10 |
| TV partner(s) | EastLink TV, The Score, Rogers Media |
| Draft | |
| Top draft pick | ? |
| Picked by | ? |
| Regular Season | |
| Top seed | London Lightning |
| Season MVP | Royce White |
| Top scorer | ? |
| Playoffs | |
| Atlantic champions | Halifax Hurricanes |
| Central champions | London Lightning |
| Finals | |
| Champions | London Lightning |
League changes
The league added two teams for 2016–17: the Cape Breton Highlanders in Sydney, Nova Scotia, and the KW Titans in Kitchener, Ontario. The Saint John Mill Rats franchise also transferred ownership and was rebranded to the Saint John Riptide.[2]
Offseason coaching changes
- The Cape Breton Highlanders hired Dean Murray as their inaugural head coach.
- The Halifax Hurricanes hired Kevin Keathley to replace Hugo López. However, Keathley left the team in the pre-season for personal reasons and was then replaced by Mike Leslie.
- The KW Titans hired Serge Langis as their inaugural head coach.
- The Orangeville A's hired Brandon Lesovsky to replace Chris Thomas
- The Saint John Riptide retained Rob Spon as head coach during the franchise transition.
- The Windsor Express' head coach from 2014–15, Bill Jones, returned from his one-year suspension.
Midseason coaching changes
- The Cape Breton Highlanders relieved inaugural head coach Dean Murray of his duties on January 22, 2017. The team promoted assistant coach Ben Resner to replace Murray.
- The Niagara River Lions' head coach Grâce Lokole stepped down from his position and became the assistant coach on March 11, 2017. The team named current Niagara College head coach Keith Vassell as the interim head coach.[3]
Teams
| 2016-17 National Basketball League of Canada | |||||
| Division | Team | City | Arena | Capacity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlantic | Cape Breton Highlanders | Sydney, Nova Scotia | Centre 200 | 5,000 | |
| Halifax Hurricanes | Halifax, Nova Scotia | Scotiabank Centre | 10,500 | ||
| Island Storm | Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island | Eastlink Centre | 4,000 | ||
| Moncton Miracles | Moncton, New Brunswick | Moncton Coliseum | 6,554 | ||
| Saint John Riptide | Saint John, New Brunswick | Harbour Station | 6,603 | ||
| Central | KW Titans | Kitchener, Ontario | Kitchener Memorial Auditorium | 7,312 | |
| London Lightning | London, Ontario | Budweiser Gardens | 9,000 | ||
| Niagara River Lions | St. Catharines, Ontario | Meridian Centre | 4,030 | ||
| Orangeville A's | Orangeville, Ontario | Athlete Institute | 1,000 | ||
| Windsor Express | Windsor, Ontario | WFCU Centre | 6,500 | ||
Map of teams
Atlantic Division 
Central Division
Regular season
Source:[4]
- Atlantic Division
| # | Atlantic Division | W | L | PCT | GB | Div | GP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | c — Halifax Hurricanes | 27 | 13 | .675 | — | 22–8 | 40 |
| 2 | x — Saint John Riptide | 22 | 18 | .550 | 5.0 | 14–15 | 40 |
| 3 | x — Island Storm | 16 | 24 | .400 | 11.0 | 13–16 | 40 |
| 4 | x — Moncton Miracles | 15 | 25 | .375 | 12.0 | 12–18 | 40 |
| 5 | Cape Breton Highlanders | 15 | 25 | .375 | 12.0 | 13–17 | 40 |
- Central Division
| # | Central Division | W | L | PCT | GB | Div | GP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | z — London Lightning | 35 | 5 | .875 | — | 26–4 | 40 |
| 2 | x — Windsor Express | 22 | 18 | .550 | 13.0 | 16–14 | 40 |
| 3 | x — KW Titans | 18 | 22 | .450 | 17.0 | 11–19 | 40 |
| 4 | x — Orangeville A's | 16 | 24 | .400 | 19.0 | 11–19 | 40 |
| 5 | Niagara River Lions | 14 | 26 | .350 | 21.0 | 10–20 | 40 |
Notes
- z – Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs
- c – Clinched home court advantage for the division playoffs
- x – Clinched playoff spot
Attendance
| Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | London Lightning | 104,142 | 7,852 | 1,090 | 5,207 | −8.0% |
| 2 | Island Storm | 38,686 | 2,371 | 1,242 | 1,934 | −0.8% |
| 3 | Halifax Hurricanes | 38,512 | 3,583 | 1,192 | 1,926 | −0.2% |
| 4 | Saint John Riptide | 37,124 | 3,014 | 1,028 | 1,856 | +4.6% |
| 5 | Niagara River Lions | 35,055 | 3,287 | 1,150 | 1,753 | +34.3% |
| 6 | Moncton Miracles | 30,613 | 2,195 | 1,078 | 1,531 | −0.9% |
| 7 | Cape Breton Highlanders | 29,490 | 3,200 | 991 | 1,475 | n/a
1 |
| 8 | KW Titans | 26,107 | 2,240 | 709 | 1,305 | n/a
1 |
| 9 | Windsor Express | 20,687 | 2,173 | 545 | 1,034 | −18.1% |
| 10 | Orangeville A's | 5,858 | 554 | 189 | 293 | −14.1% |
| League total | 366,274 | 7,852 | 189 | 1,831 | −7.1% |
Playoffs
| Division Semifinals | Division Finals | NBL Canada Finals | ||||||||||||
| A1 | Halifax | 3 | ||||||||||||
| A4 | Moncton | 0 | ||||||||||||
| A1 | Halifax | 4 | ||||||||||||
| Atlantic Division | ||||||||||||||
| A3 | Island | 2 | ||||||||||||
| A2 | Saint John | 2 | ||||||||||||
| A3 | Island | 3 | ||||||||||||
| A1 | Halifax | 2 | ||||||||||||
| C1 | London | 4 | ||||||||||||
| C1 | London | 3 | ||||||||||||
| C4 | Orangeville | 0 | ||||||||||||
| C1 | London | 4 | ||||||||||||
| Central Division | ||||||||||||||
| C2 | Windsor | 0 | ||||||||||||
| C2 | Windsor | 3 | ||||||||||||
| C3 | Kitchener-Waterloo | 0 | ||||||||||||
Bold Series winner
Italic Team with home-court advantage
NBL Canada Finals
May 26 7:00 pm |
| Halifax Hurricanes 97, London Lightning 105 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 17–24, 32–27, 32–30, 16–24 | ||
| Pts: Antoine Mason 30 Rebs: Billy White 15 Asts: Cliff Clinkscales 9 |
Pts: Garrett Williamson, Joel Friesen 17 each Rebs: Ryan Anderson 10 Asts: Ryan Anderson 9 | |
| London leads series 1–0 | ||
May 27 7:00 pm |
| Halifax Hurricanes 111, London Lightning 110 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 29–24, 18–29, 31–35, 33–22 | ||
| Pts: Antoine Mason, CJ Washington 27 each Rebs: CJ Washington 12 Asts: Cliff Clinkscales 10 |
Pts: Royce White 29 Rebs: Royce White 10 Asts: Junior Cadougan, Royce White 6 each | |
| Halifax ties series 1–1 | ||
May 30 7:00 pm |
| London Lightning 105, Halifax Hurricanes 92 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 25–27, 19–22, 26–30, 35–13 | ||
| Pts: Ryan Anderson 33 Rebs: Royce White 14 Asts: Ryan Anderson 10 |
Pts: C.J. Washington 18 Rebs: Billy White 10 Asts: Cliff Clinkscales 11 | |
| London leads series 2–1 | ||
June 1 7:00 pm |
| London Lightning 85, Halifax Hurricanes 94 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 22–15, 13–29, 26–21, 24–29 | ||
| Pts: Marcus Capers 22 Rebs: Ryan Anderson 11 Asts: Ryan Anderson 6 |
Pts: Antoine Mason 19 Rebs: Billy White 14 Asts: Cliff Clinkscales 8 | |
| Halifax ties series 2–2 | ||
June 3 7:00 pm |
| London Lightning 117, Halifax Hurricanes 95 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 31–27, 29–27, 25–24, 32–21 | ||
| Pts: Royce White 28 Rebs: Royce White 11 Asts: Royce White 7 |
Pts: Antoine Mason 36 Rebs: Anthony Cox 13 Asts: Cliff Clinkscales 8 | |
| London leads series 3–2 | ||
June 5 7:00 pm |
| Halifax Hurricanes 116, London Lightning 129 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 25–36, 26–33, 34–28, 31–32 | ||
| Pts: Antoine Mason 33 Rebs: Joey Haywood 7 Asts: Cliff Clinkscales 14 |
Pts: Royce White 34 Rebs: Royce White 15 Asts: Royce White 9 | |
| London wins series 4–2 | ||
Awards
Player of the Week award
End-of-season awards
Source:[5]
- Most Valuable Players: Royce White, London Lightning
- Canadian Player of the Year: Terry Thomas, Island Storm
- Newcomer of the Year: Jahii Carson, Island Storm
- Defensive Player of the Year: Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson, Orangeville A's
- Rookie of the Year: Maurice Jones, Windsor Express
- Sixth Man of the Year: Antoine Mason, Halifax Hurricanes
- Coach of the Year: Kyle Julius, London Lightning