2022 BAL season
2nd season of the Basketball Africa League
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The 2022 BAL season, also known as BAL Season 2, was the second season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL).[1] The season began on 2 March 2022 and ended with the Finals on 28 May 2022.[2][3] The group phase was played in the Dakar Arena in Dakar and the Hassan Moustafa Sports Hall in Cairo. The playoffs and finals were played in the BK Arena[A] in Kigali for a second year in a row.
| 2022 BAL season | |
|---|---|
| Season | 2022 |
| Dates | 5 March – 28 May 2022 |
| Games played | 38 |
| Teams | 12 |
| Regular season | |
| Season MVP | Michael Dixon (US Monsatir) |
| Finals | |
| Champions |  US Monastir (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  Petro de Luanda |
| Third place |  Zamalek |
| Fourth place |  FAP |
| Records | |
| Biggest home win | 39 points Monastir 106–67 Cape Town (22 May 2022) |
| Winning streak | 6 games Zamalek |
| Highest attendance | 10,000 2022 BAL finals |
Tunisian club US Monastir won the finals to win its first-ever BAL title, after defeating Angolan club Petro de Luanda in the 2022 BAL Finals.[5] As winners, Monastir qualified for the 2023 FIBA Intercontinental Cup.
Format
On December 9, 2021, the BAL announced a new format for the season, with an expansion of the number of total games to 38. The twelve qualified teams are divided over two conference of six teams, in which all teams play the other teams once. The top eight teams from both conferences advance to the playoffs, which remains a single-elimination tournament.[2]
Team allocation
On 13 October 2021, FIBA announced the 26 teams from 26 countries which participate in the qualification round.[6] Eventually, 8 teams withdrew from the qualifications.
- 1st, 2nd, etc.: Place in the domestic competition
- TH: Title holder
- CW: Cup winner
- QT: National qualification tournament
| Group phase | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ZamalekTH (1st) |
US Monastir (1st) |
 DUC (1st) |
Petro de Luanda (1st) |
 |
 REG (1st)[Note RWA] |
 AS Salé (1st)[Note MOR] | |
| First qualifying round | |||
 |
 AS Police (1st) |
 |
 City Oilers (1st) |
 SLAC (1st) |
 |
 ASPAC (1st) |
 Nigelec |
 SOA (1st) |
 Espoir Fukash (CW)[Note COD] |
FAP (1st) |
 |
 Tondema (1st) |
 |
 Cobra Sport |
 |
 Kurasini Heat (1st) |
 New Star |
 Cape Town Tigers (1st) |
 Ferroviário da Beira (QT) |
 Roche-Bois Warriors |
 Matero Magic |
 |
 Ulinzi Warriors (1st) |
 Brave Hearts (1st) | |||
- Notes
- ^ DR Congo (COD): In FIBA's team list of 13 October, 2020 national champions ASB Mazembe was announced to be the Congolese representative. However, the Fédération de basketball du Congo (FEBACO) eventually decided to enter 2021 champions Espoir Fukash.[7]
- ^ Morocco (MOR): AS Salé was initially drawn into the second qualifying round, which it withdrew from. Later, the team was awarded the void spot left after the exclusion of the Rivers Hoopers of Nigeria.
- ^ Nigeria (NGR): Nigeria's Rivers Hoopers were excluded from the competition as FIBA Africa ruled the championship it won was not valid because it was not hosted by the Nigeria Basketball Federation.[8].
- ^
- ^ Zimbabwe (ZIM): The representative team from Zimbabwe, Mercenaries pulled out before its games in Group F started.[10]
Teams
The twelve teams for the inaugural BAL season had to qualify in their domestic competitions to be able to play in the league, similar to other FIBA-organised competitions. Six teams qualify directly as domestic champions; six winners of the qualifying tournaments qualify as well.
Qualified teams
On 22 May 2020, Petro de Luanda was announced as the first qualified team for the 2021 BAL season. The Angolan FAB had abandoned the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic and awarded the team the place without naming it as champions.[11] Four teams made their debut in the competition. On January 14, 2022, FIBA Africa decided to exclude the Rivers Hoopers as it stated that the Nigeria Basketball Federation failed to organise a national championship.[12] The BAL chose to give AS Salé direct qualification to replace the Nigerian team. REG qualified directly for the regular season as Rwanda hosted the playoffs and finals.
The twelve teams were confirmed by the BAL on 9 December 2021.[2]
Cape Town Tigers (South Africa), Cobra Sport (South Sudan), SLAC (Guinea) and Espoir Fukash (DR Congo) all were the first teams from their countries to play in the BAL.
| Team | Home city | Qualified as | Qualified on | Previous BAL seasons | Arena | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Petro de Luanda |
Luanda, Angola | Champions of the 2020–21 Angolan Basketball League | 22 May 2020[11] | 1 (2021) | Pavilhão da Cidadela | 6,873 |
| US Monastir |
Monastir, Tunisia | Champions of the 2020–21 Championnat National A | 8 August 2020 | 1 (2021) | Mohamed-Mzali Sports Hall | 4,075 |
| Zamalek |
Giza, Egypt | Champions of the 2020–21 Egyptian Basketball Super League | 28 June 2021 | 1 (2021) | Abdulrahman Fawzi Hall | 4,000 |
| DUC Dakar |
Dakar, Senegal | Champions of the 2021 Nationale 1 | 8 August 2021[13] | Debut | Marius Ndiaye Stadium | 3,000 |
| REG |
Kigali, Rwanda | Champions of the 2020–21 NBL Rwanda | 30 October 2021[14] | Debut | Amahoro Indoor Stadium | 2,000 |
| AS Salé |
Salé, Morocco | Champions of the 2020–21 Division Excellence | 9 December 2021[2] | 1 (2021) | Salle El Bouâzzaoui | 2,000 |
| Cobra Sport |
Juba, South Sudan | Runners-up of East Division | 10 December 2021[15] | Debut | Dr. Biar Sports Complex | N/A |
| Ferroviário da Beira |
Beira, Mozambique | Winners of East Division | 10 December 2021[15] | Debut | Estádio do Ferroviário Indoor Hall | N/A |
| SLAC |
Conakry, Guinea | Runners-up of West Division | 15 December 2021[16] | Debut | Palais des Sports du Stade du 28 Septembre | N/A |
| FAP |
Yaoundé, Cameroon | Winners of West Division | 15 December 2021[17] | 1 (2021) | Yaoundé Multipurpose Sports Complex | 5,263 |
| Espoir Fukash |
Kinshasa, DR Congo | Third place of West Division | 16 December 2021[18] | Debut | N/A | |
| Cape Town Tigers |
Cape Town, South Africa | Third place of East Division | 11 December 2021[α] | Debut | N/A | |
- The third place game between Cape Town Tigers and New Star was supposed to be played on 11 December 2021, however, the game was cancelled after six players tested positive on COVID-19 hours before the tip-off.[19] It was a later announced that Cape Town qualified as New Star was forced to forfeit.[20]
- Bold: the team won the BAL championship in that year.
Personnel and sponsorship
| Team | Head coach | Team captain |
|---|---|---|
| AS Salé |  Liz Mills[21] |
Yassine El Mahsini |
| Cape Town Tigers | Relton Booysen |
Pieter Prinsloo |
| Cobra Sport | Manny Berberi[22] |
 Jared Harrington |
| DUC Dakar | Parfait Adjivon |
Abel Diop |
| Espoir Fukash | Raven Mwimba |
Rolly Fula |
| FAP | François Enyegue |
Ebaku Akumenzoh |
| Ferroviário da Beira |  Luis Lopez Hernandez |
Armando Baptista |
| Petro de Luanda |  José Neto |
Carlos Morais |
| REG | Robert Pack[23] |
Elie Kaje |
| SLAC |  Željko Zečević |
Mamadi Keita |
| US Monastir | Miodrag Perišić |
Radhouane Slimane |
| Zamalek | Will Voigt |
Mostafa Kejo |
Foreign and Elevate players
Each BAL team was allowed to have four foreign players on its roster, including only two non-African players. Players in italics were signed only for the playoffs. If players have multiple nationalities, the nationality of an African nation is shown.
Each team also featured one player from the NBA Academy Africa, under the new BAL Elevate program.[24]
Schedule
| Phase | Round | Draw date | Games |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qualifying | First round | 13 October 2021 | 21–31 October 2021 |
| Elite 16 | 20 November 2021 | 6–16 December 2021 | |
| Group phase | Dakar | – | 5–15 March 2022 |
| Cairo | 9–19 April 2022 | ||
| Playoffs | Quarter-finals | 21–28 May 2022 | |
| Semi-finals | |||
| Final and third place |
Qualifying tournaments
The qualifying tournaments started on 21 October 2021 and ended on 16 December 2021, with 23 teams from 23 countries participating. Six teams qualified for the group phase.
Group phase
The group phase began on 5 March 2022 in the Dakar Arena in Dakar, where 15 games will be played. From 9 April to 19 April 2022, the group phase continued in Hassan Moustafa Sports Hall in Giza. The four best teams of each conference advanced to the playoffs.
Sahara Conference
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | PCT | Qualification | REG | USM | ASS | SLC | CFV | DUC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | REG |
5 | 4 | 1 | 431 | 423 | +8 | .800[a] | Advance to playoffs | — | 77–74 | 91–87 | 83–81 | — | — | |
| 2 | US Monastir |
5 | 4 | 1 | 397 | 355 | +42 | .800[a] | — | — | — | — | 77–71 | 74–62 | ||
| 3 | AS Salé |
5 | 3 | 2 | 454 | 438 | +16 | .600 | — | 90–96 | — | 91–81 | 95–84 | — | ||
| 4 | SLAC |
5 | 2 | 3 | 392 | 394 | −2 | .400 | — | 55–76 | — | — | 90–74 | — | ||
| 5 | Ferroviário da Beira |
5 | 1 | 4 | 416 | 448 | −32 | .200[b] | 89–94 | — | — | — | — | 98–92 | ||
| 6 | DUC (H) |
5 | 1 | 4 | 402 | 434 | −32 | .200[b] | 92–86 | — | 86–91 | 70–85 | — | — |
Nile Conference
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | PCT | Qualification | ZAM | PDL | CTT | FAP | CBS | ESF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zamalek (H) |
5 | 5 | 0 | 444 | 367 | +77 | 1.000 | Advance to playoffs | — | 85–72 | — | 77–63 | 80–63 | — | |
| 2 | Petro de Luanda |
5 | 4 | 1 | 421 | 326 | +95 | .800 | — | — | — | 73–60 | 92–56 | 94–64 | ||
| 3 | Cape Town Tigers |
5 | 2 | 3 | 386 | 436 | −50 | .400[a] | 77–101 | 61–90 | — | — | — | — | ||
| 4 | FAP |
5 | 2 | 3 | 341 | 347 | −6 | .400[a] | — | — | 70–73 | — | 71–64 | 77–60 | ||
| 5 | Cobra Sport |
5 | 1 | 4 | 370 | 408 | −38 | .200[b] | — | — | 79–83 | — | — | 108–82 | ||
| 6 | Espoir Fukash |
5 | 1 | 4 | 394 | 472 | −78 | .200[b] | 92–101 | — | 96–92 | — | — | — |
Playoffs
The playoffs began on 21 May and ended on 28 May with the Finals. All games were played in a single-elimination format, and the entire tournament was played at the Kigali Arena in Kigali.
Bracket
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||
| 21 May | ||||||||||
N2 Petro de Luanda | 102 | |||||||||
| 25 May | ||||||||||
S3 AS Salé | 89 | |||||||||
| Petro de Luanda | 88 | |||||||||
| 21 May | ||||||||||
| FAP | 74 | |||||||||
S1 REG | 63 | |||||||||
| 28 May | ||||||||||
N4 FAP | 66 | |||||||||
| Petro de Luanda | 72 | |||||||||
| 22 May | ||||||||||
| US Monastir | 83 | |||||||||
N1 Zamalek | 66 | |||||||||
| 25 May | ||||||||||
S4 SLAC | 49 | |||||||||
| Zamalek | 81 | |||||||||
| 22 May | ||||||||||
| US Monastir | 88 | Third place game | ||||||||
S2 US Monastir | 106 | |||||||||
| 27 May | ||||||||||
N3 Cape Town Tigers | 67 | |||||||||
| FAP | 74 | |||||||||
| Zamalek | 97 | |||||||||
Awards
This season, the Coach of the Year award and All-Defensive First Team were introduced and announced on 27 May.[50][51] The MVP and Defensive Player of the Year were announced on 28 May 2022.[5] The BAL Ubuntu Award, for the player that made the greatest contribution to his community, was awarded on 16 March 2023 after a fan vote.[52]
Statistics
The following were the statistical leaders in 2022 BAL season, including all playoff games.[53]
Individual statistic leaders
|
Individual game highs
|
Team statistic leaders
| Category | Team | Statistic |
|---|---|---|
| Points per game | AS Salé | 90.5 |
| Rebounds per game | Espoir Fukash | 47.8 |
| Assists per game | Petro de Luanda | 21.5 |
| Steals per game | 10.6 | |
| Blocks per game | SLAC | 4.8 |
| Turnovers per game | Espoir Fukash | 20.6 |
| Fouls per game | REG | 22.3 |
| FG% | US Monastir | 48.1% |
| FT% | 75.3% | |
| 3FG% | AS Salé | 38.9% |
Notes
- The BK Arena was named the Kigali Arena as the name was changed during the season. On May 24, 2022, the arena's name was changed to the BK Arena after a six-year sponsorship deal worth 7 billion RF with the Bank of Kigali.[4]