1988 NBL season

1988 NBL season
1988 NBL season
League	National Basketball League
Sport	Basketball
Duration	12 February – 9 July 1988 (Regular Season) ; 14 – 24 July 1988 (Elimination/Semi-finals); 30 July – 7 August 1988 (Grand Finals)
Number of teams	13
TV partner(s)	Seven Network
Regular season
Season champions	Adelaide 36ers
Season MVP	Joe Hurst (Hobart)
Top scorer	Andrew Gaze (Melbourne)
Finals
Champions	Canberra Cannons (3rd title)
Runners-up	North Melbourne Giants
Finals MVP	Phil Smyth (Canberra)

The 1988 NBL season was the tenth season of competition since its establishment in 1979. A total of 13 teams contested the league.

Clubs

Following the merger of the Sydney Supersonics and West Sydney Westars to form the Sydney Kings, the NBL had 13 clubs spread across all Australian states and territories with the exception of the Northern Territory.

Club	Location	Home Venue	Capacity	Founded	Head coach
Adelaide 36ers	Adelaide, South Australia	Apollo Stadium	3,000	1982	Gary Fox
Brisbane Bullets	Brisbane, Queensland	Brisbane Entertainment Centre	13,500	1979	Brian Kerle
Canberra Cannons	Canberra, Australian Capital Territory	AIS Arena	5,200	1979	Jerry Lee
Eastside Spectres	Melbourne, Victoria	Burwood Stadium	2,000	1979	Brian Goorjian
Geelong Supercats	Geelong, Victoria	Geelong Arena	2,000	1982	Pete Mathieson [1]
Hobart Tassie Devils	Hobart, Tasmania	Kingborough Sports Centre	1,800	1983
Illawarra Hawks	Wollongong, New South Wales	Illawarra Basketball Stadium	2,000	1979	Dave Lindstrom
Melbourne Tigers	Melbourne, Victoria	The Glass House	7,200	1931	Lindsay Gaze
Newcastle Falcons	Newcastle, New South Wales	Broadmeadow Basketball Stadium	2,200	1979	Ken Cole
North Melbourne Giants	Melbourne, Victoria	The Glass House	7,200	1980	Bruce Palmer
Perth Wildcats	Perth, Western Australia	Perth Superdome	4,500	1982	Cal Bruton
Sydney Kings	Sydney, New South Wales	State Sports Centre	5,006	1988	Claude Williams
Westside Saints	Melbourne, Victoria	Keilor Stadium	2,000	1979	Andris Blicavs

Regular season

The 1988 regular season took place over 21 rounds between 12 February 1988 and 9 July 1988.

Ladder

This is the ladder at the end of season, before the finals. The top 6 teams qualified for the finals series.

Pos	1988 NBL season
Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PCT	Last 5	Streak	Home	Away	PF	PA	PP
1	Adelaide 36ers	24	19	5	79.17%	4–1	W2	11–1	8–4	2744	2400	114.33%
2	North Melbourne Giants¹	24	18	6	75.00%	4–1	W3	9–3	9–3	2903	2697	107.64%

3	Brisbane Bullets¹	24	18	6	75.00%	3–2	W1	9–3	9–3	2603	2423	107.43%
4	Canberra Cannons	24	16	8	66.67%	5–0	W7	9–3	7–5	2691	2515	107.00%
5	Newcastle Falcons²	24	13	11	54.17%	3–2	L1	8–4	5–7	2850	2832	100.64%
6	Perth Wildcats²	24	13	11	54.17%	3–2	W1	9–3	4–8	2653	2573	103.11%

7	Illawarra Hawks³	24	11	13	45.83%	1–4	L2	6–6	5–7	2455	2410	101.87%
8	Eastside Spectres³	24	11	13	45.83%	3–2	W2	7–5	4–8	2495	2500	99.80%
9	Hobart Tassie Devils⁴	24	10	14	41.67%	1–4	L4	7–5	3–9	2298	2414	95.19%
10	Sydney Kings⁴	24	10	14	41.67%	2–3	L2	7–5	3–9	2460	2554	96.32%
11	Westside Saints	24	9	15	37.50%	1–4	W1	6–6	3–9	2534	2589	97.88%
12	Melbourne Tigers	24	8	16	33.33%	2–3	L1	4–8	4–8	2562	2681	95.56%
13	Geelong Supercats	24	0	24	00.00%	0–5	L24	0–12	0–12	2298	2958	77.69%

Updated to match(es) played on 9 July 1988. Source: NBL.com.au

The NBL tie-breaker system as outlined in the NBL Rules and Regulations states that in the case of an identical win–loss record, the results in games played between the teams will determine order of seeding.

¹Head-to-Head between North Melbourne Giants and Brisbane Bullets (1-1). North Melbourne Giants won For and Against (+9).

²Newcastle Falcons won Head-to-Head (2-0).

³Head-to-Head between Illawarra Hawks and Eastside Spectres (1-1). Illawarra Hawks won For and Against (+9).

⁴Head-to-Head between Hobart Tassie Devils and Sydney Kings (1-1). Hobart Tassie Devils won For and Against (+12).

Finals

Playoff bracket

Elimination Finals			Semi-finals					Grand Final

			1	Adelaide 36ers	91	95	X
4	Canberra Cannons	107	4	Canberra Cannons	100	100	X
5	Newcastle Falcons	92						2	North Melbourne Giants	95	117	101
								4	Canberra Cannons	120	101	108
			2	North Melbourne Giants	105	137	134
3	Brisbane Bullets	98	6	Perth Wildcats	108	113	111
6	Perth Wildcats	113

Elimination Finals

Both matches were single game elimination contests. The team that qualified 3rd at the end of the regular season would host the team that finished 6th, with the team finishing 4th hosting the team placed 5th.[2] The teams that finished the regular season 1st and 2nd had a bye into the semi-final stage.

Semi-finals

Each were played as a best of 3-game series

1988 NBL statistics leaders


Category	Player	Team	Stat
Points per game	Andrew Gaze	Melbourne Tigers	36.9
Rebounds per game	Dean Uthoff	Eastside Melbourne Spectres	17.2
Assists per game	Brendan Joyce	Westside Melbourne Saints	7.9
Steals per game	Jerry Dennard	Hobart Tassie Devils	2.8
Blocks per game	Willie Simmons	Canberra Cannons	3.6
Free throw percentage	Leroy Loggins	Brisbane Bullets	85.6%

NBL awards

Most Valuable Player: Joe Hurst, Hobart Tassie Devils
Most Valuable Player Grand Final: Phil Smyth, Canberra Cannons
Rookie of the Year: Shane Heal, Brisbane Bullets
Coach of the Year: Bruce Palmer, North Melbourne Giants

All NBL Team

#	Player	Team
PG	Phil Smyth	Canberra Cannons
SG	Andrew Gaze	Melbourne Tigers
SF	Leroy Loggins	Brisbane Bullets
PF	Mark Davis	Adelaide 36ers
C	Tim Dillon	North Melbourne Giants

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] "Honour Boards".

[2] "Results for NBL 1988".