2014–15 NBL season

2014–15 NBL season
League	National Basketball League
Season	2014–15
Dates	10 October 2014 – 8 March 2015
Teams	8
TV partner(s)	Australia: Network Ten One HD New Zealand: Sky Sport Online: NBL TV LiveBasketball.TV
Regular season
Season champions	Cairns Taipans
Season MVP	Brian Conklin (Townsville)
Finals
Champions	New Zealand Breakers (4th title)
Runners-up	Cairns Taipans
Semifinalists	Adelaide 36ers Perth Wildcats
Finals MVP	Cedric Jackson (New Zealand)
Statistical leaders
Points Josh Childress (Sydney) 21.1 Rebounds Josh Childress (Sydney) 9.2 Assists Cedric Jackson (New Zealand) 6.0
NBL seasons
← 2013–14 2015–16 →

The 2014–15 NBL season was the 37th season of competition since its establishment in 1979. A total of eight teams contested the league. The regular season was played between 10 October 2014 ^[1] and 22 February 2015, followed by a post-season featuring the top four in late February and March 2015.

Australian broadcast rights to the season are held by free-to-air network Channel Ten and its digital sports sister station One, in the final year of a five-year deal. In New Zealand, Sky Sport are the official league broadcaster, in the final year of a three-year deal.

During the off-season the Melbourne Tigers were rebranded as Melbourne United.

A pre-season tournament featuring all eight teams was held on 19–21 September 2014 at NAB Stadium, Brisbane. The winner will receive the second annual Loggins-Bruton Cup.

Townsville Crocodiles are pre-season champions.

The Cairns Taipans became the first regional centre team to win the minor premiership since the Geelong Cats did so in 1984.

Pos	2014–15 NBL season v t e
	Team	Pld	W	L	PCT	Last 5	Streak	Home	Away	PF	PA	PP
1	Cairns Taipans	28	21	7	75.00%	4–1	W3	12–2	9–5	2275	2117	107.46%
2	New Zealand Breakers	28	19	9	67.86%	2–3	L1	10–4	9–5	2343	2275	102.99%
3	Adelaide 36ers	28	17	11	60.71%	5–0	W10	9–5	8–6	2501	2478	100.93%
4	Perth Wildcats	28	16	12	57.14%	3–2	W1	10–4	6–8	2260	2171	104.10%
5	Melbourne United	28	13	15	46.43%	2–3	W2	8–6	5–9	2333	2379	98.07%
6	Townsville Crocodiles	28	11	17	39.29%	3–2	L1	8–6	3–11	2343	2341	100.09%
7	Sydney Kings	28	9	19	32.14%	0–5	L7	5–9	4–10	2320	2408	96.35%
8	Wollongong Hawks	28	6	22	21.43%	2–3	L2	4–10	2–12	2154	2360	91.27%

Updated to match(es) played on 22 February 2015. Source: NBL.com.au

• Numbers highlighted in green indicate that the team finished the round inside the top four.
• Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished first on the ladder in that round.
• Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished last place on the ladder in that round.

2014–15 NBL season v t e
Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Adelaide 36ers	5	5	4	3	4	6	7	7	7	7	7	6	6	5	5	4	4	4	4	3
Cairns Taipans	1	1	1	1	1	2	3	3	3	3	2	2	3	2	2	1	1	1	1	1
Melbourne United	8	7	7	6	7	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	5	5	5	5	5
New Zealand Breakers	2	2	3	4	3	3	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	2
Perth Wildcats	7	3	2	2	2	1	2	2	1	2	3	3	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	4
Sydney Kings	3	4	6	7	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	6	6	6	6	7	7	7
Townsville Crocodiles	6	6	5	5	6	7	6	6	6	6	6	7	7	7	7	7	7	6	6	6
Wollongong Hawks	4	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8

The 2014–15 National Basketball League Finals will be played in February and March 2015, consisting of two best-of-three semi-final and final series, where the higher seed hosts the first and third games.

1. Cairns Taipans
2. New Zealand Breakers
3. Adelaide 36ers
4. Perth Wildcats

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.

	Semifinals							Grand Final
	1	Cairns Taipans	71	80	X
	4	Perth Wildcats	64	66	X
								1	Cairns Taipans	71	81	X
								2	New Zealand Breakers	86	83	X
	2	New Zealand Breakers	111	94	X
	3	Adelaide 36ers	82	83	X

Category	Player	Games played	Totals	Average
Points per game	Josh Childress (Sydney Kings)	18	379	21.1
Rebounds per game	Josh Childress (Sydney Kings)	18	166	9.2
Assists per game	Cedric Jackson (New Zealand Breakers)	28	167	6.0
Steals per game	Damian Martin (Perth Wildcats)	28	73	2.6
Blocks per game	Mickell Gladness (Townsville Crocodiles)	27	60	2.2
Field goal percentage	Ekene Ibekwe (New Zealand Breakers)	28	127-218	58.3%
Three-point field goal percentage	Daniel Kickert (Melbourne United)	28	49-96	51.0%
Free throw percentage	Stephen Weigh (Cairns Taipans)	28	34-38	89.5%

Note: regular season only (minimum 14 games) and excluding negligible attempts

Attendance	Round	Date	Home	Score	Away	Venue	Weekday	Time of Day
13,559	15	16 January 2015	Perth Wildcats	102-106	Adelaide 36ers	Perth Arena	Friday	Night
13,316	15	21 January 2015	Perth Wildcats	78-86	Melbourne United	Perth Arena	Wednesday	Night
13,241	19	15 February 2015	Perth Wildcats	87-89 (2OT)	New Zealand Breakers	Perth Arena	Sunday	Afternoon
12,903	1	10 October 2014	Perth Wildcats	70-80	New Zealand Breakers	Perth Arena	Friday	Night
12,877	6	14 November 2014	Perth Wildcats	93-78	Townsville Crocodiles	Perth Arena	Friday	Night
12,711	17	1 February 2015	Perth Wildcats	80-61	Sydney Kings	Perth Arena	Sunday	Afternoon
12,659	20	22 February 2015	Perth Wildcats	81-71	Townsville Crocodiles	Perth Arena	Sunday	Afternoon
12,469	3	24 October 2014	Perth Wildcats	84-63	Sydney Kings	Perth Arena	Friday	Night
12,266	18	6 February 2015	Perth Wildcats	65-54	Cairns Taipans	Perth Arena	Friday	Night
11,731	10	14 December 2014	Perth Wildcats	97-76	Adelaide 36ers	Perth Arena	Sunday	Afternoon

Round	Player	Team
1	Scottie Wilbekin	Cairns Taipans
2	Stephen Weigh	Cairns Taipans
3	Damian Martin	Perth Wildcats
4	Adam Gibson	Adelaide 36ers
5	Josh Childress	Sydney Kings
6	Jermaine Beal	Perth Wildcats
7	Corey Webster	New Zealand Breakers
8	DeAndre Daniels	Perth Wildcats
9	Torrey Craig	Cairns Taipans
10	Cedric Jackson	New Zealand Breakers
11	Jordan McRae	Melbourne United
12	Tai Wesley	New Zealand Breakers
13	Brian Conklin	Townsville Crocodiles
14	Jamar Wilson	Adelaide 36ers
15	Brock Motum	Adelaide 36ers
16	Todd Blanchfield	Townsville Crocodiles
17	Jamar Wilson	Adelaide 36ers
18	Todd Blanchfield	Townsville Crocodiles
19	Cedric Jackson	New Zealand Breakers
20	Scottie Wilbekin	Cairns Taipans

Month	Player	Team
October	Scottie Wilbekin	Cairns Taipans
November	Josh Childress	Sydney Kings
December	Jordan McRae	Melbourne United
January	Brock Motum	Adelaide 36ers
February	Cedric Jackson	New Zealand Breakers

Month	Player	Team
October	Aaron Fearne	Cairns Taipans
November	Dean Vickerman	New Zealand Breakers
December	Dean Vickerman	New Zealand Breakers
January	Joey Wright	Adelaide 36ers
February	Joey Wright	Adelaide 36ers

• Most Valuable Player (Ray Borner Medal): Mickell Gladness, Townsville Crocodiles

• Most Valuable Player (Andrew Gaze Trophy): Brian Conklin, Townsville Crocodiles^[2]
• Rookie of the Year: Angus Brandt, Sydney Kings
• Best Defensive Player: Damian Martin, Perth Wildcats
• Best Sixth Man: Cameron Tragardh, Cairns Taipans
• Most Improved Player: Todd Blanchfield, Townsville Crocodiles
• Coach of the Year (Lindsay Gaze Trophy): Aaron Fearne, Cairns Taipans
• Referee of the Year: Michael Aylen
• All-NBL First Team:
  • Cedric Jackson – New Zealand Breakers^[3]
  • Scottie Wilbekin – Cairns Taipans
  • Josh Childress – Sydney Kings
  • Brock Motum – Adelaide 36ers
  • Brian Conklin – Townsville Crocodiles
• All-NBL Second Team:
  • Jamar Wilson – Adelaide 36ers
  • Jordan McRae – Melbourne United
  • Todd Blanchfield – Townsville Crocodiles
  • Ekene Ibekwe – New Zealand Breakers
  • Matthew Knight – Perth Wildcats

• Grand Final Series MVP (Larry Sengstock Medal): Cedric Jackson, New Zealand Breakers