2017–18 NBL season

2017–18 NBL season
Logo of the league sponsored by Hungry Jack's
League	National Basketball League
Season	2017–18
Dates	5 October 2017 – 31 March 2018
Teams	8
TV partner(s)	Australia: Fox Sports SBS New Zealand: Sky Sport Online: NBL TV
Regular season
Season champions	Melbourne United
Season MVP	Bryce Cotton (Perth)
Finals
Champions	Melbourne United (5th title)
Runners-up	Adelaide 36ers
Semifinalists	Perth Wildcats New Zealand Breakers
Finals MVP	Chris Goulding (Melbourne)
Statistical leaders
Points Jerome Randle (Sydney) 19.8 Rebounds Josh Boone (Melbourne) 9.3 Assists Jerome Randle (Sydney) 5.2 Efficiency Amritpal Singh (Sydney) 66%
Records
Attendance	688,712[1] (regular season)
NBL seasons
← 2016–17 2018–19 →

The 2017–18 NBL season was the 40th season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. A total of eight teams contested the league. The regular season was played between October 2017 and February 2018, followed by a post-season featuring the top four in March 2018.^[2]

Australian broadcast rights to the season were held by Fox Sports, in the third year of a five-year deal, with two games per week simulcast on SBS. In New Zealand, Sky Sport were the official league broadcaster.

As Australia and New Zealand participated in 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification, the league took a break during the newly created FIBA international windows of 20–28 November 2017 and 19–27 February 2018.

China won the series 2-1.

Adelaide 36ers won the tournament.

2017 International Basketball Championships

Sydney Kings won the tournament.

A pre-season tournament featuring all eight teams was held on 7–9 September 2017 in Traralgon, Victoria and on 10 September 2017 in Melbourne. The winners received the fifth annual Loggins-Bruton Cup.

Melbourne United won the 2017 NBL Blitz championship.

Pos	2017–18 NBL season v t e
	Team	Pld	W	L	PCT	Last 5	Streak	Home	Away	PF	PA	PP
1	Melbourne United	28	20	8	71.43%	4–1	L1	11–3	9–5	2434	2298	105.92%
2	Adelaide 36ers	28	18	10	64.29%	3–2	W3	10–4	8–6	2654	2527	105.03%
3	Perth Wildcats	28	16	12	57.14%	2–3	W1	9–5	7–7	2388	2271	105.15%
4	New Zealand Breakers	28	15	13	53.57%	1–4	L4	9–5	6–8	2364	2387	99.04%
5	Illawarra Hawks	28	12	16	42.86%	2–3	W2	7–7	5–9	2474	2539	97.44%
6	Cairns Taipans1	28	11	17	39.29%	1–4	L1	8–6	3–11	2215	2281	97.11%
7	Sydney Kings1	28	11	17	39.29%	4–1	W4	6–8	5–9	2418	2504	96.57%
8	Brisbane Bullets	28	9	19	32.14%	1–4	L3	6–8	3–11	2347	2487	94.37%

Updated to match(es) played on 18 February 2018. 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 overall points percentage between the teams will determine order of seeding.

¹Cairns Taipans won on overall points percentage.

• 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.

2017–18 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
Adelaide 36ers	4	4	3	3	4	4	3	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	2	2	3	2	2
Brisbane Bullets	7	7	6	6	7	6	7	7	6	5	6	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	8
Cairns Taipans	1	3	4	4	6	7	5	5	5	6	5	6	6	6	5	6	6	5	6
Illawarra Hawks	5	8	7	8	5	5	6	6	7	7	7	5	5	5	6	5	5	6	5
Melbourne United	3	2	5	5	3	3	4	4	3	3	3	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1
New Zealand Breakers	8	5	1	2	1	1	1	1	2	2	1	3	3	3	3	4	2	4	4
Perth Wildcats	2	1	2	1	2	2	2	2	1	1	2	1	1	2	4	3	4	3	3
Sydney Kings	6	6	8	7	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	7

The 2017–18 National Basketball League Finals were played in March 2018, consisting of two best-of-three semi-final series and the best-of-five Grand Final series. In the semi-finals, the higher seed hosted the first and third games. In the Grand Final, the higher seed hosted the first, third and fifth games.

1. Melbourne United
2. Adelaide 36ers
3. Perth Wildcats
4. New Zealand Breakers

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 overall points percentage will determine order of seeding.

	Semifinals							Grand Final
	1	Melbourne United	88	88	X
	4	New Zealand Breakers	77	86	X
								1	Melbourne United	107	95	101	81	100
								2	Adelaide 36ers	96	110	98	90	82
	2	Adelaide 36ers	109	89	X
	3	Perth Wildcats	74	88	X

(1) Melbourne United vs. (4) New Zealand Breakers

(2) Adelaide 36ers vs. (3) Perth Wildcats

(1) Melbourne United vs. (2) Adelaide 36ers

• Most Valuable Player (Ray Borner Medal): Travis Trice (Brisbane Bullets)

• Most Valuable Player (Andrew Gaze Trophy): Bryce Cotton (Perth Wildcats)
• Rookie of the Year: Isaac Humphries (Sydney Kings)
• Best Defensive Player: Damian Martin (Perth Wildcats)
• Best Sixth Man: Ramone Moore (Adelaide 36ers)
• Most Improved Player: Shea Ili (New Zealand Breakers)
• Fans MVP: Mitch Creek (Adelaide 36ers)
• Coach of the Year (Lindsay Gaze Trophy): Dean Vickerman (Melbourne United)
• Referee of the Year: Michael Aylen
• All-NBL First Team:
  • Casper Ware (Melbourne United)
  • Bryce Cotton (Perth Wildcats)
  • Demitrius Conger (Illawarra Hawks)
  • Daniel Johnson (Adelaide 36ers)
  • Josh Boone (Melbourne United)
• All-NBL Second Team:
  • Jerome Randle (Sydney Kings)
  • Édgar Sosa (New Zealand Breakers)
  • JP Tokoto (Perth Wildcats)
  • Mitch Creek (Adelaide 36ers)
  • Tai Wesley (Melbourne United)

• Grand Final Series MVP (Larry Sengstock Medal): Chris Goulding (Melbourne United)