2016–17 Dutch Basketball League

The 2016–17 Dutch Basketball League was the 57th season of the Dutch Basketball League, the highest professional basketball league in the Netherlands. The season started on October 8, 2016 and ended May 25, 2017. Donar successfully defended its title.

Dutch Basketball League
Season	2016–17
Duration	8 October 2016 – 25 May 2017
Games played	133
Teams	8
Regular season
Top seed	Donar
Season MVP	Lance Jeter (Donar)
Finals
Champions	Donar (6th title)
Runners-up	Landstede Zwolle
Playoffs MVP	Chase Fieler (Donar)
Statistical leaders
Points Jordan Gregory 18.5 Rebounds Charles Mitchell 10.9 Assists Lance Jeter 6.2 Index Rating Chase Fieler 21.5
← 2015–16 2017–18 →

Teams

Apollo

Leeuwarden

Rotterdam

Donar

Landstede

New Heroes

BSW

ZZ Leiden

Location of teams in 2016–17 Dutch Basketball League

Den Bosch and BSW were both close to bankruptcy in the offseason, but managed to stay alive. Challenge Sports Rotterdam changed its name to Forward Lease Rotterdam, after they got a new main sponsor. On November 1, Den Bosch changed its name to New Heroes.^[1]

Club	Location	Venue	Capacity
Apollo Amsterdam	Amsterdam	Apollohal	1,500
Aris Leeuwarden	Leeuwarden	Sportcentrum Kalverdijkje	1,700
BSW	Weert	Sporthal Boshoven	1,000
Donar	Groningen	MartiniPlaza	4,350
Forward Lease Rotterdam	Rotterdam	Topsportcentrum	1,000
Landstede	Zwolle	Landstede Sportcentrum	1,200
New Heroes	's-Hertogenbosch	Maaspoort	2,800
Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden	Leiden	Vijf Meihal	2,000

Foreign players

The number of foreign players during the 2016–17 season was restricted to four per DBL team.

Team	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Player 4	Left during season
Apollo Amsterdam	Sergio De Randamie
Aris Leeuwarden	Jordan Gregory	Denton Koon	Meshack Lufile	George Marshall
BSW
Donar	Lance Jeter	Andrew Smith	Drago Pašalić	Chase Fieler
Forward Lease Rotterdam	Gregory Mays	Jermaine Marshall			La'Shard Anderson Anthlon Bell
Landstede	J.T. Tiller	Keegan Hylan	J.T. Yoho	Clayton Vette
New Heroes	D. J. Balentine	Justin Watts	Charles Mitchell	Steve McWhorther	Antwan Scott
Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden	Daviyon Draper	Jonathan Michael Lee	Leigh Enobakhare		Cashmere Wright

Regular season

The Regular season started on 8 October 2016 and finished 8 April 2017.^[2]

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Donar	28	26	2	2337	1753	+584	52	Qualification to semifinals
2	Landstede	28	20	8	2176	1947	+229	40
3	ZZ Leiden	28	19	9	2032	1903	+129	38	Qualification to quarterfinals
4	New Heroes	28	14	14	2081	2080	+1	28
5	Forward Lease Rotterdam	28	12	16	2086	2212	−126	24
6	Apollo Amsterdam	28	9	19	2093	2294	−201	18
7	Aris Leeuwarden	28	8	20	2088	2388	−300	16
8	BSW	28	4	24	1966	2282	−316	8

Source: Dutch Basketball League, Scoresway

Play-offs

The play-offs started on April 15 and ended on May 28, 2017.^[2] In the quarterfinals a best-of-three format is used, while in the semifinals and finals in a best-of-seven format.

	Quarterfinals										Semifinals										Finals
	4 New Heroes						82	79
	5 Forward Lease Rotterdam						61	65
											1 Donar				84	96	77	72
											4 New Heroes				76	60	64	68
																					1 Donar			80	96	74	76	85
																					2 Landstede			45	51	79	48	55
	3 ZZ Leiden					79	78	75
	6 Apollo Amsterdam					82	70	56
											2 Landstede	82	92	78	67	84	60	83
											3 ZZ Leiden	88	81	64	76	78	84	56

Source: DBL

Final standings

The final standings are based upon performance in the playoffs.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	Qualification
1	Donar (C, O)	37	34	3	Qualification to Champions League qualifying rounds
2	Landstede	36	24	12
3	ZZ Leiden	38	24	14
4	New Heroes	34	16	18
5	Forward Lease Rotterdam	30	12	18
6	Apollo Amsterdam	31	10	21
7	Aris Leeuwarden	28	8	20
8	BSW	28	4	24

Source: DBL
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners

Awards

Most Valuable Player Pos Player Team Ref G Lance Jeter Donar [3] Play-offs MVP Pos Player Team Ref F Chase Fieler Donar [3] All-DBL Team Pos Player Team Ref G Lance Jeter Donar [3] G J.T. Tiller Landstede F Clayton Vette Landstede F Chase Fieler Donar C Drago Pašalić Donar MVP Under 23 Pos Player Team Ref G Maarten Bouwknecht Den Bosch [3] Sixth Man of the Year Pos Player Team Ref G Arvin Slagter Donar [3] Most Improved Player Pos Player Team Ref G Maarten Bouwknecht New Heroes [3] Defensive Player of the Year Pos Player Team Ref G J.T. Tiller Landstede [3] Rookie of the Year Pos Player Team Ref F Olaf Schaftenaar Landstede [3]

Sixth Man of the Year Pos Player Team Ref G Arvin Slagter Donar [3] DBL All-Defense Team Pos Player Team Ref G Sean Cunningham Donar [3] G J.T. Tiller Landstede F Jason Dourisseau Donar F Mohamed Kherrazi ZZ Leiden C Thomas Koenis Donar DBL All-Rookie Team Pos Player Team Ref G Rens Butter ZZ Leiden [3] G Sam van Dijk Challenge Sports Rotterdam F Marijn Ververs ZZ Leiden F Jules Schild BSW F Olaf Schaftenaar Landstede Coach of the Year Player Team Ref Erik Braal Donar [3]