The 2014–15 Baltic Basketball League was the 11th season of the Baltic Basketball League.
This season’s competition included 8 teams from Estonia, 6 each from Latvia and Lithuania, and one team apiece representing Finland and Russia. For the regular season the teams were divided into three groups and competed in a round-robin competition system, with each team facing their opponent twice. Top four teams of each group and the best fifth placed team qualified for the eight-finals. The three teams who participated in FIBA EuroChallenge and Eurocup competitions – Šiauliai, Tartu Ülikool/Rock and Ventspils – begin their journey at the start of the play-offs, seeded respectively first, second and third based on last season’s results. All play-off games were played in home-and-away series.
In the Finals Lithuanian team Šiauliai defended their title by beating Latvian side Ventspils 156–150 on aggregate score. Third place belonged to Lithuanian side Juventus who beat Estonian team Tartu Ülikool/Rock with aggregate score of 125–123.
Teams + Key to colors Champion Runner-up Third place Fourth place Quarterfinalist Top 16 Regular season
Country (League) Teams Teams (ranking in 2013–14 national championship) Estonia (KML) 8 Kalev/Cramo (1) TÜ/Rock (2) Rakvere Tarvas (3) TLÜ/Kalev (4) TTÜ (5) Pärnu (6) TYCO Rapla (7) Valga/Maks & Moorits (8) Latvia (LBL) 6 Ventspils (1) Jēkabpils (3) Jūrmala/Fēnikss (4) Valmiera (5) Liepāja/Triobet (6) Barons/LDz (7) Lithuania (LKL) 6 Prienai (4) Pieno žvaigždės (5) Šiauliai (6) Juventus (7) Nevėžis (8) Lietkabelis (9) Finland (Korisliiga) 1 Pyrintö (1) Russia (BSL) 1 Dynamo Moscow (7)
Team information Group Team Location Arena Head coach Group A Barons/LDz Rīga, Latvia Mārupe Sports Centre Edgars Teteris Jūrmala/Fēnikss Jūrmala, Latvia Lapmežciema Sports Centre Arnis Vecvagars Kalev/Cramo Tallinn, Estonia Tallinn Arena Alar Varrak Pärnu Pärnu, Estonia Pärnu Sports Hall Mait Käbin Pieno žvaigždės Pasvalys, Lithuania Pieno žvaigždės Arena Mantas Šernius Pyrintö Tampere, Finland Pyynikin Palloiluhalli Pieti Poikola Group B Jēkabpils Jēkabpils, Latvia Jēkabpils Sporta Nams Edmunds Valeiko Valmiera Valmiera, Latvia Vidzeme Olympic Centre Gatis Melderis TLÜ/Kalev Tallinn, Estonia Kalev Sports Hall Kalle Klandorf Valga/Maks & Moorits Valga, Estonia Valga Sports Hall Varis Krūmiņš Lietkabelis Panevėžys, Lithuania Cido Arena Mindaugas Budzinauskas Prienai Prienai, Lithuania Prienai Arena Tadas Stankevičius TTÜ Tallinn, Estonia TTÜ Sports Hall Heino Lill Group C Liepāja/Triobet Liepāja, Latvia Liepāja Olympic Centre Uvis Helmanis Rakvere Tarvas Rakvere, Estonia Rakvere Spordihall Andres Sõber TYCO Rapla Rapla, Estonia Sadolin Sports Hall Aivar Kuusmaa Juventus Utena, Lithuania Utena Arena Dainius Adomaitis Nevėžis Kėdainiai, Lithuania Kėdainiai Arena Virginijus Sirvydis Dynamo Moscow Moscow, Russia Krylatskoe Sport Palace Mikhail Solovyov Starting from playoffs Šiauliai Šiauliai, Lithuania Šiauliai Arena Gediminas Petrauskas TÜ/Rock Tartu, Estonia University of Tartu Sports Hall Gert Kullamäe Ventspils Ventspils, Latvia Ventspils Olympic Centre Roberts Štelmahers
Regular season The four best teams in each group and the best 5th placed team, which will be determined by place in the group; higher goal difference of all games in the group; higher number of goals in all games in the group, not accounting the games against the team placed 7th, will qualify for the 8th-finals.Source: Changes in the BBL Regulations concerning the qualification for the Eighth-Finals
On 5 January 2015, Dynamo Moscow released an official statement announcing that the team will withdraw from the Baltic Basketball League, citing complicated economic situations and a tight match schedule. Results of all games played by Dynamo Moscow were nullified.Source: Dynamo Moscow pull out from BBL
Group A Team Qualification1. Pieno žvaigždės 10 8 2 880 763 +117 18 Playoffs2. Kalev/Cramo 10 7 3 820 740 +80 173. Pyrintö 10 5 5 794 757 +37 154. Barons/LDz 10 4 6 772 847 –75 145. Pärnu 10 3 7 755 796 –41 136. Jūrmala/Fēnikss 10 3 7 689 807 –118 13Eliminated
Group B Team Qualification1. Valmiera 12 10 2 952 848 +104 22Playoffs2. Lietkabelis 12 9 3 1059 875 +184 213. Jēkabpils 12 9 3 905 836 +69 214. Prienai 12 5 7 917 898 +19 175. TTÜ 12 4 8 830 964 –134 16 Eliminated6. Valga/Maks & Moorits 12 4 8 902 962 –60 167. TLÜ/Kalev 12 1 11 808 990 –182 13
Group C Team Qualification1. Juventus 8 7 1 679 552 +127 15Playoffs2. Liepāja/Triobet 8 6 2 659 610 +49 143. Rakvere Tarvas 8 4 4 630 634 –4 124. TYCO Rapla 8 3 5 575 634 –59 115. Nevėžis 8 0 8 556 669 –113 8Eliminated6. Dynamo Moscow WithdrewDynamo Moscow pull out from BBL; BBL, 5 January 2015
Playoffs Bracket
Player statistics Players qualify to this category by having at least 50% games played. Source: Baltic Basketball League player statistics (2014–15)
Points RankPlayerTeamGamesPointsAverage1. Brandis Raley-Ross Rakvere Tarvas 11 233 21.182. Justin Hurt Valmiera 8 155 19.383. Ronaldas Rutkauskas Pärnu 9 168 18.674. Jurijs Aleksejevs Valga/Maks & Moorits 12 212 17.675. Joonas Järveläinen TTÜ 10 169 16.90
Assists RankPlayerTeamGamesAssistsAverage1. Nikos Gkikas Ventspils 8 47 5.882. Paulius Ivanauskas Prienai 14 74 5.293. Vytenis Čižauskas Valmiera 12 61 5.084. Kyle Lamonte Pieno žvaigždės 7 35 5.005. Andrius Mažutis Liepāja/Triobet 14 69 4.93
Rebounds RankPlayerTeamGamesReboundsAverage1. Ronaldas Rutkauskas Pärnu 9 94 10.442. Jurijs Aleksejevs Valga/Maks & Moorits 12 125 10.423. Kaspars Cipruss Barons/LDz 7 68 9.714. Damon Williams Pyrintö 14 127 9.075. Robertas Grabauskas TLÜ/Kalev 12 105 8.75
Efficiency RankNameTeamGamesEfficiencyAverage1. Ronaldas Rutkauskas Pärnu 9 202 22.442. Jurijs Aleksejevs Valga/Maks & Moorits 12 234 19.503. Janar Talts TÜ/Rock 8 152 19.004. Brandis Raley-Ross Rakvere Tarvas 11 209 19.005. Damon Williams Pyrintö 14 252 18.00
Awards MVP of the Month {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" ! align="center"|Month ! align="center" width=170|Player ! align="center" width=170|Team ! align="center" width=|Ref. |- |October 2014||align="left"| Kristers Zeidaks ||align="left"| TYCO Rapla || |- |November 2014||align="left"| Rolands Freimanis ||align="left"| Kalev/Cramo || |- |December 2014||align="left"| Ronaldas Rutkauskas ||align="left"| Pärnu || |- |January 2015||align="left"| Laimonas Kisielius ||align="left"| Pieno žvaigždės || |- |February 2015||align="left"| Evaldas Kairys ||align="left"| Pieno žvaigždės ||
References
External links