2002 New Zealand NBL season

2002 New Zealand NBL season
League	National Basketball League
Sport	Basketball
Number of games	16
Number of teams	9
Regular season
Minor premiers	Nelson Giants
Top scorer	Ron Grady (Otago Nuggets)
Finals
Champions	Waikato Titans
Runners-up	Nelson Giants

The 2002 New Zealand National Basketball League season was the 21st running of the competition. Two name changes occurred heading into the 2002 season, with Palmerston North renaming themselves Manawatu, and North Harbour renaming themselves Harbour. The Waikato Titans won the championship in 2002 to claim their second league title.^[1] The Grand Final between the Titans and the Nelson Giants was a nail bitter, with the scores tied at 83 a piece when Titans' forward Dillon Boucher made two free throws with 1.7 seconds left to snatch a championship victory for Waikato in the Trafalgar Centre. As 2,000 Nelson fans sat stunned, Titans' head coach Jeff Green taunted them.^[2]

Standings

#	Regular Season Standings
	Team	W	L	PCT	PTS
1	Nelson Giants	11	5	69	22
2	Waikato Titans	11	5	69	22
3	Canterbury Rams	11	5	69	22
4	Manawatu Jets	9	7	56	18
5	Wellington Saints	7	9	44	14
6	Auckland Stars	7	9	44	14
7	Harbour Kings	6	10	38	12
8	Hawke's Bay Hawks	5	11	31	10
9	Otago Nuggets	5	11	31	10

Finals

	Semi-finals					Grand Final
	1	Nelson Giants	83
	4	Manawatu Jets	64
							Nelson Giants	83
							Waikato Titans	85
	2	Waikato Titans	91
	3	Canterbury Rams	81

Awards

Statistics leaders

Stats as of the end of the regular season

Category	Player	Team	Stat
Points per game	Ron Grady	Otago Nuggets	25.1
Rebounds per game	John Whorton	Canterbury Rams	13.4
Assists per game	Carlo Varricchio	Canterbury Rams	5.3
Steals per game	Prem Krishna	Waikato Titans	2.4
Blocks per game	Kenny Stone	Auckland Stars	2.1

Regular season

• NZ Most Valuable Player: Terrence Lewis (Canterbury Rams)
• Regular Season Winners: Nelson Giants (11–5)
• Keith Carr Trophy – Most Outstanding Guard: Terrence Lewis (Canterbury Rams)
• John Macdonald Trophy – Most Outstanding NZ Guard: Terrence Lewis (Canterbury Rams)
• Commissioners Cup – Most Outstanding Forward: John Whorton (Canterbury Rams)
• Stan Hill Trophy – Most Outstanding NZ Forward/Centre: Ed Book (Nelson Giants)
• Alan Bland Memorial Trophy – Scoring Champion: Ron Grady (25.1) (Otago Nuggets)
• Garry Pettis Memorial Trophy – Rebounding Champion: John Whorton (13.4) (Canterbury Rams)
• Dave Taylor Trophy – Assist Champion: Carlo Varricchio (5.3) (Canterbury Rams)
• Nial Forsyth Trophy – Best Team Free Throws: Otago Nuggets
• Rookie of the Year: Miles Pearce (Manawatu Jets)
• Coach of the Year: John Watson (Canterbury Rams)
• Administrator of the Year: Janie Granger (Nelson Giants)
• All-Star Five:
  • G: Mark Dickel (Wellington Saints)
  • G: Terrence Lewis (Canterbury Rams)
  • F: Dillon Boucher (Waikato Titans)
  • F: John Whorton (Canterbury Rams)
  • C: Ed Book (Nelson Giants)

References

1. "2002 National Basketball League". Basketball.org.nz. Archived from the original on 14 January 2015.
2. McNae, Pete (22 May 2014). "Nelson Giants' Phill Jones to stand alone in NBL". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 3 November 2015.

External links

• POW – 15/5, 18/6, 7/8