The 2023 CEBL season was the fifth season of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL). It began on May 24, 2023, and the regular season ended on July 30, 2023. It was the inaugural season for the Calgary Surge and the Winnipeg Sea Bears. The Calgary Surge relocated from Guelph while Winnipeg was added as an expansion franchise.
2023 CEBL season | |
---|---|
League | Canadian Elite Basketball League |
Sport | Basketball |
Duration | Season: May 24 – July 31 Play-in games: August 4, 2023 Playoffs: August 6–13 |
Number of games | 20 per team |
Number of teams | 10 |
TV partner(s) | TSN |
Draft | |
Top draft pick | Simon Hildebrandt |
Picked by | Winnipeg Sea Bears |
Regular season | |
Top seed | Niagara River Lions |
Season MVP | Teddy Allen |
Top scorer | Justin Wright-Foreman |
Championship weekend | |
Venue | Langley Events Centre Langley, B.C. |
Champions | Scarborough Shooting Stars |
Runners-up | Calgary Surge |
Finals MVP | Isiaha Mike |
This year was the first season where the league was divided in two conferences. The top four teams in each conference qualified for the playoffs; had the Vancouver Bandits finished in fifth place in the Western Conference, the fourth-place team would have been eliminated instead; as hosts, the Bandits automatically qualify for the semi-finals as a de facto first-place team, along with the first-place team from the Eastern Conference. The playoffs commence with the third- and fourth-placed teams in play-in matches, with the winners facing their own conference's second-place teams in the quarterfinals. The quarterfinal winners will then face their respective division semi-final opponent.[1]
On March 16, 2023, CEBL announced a television deal with TSN: TSN will televise weekly games and broadcast the rest of the games online, and they will also televise the championship weekend.[2]
Teams
edit2023 Canadian Elite Basketball League | |||||
Eastern Conference | |||||
Team | City | Arena | Capacity | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Brampton Honey Badgers | Brampton, Ontario | CAA Centre | 5,000 | ||
Montreal Alliance | Montreal, Quebec | Verdun Auditorium | 4,100 | ||
Niagara River Lions | St. Catharines, Ontario | Meridian Centre | 4,030 | ||
Ottawa Blackjacks | Ottawa, Ontario | TD Place Arena | 9,500 | ||
Scarborough Shooting Stars | Toronto, Ontario | Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre | 2,000 | ||
Western Conference | |||||
Calgary Surge | Calgary, Alberta | WinSport Event Centre | 4,000 | ||
Edmonton Stingers | Edmonton, Alberta | Edmonton Expo Centre | 4,000 | ||
Saskatchewan Rattlers | Saskatoon, Saskatchewan | SaskTel Centre | 15,100 | ||
Vancouver Bandits | Langley, British Columbia | Langley Events Centre | 5,276 | ||
Winnipeg Sea Bears | Winnipeg, Manitoba | Canada Life Centre | 15,321 |
Map of teams
editRegular season
editStandings
editWestern Conference
editPos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | PCT | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Calgary Surge | 20 | 12 | 8 | 1648 | 1631 | +17 | .600 | Advance to quarter-finals |
2 | Winnipeg Sea Bears | 20 | 12 | 8 | 1812 | 1802 | +10 | .600 | Advance to play in games |
3 | Edmonton Stingers | 20 | 9 | 11 | 1737 | 1661 | +76 | .450 | |
4 | Vancouver Bandits (H) | 20 | 8 | 12 | 1707 | 1792 | −85 | .400 | Advance to championship weekend[a] |
5 | Saskatchewan Rattlers | 20 | 8 | 12 | 1688 | 1745 | −57 | .400 |
- ^ Automatically qualified for championship weekend as the host team.
Eastern Conference
editPos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | PCT | Qualification |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Niagara River Lions | 20 | 13 | 7 | 1833 | 1714 | +119 | .650 | Advance to championship weekend |
2 | Ottawa BlackJacks | 20 | 12 | 8 | 1767 | 1719 | +48 | .600 | Advance to quarter-finals |
3 | Scarborough Shooting Stars (C) | 20 | 11 | 9 | 1731 | 1726 | +5 | .550 | Advance to play in games |
4 | Brampton Honey Badgers | 20 | 8 | 12 | 1698 | 1719 | −21 | .400 | |
5 | Montreal Alliance | 20 | 7 | 13 | 1640 | 1752 | −112 | .350 |
Results
editAttendance
edit- As of August 1, 2023[a]
Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Winnipeg Sea Bears[b] | 54,846 | 8,230 | 3,504 | 5,484 | n/a |
2 | Edmonton Stingers | 34,736 | 3,996 | 3,500 | 3,859 | +100.8% |
3 | Niagara River Lions | 31,063 | 3,971 | 2,448 | 3,106 | +36.6% |
4 | Calgary Surge | 29,797 | 4,116 | 2,324 | 2,979 | +101.0%[c] |
5 | Montreal Alliance | 28,795 | 3,500 | 2,307 | 2,879 | −1.7% |
6 | Saskatchewan Rattlers | 1,958 | 1,958 | 1,958 | n/a | |
7 | Ottawa Blackjacks | 19,240 | 2,553 | 1,366 | 1,924 | +5.9% |
8 | Vancouver Bandits[d] | 8,566 | 4,566 | 1,000 | 1,713 | n/a |
9 | Brampton Honey Badgers | 15,736 | 3,451 | 618 | 1,573 | −13.1%[e] |
10 | Scarborough Shooting Stars | 15,157 | 1,665 | 1,025 | 1,515 | −7.1% |
League total | 238,869 | 8,230 | 618 | 2,843 | +55.9% |
Source: [1]
- ^ The following teams did not report attendances:
- Edmonton on May 28
- Saskatchewan for all games except May 31
- Vancouver on June 6, June 17, June 25, July 1, July 9
- ^ Attendance for June 23 was recorded incorrectly.
- ^ As the Guelph Nighthawks.
- ^ Attendance for July 14 was recorded incorrectly.
- ^ As the Hamilton Honey Badgers.
Playoffs
editBracket
editPlay-in round August 4 | Quarterfinals August 6 | Semifinals August 11 | Championship August 13 | |||||||||||||||
E1 | Niagara | 71 | ||||||||||||||||
E2 | Ottawa | 72 | E3 | Scarborough | 74 | |||||||||||||
E3 | Scarborough | 98 | E3 | Scarborough | 77 | E3 | Scarborough | 82 | ||||||||||
E4 | Brampton | 74 | W1 | Calgary | 70 | |||||||||||||
W1 | Calgary | 77 | ||||||||||||||||
W1 | Calgary | 84 | W4 | Vancouver | 75 | |||||||||||||
W2 | Winnipeg | 81 | W3 | Edmonton | 68 | |||||||||||||
W3 | Edmonton | 87 | ||||||||||||||||
Play-in games
edit- Note: all times are local
August 4
7:00pm |
Scarborough Shooting Stars 98, Brampton Honey Badgers 74 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 18–19, 27–17, 25–22, 28–16 | ||
Pts: Cat Barber 32 Rebs: Isiaha Mike 9 Asts: Kalif Young 10 |
Pts: Callum Baker, Shamiel Stevens 16 Rebs: Zane Waterman 10 Asts: Callum Baker 4 |
Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, Scarborough, Ontario
Attendance: 1654 Referees: Tony Turnbull, Chris Bucella, Farhan Baig |
August 4
8:00pm |
Winnipeg Sea Bears 81, Edmonton Stingers 87 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 23–23, 18–22, 24–21, 16–21 | ||
Pts: Teddy Allen 35 Rebs: Simon Hildebrandt 11 Asts: Teddy Allen 5 |
Pts: Isiah Osborne 24 Rebs: Nick Hornsby 14 Asts: Brody Clarke 6 |
Canada Life Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Attendance: 10580 Referees: Michael Weiland, Ryley Kerrison, Frank Rizzuti |
Quarterfinals
editAugust 6
7:00pm |
Ottawa Blackjacks 72, Scarborough Shooting Stars 77 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 14–15, 23–15, 25–20, 10–27 | ||
Pts: Jakeenan Gant 21 Rebs: Zena Edosomwan 8 Asts: Matthew Coleman III, Kadre Gray 5 |
Pts: Isiaha Mike 24 Rebs: Isiaha Mike 13 Asts: Myck Kabongo, Kassius Robertson 4 |
August 6
7:00pm |
Calgary Surge 84, Edmonton Stingers 68 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 21–13, 27–16, 12–21, 24–18 | ||
Pts: Stefan Smith 21 Rebs: Sean Miller-Moore 12 Asts: Stefan Smith 7 |
Pts: Brody Clarke 19 Rebs: Brody Clarke 10 Asts: Munis Tutu 5 |
Championship Weekend
editSemifinals
editAugust 11
5:00pm |
Niagara River Lions 71, Scarborough Shooting Stars 74 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 20–14, 12–21, 15–18, 24–21 | ||
Pts: Jahvon Henry-Blair 20 Rebs: TJ Lall 8 Asts: Khalil Ahmad 5 |
Pts: Cat Barber 15 Rebs: Kalif Young 11 Asts: Kyree Walker 7 |
Langley Events Centre, Langley, B.C.
Attendance: 1000 Referees: Michael Weiland, Reed Scott, Ryley Kerrison |
August 11
7:30pm |
Calgary Surge 77, Vancouver Bandits 75 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 22–15, 16–18, 13–20, 26–22 | ||
Pts: Stefan Smith 25 Rebs: Jordy Tshimanga 10 Asts: Sean Miller-Moore 4 |
Pts: Nick Ward 21 Rebs: Giorgi Bezhanishvili 8 Asts: Doug Herring Jr. 8 |
Langley Events Centre, Langley, B.C.
Attendance: 5000 Referees: Tony Turnbull, Jayson Stiell, Max Audette |
Championship
editAugust 13
4:00pm |
Calgary Surge 70, Scarborough Shooting Stars 82 | ||
Scoring by quarter: 19–16, 13–25, 19-19, 19–22 | ||
Pts: Jordy Tshimanga 15 Rebs: Jordy Tshimanga 15 Asts: Stefan Smith 5 |
Pts: Cat Barber 23 Rebs: Isiaha Mike 9 Asts: Isiaha Mike 7 |
Langley Events Centre, Langley, B.C.
Attendance: 5000 Referees: Tony Turnbull, Michael Weiland, Max Audette |
Awards
editSource: [3]
- Most Valuable Player: Teddy Allen, Winnipeg Sea Bears
- Canadian Player of the Year: Kadre Gray, Ottawa BlackJacks
- U SPORTS Player of the Year: Simon Hildebrandt, Winnipeg Sea Bears
- Defensive Player of the Year: Khalil Ahmad, Niagara River Lions
- Clutch Player of the Year: Khalil Ahmad, Niagara River Lions
- Coach of the Year: Mike Taylor, Winnipeg Sea Bears
- Sixth Man of the Year: Jelani Watson-Gayle, Winnipeg Sea Bears
- CEBL Finals MVP: Isiaha Mike, Scarborough Shooting Stars
All-CEBL teams
editFirst Team | Pos. | Second Team | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Player | Team | Player | Team | ||
Simisola Shittu | Calgary Surge | F | Deng Adel | Ottawa BlackJacks | |
Teddy Allen | Winnipeg Sea Bears | G | Kadre Gray | Ottawa BlackJacks | |
Justin Wright-Foreman | Saskatchewan Rattlers | G | Christian Vital | Brampton Honey Badgers | |
Cat Barber | Scarborough Shooting Stars | G | Ahmed Hill | Montreal Alliance | |
Khalil Ahmad | Niagara River Lions | G | F | E. J. Anosike | Winnipeg Sea Bears |
All-Canadian team
editPos. | Player | Team |
---|---|---|
F | Simisola Shittu | Calgary Surge |
F | Thomas Kennedy | Scarborough Shooting Stars |
F | Jackson Rowe | Ottawa BlackJacks |
G | Kadre Gray | Ottawa BlackJacks |
G | Sean Miller-Moore | Calgary Surge |
Individual statistic leaders
editCategory | Player | Team(s) | Statistic |
---|---|---|---|
Points per game | Justin Wright-Foreman | Saskatchewan Rattlers | 29.2 |
Rebounds per game | Simisola Shittu | Calgary Surge | 10.6 |
Assists per game | Kadre Gray | Ottawa BlackJacks | 6.3 |
Steals per game | Khalil Ahmad | Niagara River Lions | 2.4 |
Blocks per game | EJ Onu | Niagara River Lions | 2.0 |
FG% | Nick Ward | Vancouver Bandits | 61.9% |
3P% | Jelani Watson-Gayle | Winnipeg Sea Bears | 49.0% |
CEBL Clash
editThe first CEBL Clash is a "showcase game featuring 20 players from around the league",[4] scheduled to be played on August 26, 2023 at Videotron Centre in Quebec City, Quebec. Head coaches were announced on August 15,[4] followed by rosters on August 18.[5] Each team is represented by at least one player, with the nearby Montreal Alliance having a Clash-leading four players on Team East. Team West ended winning the Clash 107-102.
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Notes
editReferences
edit- ^ "Fifth anniversary season to feature new two-conference model". CEBL. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
- ^ "TSN to Showcase CEBL Game of the Week, Tipping Off May 24". CEBL. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
- ^ "Allen, Gray Earn Top Honours at 2023 CEBL Awards". cebl.ca. August 10, 2023. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
- ^ a b "Exilus, Terroba Named Head Coaches For CEBL Clash". August 15, 2023. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
- ^ "CEBL ANNOUNCES ROSTERS FOR THE CLASH ON AUGUST 26". August 18, 2023. Retrieved August 22, 2023.