ZZ Leiden wins Dutch Basketball League

ZZ Leiden is the new champion of the Dutch Basketball league. They beat Den Bosch 90-74 and sweept the final series 3-0.

Leiden has been dominating the DBL since the beginning of the season. They have great chemistry, are disciplined, mentally strong, have a good shot selection, play hard, and are physical. Every player knows his role and complements his teammates. In short, perfect team play.

This is all thanks to the coach of the year and Hall of Famer of Dutch basketball, Geert Hammink. The former 1st round draft pick and NBA player has been around the block a couple of times. As a player, he has seen many top-level coaches in his career, and it shows. This is only his second season as a head coach in the Dutch Basketball League, and he already wins a title. Impressive! That tastes like more. However, before Hammink entered the spotlights of the DBL, he had already delivered jaw-dropping results with several youth teams at the highest national level.

With a sharp eye for talent, Hammink hit the jackpot with the addition of Emmanuel Nzekwesi to his team, a strong and athletic all-round Dutch player. He is only 23, and it was many years ago that there was such a dominant player in the DBL. He was voted MVP of the league. Hands down.

Riley Chance is a different type of player and brings leadership and a great basketball IQ. Then, there is the hardworking bruiser Micheal Finke. He acts like a bouncer in the paint and enforcer on the offensive end, where he sets hard screens.

Dutch veteran Worthy de Jong (2nd leading scorer of the team and MVP of the playoffs) is the emotional motor of the team, and Giddy Potts is the pitbull. Dutch players Martijn Ververs and Luuk van Bree are also important players in the rotation.

Leiden played like a great musical orchestra. Everything was tuned perfectly, there was harmony, rhythm and flow.

Advanced statistics emphasize all this. Leiden had the best offense in the league (125.3 points per 100 possessions), eFG%, TS%, ASTr, and AST/TO ratio. What more could you ask for?

Den Bosch tried hard in the final series but never had a chance. They tried to slow the game down, they tried to capitalize on their offensive rebounding (best in the league), and they tried to feed Thomas van der Mars down low, but it only worked temporarily. Once Leiden pushed the tempo, it was game over.

This is Leiden’s first championship since 2013. It was the first time in history that the club won a playoff series against Den Bosch. Next season Leiden will play in the FIBA Champions League and in the newly formed BNXT (“Be Next”), which is a new Belgian-Dutch league.