The 2022 BAL season, also known as BAL Season 2, was the second season of the
Basketball Africa League
The Basketball Africa League (BAL) is Africa's premier men's basketball league. The league consists of twelve teams, each qualified through their domestic competition, similar to the format of the UEFA Champions League. The league is a joint eff ...
(BAL). The season began on 2 March 2022 and ended with the
Finals
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
on 28 May 2022.
The group phase was played in the
Dakar Arena in
Dakar
Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from :wo:daqaar, daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar ...
and the
Hassan Moustafa Sports Hall
The Hassan Moustafa Sports Hall ( ar, صالة الدكتور حسن مصطفى بـ 6) is a multi-purpose arena in 6th of October City, Cairo, Egypt.
History
The hall was opened in 2020 as the 6 October Sports Hall. It was constructed to serve a ...
in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...
. The playoffs and finals were played in the
BK Arena in
Kigali for a second year in a row.
Tunisian club
US Monastir won the finals to win its first-ever BAL title, after defeating Angolan club
Petro de Luanda in the
2022 BAL Finals
The 2022 BAL Finals was the championship game of the 2022 BAL season, the second season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). The final was played in the BK Arena in Kigali on 28 May 2022, between Angolan club Petro de Luanda and Tunisian club ...
.
[ As winners, Monastir qualified for the ]2023 FIBA Intercontinental Cup
The 2023 FIBA Intercontinental Cup was the 32nd edition of the FIBA Intercontinental Cup. The tournament was held on 10 and 12 February 2023 in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, on the Spanish island of Tenerife. It was the third time that the tournam ...
.
Format
On 9 December 2021, the BAL announced a new format for the season, with an expansion of the number of total games to 38. The twelve qualified teams are divided over two conference of six teams, in which all teams play the other teams once. The top eight teams from both conferences advance to the playoffs, which remains a single-elimination tournament.[
]
Team allocation
On 13 October 2021, FIBA
The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its nam ...
announced the 26 teams from 26 countries which participate in the qualification round. Eventually, 8 teams withdrew from the qualifications.
*1st, 2nd, etc.: Place in the domestic competition
*TH: Title holder
*CW: Cup winner
*QT: National qualification tournament
;Notes
Teams
The twelve teams for the inaugural BAL season had to qualify in their domestic competitions to be able to play in the league, similar to other FIBA
The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its nam ...
-organised competitions. Six teams qualify directly as domestic champions; six winners of the qualifying tournaments qualify as well.
Qualified teams
On 22 May 2020, Petro de Luanda was announced as the first qualified team for the 2021 BAL season. The Angolan FAB had abandoned the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
and awarded the team the place without naming it as champions. Four teams made their debut in the competition. On January 14, 2022, FIBA Africa
FIBA Africa is a zone within the FIBA basketball association which contains all 54 national African FIBA federations. It was founded in 1961. FIBA Africa maintains offices in Cairo and in Abidjan.
Members
FIBA World Rankings Overview
...
decided to exclude the Rivers Hoopers
Rivers Hoopers is a Nigerian basketball team based in Port Harcourt, Rivers. The team plays in the Nigerian Premier League. Established in 2009 as Royal Hoopers, the team has played in the Premier League since its inception. Hoopers have won the ...
as it stated that the Nigeria Basketball Federation
The Nigerian Basketball Federation (NBBF) is the governing body for men's and women's basketball in Nigeria. NBBF has been an affiliate of FIBA Africa since 1963, and its offices are located in Abuja and Lagos.
FIBA competitions
The senior men's ...
failed to organise a national championship. The BAL chose to give AS Salé direct qualification to replace the Nigerian team. REG
Reg or REG may refer to:
* Reginald (disambiguation)
* Reg or desert pavement
* Raising for Effective Giving, a charity
* Random event generator (parapsychology)
* Raptor Education Group
* Regal Entertainment Group
* Regular language
* .reg MS Wi ...
qualified directly for the regular season as Rwanda hosted the playoffs and finals.
The twelve teams were confirmed by the BAL on 9 December 2021.
Cape Town Tigers (South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
), Cobra Sport (South Sudan
South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the ...
), SLAC
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, originally named the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center,
is a United States Department of Energy National Laboratory operated by Stanford University under the programmatic direction of the U.S. Departme ...
( Guinea) and Espoir Fukash ( DR Congo) all were the first teams from their countries to play in the BAL.
:Bold: the team won the BAL championship in that year.
Personnel and sponsorship
Foreign and Elevate players
Each BAL team was allowed to have four foreign players on its roster, including only two non-African players. Players in ''italics'' were signed only for the playoffs
The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eit ...
. If players have multiple nationalities, the nationality of an African nation is shown.
Each team also featured one player from the NBA Academy Africa, under the new BAL Elevate program.
Schedule
Qualifying tournaments
The qualifying tournaments started on 21 October 2021 and ended on 16 December 2021, with 23 teams from 23 countries participating. Six teams qualified for the group phase.
Group phase
The group phase began on 5 March 2022 in the Dakar Arena in Dakar
Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from :wo:daqaar, daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar ...
, where 15 games will be played. From 9 April to 19 April 2022, the group phase continued in Hassan Moustafa Sports Hall
The Hassan Moustafa Sports Hall ( ar, صالة الدكتور حسن مصطفى بـ 6) is a multi-purpose arena in 6th of October City, Cairo, Egypt.
History
The hall was opened in 2020 as the 6 October Sports Hall. It was constructed to serve a ...
in Giza. The four best teams of each conference advanced to the playoffs
The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eit ...
.
Sahara Conference
Nile Conference
Playoffs
The playoffs began on 21 May and ended on 28 May with the Finals
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
. All games were played in a single-elimination format, and the entire tournament was played at the Kigali Arena
BK Arena (formerly known as Kigali Arena until 2022) is an multi-purpose indoor arena in Kigali, Rwanda, used mostly for basketball and volleyball matches. Built and finished in 2019, it hosts sporting events and concerts. It is the biggest ind ...
in Kigali.
Bracket
Awards
This season, the Coach of the Year award and All-Defensive First Team were introduced and announced on 27 May. The MVP and Defensive Player of the Year were announced on 28 May.
* Most Valuable Player: Michael Dixon, US Monastir
* Defensive Player of the Year: Ater Majok
Ater James "AJ" Majok (born 4 July 1987) is a professional basketball player for Al Riyadi Club Beirut of the Lebanese Basketball League. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2011 NBA draft with the 58th overall pick. He represents Le ...
, US Monastir
*Coach of the Year Many sports leagues, sportswriting associations, and other organizations confer "Coach of the Year" awards. In some sports — including baseball and association football — the award is called the "Manager of the Year" award.
Some of the ...
: José Neto, Petro de Luanda
* BAL Sportsmanship Award: Anas Mahmoud
Anas Osama Mahmoud ( ar, أنس أسامة محمود; born May 9, 1995) is an Egyptian professional basketball player who plays for Al Ittihad Alexandria of the Egyptian Basketball Super League. He played college basketball at the University of ...
, Zamalek
Zamalek ( ar, الزمالك , ''al zamalek'') is an affluent district of western Cairo encompassing the northern portion of Gezira Island in the Nile River. The island is connected with the river banks through three bridges each on the east ...
*All-BAL First Team
The All-BAL First Team is an annual Basketball Africa League
The Basketball Africa League (BAL) is Africa's premier men's basketball league. The league consists of twelve teams, each qualified through their domestic competition, similar to the ...
:
**Terrell Stoglin
Terrell DeVon Stoglin (born November 10, 1991) is an American professional basketball player for AS Douanes of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). He served as the starting shooting guard for the University of Maryland, where he played college ...
, AS Salé
** Édgar Sosa, Zamalek
Zamalek ( ar, الزمالك , ''al zamalek'') is an affluent district of western Cairo encompassing the northern portion of Gezira Island in the Nile River. The island is connected with the river banks through three bridges each on the east ...
** Carlos Morais, Petro de Luanda
**Radhouane Slimane
Radhouane Slimane (born 16 August 1980) is a Tunisian basketball player who plays for US Monastir of the Championnat National A. Standing at , Slimane mainly plays as power forward.
Born in Kairouan, he started out his career playing six season ...
, US Monastir
**Ater Majok
Ater James "AJ" Majok (born 4 July 1987) is a professional basketball player for Al Riyadi Club Beirut of the Lebanese Basketball League. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2011 NBA draft with the 58th overall pick. He represents Le ...
, US Monastir
* All-Defensive Team:
** Wilson Nshobozwabyosenumukiza, REG
Reg or REG may refer to:
* Reginald (disambiguation)
* Reg or desert pavement
* Raising for Effective Giving, a charity
* Random event generator (parapsychology)
* Raptor Education Group
* Regal Entertainment Group
* Regular language
* .reg MS Wi ...
** Childe Dundão, Petro de Luanda
** Aboubakar Gakou, Petro de Luanda
** Brice Eyaga Bidias, FAP
**Ater Majok
Ater James "AJ" Majok (born 4 July 1987) is a professional basketball player for Al Riyadi Club Beirut of the Lebanese Basketball League. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2011 NBA draft with the 58th overall pick. He represents Le ...
, US Monastir
Statistics
The following were the statistical leaders in 2022 BAL season, including all playoff games.
Individual statistic leaders
Individual game highs
Team statistic leaders
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:2022, BAL season
BAL
Bal may refer to:
* Bal (surname), a Dutch, Indian, and Turkish surname
* Bal, Iran (disambiguation)
* Bal, Zira, a village in Punjab, India
* ''Bal'' (film), a 2010 Turkish film
* Bäl, a settlement on the Swedish island of Gotland
* 8678 Bä ...
2021–22 in basketball leagues
Basketball Africa League seasons
BAL
Bal may refer to:
* Bal (surname), a Dutch, Indian, and Turkish surname
* Bal, Iran (disambiguation)
* Bal, Zira, a village in Punjab, India
* ''Bal'' (film), a 2010 Turkish film
* Bäl, a settlement on the Swedish island of Gotland
* 8678 Bä ...
BAL
Bal may refer to:
* Bal (surname), a Dutch, Indian, and Turkish surname
* Bal, Iran (disambiguation)
* Bal, Zira, a village in Punjab, India
* ''Bal'' (film), a 2010 Turkish film
* Bäl, a settlement on the Swedish island of Gotland
* 8678 Bä ...