2018–19 Úrvalsdeild karla (basketball) explained

Updated:	14 March 2019
Domino's deild karla^1
Extra Information:	^1 Sponsored league name, referring to Úrvalsdeild karla.
T Bg:	00458D
T Color:	white
Champions:	KR (18th title)
Runners Up:	ÍR
Semifinalists:	Stjarnan, Þór Þorlákshöfn
Relegated:	Skallagrímur, Breiðablik
Teams:	12
Games:	132
Duration:	4 October 2018 – 4 May 2019
Tv:	Stöð 2 Sport
Finals Mvp N:	USA
Finals Mvp Link:	Úrvalsdeild Men's Playoffs MVP
Award4:	Domestic MVP
Award4 Link:	Úrvalsdeild Men's Domestic Player of the Year
Award4 N:	ISL
Award5:	Foreign MVP
Award5 Link:	Úrvalsdeild Men's Foreign Player of the Year
Award5 N:	USA
Ppg:	24.3
Ppg N:	USA
Rpg:	12.2
Rpg N:	USA
Apg:	7.5
Apg N:	CRO
Top Seed:	Stjarnan
Highest Scoring:	Þór Þ. 132–93 Breiðablik (7 February 2019)
Winning Streak:	11 games Stjarnan
Losing Streak:	17 games Breiðablik
Biggest Home Win:	Tindastóll 92–51 ÍR (22 November 2018)
Biggest Away Win:	Keflavík 97–62 Grindavík (18 October 2018) Tindastóll 117–82 Breiðablik (10 December 2018)

The 2018–19 Úrvalsdeild karla was the 68th season of the Úrvalsdeild karla, the top tier men's basketball league in Iceland. The season started on 4 October 2018 and ended on 4 May 2019. KR won its sixth title in a row by defeating ÍR 3–2 in the Finals.^[1]

Competition format

The participating teams first played a conventional round-robin schedule with every team playing each opponent once home and once away for a total of 22 games. The top eight teams qualified for the championship playoffs whilst the two last qualified were relegated to Division 1.^[2]

Teams

Team	City, Region	Arena	Head coach
Breiðablik	Kópavogur	Smárinn	Pétur Ingvarsson
Grindavík	Grindavík	Mustad Höllin	Jóhann Þór Ólafsson
Haukar	Hafnarfjörður	Schenkerhöllin	Ívar Ásgrímsson
ÍR	Reykjavík	Hertz Hellirinn	Borce Ilievski
Keflavík	Keflavík	TM Höllin	Sverrir Þór Sverrisson
KR	Reykjavík	DHL Höllin	Ingi Þór Steinþórsson
Njarðvík	Njarðvík	green/white	Einar Árni Jóhannsson
Skallagrímur	Borgarnes	Fjósið	Finnur Jónsson
Stjarnan	Garðabær	Ásgarður	Arnar Guðjónsson
Tindastóll	Sauðárkrókur	Sauðárkrókur	Israel Martín
Valur	Reykjavík	Origo-höllin	Ágúst Björgvinsson
Þór Þorlákshöfn	Þorlákshöfn	Icelandic Glacial Höllin	Baldur Þór Ragnarsson

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Replaced with	Date of appointment
	Daníel Guðmundsson	End of contract^[3]	24 March 2018	Off-season		25 March 2018^[4]
		End of contract^[5]	27 March 2018			6 April 2018^[6]
		Retired^[7]	28 March 2018			5 April 2018^[8]
	Chris Woods	End of contract	18 April 2018			18 April 2018^[9]
		End of contract^[10]	5 June 2018			12 June 2018^[11]

Regular season

Results

Playoffs

The playoffs are played between the eight first qualified teams with a 1-1-1-1-1 format, playing seeded teams games 1, 3 and 5 at home.

Quarterfinals

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Semifinals

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Finals

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Notable occurrences

• On April 20, Dagur Kár Jónsson exercised an escape clause in his contract and left Grindavík to sign back with his hometown club of Stjarnan,^[12] much to the dismay of Grindavík's board as they claimed that he had stated to them that he would stay at the club for next season.^[13]
• On April 28, Valur signed former Njarðvík player and long time Icelandic national team member Ragnar Nathanaelsson.^[14]
• On May 8, Tindastóll signed ÍR key player Danero Thomas.^[15]
• On May 23, Njarðvík signed Jeb Ivey who helped the club to a championship in 2006.^[16]
• On June 8, KR's all-time leading scorer, Brynjar Þór Björnsson, left the club and signed with rivals Tindastóll.^{[17] [18]}
• On June 27, it was reported that Njarðvík had signed former Höttur and Haukar player Gerald Robinson.^[19]
• On July 3, it was reported that Sigtryggur Arnar Björnsson wanted to leave Tindastóll and join Grindavík, and that he considered his contract with the club not valid as the club did not send it to the Icelandic Basketball Federation within 30 days from its signing as the federations rules stipulated. The chairman of Tindastól in turn said that they viewed the contract as valid and that they expected Sigtryggur to report to the team for training camp before the season.^[20] The next day the clubs reported that they had reached an agreement and Sigtryggur signed with Grindavík later that day.^[21]
• On July 17, Stjarnan signed Icelandic national team member Ægir Steinarsson after he rejecting an offer from KR.^[22]
• On July 18, KR signed point guard and Haukar long time captain, Emil Barja.^[23]
• On July 19, KR signed small forward Julian Boyd who had previously played for London Lightning of the National Basketball League of Canada.^[24]
• On July 25, recently signed Dagur Kár Jónsson left Stjarnan and signed with Raiffeisen Flyers Wels of the Österreichische Basketball Bundesliga. It was the second time during the off-season that he had used an escape clause in his contract to sign with a new team.^{[25] [26]}
• On August 15, it was reported that Tindastóll signed two-time Basketligan champion Dino Butorac.^[27]
• On August 16, Stjarnan signed Finnish national team member Antti Kanervo.^[28]
• On August 17, ÍR signed national team member Sigurður Þorsteinsson who played for Grindavík during the 2017–18 season.^[29]
• On August 23, it was reported that Stjarnan had signed Paul Jones who played the previous season with Haukar, helping them to the best record in the league.^[30]
• On September 11, Keflavík signed former BC Palanga player Mantas Mockevičius.^{[31] [32]}
• On September 12, Valur signed Bulgarian national team member Aleks Simeonov.^[33]
• On September 17, long-time Stjarnan player Marvin Valdimarsson announced that he was leaving the team and joining 2. deild karla club Ungmennafélag Álftaness.^[34]
• On September 15, it was reported that Þór Þorlákshöfn had signed Kinu Rochford.^[35]
• On September 27, Njarðvík released Gerald Robinson.^[36]
• On October 5, ÍR signed Gerald Robinson who was released by Njarðvík the previous week.
• On October 13, Grindavík signed Lewis Clinch instead of Terrell Vinston who tore his left ACL two days earlier.^[37] Vinston would later heavily criticize Grindavík for how it handled his injury.^[38]
• On October 25, KR's chairman Böðvar Guðjónsson confirmed that Pavel Ermolinskij had resumed training with the team after sitting out the first three games of the season.^[39]
• On November 15, Njarðvík signed national team member Elvar Már Friðriksson who had recently been released by Denain Voltaire Basket after a roster overhaul.^{[40] [41]}
• On November 15, KR signed back reigning Úrvalsdeild Domestic Player of the Year, Kristófer Acox, after he reached an agreement with Denain Voltaire Basket to be released from his contract with the club.^[42]
• On November 19, it was reported that Valur starting guard, Oddur Rúnar Kristjánsson, had failed a drug test and was likely facing a 4-year suspension.^[43]
• On December 9, Tindastóll's guard Brynjar Þór Björnsson set the Úrvalsdeild record for most three-pointers made in a game when he made 16 of 31 three-point shots, on his way to 48 points, in a victory against Breiðablik, breaking Frank Booker's 27-year-old record.^[44]
• On December 18, it was reported that Haukar had released starting center Marquese Oliver who had been averaging 19.9 points and 11.6 rebounds per game.^[45]
• On December 19, it was reported that Stjarnan had released Paul Jones after a disappointing start for the club,^[46] who were predicted as the favorites to win the national championship prior to the season.^[47] In 10 games for Stjarnan, he was the team's leading scorer with 20.2 points per game while also averaging 7.1 rebounds and shooting 40.0% from the three-point range.^[48]
• On December 21, Keflavík announced it had signed former BC Neptūnas player Mindaugas Kačinas.^[49]
• On December 23, it was reported that Stjarnan had signed former Basketligaen Most Valuable Player Brandon Rozzell for the rest of the season.^[50]
• On January 3, Breiðablik announced it had signed Jameel McKay and Kofi Josephs to replace Christian Covile and Jure Gunjina.^[51]
• On January 3, Tindastóll signed Axel Kárason for the rest of the season.^[52]
• On January 6, Valur announced that BCM Gravelines-Dunkerque of the French LNB Pro A had bought up the contract of Kendall Anthony.^[53] At the time of his departure, Anthony was averaging 31.5 points, 8.8 assists in 8 games, while shooting 64.1% from three-point range and 94.0% from the free throw line, leading the league in each category.^{[54] [55]} In his place, Valur signed Dominique Rambo.^[56]
• On January 10, Breiðablik coach Pétur Ingvarsson revealed that starting center Snorri Hrafnkelsson would miss the rest of the season due to a concussion, his third in his career.^[57]
• On January 17, it was reported that Stjarnan had signed Austrian national team member Filip Kramer.^[58]
• On January 19, it was reported that Ingvi Þór Guðmundsson was returning to Grindavík after spending the first half of the season with Saint Louis University.^[59]
• On January 25, Tindastóll announced it had signed Michael Ojo for the rest of the season.^[60]
• On February 1, Njarðvík announced that it had released Julijan Rajic^[61] and signed French center Eric Katenda in his place.^[62]
• On 20 March, the head coach of Keflavík, Sverrir Þór Sverrisson, stated that fan favorite Mantas Mockevičius was AWOL from the team and would therefore not play for it again this season.^[63]
• On 23 March, ÍR's Kevin Capers was suspended for game 2 of ÍR's first round series against Njarðvík in the Úrvalsdeild playoffs for striking Jón Arnór Sverrisson in the head in game one.^[64]
• On 1 April, following Njarðvík's first round loss to ÍR, Jeb Ivey announced his retirement from professional basketball.^[65]

External links

• Official Icelandic Basketball Federation website

Notes and References

1. News: Ástrós Ýr Eggertsdóttir . Umfjöllun: KR - ÍR 98-70 - KR Íslandsmeistari sjötta árið í röð . 5 May 2019 . . 4 May 2019 . is.
2. Web site: Reglugerð um körfuknattleiksmót. KKI.is. 24 September 2017. is.
3. News: Runólfur Trausti Þórhallsson. Daníel ekki áfram með Njarðvík. 7 May 2018. RÚV. 24 March 2018. is.
4. News: Einar Árni tekur við Njarðvík - viðtal. 25 March 2018. Morgunblaðið. 25 March 2018. is.
5. News: Anton Ingi Leifsson. Stjarnan framlengir ekki við Hrafn. 7 May 2018. Vísir.is. 27 March 2018. is.
6. News: Óskar Ófeigur Jónsson. Arnar Guðjónsson tekur við Stjörnuliðinu. 7 May 2018. Vísir.is. 6 April 2018. is.
7. News: Anton Ingi Leifsson. Friðrik Ingi: Þetta var minn síðasti leikur sem þjálfari. 7 May 2018. Vísir.is. 28 March 2018. is.
8. News: Eiríkur Stefán Ásgeirsson. Sverrir Þór og Jón taka við Keflavík. 7 May 2018. Vísir.is. 5 April 2018. is.
9. News: Óskar Ófeigur Jónsson. Tapaði fyrir Blikum í lokaúrslitunum en tók síðan bara við þeim. 7 May 2018. Vísir.is. 18 April 2018. is.
10. News: Henry Birgir Gunnarsson . Finnur Freyr hættur hjá KR . 5 June 2018 . . 5 June 2018 . is.
11. News: Valur Páll Eiríksson . Einu sinni KR-ingur, alltaf KR-ingur . 12 June 2018 . . 12 June 2018 . is.
12. News: Henry Birgir Gunnarsson. Dagur Kár kominn heim - Hlynur og Tómas framlengdu. 20 April 2018. Vísir.is. 20 April 2018. is.
13. News: Kristinn Páll Teitsson. Grindvíkingar ósáttir með vinnubrögð Stjörnunnar. 20 April 2018. Fréttablaðið. 20 April 2018. is.
14. News: Ingvi Þór Sæmundsson. Raggi Nat og Ágúst sameinaðir á ný. 28 April 2018. Fréttablaðið. 28 April 2018. is.
15. News: Danero Thomas verður liðsmaður Tindastóls næsta tímabil. 8 May 2018. Feykir.is. 8 May 2018. is.
16. News: Frábært tækifæri að koma aftur heim. 26 May 2018. Morgunblaðið. 23 May 2018. is.
17. News: Henry Birgir Gunnarsson . Brynjar Þór orðinn leikmaður Tindastóls . 8 June 2018 . . 8 June 2018 . is.
18. News: Henry Birgir Gunnarsson . Brynjar Þór: Verður skrítið að spila fyrir fólk sem hefur fundist ég vera óþolandi . 9 June 2018 . . 8 June 2018 . is.
19. News: Arnar Geir Halldórsson . Njarðvíkingar safna Íslandsvinum fyrir næsta vetur . 27 June 2018 . . 27 June 2018 . is.
20. News: Kolbeinn Tumi Daðason . Samningsbundinn Stólunum en að semja við Grindavík . 4 July 2018 . . 3 July 2018 . is.
21. News: Ástrós Ýr Eggertsdóttir . Ágreiningur leystur og Sigtryggur Arnar skrifar undir hjá Grindavík . 4 July 2018 . . 4 July 2018 . is.
22. News: Ástrós Ýr Eggertsdóttir . Ægir Þór genginn til liðs við Stjörnuna . 17 July 2018 . . 17 July 2018 . is.
23. News: Ástrós Ýr Eggertsdóttir . Emil Barja genginn til liðs við Íslandsmeistarana . 18 July 2018 . . 18 July 2018 . is.
24. News: Julian Boyd til KR . 19 July 2018 . karfan.is . 19 July 2018 . is.
25. News: Dagur Kár á leið til Austurríkis . 13 September 2018 . . 25 July 2018 . is.
26. News: Valur Páll Eiríksson . Dagur Kár til Austurríkis . 13 September 2018 . . 25 July 2018 . is.
27. News: Ástrós Ýr Eggertsdóttir . Stólarnir fá til sín Króata . 16 August 2018 . . 15 August 2018 . is.
28. News: Finnskur landsliðsmaður til Stjörnunnar . 16 August 2018 . karfan.is . 16 August 2018 . is.
29. News: Sigurður Gunnar í ÍR . 18 August 2018 . . 17 August 2018 . is.
30. News: Tómas Þór Þórðarson . Stjarnan bætir við sig einum besta Kana síðasta tímabils . 23 August 2018 . . 23 August 2018 . is.
31. News: Ástrós Ýr Eggertsdóttir . Spurði hvort hann mætti vera með á æfingu og fékk samning . 13 September 2018 . . 11 September 2018 . is.
32. Web site: Mantas Mockevičius / Žaidėjai - Basketnews.lt . basketnews.lt . 13 September 2018 . lt.
33. News: Aleks Simeonov til Vals . 13 September 2018 . karfan.is . 12 September 2018 . is.
34. News: Marvin Valdimarsson leggur úrvalsdeildarskóna á hilluna . 17 September 2018 . karfan.is . 17 September 2018 . is.
35. News: Ólafur Þór Jónsson . Kinu Rochford til liðs við Þór Þorlákshöfn . 13 January 2019 . Karfan.is . 15 September 2018 . is.
36. News: Robinson sagt upp samningi hjá Njarðvík . 27 September 2018 . . 27 September 2018 . is.
37. News: Ástrós Ýr Eggertsdóttir . Clinch búinn að semja við Grindavík . 13 October 2018 . . 13 October 2018 . is.
38. News: Jóhann Ingi Hafþórsson . Komu fram við mig eins og ég væri rusl . 8 January 2019 . . 7 January 2019 . is.
39. News: Davíð Eldur . Pavel með KR . 25 October 2018 . Karfan.is . 25 October 2018 . is.
40. News: Elvar staðfestur í Njarðvík . 15 November 2018 . Karfan.is . 15 November 2018 . is.
41. News: Elvar Már kominn heim . 15 November 2018 . . 15 November 2018 . is.
42. News: Henry Birgir Gunnarsson . Elvar og Kristófer lofa báðir að klára tímabilið hér heima . 17 November 2018 . . 16 November 2018 . is.
43. News: Henry Birgir Gunnarsson . Oddur Rúnar féll á lyfjaprófi . 19 November 2018 . . 19 November 2018 . is.
44. News: Axel Örn Sæmundsson . Brynjar bætti Íslandsmet: "Stórkostleg tilfinning" . 9 December 2018 . . 9 December 2018 . is.
45. News: Ólafur Þór Jónsson . Oliver ekki áfram með Haukum . 20 December 2018 . Karfan.is . 18 December 2018 . is.
46. News: Ástrós Ýr Eggertsdóttir . Arnar um brotthvarf Jones: Góður drengur en ákveðið að fara í breytingar . 20 December 2018 . . 19 December 2018 . is.
47. News: Kristinn Páll Teitsson . Keflavík og Stjörnunni spáð meistaratitlunum . 20 December 2018 . . 3 October 2018 . is . https://web.archive.org/web/20181220231710/https://www.frettabladid.is/sport/keflavik-og-stjoernunni-spa-meistaratitlunum . 20 December 2018 . dead .
48. News: Anton Ingi Leifsson . Paul Anthony Jones yfirgefur Stjörnuna . 20 December 2018 . . 19 December 2018 . is.
49. News: Davíð Eldur . Mindaugas og Mantas með Keflavík frá áramótum . 21 December 2018 . Karfan.is . 21 December 2018 . is.
50. News: Davíð Eldur . Brandon Rozzell til liðs við Stjörnuna . 24 December 2018 . Karfan.is . 23 December 2018 . is.
51. News: Ólafur Þór Jónsson . Blikar semja við tvo erlenda leikmenn – Covile sagt upp . 3 January 2019 . Karfan.is . 3 January 2019 . is.
52. News: Ástrós Ýr Eggertsdóttir . Axel mættur aftur í Síkið . 3 January 2019 . . 3 January 2019 . is.
53. News: Elías Karl Guðmundsson . Kendall á leið til Frakklands . 6 January 2019 . Karfan.is . 6 January 2019 . is.
54. News: Anton Ingi Leifsson . Valur selur Kendall í frönsku úrvalsdeildina . 6 January 2019 . . 6 January 2019 . is.
55. Web site: KKÍ - Leikmaður . kki.is . . 8 January 2019 . is.
56. News: Henry Birgir Gunnarsson . Dugði ekkert minna en Rambo til að fylla skarð Kendall . 10 January 2019 . . 10 January 2019 . is.
57. News: Ólafur Þór Jónsson . Pétur: Spurning hvort að tíminn sé að renna út . 11 January 2019 . Karfan.is . 10 January 2019 . is.
58. News: Óskar Ófeigur Jónsson . Nýi stóri strákurinn hjá Stjörnunni kominn með leikheimild . 20 January 2019 . . 17 January 2019 . is.
59. News: Dagur Lárusson . Ingvi Þór aftur til Grindavíkur . 20 January 2019 . . 19 January 2019 . is.
60. News: Anton Ingi Leifsson . Tindastóll þéttir raðirnar: Nýr bakvörður á leiðinni . 1 February 2019 . . 25 January 2019 . is.
61. News: Ólafur Þór Jónsson . Rajic yfirgefur Njarðvík – Á leið til Hamars . 1 February 2019 . Karfan.is . 1 February 2019 . is.
62. News: Davíð Eldur . Eric Katenda til Njarðvíkur . 1 February 2019 . Karfan.is . 1 February 2019 . is.
63. News: Tómas Þór Þórðarson . Ef þú finnur Mantas máttu endilega láta mig vita . 20 March 2019 . . 20 March 2019 . is.
64. News: Ástrós Ýr Eggertsdóttir . Capers í eins leiks bann . 24 March 2019 . . 23 March 2019 . is.
65. News: Henry Birgir Gunnarsson . Körfuboltakvöld: Jeb Ivey kvaddi með tárin í augunum . 2 April 2019 . . 1 April 2019 . is.