BAL (basketball club) explained

BAL
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Color2:black
Leagues:BNXT League
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History:BAL
(2013–present)
Arena:Sporthal Boshoven
Capacity:1,000
Location:Weert, Limburg, Netherlands
President:Jeroen van Veen[1]
Coach:Radenko Varagić
Championships:1 Dutch Cup
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Basketball Academie Limburg, commonly known as BAL and for sponsorship reasons as PrismaWorx BAL, is a Dutch basketball club based in Weert in the province of Limburg. The club was founded in 2013 as an academy to develop youth players from the province of Limburg. The club entered the Dutch Basketball League for the 2017–18 season after the dissolution of the professional team BSW. Currently, the team plays in the BNXT League.

In 2021, BAL won its first-ever trophy when it won the DBL Cup in surprising fashion as the team was ranked eight in the DBL that season.[2]

History

Foundation

The club was established on 9 April 2013 to function as a club for regional talent from the province of Limburg. In its first years, the team played with several youth teams in domestic competitions.

In the 2017 offseason the professional club BSW from Weert and BAL intended a merger, which would integrate BSW into BAL.[3] Following BSW going defunct during this offseason, BAL decided to take its place in the DBL. As BAL played in the same home arena and the team consisted of several of the same players, the team can be considered a phoenix club. Radenko Varagić coached the team.

First DBL seasons

In its debut season, BAL finished in the ninth and last place in the DBL, winning 4 out of its 32 games. The team consisted of a selection of young promising players, such as guard Sam van Dijk who was named the DBL Most Improved Player in the club's debut season. On 1 August 2018, BAL signed its first ever foreign player when American center Tony Washington signed for one year.[4] In its second season, BAL once again finished last in the DBL with this time five wins in 2018–19.

In the 2020–21 season, BAL reached the playoffs for the first time after finishing in the eight seed. This season the team also won the 2021 DBL Cup, the club's first-ever trophy. In the semi-finals, BAL upset first-seeded ZZ Leiden and in the final the team was too strong for Yoast United. Trevor Jasinsky led the team in scoring in the final with 27 points.

Since the 2021–22 season, BAL plays in the BNXT League, in which the national leagues of Belgium and the Netherlands have been merged.[5]

In June 2024, BAL signed its first name sponsorship contract and agreed to be named PrismaWorx BAL for three years, starting from the 2024–25 season.[6]

Honours

DBL Cup[2]

Dutch Supercup

Season by season

Key
bgcolor=gold Champions
Playoff berth
(X) National ranking standings
MIP Most Improved Player
RS Rising Star of the Year
CoYCoach of the Year
SeasonTierLeagueRegular seasonNational playoffsDutch CupBNXT playoffsHead coachIndividual awards
FinishPlayedWinsLossesWin%
BAL
2017–181DBL8th32428WithdrewRadenko VaragićSam van Dijk (MIP)
2018–191DBL9th34529Eightfinals
2019–201DBL6th24915Eightfinals
2020–211DBL8th21129Lost quarterfinals to ZZ Leiden (148–183)bgcolor=goldChampions
2021–221BNXT League15th
(7th)
301119Fourth RoundWon first round (Yoast, 163–152)
Lost second round (Feyenoord, 138–158)
Sander Hollanders (RS)
2022–231BNXT League18th28721Fourth RoundLost, first round (Liège Basket, 161–188)Oshean Brathwaite (RS)
2023–241BNXT League10th28917Lost quarterfinals to Donar (1–2)QuarterfinalistNot heldRadenko Varagic (CoY)

Players

Individual awards

BNXT League Rising Star of the Year
DBL Most Improved Player
DBL All-Rookie Team

Top scorers by seasons

The following players led BAL in scoring in each DBL season:[7]

SeasonNamePPG
2017–18 Sam van Dijk12.2
2018–19 Tony Washington12.2
2019–20 Trey Burch-Manning14.5
2020–21 Trevor Jasinsky15.8
2021–22 D. J. Mitchell

Club records

Bold denotes still active with team. As of 14 April 2021:

CategoryPlayerRecord
Games played bgcolor=#cfcWietze Nossek 120
Points scored bgcolor=#cfcWietze Nossek 754
Rebounds 443
Assists bgcolor=#cfcRoel van Overbeek 329
Steals bgcolor=#cfcRoel van Overbeek 94
Blocks 41
Three-point field goals Sander Hollanders 141

External links

51.2547°N 5.6791°W

Notes and References

  1. https://www.limburger.nl/cnt/dmf20200323_00153015/bal-verwelkomt-plan-voor-invoering-bene-league BAL verwelkomt plan voor invoering BENE-League
  2. News: Basketball Academie Limburg uit Weert verovert nationale beker . 2 May 2021 . nos.nl . nl.
  3. Web site: BSW wordt Basketbal Academie Limburg en wil nieuwe hal. L1Limburg.nl. 2017-10-17.
  4. Web site: BAL Weert haalt Amerikaanse center in huis. 1 August 2018. 1Limburg - Nieuws en sport uit Limburg. 20 October 2019.
  5. Web site: Licenties BNXT League 2021-2022 toegekend . Basketball League . 10 July 2021 . nl.
  6. Web site: BAL sluit driejarig contract met PrismaWorx . 2024-07-13 . basketbalacademielimburg.nl.
  7. Web site: Basketball Academie Limburg Stats - RealGM . basketball.realgm.com . 9 June 2021.