Posted on Monday, July 10th, 2023
Final 6 Seeding Scenarios – Explained
Coming into the final round of the season the picture of the Final 6 puzzle has become a bit clearer, but there are still a few pieces to click into place before the jigsaw is complete. Two teams have now been eliminated while five teams have punched their ticket (hello Wellington!) with three teams (3?!?) still a chance to become the sixth team to qualify for the Final 6 at The Trusts Arena next week. No qualifying team has locked down Final 6 seeding just yet, so still plenty to play for coming into Round 15!
Teams to qualify for the Sal’s NBL Final 6:
- Auckland Tuatara (1 or 2 seed TBD based on Round 15 results)
- Night n’ Day Otago Nuggets (1, 2 or 3 seed TBD based on Round 15 results)
- Franklin Bulls (2, 3 or 4 seed TBD based on Round 15 results)
- Wheeler Motor Company Canterbury Rams (3 or 4 seed TBD based on Round 15 results)
- Wellington Saints (5 or 6 seed TBD based on Round 15 results)
Teams Still Alive:
- Hawke’s Bay Hawks (5, 6 seed or out of Finals TBD based on Round 15 results)
- NBS Nelson Giants (6 seed or out of Finals, TBD based on Round 15 results)
- Steelformers Taranaki Airs (6 seed or out)
The Airs qualify if:
- Airs beat Nuggets and Giants
- Would need to beat Giants by 42 or more
- Hawks lose to Jets
- Giants lost to Airs and beat Sharks
Teams Eliminated:
- Southland Sharks
- Manawatū Jets
MINI LADDERS:
Between the Saints, Hawks and Giants if they all end up on the same win total:
Saints 2 wins - 2 losses, +13 points
- Gm 1 v Hawks, Saints lose 74-88 (-14)
- Gm 2 v Hawks, Saints lose 87-85 (-2)
- Gm 1 v Giants, Saints win 112-91 (+21)
- Gm 2 v Giants, Saints win 120-112 (+8)
Hawks 2 wins - 2 losses -9 points
- Gm 1 v Saints, Hawks win 88-74(+14)
- Gm 2 v Saints, Hawks win 87-85 (+2)
- Gm 1 v Nelson, Hawks lose 78-94 (-16)
- Gm 2 v Nelson, Hawks lose 91-100 (-9)
Nelson 2 wins - 2 losses -4 points
- Gm 1 v Saints, Giants lose 91-112 (-21)
- Gm 2 v Saints, Giants lose 112-120 (-8)
- Gm 1 v Hawks, Giants win 94-78 (+16)
- Gm 2 v Hawks, Giants win 100-91 (+9)
Between Tuatara, Nuggets and Franklin
- Tuatara 2 wins 2 losses +13
- Nuggets 2 wins 2 losses +33
- Bulls 1 wins 3 losses -25
- Tuatara win any mini ladder between 2 teams and get top seed
- Otago win any mini ladder between 3 teams, Tuatara finish 2nd, Bulls 3rd
Between Nuggets, Bulls and Rams
- Nuggets 2 wins 2 losses +39
- Nuggets win any mini ladder between 2 teams in this group and get highest seed
- Bulls 0 win 3 losses -51 (Rams to play)
- Rams 2 wins 1 loss +12 (Bulls to Play)
- 3 way Mini Ladder (Nuggets lose their final match and Rams win)
- If Rams beat Bulls they win mini ladder between 3 teams
- No 3 team mini ladder if Nuggets win or Bulls win in round 15
Qualification rules Basics
- Teams get 2 points for a win. The more points you have, the higher up the ladder you are.
- If two teams are tied on points at the end of the season, the head-to-head record between those teams is the first tie-breakers. Who won the two-game regular-season series?
- If it was a tie, who’s points differential was better across those two games?
- If the points differential is exactly the same, then who has the best overall league points differential?
Mini Ladders
- If three teams or more are tied on points, a mini-ladder is created encompassing games involving only the tied teams.
- Most wins go to the top of the mini-ladder.
- If two teams are tied in the mini-ladder, we look at the head-to-head (like above).
- If three or more teams are still tied in the mini-ladder we make another mini-ladder, this time ranking the teams on points differential from the games involving only the tied teams.