The 2019 TBL season is the second season of The Basketball League (TBL) after one season as North American Premier Basketball (NAPB).

2019 TBL season
LeagueTBL
SportBasketball
Regular season
Top seedYakima SunKings
Season MVPRobert Duncan (Yakima)
Playoffs
Finals championsAlbany Patroons
  Runners-upYakima SunKings
Finals MVPShadell Millinghaus (Albany)
TBL seasons

After the first NAPB season, league president Dave Magley acquired the league as sole owner, moved the headquarters to Indiana, and named Evelyn Magley as the new CEO. On July 14, the league was rebranded as The Basketball League.[1] On August 16, 2018, Paul Mokeski was named the commissioner of the league after having served the previous season as head coach and general manager of the Nevada Desert Dogs.

During the previous season, four expansion teams were announced for 2019 in the Raleigh Firebirds, San Diego Waves, Tampa Bay Titans, and a Bellevue, Washington-based team. After the league rebrand, the Bellevue team, the Ohio Bootleggers, and the Vancouver Knights were no longer mentioned as members for the 2019 season. The Basketball League also added the Jamestown Jackals from the North American Basketball League[2] and the New York Court Kings from the American Basketball Association. The Nevada Desert Dogs were renamed the Mesquite Desert Dogs[3] and the Kentucky Thoroughbreds were renamed the Owensboro Thoroughbreds.[4] Upon the 2019 season schedule release, the Rochester Razorsharks were also removed from the league.

During the season, there were many canceled and rescheduled games.[5] The league apparently cut its season short with the New York Court Kings and Kansas City Tornadoes either folding or ceasing operations for the season.[6]

Standings

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Final standings:[7]

Team W L PCT
Yakima SunKings 22 6 .786
Kansas City Tornadoes 16 8 .667
Mesquite Desert Dogs 15 9 .625
Albany Patroons 16 11 .593
Raleigh Firebirds 15 13 .536
Jamestown Jackals 14 13 .519
San Diego Waves 11 13 .458
Tampa Bay Titans 11 18 .379
Owensboro Thoroughbreds 7 20 .259
New York Court Kings 3 17 .150

Playoffs

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There were ten teams in the league with the top four teams qualifying for the playoffs. The second place Kansas City Tornadoes elected not to participate in the playoffs. The semifinals were split in a generalized East and West series despite not having divisions during the regular season. Each round of the playoffs were played as a best-of-three series.[8]

Semifinals
(Best-of-3)
Finals
(Best-of-3)
      
W1 Yakima SunKings 2
W2 Mesquite Desert Dogs 0
W1 Yakima SunKings 1
E1 Albany Patroons 2
E1 Albany Patroons 2
E2 Raleigh Firebirds 1

Draft

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The 2019 player draft for the league was held on December 3, 2018,[9] and the league's ten teams took turns selecting players who had all competed at the college level in the United States at some point.

Julian Harris of UT Arlington was the first overall TBL selection taken by Raleigh Firebirds.

Although some of the players chosen in the draft had played semi-professional or professional basketball after college graduation, only the United States colleges they attended are listed.

Pos. G F C
Position Guard Forward Center
Round Pick Player Position Nationality Team College Year graduated
1 1 Julian Harris F   United States Raleigh Firebirds UT Arlington 2018
1 2 Xzavier Taylor F/C   United States Jamestown Jackals Purdue Fort Wayne 2018
1 3 Zack Taylor F   United States Tampa Bay Titans Louisville 2018
1 4 Zerrion Payton G   United States San Diego Waves Westminster College 2017
1 5 Quincy Scates G   United States Owensboro Thoroughbreds Tennessee Wesleyan University 2016
1 6 Jeremy Burright F   United States Kansas City Tornadoes Lower Columbia College
1 7 Alonzo Murphy F   United States Albany Patroons Lincoln University 2015
1 8 Dushone Brown F   United States Mesquite Desert Dogs Los Angeles Harbor College
1 9 Richard Townsend-Gant F   United States Yakima Sun Kings Vancouver Island
1 10 Darnell Foreman F   United States New York Court Kings University of Pennsylvania 2018
2 11 Rahim Williams G   United States New York Court Kings Youngstown State 2018
2 12 Brenton Scott G   United States Yakima Sun Kings Indiana State 2018
2 13 Zach Cassita G   United States Mesquite Desert Dogs North Park University
2 14 Josh Cameron G   United States Albany Patroons Coastal Carolina University
2 15 Darien Walker F   United States Kansas City Tornadoes Valparaiso 2016
2 16 Gerald Campbell G   United States Owensboro Thoroughbreds Central State University
2 17 Spencer Parker F   United States San Diego Waves Bowling Green State University 2017
2 18 Arthur Tally F   United States Tampa Bay Titans Claflin University
2 19 Charles Foster G   United States Jamestown Jackals Kansas State 2018
2 20 Timothy Plummer F   United States Raleigh Firebirds State College of Florida

References

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  1. ^ "Meet the First Black Female Owner of a Male Professional Basketball League (Not a Team, But a League!)". Black News. July 17, 2018.
  2. ^ "Moving On Up – Jackals To Join Minor League Professional Ranks This Season". The Post-Journal. August 29, 2018.
  3. ^ "Mesquite (Nevada) Desert Dogs coming back for 2019". Mesquite Local News. August 17, 2018.
  4. ^ "Thoroughbreds revitalize identity, ready to give back". The Owensboro Times. October 15, 2018.
  5. ^ "GOOD AND BAD NEWS FOR DESERT DOGS". Mesquite Local News. April 12, 2019.
  6. ^ "Patroons trying to make it work". Times Union. April 8, 2019.
  7. ^ "The Basketball League 2019 Standings". The Basketball League. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
  8. ^ "TBL Instagram post - April 15, 2019". Instagram. April 15, 2019. Archived from the original on 2021-12-25.
  9. ^ "2019 1ST AND 2ND ROUND DRAFT PICKS". TheBasketballLeague.net. December 3, 2018.
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