2020–21 Latvian–Estonian Basketball League

The 2020–21 Latvian–Estonian Basketball League, known as Paf Latvian–Estonian Basketball League for sponsorship reasons, was the 3rd season of the Latvian–Estonian Basketball League, the combined top basketball division of Latvia and Estonia.

Latvian–Estonian Basketball League
Season2020–21
Duration3 October 2020 – 11 April 2021
Games played164
Teams13
TV partner(s)Best4Sport TV, Delfi TV
Regular season
Season MVPUnited States Maurice Kemp
Finals
ChampionsEstonia Kalev/Cramo
  Runners-upLatvia VEF Rīga
Third placeLatvia Ogre
Fourth placeEstonia Avis Utilitas Rapla
Statistical leaders
Points United States Brandon Childress 22.78
Rebounds United States Tyler Roberson 9.00
Assists Latvia Renars Birkans 6.63
Records
Biggest home winKalev/Cramo 110–46 Tartu Ülikool
(2 December 2020)
Biggest away winLatvijas Universitāte 42–86 VEF Rīga
(4 December 2020)
Ventspils 59–103 VEF Rīga
(28 March 2021)
Highest scoringVentspils 113–90 Valmiera Glass/ViA
(24 October 2020)
2021-22

The season began on 3 October 2020 and ended in 11 April 2021. The Final 6 was played at the Elektrum Olimpiskais Sporta centrs in Riga, Latvia, with Kalev/Cramo winning its first title.

Competition format

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It was planned, that the competition format would follow the usual double round-robin format: all the teams would play each other twice, once at home and once away, for a total of 24 games; teams would have been ranked by total points, with the eight highest-ranked teams advancing to the quarter-finals; the quarterfinal series would have been played to two wins (best-of-three); the winning teams would determine the champion in a Final Four tournament.[1]
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic risks, it was planned, that from October till 6 December teams would play only within the respective country.[2][3][4]

It was announced in 11 November, that after 6 December due to the increasing spread of coronavirus in the region teams will continue competing within their respective country (thefore, playing 3rd and 4th lap), and so no international games will be played in the Regular season.[5] Discussions on the play-off format are still ongoing.[6]

Teams

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Location of the 2020–21 Latvian–Estonian Basketball League teams

13 teams, 7 from Estonia and 6 from Latvia, are contesting the league in the 2020–21 season.

Venues and locations

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Team Home city Arena Capacity
  Avis Utilitas Rapla Rapla Sadolin Sports Hall 1000
  Kalev/Cramo Tallinn Kalev Sports Hall / Saku Suurhall 1780 / 7200
  Latvijas Universitāte Rīga Elektrum Olympic Sports Center 830
  Liepāja Liepāja Liepāja Olympic Center 2542
  Ogre Ogre Ogre 1st Secondary School 500
  Pärnu Sadam Pärnu Pärnu Sports Hall 1820
  Rakvere Tarvas Rakvere Rakvere Sports Hall 2747
  Tallinna Kalev/TLÜ Tallinn Sõle Sports Centre
  TalTech Tallinn TalTech Sports Hall 1000
  Tartu Ülikool Tartu University of Tartu Sports Hall 2600
  Valmiera Glass VIA Valmiera Vidzeme Olympic Center 1500
  VEF Rīga Rīga Elektrum Olympic Sports Center / Arena Riga 830 / 11 200
  Ventspils Ventspils Ventspils Olympic Center 3085

Personnel and kits

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Team Head coach Captain Kit manufacturer Main sponsor
  Avis Utilitas Rapla   Toomas Annuk   Roberts Freimanis Spalding
  Kalev/Cramo   Roberts Štelmahers   Martin Dorbek Nike
  Latvijas Universitāte   Guntis Endzels   Kārlis Žunda Nike
  Liepāja   Artūrs Visockis-Rubenis   Roberts Krastiņš Erreà
  Ogre   Nikolajs Mazurs   Rinalds Sirsniņš Erreà
  Pärnu Sadam   Heiko Rannula   Lauris Blaus Joma
  Rakvere Tarvas   Juris Umbraško   Renato Lindmets Spalding
  Tallinna Kalev/TLÜ   Valdo Lips   Mario Paiste Nike
  TalTech   Kris Killing   Oliver Metsalu Nike
  Tartu Ülikool   Toomas Kandimaa   Robin Kivi Spalding
  Valmiera Glass VIA   Roberts Zeile   Edmunds Elksnis Spalding
  VEF Rīga   Jānis Gailītis   Artis Ate Adidas
  Ventspils   Gints Fogels   Māris Gulbis Joma

Estonia

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League table

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Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD PCT Qualification
1   Kalev/Cramo 23 21 2 2066 1619 +447 .913 Advance to Final 6 semifinals[7]
2   Pärnu Sadam 24 17 7 1938 1830 +108 .708 Advance to Final 6 quarterfinals[7]
3   Avis Utilitas Rapla 24 13 11 1862 1793 +69 .542
4   TalTech 24 11 13 1756 1899 −143 .458
5   Rakvere Tarvas 23 10 13 1806 1818 −12 .435
6   Tartu Ülikool 24 8 16 1734 1966 −232 .333
7   Tallinna Kalev/TLÜ 24 3 21 1871 2108 −237 .125
Updated to match(es) played on 4 April 2021. Source: estlatbl.com

Results

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Home \ Away RAP KAL PAR RAK TLU TCH TRT RAP KAL PAR RAK TLU TCH TRT
Avis Utilitas Rapla 82–80 79–86 76–84 92–76 50–57 86–59 78–94 88–93 65–73 81–71 102–60 103–69
Kalev/Cramo 76–74 81–60 100–74 98–88 113–59 110–46 79–62 76–71 0 99–93 96–63 96–54
Pärnu Sadam 83–69 79–74 81–69 98–92 77–69 76–62 78–58 82–93 56–96 93–55 92–89 87–65
Rakvere Tarvas 81–89 67–81 72–76 82–75 82–68 85–78 58–65 70–102 86–84 96–87 70–79 69–73
Tallinna Kalev/TLÜ 83–89 74–92 71–74 94–93 85–65 73–100 83–85 78–100 81–92 60–72 74–96 88–80
TalTech 49–63 67–81 65–69 73–71 88–67 67–79 77–74 70–84 85–80 90–85 89–83 74–66
Tartu Ülikool Maks & Moorits 74–76 60–78 88–80 72–93 75–67 64–71 70–76 68–83 67–91 94–78 79–73 92–86
Updated to match(es) played on 4 April 2021. Source: estlatbl.com
Legend: Blue = home team win; Red = away team win.

Latvia

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League table

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Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD PCT Qualification
1   VEF Rīga 25 23 2 2264 1768 +496 .920 Advance to Final 6 semifinals[7]
2   Ventspils 25 15 10 2071 2044 +27 .600 Advance to Final 6 quarterfinals[7]
3   Ogre 25 14 11 2028 1922 +106 .560
4   Liepāja 25 12 13 1988 2036 −48 .480
5   Valmiera Glass/ViA 25 7 18 1877 2145 −268 .280
6   Latvijas Universitāte 25 4 21 1698 2011 −313 .160
Updated to match(es) played on 3 April 2021. Source: estlatbl.com

Results

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Home \ Away LIE OGR VEN LUN VLM VEF LIE OGR VEN LUN VLM VEF LIE OGR VEN LUN VLM VEF
Liepāja 73–78 91–92 79–62 79–72 81–95 72–91 92–96 87–80 69–73 74–85 86–71 93–62
Ogre 94–77 76–83 83–58 82–75 63–81 92–74 82–88 69–60 82–73 72–58 75–98 100–92
Ventspils 73–64 82–81 91–85 113–90 84–97 78–79 65–93 93–58 84–65 87–99 73–71 59–103
Latvijas Universitāte 82–83 67–78 69–78 70–85 42–86 65–86 70–66 65–69 61–66 60–77 73–64 88–76 63–85
Valmiera Glass/ViA 86–88 67–86 65–70 83–73 64–93 72–89 90–85 87–81 62–65 81–87 77–103 66–96 100–93
VEF Rīga 104–63 83–76 96–93 95–54 105–90 77–83 89–81 82–75 84–64 94–57 108–57 97–76 104–69
Updated to match(es) played on 3 April 2021. Source: estlatbl.com
Legend: Blue = home team win; Red = away team win.

Final 6

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Final 6, which featured 3 of the highest ranked teams from each country, with highest ranked team from each country receiving a bye to semifinals, was held in Riga, Latvia from April 8 to April 11[8]

Quarterfinal
8 April
Semifinals
10 April
Final
April 11
1   Kalev/Cramo 83
2   Ventspils 69 3   Avis Utilitas Rapla 63
3   Avis Utilitas Rapla 79 1   Kalev/Cramo 86
1   VEF Rīga 75
1   VEF Rīga 90
2   Pärnu Sadam 68 3   Ogre 85
3   Ogre 77 Bronze medal game
3   Avis Utilitas Rapla 73
3   Ogre 75


Individual awards

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Tournament MVP[9]
All-Star Five

References

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  1. ^ "Latvian - Estonian Basketball League regulations season 2020/2021" (PDF). basket.ee. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  2. ^ "Pafbet LAT-EST čempionātā piedalīsies 13 komandas". basket.lv. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  3. ^ "Latvijas - Igaunijas līgā spēlēs nepāra skaits komandu". sportacentrs.com. 23 July 2020. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  4. ^ "Latvijas basketbola līgas: četrkāršs starts par spīti pandēmijai un reģionālo komandu rekordskaits". basket.lv. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  5. ^ "Pafbet LAT-EST līgas pamatturnīrs turpināsies bez starpvalstu spēlēm". estlatbl.com. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  6. ^ "Eesti ja Läti korvpalliklubid Paf liiga põhiturniiril omavahel ei kohtu". delfi.ee. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  7. ^ a b c d "Pafbet LAT-EST: "Latvijas Universitāte" pārspēj vicelīderus, "VEF Rīga" uzvar Liepājā; valmierieši uzvar "Ogri"". basket.lv. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  8. ^ "The final tournament of the Paf Estonian-Latvian Basketball League will take place from 8th to 11th of April in Riga". estlatbl.com. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  9. ^ "Uudised - BC Kalev/Cramo defeated VEF in Paf League final, Ogre brought home the bronze". www.estlatbl.com. 12 April 2021. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
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