The 2022 BAL season, also known as BAL Season 2, was the second season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). The season began on 2 March 2022 and ended with the Finals on 28 May 2022. The group phase was played in the Dakar Arena in Dakar and the Hassan Moustafa Sports Hall in Cairo. The playoffs and finals were played in the BK Arena in Kigali for a second year in a row.
Tunisian club US Monastir won the finals to win its first-ever BAL title, after defeating Angolan club Petro de Luanda in the 2022 BAL Finals. As winners, Monastir qualified for the 2023 FIBA Intercontinental Cup.
Format On December 9, 2021, the BAL announced a new format for the season, with an expansion of the number of total games to 38. The twelve qualified teams are divided over two conference of six teams, in which all teams play the other teams once. The top eight teams from both conferences advance to the playoffs, which remains a single-elimination tournament.
Team allocation On 13 October 2021, FIBA announced the 26 teams from 26 countries which participate in the qualification round. Eventually, 8 teams withdrew from the qualifications. 1st, 2nd, etc.: Place in the domestic competition TH: Title holder CW: Cup winner QT: National qualification tournament Group phase ZamalekTH (1st) US Monastir (1st) DUC (1st) Petro de Luanda (1st) Rivers Hoopers (1st) REG (1st) AS Salé (1st) First qualifying round WA Boufarik AS Police (1st) Prédio City Oilers (1st) SLAC (1st) AOA (1st) ASPAC (1st) Nigelec SOA (1st) Espoir Fukash (CW) FAP (1st) Malabo Kings (1st) Tondema (1st) ASCUT (1st) Cobra Sport Hawassa City Kurasini Heat (1st) New Star Cape Town Tigers (1st) Ferroviário da Beira (QT) Roche-Bois Warriors Matero Magic Mercenaries Ulinzi Warriors (1st) Brave Hearts (1st) Notes
Teams The twelve teams for the inaugural BAL season had to qualify in their domestic competitions to be able to play in the league, similar to other FIBA-organised competitions. Six teams qualify directly as domestic champions; six winners of the qualifying tournaments qualify as well.
Qualified teams On 22 May 2020, Petro de Luanda was announced as the first qualified team for the 2021 BAL season. The Angolan FAB had abandoned the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic and awarded the team the place without naming it as champions. Four teams made their debut in the competition. On January 14, 2022, FIBA Africa decided to exclude the Rivers Hoopers as it stated that the Nigeria Basketball Federation failed to organise a national championship. The BAL chose to give AS Salé direct qualification to replace the Nigerian team. REG qualified directly for the regular season as Rwanda hosted the playoffs and finals.
The twelve teams were confirmed by the BAL on 9 December 2021.
Cape Town Tigers (South Africa), Cobra Sport (South Sudan), SLAC (Guinea) and Espoir Fukash (DR Congo) all were the first teams from their countries to play in the BAL. Team Home city Qualified as Qualified on Previous BAL seasons Arena Capacity Petro de Luanda Luanda, Angola Champions of the 2020–21 Angolan Basketball League 1 (2021) Pavilhão da Cidadela 6,873 US Monastir Monastir, Tunisia Champions of the 2020–21 Championnat National A 1 (2021) Mohamed-Mzali Sports Hall 4,075 Zamalek Giza, Egypt Champions of the 2020–21 Egyptian Basketball Super League 1 (2021) Abdulrahman Fawzi Hall 4,000 DUC Dakar Dakar, Senegal Champions of the 2021 Nationale 1 Debut Marius Ndiaye Stadium 3,000 REG Kigali, Rwanda Champions of the 2020–21 NBL Rwanda Debut Amahoro Indoor Stadium 2,000 AS SaléSalé, Morocco Champions of the 2020–21 Division Excellence9 December 20211 (2021) Salle El Bouâzzaoui 2,000 Cobra Sport Juba, South Sudan Runners-up of East Division Debut Dr. Biar Sports Complex N/A Ferroviário da Beira Beira, Mozambique Winners of East Division Debut Estádio do Ferroviário Indoor Hall N/A SLAC Conakry, Guinea Runners-up of West Division Debut Palais des Sports du Stade du 28 Septembre N/A FAP Yaoundé, Cameroon Winners of West Division 1 (2021) Yaoundé Multipurpose Sports Complex 5,263 Espoir Fukash Kinshasa, DR Congo Third place of West Division Debut N/A Cape Town Tigers Cape Town, South Africa Third place of East Division 11 December 2021 Debut N/A
Bold: the team won the BAL championship in that year.
Personnel and sponsorship
Team Head coach Team captain AS Salé Liz Mills Yassine El Mahsini Cape Town Tigers Relton Booysen Pieter Prinsloo Cobra Sport Manny Berberi Jared Harrington DUC Dakar Parfait Adjivon Abel Diop Espoir Fukash Raven Mwimba Rolly Fula FAP François Enyegue Ebaku Akumenzoh Ferroviário da Beira Luis Lopez Hernandez Armando Baptista Petro de Luanda José Neto Carlos Morais REG Robert Pack Elie Kaje SLAC Željko Zečević Mamadi Keita US Monastir Miodrag Perišić Radhouane Slimane Zamalek Will Voigt Mostafa Kejo
Foreign and Elevate players Each BAL team was allowed to have four foreign players on its roster, including only two non-African players. Players in italics were signed only for the playoffs. If players have multiple nationalities, the nationality of an African nation is shown.
Each team also featured one player from the NBA Academy Africa, under the new BAL Elevate program. Team African Non-African Elevate player 1 2 3 4 AS Salé Abdoulaye Harouna Ousmane Drame Terrell Stoglin Álvaro Calvo Masa Nadir Bennis Cape Town Tigers Myck Kabongo Evans Ganapamo Billy Preston Cleanthony Early (replaced Jamel Artis) Matar Diop Cobra Sport Tom Wamukota Jared Harrington Leon Hampton Khaman Maluach DUC Abraham Sie Chadrack Lufile Hameed Ali Jordan Aboudou Babacar Sané Espoir Fukash Narcisse Ambanza Emmanuel Okorafor FAP Joel Almeida Abou Diallo Tyjhai Byers Deshaun Norman Ulrich Chomche Ferroviário da Beira Will Perry Jermel Kennedy Rueben Chinyelu Petro de Luanda Anderson Correia E. C. Matthews Thierry Darlan REG Pitchou Kambuy Manga Abdoulaye N'Doye Cleveland Thomas Anthony Walker Joy Ighovodja SLAC Josh Nzeakor Chris Obekpa Dane Miller Jr. Malcolm Griffin (replaced Chris Crawford) Serigne Mbaye US Monastir Solo Diabate Ater Majok Michael Dixon Julius Coles Jr. Charles Loic Onana Zamalek D. J. Strawberry Ike Diogu Édgar Sosa Mikh McKinney Khadim Rassoul Mboup
Schedule
PhaseRoundDraw dateGamesQualifyingFirst round13 October 202121–31 October 2021Elite 1620 November 20216–16 December 2021Group phase Dakar– 5–15 March 2022 Cairo 9–19 April 2022Playoffs Quarter-finals21–28 May 2022 Semi-finals Final and third place
Qualifying tournaments
The qualifying tournaments started on 21 October 2021 and ended on 16 December 2021, with 23 teams from 23 countries participating. Six teams qualified for the group phase.
Group phase The group phase began on 5 March 2022 in the Dakar Arena in Dakar, where 15 games will be played. From 9 April to 19 April 2022, the group phase continued in Hassan Moustafa Sports Hall in Giza. The four best teams of each conference advanced to the playoffs.
Sahara Conference
Nile Conference
Playoffs
The playoffs began on 21 May and ended on 28 May with the Finals. All games were played in a single-elimination format, and the entire tournament was played at the Kigali Arena in Kigali.
Bracket
Awards This season, the Coach of the Year award and All-Defensive First Team were introduced and announced on 27 May. The MVP and Defensive Player of the Year were announced on 28 May 2022. The BAL Ubuntu Award, for the player that made the greatest contribution to his community, was awarded on 16 March 2023 after a fan vote. Most Valuable Player: Michael Dixon, US Monastir Defensive Player of the Year: Ater Majok, US Monastir Coach of the Year: José Neto, Petro de Luanda Sportsmanship Award: Anas Mahmoud, Zamalek Ubuntu Award: Jean Jacques Nshobozwabyosenumukiza, REG All-BAL First Team: Terrell Stoglin, AS Salé Édgar Sosa, Zamalek Carlos Morais, Petro de Luanda Radhouane Slimane, US Monastir Ater Majok, US Monastir All-Defensive Team: Wilson Nshobozwabyosenumukiza, REG Childe Dundão, Petro de Luanda Aboubakar Gakou, Petro de Luanda Brice Eyaga Bidias, FAP Ater Majok, US Monastir
Statistics The following were the statistical leaders in 2022 BAL season, including all playoff games.
Individual statistic leaders Category Player Team(s) Statistic Points per game Terrell Stoglin AS Salé 30.8 Rebounds per game Mayan Kiir Cobra Sport 11.4 Assists per game Hameed Ali DUC 8.4 Steals per game Childe Dundão Petro de Luanda 3.0 Blocks per game Chris Obekpa SLAC 4.6 Turnovers per game Dane Miller Jr. 4.4 Minutes per game 37.8 FG% Mohamed Keita SLAC 75.0% Soufiane Kourdou AS Salé 3P% Michael Dixon US Monastir 47.4% FT% Mikh McKinney Zamalek 90.7%
Individual game highs Category Player Team Statistic Points Terrell Stoglin AS Salé 41 Rebounds Mayan Kiir Cobra Sport 22 Assists Hameed Ali DUC 15 Steals Childe Dundão Petro de Luanda 7 Blocks Anas Mahmoud Zamalek 6 Three pointers Wilson Nshobozwabyosenumukiza REG 8
Team statistic leaders Category Team StatisticPoints per game AS Salé 90.5Rebounds per game Espoir Fukash 47.8 Assists per game Petro de Luanda 21.5 Steals per game 10.6Blocks per game SLAC 4.8Turnovers per game Espoir Fukash 20.6Fouls per game REG 22.3 FG% US Monastir 48.1% FT% 75.3% 3FG% AS Salé 38.9%
Notes
References