2020 MSBL season

The 2020 MSBL season was to be the 32nd season of the Men's State Basketball League (SBL). The regular season was set to begin on Saturday 14 March, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, the season was cancelled.

2020 MSBL season
LeagueState Basketball League
SportBasketball
DurationSeason that was scheduled:
14 March – 25 July (Regular season)
31 July – 22 August (Finals)
Number of games26
Number of teams14

Season that was scheduled

After two weekends of pre-season games (the first for regional teams and the second for metro teams),[1] the regular season was set to begin on Saturday 14 March and end on Saturday 25 July after 20 rounds of competition. A small-scale round 1 was scheduled to open the season, with the Goldfields Giants playing away to the Geraldton Buccaneers and Cockburn Cougars. A full round of fixtured games in round 2 was then scheduled for the remaining teams to make their season debuts. In continuing tradition, there was to be Easter Round (5), Anzac Round (6), Women's Round (9), Heritage Round (13), and Mental Health Awareness Round (18).[2] The finals was then scheduled to take place between Friday 31 July and Saturday 22 August, concluding with the MSBL Grand Final. Under a revised finals model, the finals was to take place across four weekends instead of five to better align with the NBL1 format.[2][3][4]

In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak in Australia in early to mid March 2020, the season was suspended indefinitely with no games having taken place.[5][6][7] On 14 May 2020, the season was officially cancelled due to the ongoing pandemic.[8]

West Coast Classic

To fill the void of a cancelled SBL season, a state amateur competition known as the West Coast Classic was announced on 12 June 2020. Presented by Basketball WA, all 14 Men's SBL teams will compete in the 10-week competition. The competition will tip-off on Friday 24 July, with all teams to play each other once in a home and away fixture. The top four teams following the regular season will compete in the finals, which will take place between Friday 25 September and Sunday 27 September with semi-finals and a grand final.[9][10][11][12]

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References
  1. "SBL PRE-SEASON BLITZ". SBL.asn.au. 12 February 2020. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  2. "2020 SBL SCHEDULE". SBL.asn.au. 11 December 2019. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  3. "A revised SBL Finals Model has been announced for the #SBL20 season!". facebook.com/WA.SBL. 25 September 2019. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  4. "NEW SBL FINALS MODEL FOR 2020". SBL.asn.au. 26 September 2019. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  5. "UPDATE: SBL Games Postponed". facebook.com/WA.SBL. 14 March 2020. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  6. "SBL SEASON POSTPONED". SBL.asn.au. 16 March 2020. Archived from the original on 16 March 2020.
  7. "SBL SEASON POSTPONED". SBL.asn.au. 17 March 2020. Archived from the original on 17 March 2020.
  8. "MEDIA RELEASE: SBL 2020 CANCELLED". SBL.asn.au. 14 May 2020. Archived from the original on 14 May 2020.
  9. "2020 WEST COAST CLASSIC". SBL.asn.au. 12 June 2020. Archived from the original on 12 June 2020.
  10. Garlepp, Josh (12 June 2020). "Basketball Western Australia announce West Coast Classic tournament in lieu of cancelled SBL season". TheWest.com.au. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  11. "WEST COAST CLASSIC - 2020 FIXTURES" (PDF). BasketballWA.asn.au. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 July 2020.
  12. "ROUND 1 MEN'S WEST COAST CLASSIC PREVIEW". SBL.asn.au. 24 July 2020. Archived from the original on 24 July 2020.
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