2017–18 Úrvalsdeild karla

The 2017–18 Úrvalsdeild karla is the 67th season of the Úrvalsdeild, the top tier men's basketball league in Iceland. The season started on October 5, 2017 and ended on April 28, 2018. KR won its fifth title in a row by defeating Tindastóll 3–1 in the Finals.

Domino's deild karla^1
Teams	12
Dates	5 October 2017 – 28 April 2018
TV	Stöð 2 Sport
Final positions
Top seed	Haukar
Champions	KR
Runners-up	Tindastóll
Semifinalists	Haukar ÍR
Relegated	Höttur Þór Akureyri
Statistical leaders
Points Kelvin Lewis 25.4 Rebounds Urald King 14.6 Assists Pavel Ermolinskij 7.0
Records
Highest scoring	Valur 110–104 Stjarnan (10 November 2017)
Winning streak	Haukar 8 games
Losing streak	Höttur 14 games
← 2016–17 2018–19 → All statistics correct as of 28 April 2018. ^1 Sponsored league name, referring to Úrvalsdeild karla.

Competition format

The participating teams first played a conventional round-robin schedule with every team playing each opponent once home and once away for a total of 22 games. The top eight teams qualified for the championship playoffs whilst the two last qualified were relegated to Division 1.[1]

Teams

Þór Akureyri

Höttur

Stjarnan

Grindavík

Haukar

Keflavík

Njarðvík

Reykjavík

Tindastóll

Þór Þorlákshöfn

Location of teams in 2017–18 Premier League
Clubs in Reykjavík: ÍR, KR, Valur

Team	City, Region	Arena	Head coach
Grindavík	Grindavík	Mustad Höllin	Jóhann Þór Ólafsson
ÍR	Reykjavík	Hertz Hellirinn	Borce Ilievski
Keflavík	Keflavík	TM Höllin	Friðrik Ingi Rúnarsson
KR	Reykjavík	DHL Höllin	Finnur Freyr Stefánsson
Haukar	Hafnarfjörður	Schenkerhöllin	Ívar Ásgrímsson
Höttur	Egilsstaðir	Egilsstaðir	Viðar Örn Hafsteinsson
Njarðvík	Njarðvík	green/white	Daníel Guðmundsson
Stjarnan	Garðabær	Ásgarður	Hrafn Kristjánsson
Tindastóll	Sauðárkrókur	Sauðárkrókur	Israel Martín
Valur	Reykjavík	Valshöllin	Ágúst Björgvinsson
Þór Akureyri	Akureyri	Höllin Ak	Hjalti Þór Vilhjálmsson
Þór Þorlákshöfn	Þorlákshöfn	Icelandic Glacial Höllin	Einar Árni Jóhannsson

Regular season

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Haukar	22	17	5	1960	1712	+248	34	Qualification to playoffs
2	ÍR	22	16	6	1801	1729	+72	32
3	Tindastóll	22	16	6	1929	1748	+181	32
4	KR	22	15	7	1875	1721	+154	30
5	Njarðvík	22	13	9	1903	1875	+28	26
6	Grindavík	22	13	9	1974	1898	+76	26
7	Stjarnan	22	11	11	1855	1804	+51	22
8	Keflavík	22	10	12	1874	1899	−25	20
9	Þór Þorl	22	9	13	1804	1856	−52	18
10	Valur	22	7	15	1821	1959	−138	14
11	Þór Akureyri (R)	22	3	19	1689	1938	−249	6	Relegated
12	Höttur (R)	22	2	20	1656	2002	−346	4

Source: KKÍ
(R) Relegated.

Playoffs

The playoffs are played between the eight first qualified teams with a 1-1-1-1-1 format, playing seeded teams games 1, 3 and 5 at home.

Bracket

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals
	1	Haukar	3
	8	Keflavík	2
						1	Haukar	1
						4	KR	3
	4	KR	3
	5	Njarðvík	0
		(Pairings are re-seeded after the first round)									3	Tindastóll	1
											4	KR	3
	2	ÍR	3
	7	Stjarnan	1
						2	ÍR	1
						3	Tindastóll	3
	3	Tindastóll	3
	6	Grindavík	0

Source: KKÍ

Quarterfinals

Team 1	Series	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg	3rd leg	4th leg	5th leg
Haukar	3–2	Keflavík	83–72	85–82	78–81	72–75	72–66
ÍR	3–1	Stjarnan	79–73	57–64	67–64	71–69
Tindastóll	3–0	Grindavík	96–92	114–83	84–81
KR	3–0	Njarðvík	89–74	91–66	81–71

Semifinals

Team 1	Series	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg	3rd leg	4th leg	5th leg
Haukar	1–3	KR	76–67	80–88	83–84	85–79
ÍR	1–3	Tindastóll	82–89	106–97	69–84	87–90

Final

Team 1	Series	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg	3rd leg	4th leg	5th leg
Tindastóll	1–3	KR	54–75	98–70	75–77	73–89	0

Clubs in European competitions

Icelandic teams returned to European competitions nine years after their last participation.[2]

Team	Competition	Progress
KR	FIBA Europe Cup	First qualifying round

Notable occurrences

• On September 12, Keflavík signed Kevin Young, a former starter at University of Kansas.[3]
• On September 21, Grindavík signed Rashad Whack.[4]
• On October 3, Keflavík signed Cameron Forte to replace Kevin Young.[5]
• On October 6, a game between Grindavík and Þór Þorlákshöfn was postponed after the majority of Þór's players had contracted food poisioning.[6]
• On October 8, Haukar released Roger Woods after just one game and signed Paul Jones in his place.[7]
• On October 10, Höttur released Taylor Stafford and signed Aaron Moss in his place. Moss had played for Höttur the previous season in Division I.[8]
• On October 12, Georgía Olga Kristiansen became the first female referee to officiate in the Úrvalsdeild karla.[9]
• On October 13, KR announced that reigning domestic player of the year, Jón Arnór Stefánsson, had undergone arthroscopy and would not return to the court until January.[10]
• On October 13, Haukar signed Icelandic national team player Kári Jónsson, who had spent the previous season with Drexel University.[11][12]
• On October 15, Stjarnan signed Stefan Bonneau to a one-month deal with a team option of extending it to the end of the season.[13]
• On October 16, Njarðvík released Jón Arnór Sverrisson at his own request.[14] Two days later he signed with Reykjanesbær rival Keflavík.[15]
• On November 2, Valur signed Gunnar Ingi Harðarson for the rest of the season. He had previously been playing for Belmont Abbey College.[16]
• On November 3, Stefan Bonneau left Stjarnan due to a back injury after appearing in two games.[17]
• On November 6, Höttur replaced Aaron Moss with Kelvin Lewis.[18]
• On November 10, Tindastóll announced that Antonio Hester would likely miss several months because of an ankle injury. Initially it was thought that the ankle was broken.[19] Tindastóll signed Brandon Garrett while Hester was recovering.[20]
• On November 10, Brynjar Þór Björnsson passed Guðni Ólafur Guðnason and became KR's all-time leading scorer in the Úrvalsdeild karla.[21]
• On November 13, KR's point guard, Arnór Hermannsson, broke his hand and was expected to miss four to six weeks.[22] Due to his injury and others, KR signed American Zac Carter who had recently been released from Division I club Skallagrímur.[23]
• On November 15, the Icelandic Basketball Federation announced that the 4+1 rule regarding foreign players would not include European Union players starting next season as the EFTA Surveillance Authority had declared it was in violation of the European Free Trade Association agreement.[24][25]
• On November 15, Keflavík released Cameron Forte and signed former Orlando Magic player Stanley Robinson in his place.[26]
• On November 21, Þór Þorlákshöfn announced that starting center Snorri Hrafnkelsson would miss several weeks after contracting Infectious mononucleosis.[27]
• On December 7, Georgía Olga Kristiansen and Davíð Tómas Tómasson became the first siblings to officiate together a highest competitive tier game in Iceland.[28]
• On December 12, Grindavík released Rashad Whack, after averaging a team leading 22.8 points in 10 games.[29]
• On December 15, Ryan Taylor was named the best player of the first half of the season and to the All-First team of the first half of the season, along with Matthías Orri Sigurðarson, Kári Jónsson, Sigtryggur Arnar Björnsson and Hlynur Bæringsson. Borce Ilievski of ÍR was named the best coach of the first half of the season while Urald King was named the best defender and Kári Jónsson the best young player of the first half.[30]
• On December 19, Þór Akureyri signed Nino Johnson to replace injured Marques Oliver.[31]
• On December 21, J'Nathan Bullock signed with Grindavík for the rest of the season. He previously played with Grindavík during the 2011–12 season, helping the club to the national championship.[32]
• On December 27, Hörður Axel Vilhjálmsson signed with Keflavík for the rest of the season after starting it with Astana of the VTB United League.[33]
• On January 2, Keflavík announced they had released Stanley Robinson and signed Dominique Elliott in his place.[34]
• On January 7, Þór Akureyri won Keflavík, 100-98, for the first time in Keflavík in the Úrvalsdeild karla with Ingvi Rafn Ingvarsson scoring Þór's last thirteen points of the game.[35] They had lost their previous 21 games in Keflavík.[36]
• On January 8, Tindastóll's Chris Caird announced he was retiring from playing basketball due to injuries and had accepted to become an assistant coach to Israel Martín. He had appeared in 9 games during the season, averaging 12.4 and 4.4 rebounds.[37]
• On January 12, the day before their game against Tindastóll in the Icelandic Basketball Cup finals, KR announced that it had released Jalen Jenkins and signed Brandon Penn in his place.[38]
• On January 15, Þór Akureyri announced that due to Marques Oliver's speedy recovery from injury, he would return to the team in February.[39]
• On January 24, Þór Þorlákshöfn signed Chaz Williams for the rest of the season.[40]
• On January 24, it was reported that FIBA had recalled Njarðvík's Kristinn Pálsson letter of clearance.[41] His former team, Stella Azzura, had demanded training compensations of 65.000 euros for the player.[42] Kristinn was part of Njarðvík's junior teams until the age of 16, when he joined Stella Azzura.[43] After two years with Stella Azzura, he joined Marist College in 2015[44] before returning to Iceland in 2018.
• On January 24, referee Ísak Ernir Kristinsson ejected a fan from a game between ÍR and Njarðvík's after the fan had leaned over him from the sidelines and called him a racist.[45][46]
• On January 25, Höttur ended its 14-game losing streak with an 86-75 overtime victory against Þór Akureyri.[47] It was Andrée Michelsson, Höttur's point guard, first Úrvalsdeild victory in 35 games. He had started his career with Snæfell the previous season when it went 0-22.[48]
• On January 26, Tindastóll signed Chris Davenport to replace Brandon Garrett, who was released shortly after Tindastóll's Icelandic Basketball Cup win on January 13.[49]
• On January 26, Keflavík signed Christian Jones with the intention on having him split minutes with Dominique Elliott.[50] They also released point guard Hilmar Pétursson, who subsequently signed with Haukar.[51]
• On February 3, Stjarnan released Sherrod Wright and signed Darell Combs instead.[52]
• On February 3, KR signed American Kendall Pollard for the rest of the season.[53]
• On February 17, Þór Þorlákshöfn announced that Einar Árni Jóhannsson would leave his post as head coach at the season's end and would be replaced by assistant coach Baldur Þór Ragnarsson.[54][55]
• On February 20, Haukar's Kári Jónsson broke his right thumb on a practice with the Icelandic national team and was expected to miss up to 4 weeks, including the national team games and the final three games of the regular season.[56]
• On February 21, Höttur announced they had released Kelvin Lewis to allow him to sign with Kauhajoki Karhu Basket in the Finnish Korisliiga. Höttur was already religated and planned to play the final three games without a foreign player.[57]
• On March 8, Haukar defeated Valur and finished with the best record in the Úrvalsdeild karla for the first time in its history.[58]
• On March 12, Brynjar Þór Björnsson broke a finger on practice and was expected to miss KR's first round playoff series against Njarðvík.[59]
• On March 15, Stjarnan lockerroom was trashed by unknown individuals during the first game of its first-round series against ÍR.[60]
• On March 20, Kári Jónsson scored 6 of his 27 points in the last 3.4 seconds in game two of Haukar's first round series against Keflavík, giving them an 82-85 victory. After being fouled in the act of shooting with 3.4 second remaining, he made all three free throws and tied the game at 82-82. After a timeout by Keflavík, Haukar stole the inbound pass allowing Kári to heave up a cross-court shot from his own free throw line that went in.[61]
• On March 25, Danero Thomas scored the game winning and series clinching basket in game five of ÍR's first round playoffs series against Stjarnan.[62]
• On April 14, it was announced that Marcus Walker had been called up to KR for the rest of the playoffs due to injuries to Jón Arnór Stefánsson. He had played with KR-b in the Icelandic Cup earlier in the season.[63]
• On April 25, Brynjar Þór Björnsson scored a buzzer beater to give KR a 75–77 victory against Tindastóll and a 2–1 lead in the finals series.[64]

References

1. "Reglugerð um körfuknattleiksmót". KKI.is (in Icelandic). 20. grein ÚRVALSDEILD KARLA. Retrieved 24 September 2017.CS1 maint: location (link)
2. "KR-ingar með í Evrópukeppninni". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). June 12, 2017. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
3. Ingvi Þór Sæmundsson (12 September 2017). "Keflavík fær leikmann sem var byrjunarliðsmaður hjá Kansas". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 1 February 2018.
4. Tómas Þór Þórðarson (21 September 2017). "Grindavík samdi við Kana sem lék í mynd með Martin Lawrence". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 27 January 2018.
5. Ingvi Þór Sæmundsson (3 October 2017). "Keflvíkingar búnir að finna sér annan Kana". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 27 January 2018.
6. Henry Birgir Gunnarsson (6 October 2017). "Frestað þar sem meirihluta Þórsara er með matareitrun". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 27 January 2018.
7. "Fyrrum samherji Harðar Axels kominn í Hauka". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). 13 October 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
8. Ástrós Ýr Eggertsdóttir (10 October 2017). "Höttur skipti um Kana". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 27 January 2018.
9. Óskar Ófeigur Jónsson (12 October 2017). "Georgía verður í kvöld fyrsta konan sem dæmir í efstu deild karla". Vísir.is. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
10. Óskar Ófeigur Jónsson (13 October 2017). "Jón Arnór fór líka í speglun á hné - Spilar ekki fyrir áramót". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 27 January 2018.
11. Henry Birgir Gunnarsson (13 October 2017). "Kári búinn að semja við Hauka". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 27 January 2018.
12. Henry Birgir Gunnarsson (13 October 2017). "Kári kominn aftur í Haukabúninginn". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 27 January 2018.
13. Runólfur Trausti Þórhallsson (15 October 2017). "Stefan Bonneau til Stjörnunnar". RÚV (in Icelandic). Retrieved 16 October 2017.
14. Ástrós Ýr Eggertsdóttir (16 October 2017). "Jón Arnór yfirgefur Njarðvík". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 27 January 2018.
15. "Jón Arnór til Keflavíkur". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 18 October 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
16. Óskar Ófeigur Jónsson (2 November 2017). "Ungur íslenskur bakvörður kominn í Val frá Norður Karólínu". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 27 January 2018.
17. Óskar Ófeigur Jónsson (3 November 2017). "Stutt gaman hjá Stefan Bonneau í Stjörnunni". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 3 November 2017.
18. Ástrós Ýr Eggertsdóttir (6 November 2017). "Nýr Kani kominn til Hattar". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 27 January 2018.
19. Óskar Ófeigur Jónsson (10 November 2017). "Antonio Hester er ökklabrotinn - "Mikið högg fyrir félagið"". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 27 January 2018.
20. Ingvi Þór Sæmundsson (13 November 2017). "Stólarnir búnir að finna mann til að fylla skarð Hesters". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 27 January 2018.
21. Óskar Ófeigur Jónsson (16 November 2017). "Brynjar orðinn stigahæsti KR-ingurinn í sögu úrvalsdeildar karla". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 26 January 2018.
22. Ástrós Ýr Eggertsdóttir (14 November 2017). "Arnór frá í fjórar til sex vikur". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 27 January 2018.
23. "KR sækir Kana úr Borgarnesi". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 15 November 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
24. Eiríkur Stefán Ásgeirsson (15 November 2017). "4+1 reglan afnumin næsta vor". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 26 January 2018.
25. Eiríkur Stefán Ásgeirsson (15 November 2017). "Íslenska ríkið gæti farið fyrir dómstól vegna 4+1 reglunnar". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 26 January 2018.
26. Ingvi Þór Sæmundsson (15 November 2017). "Fyrrverandi leikmaður Orlando Magic til Keflavíkur". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 26 January 2018.
27. Ingvi Þór Sæmundsson (21 November 2017). "Snorri lengi frá". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 26 January 2018.
28. "Systkini dæmdu í fyrsta sinn saman í efstu deild í kvöld". Vísir.is. 7 December 2007. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
29. Ingvi Þór Sæmundsson (12 December 2017). "Grindvíkingar senda Whack heim". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 12 December 2017.
30. Eiríkur Stefán Ásgeirsson (18 December 2017). "Helena og Taylor kjörin best". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 18 December 2017.
31. "Nýr leikmaður til Þórsara". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 19 December 2017. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
32. Eiríkur Stefán Ásgeirsson (21 December 2017). "Bullock snýr aftur til Grindavíkur". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 21 December 2017.
33. Ingvi Þór Sæmundsson (27 December 2017). "Hörður Axel aftur til Keflavíkur". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 27 December 2017.
34. Ingvi Þór Sæmundsson (2 January 2018). "Keflavík fær fjórða Kanann". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 3 January 2018.
35. Skúli B. Sigurðsson (7 January 2018). "Ingvi skoraði síðustu 13 stig Þórs". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). Retrieved 8 January 2018.
36. "Sögulegur sigur Þórs Akureyri í Keflavík". Karfan.is (in Icelandic). 7 January 2018. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
37. Ástrós Ýr Eggertsdóttir (8 January 2018). "Caird hættur að spila - Aðstoðar Israel Martin út tímabilið". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 8 January 2018.
38. Ástrós Ýr Eggertsdóttir (12 January 2018). "KR sagði Jenkins upp og nýr maður kominn inn". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 13 January 2018.
39. "Marques Oliver aftur til Þórs Akureyri". karfan.is (in Icelandic). 14 January 2018. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
40. "Þórsarar semja við Chaz Williams". Hafnarfréttir (in Icelandic). 24 January 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
41. Ástrós Ýr Eggertsdóttir (24 January 2018). "Kristinn fær ekki að spila með Njarðvík". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 26 January 2018.
42. "Vilja fá rúmar átta milljónir". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 26 January 2018. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
43. "Kristinn Pálsson leikur með Stella Azzurra í vetur". Icelandic Basketball Federation (in Icelandic). 7 June 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
44. "Kristinn Pálsson til Marist University". Víkurfréttir (in Icelandic). 21 August 2015. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
45. Tómas Þór Þórðarson (24 January 2018). "Stuðningsmaður ÍR kallaði dómarann rasista og var hent út úr húsi". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 26 January 2018.
46. Ástrós Ýr Eggertsdóttir (25 January 2018). "Læt það ekki óátalið að vera kallaður rasisti". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 26 January 2018.
47. "Leik lokið: Höttur - Þór Ak. 86-75 - Höttur náði í fyrsta sigurinn í framlengingu". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). 25 January 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
48. Óskar Ófeigur Jónsson (26 January 2018). "Kynntist loksins sigurtilfinningunni eftir 35 tapleiki í röð". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 26 January 2018.
49. Óskar Ófeigur Jónsson (26 January 2018). ""Dark Horse Dunker" mættur á Krókinn". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 26 January 2018.
50. "Christian Jones til Keflavíkur". karfan.is (in Icelandic). 28 January 2018. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
51. "Hilmar Pétursson aftur í Hauka". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 29 January 2018. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
52. Arnar Geir Halldórsson (3 February 2018). "Stjarnan sendir Fógetann heim og fær nýjan Kana". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 4 February 2018.
53. Arnar Geir Halldórsson (3 February 2018). "KR-ingar komnir með nýjan Kana". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 4 February 2018.
54. Jón Júlíus Karlsson (17 February 2018). "Einar Árni hættir með Þór í vor". RÚV (in Icelandic). Retrieved 19 February 2018.
55. Anton Ingi Leifsson (17 February 2018). "Einar Árni hættir í vor og Baldur tekur við". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 19 February 2018.
56. Óskar Ófeigur Jónsson (22 February 2018). "Kári missir ekki bara af landsleikjunum heldur næstu leikjum Hauka líka". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 22 February 2018.
57. Davíð Eldur (21 February 2018). "Kelvin Lewis yfirgefur Hött". karfan.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 21 February 2018.
58. Árni Jóhannsson (8 March 2018). "Umfjöllun, viðtöl og myndir: Haukar - Valur 83-70 - Fyrsti deildarmeistaratitillinn í Hafnarfjörðinn". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 10 March 2018.
59. Anton Ingi Leifsson (12 March 2018). "Brynjar puttabrotinn og misstir af næstu leikjum KR". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 13 March 2018.
60. Runólfur Trausti Þórhallsson (16 March 2018). "Brotist inn í búningsklefa Stjörnunnar í gær". RÚV (in Icelandic). Retrieved 17 March 2018.
61. Kristján Jónsson (20 March 2018). "Ævintýraleg sigurkarfa Kára". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). Retrieved 20 March 2018.
62. Þór Símon Hafþórsson (25 March 2018). "Danero Thomas skaut ÍR í undanúrslit". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 11 April 2018.
63. Henry Birgir Gunnarsson (14 April 2018). "Marcus Walker klárar úrslitakeppnina með KR". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 14 April 2018.
64. "Ótrúleg flautukarfa á Króknum". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 25 April 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2018.

External links

• Official Icelandic Basketball Federation website