ZZ Leiden

ZZ Leiden
Leagues	BNXT League
Founded	23 September 1958; 65 years ago (1958-09-23)
History	List BS Leiden (1958–1967) Mercasol Leiden (1967-1977) Parker Leiden (1977–1983) Elmex Leiden (1983–1986) Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden (2006–present)
Arena	Sportcomplex 1574
Capacity	2,435
Location	Leiden, Netherlands
Team colors	Blue, Navy, White, Green
Main sponsor	Zorg en Zekerheid
President	Marcel Verburg
Team manager	Rob van Hooven
Head coach	Doug Spradley
2022–23 position	BNXT, 1st of 20 (champions)
Championships	2 BNXT League 5 Dutch Championships 4 Dutch Cups 4 Dutch Supercups
Retired numbers	1 (6)
Website	www.eredivisiebasketballleiden.nl
Home Away Europe

ZZ Leiden Basketball, also known as Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden, is a professional basketball club based in Leiden, Netherlands. The club plays in the BNXT League, the domestic first tier league. Their home games are played at Sportcomplex 1574.^[1]

ZZ Leiden has won the national championship five times, the NBB Cup four times, the Dutch Supercup a record four times and the BNXT championship twice in a row. Leiden was a European Club Winner's Cup semi-finalist in 1980. They also made the semi-finals of the FIBA Europe Cup in 2022.

History

The old Leiden team (1958–1986)

On September 23, 1958, the club was founded as Bona Stars by Ton Kallenberg, a physical education professor at a school in Leiden. In 1967 the club entered the eredivisie, the highest professional basketball league in the Netherlands under the name BS Leiden.

When Parker became the main sponsor of the club in 1977 Leiden won its first national championship (1977/1978). During this era the team finished five times as runners-up in the league. In 1979/1980 Leiden reached the semi-finals of the European Club Winner's Cup (later: Saporta Cup, ULEB Cup or EuroCup), their best European result up till now. In 1986, Leiden was forced to leave the eredivisie, due to the absence of a main sponsor. The team played five years in the Promotiedivisie, the highest non-professional league, before pulling out of the Dutch basketball pyramid.

The Rise of ZZ (2006–2010)

On February 16, 2006, it was announced that Leiden would return at the highest stage in the Netherlands.^[2] The team got a new main sponsor in Zorg en Zekerheid and would play its games in the Vijf Meihal.

After being quarter- and semifinalist in a few seasons, Leiden returned to the top of the Netherlands in 2010. Leading players of the ZZ team were Danny Gibson, who was named the DBL Most Valuable Player Award in 2009–10, and Seamus Boxley. The club won its first NBB Cup, by beating ABC Amsterdam in the championship game. In the Semi-final, heavy favorites Groningen were defeated. In the Playoffs Semi-finals, ZZ once again faced Groningen. The team put up a fight against the top seed, but eventually fell short 3–2.

Back at the top of Dutch basketball (2010–present)

In the 2010–11 season, ZZ Leiden came back on top of the Dutch basketball world as best club. In the regular season, the team finished first. The second DBL title was eventually won, after beating Groningen 4–3 in the Finals. The deciding game 7 turned out to be historic, including three overtimes, which ended in 96–95.^[3]

The following year the team its second NBB Cup, but was defeated in the Finals of the DBL. ZZ Leiden also reached the Round of 16 in the EuroChallenge 2011-12 after their second place in the first group stage this season. In 2013 the team got its third national championship, by going undefeated in the play-offs and beating Aris Leeuwarden in the Finals.

The 2013–14 was a struggling one for Leiden. The team ended on the 4th place in the regular season and lost in the Semifinals to Groningen. After the end of the season, Leiden decided to part ways with head coach Toon van Helfteren.^[4] Van Helfteren eventually won six trophies with Leiden.

Main sponsor Zorg en Zekerheid extended their contract with 3 years in the 2014 offseason,^[5] and a new head coach was signed in Eddy Casteels.^[6] In the 2014–15 season, Leiden finished 2nd in the regular season, but once again was eliminated by Groningen in the Semi-finals.

In 2019, Leiden won the NBB Cup after defeating Landstede Zwolle 87–69 in the final.^[7]

On 17 May 2020, Leiden signed Geert Hammink as its new head coach for the 2020–21 season.^[8] Leiden went on to capture its fourth DBL championship.^[9] Star players of the team were league MVP Emmanuel Nzekwesi and Playoffs MVP Worthy de Jong.

Since the 2021–22 season, Leiden plays in the BNXT League, in which the national leagues of Belgium and the Netherlands have been merged.^[10] On 11 June 2022, Leiden won the inaugural BNXT championship.^[11] De Jong was named the league's Finals MVP and retired from professional basketball after. Leiden also had its best performance in Europe ever, reaching the semifinals of the 2021–22 FIBA Europe Cup.

After the successful season, coach Hammink signed with Skyliners Frankfurt;^[12] star player Worthy de Jong retired from professional basketball. In July 2022, Roberts Štelmahers was acquired as the club's new head coach.^[13] However, Stelmahers later signed another contract with Nymburk in the Czech Republic, causing Leiden to seek a replacement.^[14] On August 15, Leiden signed Doug Spradley as new head coach to a one-year contract.^[15]

On 12 March 2023, ZZ Leiden won their fourth-ever Cup title after beating Landstede Hammers 72–70 in the Landstede Sportcentrum.^[16] On 29 May 2023, they won their fifth national title following a Game 5 win over Donar, despite trailing by 16 points 2:40 before the ending of the game. Thomas Rutherford scored two game-winning free throws to seal the championship. The win meant that Leiden won its first national double (both the league and cup titles) in club history.^[17]

Arenas

From its re-inception in 2006 to 2023, Leiden used the Vijf Meihal as its home arena. The arena, which is also used for gymnastics of high school students, is nicknamed De Schuur (The Barn) by ZZ Leiden fans.

The municipality of Leiden replaced the Vijf Meihal with the newly built Indoor Sportcentrum, which was announced to have a capacity of 2,435 people.^[18] The new name was later announced to be Sportcomplex 1574, named after the year of the Siege of Leiden after which the city was liberated from Spanish rule.^[19] Construction of the €24 million arena began in 2012 and finished in 2023.^[20][21] The sporting hall was named the "Aad van der Luit Topsporthal". The decision by the municipality of Leiden to build was heavily criticized by ZZ Leiden as the number of seats is below FIBA's minimum of 3,000 seats for international games. In its first season, ZZ Leiden was forced to withdraw from the Basketball Champions League because of the size of the Sportcomplex 1574.^[22] On 15 October 2023, the inaugural basketball game was played at the arena when Leiden played BCM Gravelines-Dunkerque in the FIBA Europe Cup.^[23]

• Vijf Meihal (2006–2023)
• Sportcomplex 1574 (2023–present)

Logos and names

• 
  Former logo of the parent club

Club records

The list only includes records since ZZ Leiden was established in 2006. Bold denotes still active with team. As of the end of the 2019–20 season:

Players

Current roster

ZZ Leiden roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age PG 2 Bouwknecht, Maarten 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 29 – (1994-12-14)14 December 1994 G 3 Jones, Tajion 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 24 – (1999-11-02)2 November 1999 G 5 Ververs, Marijn 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) 25 – (1998-09-17)17 September 1998 F 8 Van der Schalie, Liam 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) 21 – (2003-01-03)3 January 2003 F 9 Van den Elzen, Stan 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 23 – (2000-05-27)27 May 2000 PF 10 Schaftenaar, Roeland 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) 35 – (1988-07-29)29 July 1988 F 11 Bos, Duko 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 21 – (2002-08-05)5 August 2002 F 12 Sicking, Jibbe 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 19 – (2004-12-25)25 December 2004 PF 13 Van Bree, Luuk 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 28 – (1996-02-24)24 February 1996 F 17 Kruithof, Lucas 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 23 – (2000-07-17)17 July 2000 F 45 Gross, Alex 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 23 – (2000-06-04)4 June 2000	Head coach Doug Spradley Assistant coach(es) Jan Stalman Legend (C) Team captain Injured Roster Updated: September 25, 2023

Retired numbers

Notable players

Individual awards

Trophies

National competitions

• Dutch Basketball League^[25]
  • Winners (5): 1977–78, 2010–11, 2012–13, 2020–21, 2022–23
    • Runners-up (7): 1978–79, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1983–84, 1984–85, 2011–12, 2017–18, 2021–22
• Dutch Cup^[25]
  • Winners (4): 2009–10, 2011–12, 2018–19, 2022–23
    • Runners-up (3): 2013–14, 2015–16, 2017–18
• Dutch Supercup^[26]
  • Winners (4): 2011, 2012, 2021, 2023
    • Runners-up (4): 2013, 2014, 2018, 2019

Regional competitions

• BNXT League^[11]
  • Winners (2): 2021–22, 2022–23
• BNXT Supercup
  • Runners-up (1): 2021

Season by season

International record

ZZ Leiden made its debut in the European stage in 1978 when it entered the European Champions Cup. In 1982, Leiden played in the FIBA Intercontinental Cup, qualifying as hosts of the competition.

Key

• (N) = Neutral venue

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Advanced
1978–79	European Champions Cup	RS	Crystal Palace Chevrons	125–89	88–96
			Joventut Badalona	101–89	97–82
			Södertälje	115–86	76–77
1979–80	European Cup Winners′ Cup	RS	Caen	106–77	81–92
			Panathinaikos	95–86	88–86
			Gabetti Cantù	112–108	100–86
		SF	Emerson Varese	87–89	95–87
1980–81	European Cup Winners′ Cup	QR1	Hapoel Ramat-Gan	92–87	97–96
		QR2	Verviers-Pepinster	93–73	70–83
		RS	Turisanda Varese	85-84	92–74
			FC Barcelona	76-97	105-90
			Efes Pilsen	91-72	86-90
1981–82	European Cup Winners′ Cup	QR1	Soleuvre	107–50	57–94
		QR2	AEK Athens	102–67	78–89
		RS	Stroitel Kyiv	69-72	74–76
			Inter Slovnaft Brastislava	86-83	83-96
			Real Madrid	90-98	97-90
1982	FIBA Intercontinental Cup	RS	Ferro Carril Oeste	68–81		6th (of 6)
			Cantù	75–92
			EBBC Den Bosch	64–71
			Air Force Falcons	95–86
			Maccabi Tel Aviv	79–92
1982–83	Korać Cup	QR1	Olympiacos	92–69	71-70
		QR2	Tours	68–67	84-80
2010–11	EuroChallenge	QR	Karşıyaka	65–87	77–63
2011–12	EuroChallenge	RS	Beşiktaş Milangaz	58–86	76–69
			Mgzavrebi-Armia Tbilisi	76–59	74–71
			Göttingen	80–71	71–80
		T16	Ventspils	57–60	69–73
			EWE Baskets Oldenburg	76–71	85–62
			Chorale Roanne	63–68	91–56
2013–14	EuroChallenge	RS	Kataja	72–58	77–63
			Bakken Bears	61–62	79–81
			Cholet	67–76	74–52
2015–16	EuroChallenge	RS	Skyliners Frankfurt	51–76	63–58
			Krka	78–86	79–51
			FC Porto	77–51	62–70
2018–19	FIBA Europe Cup	QR1	Kapfenberg Bulls	68–57	62–79
		RS	s.Oliver Würzburg	65–75	87–61
			Sakarya Büyükşehir	99–97	56–59
			Oradea	90–76	72–76
		R2	Kataja	87–72	92–80
			Avtodor Saratov	72–97	105–81
			Bakken Bears	89–85	111–71
		R16	Dinamo Sassari	93–97	94–68
2019–20	FIBA Europe Cup	QR1	Beroe	108–86	86–71
		RS	Benfica	84–68	103–99
			Inter Bratislava	80–67	79–88
			Pécsi VSK-Veolia	105–100	87–77
		R2	Pınar Karşıyaka	65–105	112–67
			Bahçeşehir Koleji	87–89	93–71
			Enisey	89–83	96–84
2021–22	Champions League	QR1	Belfius Mons-Hainaut	76–74 (N)
		QR2	Tsmoki-Minsk	67–69 (N)
	FIBA Europe Cup	RS	Iraklis Saloniki	71–63	83–92
			Mornar Bar	78–73	87–74
			Bahçeşehir Koleji	69–79	84–61
		R2	Medi Bayreuth	98–93	84–89
			Parma Perm Parimatch	79–75	88–91
			Legia Warsaw	78–90	59–77
		QF	Hakro Merlins Crailsheim	85–77	71–68
		SF	Bahçeşehir Koleji	71–77	90–82
2022–23	FIBA Europe Cup	QR1	Czarni Słupsk	78–74 (N)
		QR2	Cholet	59–71 (N)

List of head coaches

Coach	From	To	Honours
Henry Blom	1975	1981
Ton Boot	1981
Theo Kinsbergen	1982
Ruud Harrewijn	1983	1986
Ivo Boom	2006	2008
Toon van Helfteren	2008	2014	2 Dutch Basketball Leagues, 2 NBB Cups, 2 Dutch Supercups
Eddy Casteels	2014	2016
Paul Vervaeck	2016	2018
Rolf Franke	2018	2020	1 Dutch Cup
Geert Hammink	2020	2022	1 BNXT League, 1 Supercup DBL,1 Dutch Basketball League
Doug Spradley	2022	present	1 Dutch Cup

References

External links

• Official website (in Dutch)
• Eurobasket.com B.S Leiden Page

52°08′57.1″N 4°28′35.0″E / 52.149194°N 4.476389°E / 52.149194; 4.476389