2022–23 Úrvalsdeild karla (basketball)

The 2022–23 Úrvalsdeild karla was the 72nd season of the Úrvalsdeild karla, the top tier men's basketball league in Iceland. The season started on 6 October 2022 and ended on 18 May 2023. Tindastóll won its third title, and its first in 39 years, by defeating Valur 3–2 in the Finals.^[1]

Subway deild karla^1
Duration	6 October 2022 – 18 May 2023
Number of teams	12
TV partner(s)	Stöð 2 Sport
Regular season
League champions	Valur
Relegated	KR, ÍR
Finals
Champions	Tindastóll
Runners-up	Valur
Semifinalists	Þór Þorlákshöfn, Njarðvík
Finals MVP	Keyshawn Woods
Awards
Domestic MVP	Kári Jónsson
Foreign MVP	Vincent Malik Shahid
Statistical leaders
Points Robert Turner 29.0 Rebounds Taylor Maurice Johns 13.9 Assists Vincent Malik Shahid 9.1
← 2021–22 2023–24 → All statistics correct as of 19 May 2023. ^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 1. deild karla.^[2]

Teams

Team	City, Region	Arena	Head coach
Breiðablik	Kópavogur	Smárinn	Pétur Ingvarsson
Grindavík	Grindavík	Mustad Höllin	Jóhann Þór Ólafsson
Haukar	Hafnarfjörður	Höllin	Máté Dalmay
Höttur	Egilsstaðir	MVA-höllin	Viðar Örn Hafsteinsson
ÍR	Reykjavík	Hertz Hellirinn	Ísak Máni Wíum
Keflavík	Keflavík	TM Höllin	Hjalti Þór Vilhjálmsson
KR	Reykjavík	DHL Höllin	Helgi Már Magnússon
Njarðvík	Njarðvík	Ljónagryfjan	Benedikt Guðmundsson
Stjarnan	Garðabær	Ásgarður	Arnar Guðjónsson
Tindastóll	Sauðárkrókur	Síkið	Pavel Ermolinskij
Valur	Reykjavík	Origo-höllin	Finnur Freyr Stefánsson
Þór Þorlákshöfn	Þorlákshöfn	Icelandic Glacial Höllin	Lárus Jónsson

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Replaced with	Date of appointment
ÍR	Friðrik Ingi Rúnarsson	End of contract	1 April 2022^[3]	Off-season	Ísak Máni Wíum	5 April 2022^[4]
Grindavík	Sverrir Þór Sverrisson	End of contract	2 June 2022^[5]		Jóhann Þór Ólafsson	2 June 2022^[6]
Tindastóll	Baldur Þór Ragnarsson	End of contract	12 July 2022^[7]		Vladimir Anzulović	27 July 2022^[8]
Tindastóll	Vladimir Anzulović	Fired	8 January 2023^[9]	7th	Pavel Ermolinskij	14 January 2023^[10]

Playoffs

Bracket

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals
	1	Valur	3
	8	Stjarnan	1
						1	Valur	3
						6	Þór Þorlákshöfn	2
	2	Njarðvík	3
	7	Grindavík	0
											3	Valur	2
	(Pairings are reseeded after the first round)
											5	Tindastóll	3
	3	Haukar	2
	7	Þór Þorlákshöfn	3
						2	Njarðvík	1
						5	Tindastóll	3
	4	Keflavík	1
	5	Tindastóll	3

Finals

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5
Valur	2–3	Tindastóll	82–83	100–87	79–90	82–69	81–82

Notable incidents

• On 30 April, Dominykas Milka confirmed that Keflavík would not be offering him a contract after three seasons and one trip to the Úrvalsdeild finals.^[11]
• On 2 May, Dagur Kár Jónsson returned to the Úrvalsdeild after playing in Spain and signed with KR.^[12]
• On 10 May, Höttur signed Montenegrin center Nemanja Knezevic who had played the previous five seasons with Vestri and led the Úrvalsdeild in rebounding during the 2021–22 season.^[13]
• On 12 May, Haukar signed Hilmar Smári Henningsson from Stjarnan and Breki Gylfason from ÍR, both of whom came up through Haukar's junior programs.^[14]
• On 21 May, it was reported that Ágúst Orrason, who had played the previous seven seasons with Keflavík was retiring from top-level basketball.^[15]
• On 21 May, Haukar signed Daniel Mortensen, the reigning Úrvalsdeild Foreign Player of the Year, who played the previous season with Þór Þorlákshöfn.^[16]
• On 6 June, Þór Þorlákshöfn signed Fotios Lampropoulos who helped Njarðvík to the best record in the league the previous season.^[17]
• On 10 June, the 2021 Úrvalsdeild Playoffs MVP, Adomas Drungilas, signed with Tindastóll after playing for Tartu Ülikool in the Latvian-Estonian Basketball League the previous season.^[18]
• On 17 July, Höttur signed American-Hungarian point guard Obie Trotter.^[19]
• On 25 July, Breiðablik signed 1. deild karla assists leader Clayton Ladine from Hrunamenn.^[20]
• On 3 August, Haukar signed Lithuanian forward Norbertas Giga.^[21]
• On 16 August, Njarðvík signed former Iran national team player Philip Jalalpoor.^[22]
• On 16 August, Grindavík signed former Greek Basket League champion Gaios Skordilis.^[23]
• On 27 August, Brynjar Þór Björnsson announced his retirement from top-tier basketball.^[24]
• On 5 October, Pavel Ermolinskij announced his retirement from playing.^[25]
• On 13 October, Njarðvík released former Iran national team player Philip Jalalpoor after appearing in one game for the club.^[26]
• On 14 October, Valur signed back Callum Lawson who had initially signed with JA Vichy after winning the national title with Valur in 2022.^[27]
• On 14 October, Styrmir Snær Þrastarson joined Þór Þorlákshöfn after starting the season with Davidson College.^[28]
• On 18 October, KR signed Philip Jalalpoor who started the season with Njarðvík.^[29]
• On 19 October, Njarðvík announced that it had signed Nicolás Richotti to fill the spot left by the release of Philip Jalalpoor. Richotti spent the 2021–22 season with Njarðvík, where he averaged 14.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 5.2 assists.^[30]
• On 19 October, Grindavík announced it had signed Icelandic national team member Jón Axel Guðmundsson.^[31][32]
• On 21 October, KR signed E. C. Matthews to replace Michael Mallory.^[33]
• On 1 November, it was reported that Vangelis Tzolos had left Grindavík after appearing in four games where he averaged 8.3 points and 2.3 rebounds.^[34]
• On 15 November, Njarðvík announced it had signed former Spanish national team member Nacho Martín.^[35]
• On 17 November, Grindavík signed former Úrvalsdeild scoring leader Damier Pitts.^[36]
• On 21 November, Þór Þorlákshöfn's Vincent Malik Shahid set a new Úrvalsdeild single game assist record when he handed out 19 assists in a victory against Keflavík, breaking David Edwards record of 18 assists set on 8 December 1996.^[37]
• On 14 December, KR signed Ireland national team member Brian Fitzpatrick.^[38]
• On 15 December, KR released Roberts Freimanis after he averaged 8.6 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists in nine games.^[39]
• On 29 December, Logi Gunnarsson became the oldest player to score 20 points in an Úrvalsdeild karla game when he scored 23 points for Njarðvík in a victory against Keflavík, breaking Alexander Ermolinskij's record from 2001.^[40]
• On 30 December, Stjarnan announced that Julius Jucikas and Robert Turner, the league's second leading scorer, where leaving the team.^[41] Jucikas was released by the club but Turner was bought by ^[42]
• On 2 January, it was reported that KR had released Jordan Semple and would release E. C. Matthews following its game against Grindavík on 5 January.^[43] The same day it was announced the team had signed Justas Tamulis.^[44]
• On 5 January, KR announced it had reached an agreement with Dagur Kár Jónsson to release him from his contract so he could sign with Stjarnan.^[45]
• On 6 January, KR signed Antonio Williams, their 10th foreign player of the season.^[46]
• On 24 January, Zoran Vrkić was released by the Tindastóll after averaging 7.7 points and 4.1 rebounds.^[47] Three days later, he signed with rival Úrvalsdeild club Grindavík.^[48]
• On 26 January, Höttur signed former Dutch national team member Bryan Alberts. He had previously played for Höttur in 2021.^[49]
• On 9 March, KR was officially relegated to the second-tier 1. deild karla for the first time in its history.^[50]
• On 15 April, following Keflavík first round playoffs loss against Tindastóll, Hjalti Þór Vilhjálmsson announced that he would not return as Keflavík's head coach.^[51]
• On 29 April, following Njarðvík semi-finals loss against Tindastóll, Logi Gunnarsson retired from playing basketball.^[52][53]
• On 18 May, Tindastóll's long time captain, Helgi Rafn Viggósson, announced his retirement from basketball following Tindastóll's victory against Valur in the Úrvalsdeild finals.^[54]
• On 1 June, Valur's guard Pablo Bertone was suspended for five games for entering the referee room to complain following Valur's loss to Tindastóll in the fifth and deciding game of the Úrvalsdeild finals on 18 May.^[55]

Clubs in European competitions

Team	Competition	Progress
Þór Þorlákshöfn	FIBA Europe Cup	First qualifying round

References

1. Siggeir Ævarsson (18 May 2023). "Umfjöllun, viðtöl og myndir: Valur - Tindastóll 81-82 - Tindastóll Íslandsmeistari eftir háspennuleik að Hlíðarenda". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 19 May 2023.
2. "Reglugerð um körfuknattleiksmót" (in Icelandic). 20. grein Úrvalsdeild karla: Icelandic Basketball Association. Retrieved 24 September 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
3. "Friðrik hættur þjálfun". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 1 April 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
4. "Ísak Máni tekur við ÍR – Verður með liðið til 2025". Karfan.is (in Icelandic). 5 April 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
5. Sindri Sverrisson (2 June 2022). "Sverrir hjálpar arftaka sínum og Grindavík án þjálfara". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 2 June 2022.
6. Ólafur Þór Jónsson (2 June 2022). "Jóhann Þór tekur aftur við Grindavík". Karfan.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 3 June 2022.
7. Davíð Eldur (12 July 2022). "Baldur Þór yfirgefur Tindastól – Tekur við starfi í Þýskalandi". Karfan.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 12 July 2022.
8. Ingvi Þór Sæmundsson (27 July 2022). "Eftirmaður Baldurs fundinn". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 27 July 2022.
9. Hjörtur Leó Guðjónsson (8 January 2023). "Vladimir Anzulovic látinn fara frá Tindastól". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 8 January 2023.
10. Arnar Geir Halldórsson (14 January 2023). "Pavel nýr þjálfari Tindastóls". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 14 January 2023.
11. Davíð Eldur (30 April 2022). "Dominykas Milka yfirgefur Keflavík". Karfan.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 30 April 2022.
12. Runólfur Trausti Þórhallsson (2 May 2022). "Dagur Kár í KR - Framlengt við Þorvald Orra og Veigar Áka". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 2 May 2022.
13. "Frá Vestfjörðum á Austfirði". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 11 May 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
14. Óskar Ófeigur Jónsson (12 May 2022). "Haukarnir endurheimta tvo öfluga leikmenn í körfunni". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 12 May 2022.
15. "Ágúst Orrason leggur skóna á hilluna". Karfan.is (in Icelandic). 21 May 2022. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
16. "Sá besti til liðs við nýliðana". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 21 May 2022. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
17. Atli Arason (6 June 2022). "Fotios semur við Þór Þorlákshöfn". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 7 June 2022.
18. Hjörvar Ólafsson (10 June 2022). "Tindastóll fær drjúgan liðsstyrk". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 10 June 2022.
19. Hjörtur Leó Guðjónsson (19 July 2022). "Nýliðarnir fá reynslubolta frá Spáni". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 19 July 2022.
20. "Clayton Riggs semur við Breiðablik". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 25 July 2022. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
21. Hjörvar Ólafsson (3 August 2022). "Haukar halda áfram að safna liði". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 5 August 2022.
22. "Philip Jalalpoor í Ljónagryfjuna". Karfan.is (in Icelandic). 16 August 2022. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
23. "Gaios Skordilis til Grindavíkur". Karfan.is (in Icelandic). 16 August 2022. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
24. Atli Arason (26 August 2022). "Brynjar Þór hættur í körfubolta - "Hungrið ekki til staðar"". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 27 August 2022.
25. Valur Páll Eiríksson (5 October 2022). "Pavel hættur: "Hef átt nokkur rifrildi við körfuboltann í gegnum tíðina"". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 5 October 2022.
26. Óskar Ófeigur Jónsson (14 October 2022). "Philip Jalalpoor í gin ljónsins eftir bara einn leik". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 14 October 2022.
27. Sindri Sverrisson (14 October 2022). "Tvöfaldi meistarinn aftur til Vals en ekki með í kvöld". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 14 October 2022.
28. "Styrmir Snær aftur til Þórs". Karfan.is (in Icelandic). 14 October 2022. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
29. Hjörtur Leó Guðjónsson (18 October 2022). "Skrifar undir hjá KR eftir að Njarðvíkingar riftu samningi hans". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 19 October 2022.
30. Ingvi Þór Sæmundsson (19 October 2022). "Richotti snýr aftur til Njarðvíkur". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 19 October 2022.
31. Sindri Sverrisson (17 October 2022). "Jón Axel klár í slaginn með Grindavík". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 17 October 2022.
32. "Jón Axel semur við Grindavík". Karfan.is (in Icelandic). 19 October 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
33. Atli Arason (21 October 2022). "KR skiptir um Kana". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 21 October 2022.
34. "Grikkinn farinn frá Grindavík". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 1 November 2022. Retrieved 1 November 2022.
35. "Nacho til Njarðvíkur". Karfan.is (in Icelandic). 15 November 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
36. Óskar Ófeigur Jónsson (17 November 2022). "Braut tennurnar í Brynjari Björns fyrir níu árum og er nú mættur aftur á Klakann". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 17 November 2022.
37. Óskar Ófeigur Jónsson (22 November 2022). "Vinnie sló stoðsendingametið sem var sett á síðustu öld". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 23 November 2022.
38. Ingvi Þór Sæmundsson (14 December 2022). "Írsk-bandarískur liðsstyrkur til KR". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 14 December 2022.
39. Runólfur Trausti Þórhallsson (16 December 2022). "KR lætur enn einn útlendinginn fara" (in Icelandic). Retrieved 16 December 2022.
40. Smári Jökull Jónsson (1 January 2023). "Subway Körfuboltakvöld um Loga: "Ætlaði ekki að láta minnast þessa leiks sem hans slakasta El Clasico"". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 1 January 2023.
41. "Besti maður Stjörnunnar á förum". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 29 December 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
42. "Sigur í síðasta leik ársins og breytingar framundan". Stjarnan (in Icelandic). 30 December 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022 – via Facebook.com.
43. Valur Páll Eiríksson (2 January 2023). "Tveir erlendir leikmenn til viðbótar yfirgefa KR". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 2 January 2023.
44. "Lithái til KR-inga - níundi útlendingurinn". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 2 January 2023. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
45. Ingvi Þór Sæmundsson (5 January 2023). "Dagur Kár yfirgefur KR og fer aftur í Stjörnuna". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 5 January 2023.
46. "Tíundi erlendi leikmaðurinn í KR". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 6 January 2023. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
47. "Króatinn yfirgefur Krókinn". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 24 January 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
48. Runólfur Trausti Þórhallsson (27 January 2023). "Vrkić í Grindavík". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 27 January 2023.
49. "Landsliðsmaður mættur aftur á Egilsstaði". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 26 January 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
50. Óskar Ófeigur Jónsson (10 March 2023). "Utan vallar: Hvernig getur félag unnið sex titla í röð og fallið svo fjórum árum síðar?". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 11 March 2023.
51. Runólfur Trausti Þórhallsson (15 April 2023). "Hjalti Þór hættur með Keflavík". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 16 April 2023.
52. Hjörtur Leó Guðjónsson (29 April 2023). "Myndband: Logi Gunnarsson hefur leikið sinn síðasta leik á ferlinum". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 30 April 2023.
53. Einar Sigtryggsson (29 April 2023). "Ég fékk að vera með félögum mínum á stærsta sviðinu". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). Retrieved 30 April 2023.
54. Jóhann Ingi Hafþórsson (18 May 2023). "Fullkominn tími til að kalla þetta gott". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). Retrieved 19 May 2023.
55. "Úrskurðaður í fimm leikja bann". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 2 June 2023. Retrieved 2 June 2023.

External links

• Official Icelandic Basketball Association website
• Season info on Icelandic Basketball Association