Final Four

The Final Four was a tournament at the start of the season, played in the autumn of 1993 and of 1994. The first edition came from the Dutch federation (NBB) and the FEB (Federation of Eredivisie Basketball Clubs). The teams first played a single round-robin, then the best four played a weekend with semi-finals, a third-place game and the final. The idea came from Frank Voskuilen, chairman of the Haarlem Basketball Week, who had argued for two years for more highlights in a season. In 1993 the prize was a place in the Haarlem Basketball Week and in the European Cup II.

The first Final Four was played on 30 and 31 October 1993 in the Quelderduyn sports hall in Den Helder. The organisation, handed to two agencies, only got the go-ahead on 10 October, and it showed: the stands were still being built on match day and the first game started late. About a thousand spectators came on each day. Den Helder beat Den Bosch in the semi-final (84-77) and Weert in the final, and received four thousand guilders (about € 1,815). Coaches found the group stage, ten games in little more than a month alongside the European Cup, too heavy.