2001–02 British Basketball League season

2001–2002 British Basketball League season
League	British Basketball League
Sport	Basketball
Roll of Honour
BBL champions	N Chester Jets S London Towers
Play Off's champions	Chester Jets
National Cup champions	Chester Jets
BBL Trophy champions	Chester Jets

The 2001-02 season was the 15th season in the history of the British Basketball League. The regular season ran from September 27, 2001, to March 31, 2002, whilst the post-season Play-offs culminated with the Grand Final at Wembley Arena on April 27. Chester Jets claimed a famous "clean-sweep" by winning all three BBL competitions as well as the ntl:home National Cup. Jets' head coach Robbie Peers was awarded the League's Coach of the Year accolade whilst John Thomas, also of the Jets, claimed that Player of the Year award.

London Towers represented the United Kingdom in Europe's most prestigious competition, the Euroleague, however the capital-based team came up against giants Kinder Bologna, FC Barcelona and Union Olimpija in Group B and eventually finished with a 0-14 record. Birmingham Bullets made a brief appearance in the North European Basketball League.

The Manchester Giants franchise, once one of the League's title contenders, were withdrawn from the BBL mid-way through the season by League officials following ongoing financial difficulties. Prior to withdrawing in December, the Giants had a 2-7 record in the Northern Conference.

Locations of the 2001-02 BBL teams

Notable occurrences

It was announced on December 7, 2001, that the Manchester Giants franchise had been withdrawn by League officials. The team had a 2-7 record in the Northern Conference before being expelled from the competition due to unfulfilling a fixture and a lack of finance.^[1]
The Southern All-Star's claimed the annual All-Star Game with an emphatic 196-142 victory against the Northern All-Stars at the Telewest Arena. Greater London Leopards' Rico Alderson was named as the game's MVP with 34 points and 15 rebounds. Brighton Bears' Albert White lead the game scoring with 38 points.^[2]
The Birmingham Bullets' regular season home match against Edinburgh Rocks on February 2, 2002, was abandoned due to a waterlogged court. Severe heavy rain and a leak in the Aston Villa Leisure Centre roof caused the main court to flood and the game to be postponed.^[3]

BBL Championship (Tier 1)

Final standings

Northern Conference

Team	Pts	Pld	W	L	Percentage
1. Chester Jets	48	32	24	8	0.750
2. Sheffield Sharks	42	32	21	11	0.656
3. Newcastle Eagles	34	32	17	15	0.531
4. Edinburgh Rocks	26	32	13	19	0.406
5. Leicester Riders	22	32	11	21	0.344
6. Derby Storm	6	32	3	29	0.094

Southern Conference

Team	Pts	Pld	W	L	Percentage
1. London Towers	42	32	21	11	0.656
2. Brighton Bears	42	32	21	11	0.656
3. Milton Keynes Lions	32	32	16	16	0.500
4. Greater London Leopards	32	32	16	16	0.500
5. Birmingham Bullets	30	32	15	17	0.469
6. Thames Valley Tigers	28	32	14	18	0.438

	= Conference winners
	= Qualified for the Play-offs

The Play-offs

1st Round

April 6, 2002

Newcastle Eagles

94–88

Greater London Leopards

SkyDome Arena, Coventry

April 6, 2002

Milton Keynes Lions

69–64

Edinburgh Rocks

SkyDome Arena, Coventry

Quarter-finals

April 7, 2002

Sheffield Sharks

85–81

Milton Keynes Lions

SkyDome Arena, Coventry

April 7, 2002

Brighton Bears

102–101 (OT)

Newcastle Eagles

SkyDome Arena, Coventry

Semi-finals

April 14, 2002

London Towers

87–104

Sheffield Sharks

SkyDome Arena, Coventry

April 14, 2002

Chester Jets

95–82

Brighton Bears

SkyDome Arena, Coventry

Final

April 27, 2002

Report

Chester Jets	93–82	Sheffield Sharks
Scoring by quarter: 20-19, 25-24, 23-18, 25-21
Pts: John McCord (MVP) 31, Pero Cameron 20, John Thomas 19, Calvin Davis 12, James Hamilton 11		Pts: Lynard Stewart, 18, Michael Payne 15, Justin Phoenix 14, Jeff Monaco 13, Nate Reinking 11

Wembley Arena, London

National League Conference (Tier 2)

Final standings

Team	Pts	Pld	W	L
1. Teesside Mohawks	34	18	17	1
2. Plymouth Raiders	28	18	14	4
3. Solent Stars	22	18	11	7
4. Kingston Wildcats	20	18	10	8
5. Manchester Magic	18	18	9	9
6. Worthing Thunder	18	18	9	9
7. Reading Rockets	14	18	7	11
8. Inter-Basket London	10	18	5	13
9. Coventry & Warwickshire Crusaders	8	18	4	14
10. Sutton Pumas	8	18	4	14

	= League winners
	= Qualified for the Play-offs

Play Off Final - Teesside 127 Solent 117 (OT)

National League Division 1 (Tier 3)

Final standings

Team	Pts	Pld	W	L
1. Derbyshire Arrows	40	22	20	2
2. Ealing Tornadoes	38	22	19	3
3. Ware Fire	32	22	16	6
4. Oxford Devils	32	22	16	6
5. Hull Icebergs	24	21	12	9
6. Westminster Warriors	22	21	11	10
7. North London Lords	15	21	7	14
8. NW London Wolverines	14	22	7	15
9. Worcester Wolves	14	22	7	15
10. Mansfield Express	13	21	6	15
11. Cardiff Clippers	12	22	6	16
12. Liverpool Basketball Club	6	22	3	19

	= League winners
	= Qualified for the Play-offs

Play Off Final - Derbyshire 83 Ealing 81

National League Division 2 North (=Tier 4)

Final standings

Team	Pts	Pld	W	L
1. Dudley Bears	34	18	17	1
2. Middlesbrough College	32	18	16	2
3. Manchester Magic B	26	18	13	5
4. Hanley Hornets	18	17	9	8
5. Northumbria University	14	18	7	11
6. Colchester Alliance	14	16	7	9
7. Northampton Neptunes	12	16	6	10
8. South Nottingham College	12	16	6	10
9. University of Birmingham	4	16	2	14
10. Sheffield Sabres	2	15	1	14

	= League winners
	= Qualified for the Play-offs

Play Off Final - Dudley 63 Bristol 58

National League Division 2 South (=Tier 4)

Final standings

Team	Pts	Pld	W	L
1. Bristol Bombers	32	16	16	0
2. Barking & Dagenham Thunder	22	16	11	5
3. Taunton Tigers	20	16	10	6
4. Tamar Valley Cannons	20	16	10	6
5. Brighton Cougars	16	16	8	8
6. Brixton TopCats	14	16	7	9
7. Thames Valley Tigers B	8	16	4	12
8. Bognor Pirates	6	16	3	13
9. Swindon Sonics	6	16	3	13
10. Oxford Braves - withdrew	N/A	14	7	7

	= League winners
	= Qualified for the Play-offs

NTL National Cup

Last 16

Team 1	Team 2	Score
Worthing Thunder	Leicester Riders	89-126
Plymouth Raiders	Birmingham Bullets	75-101
Teeside Mohawks	Newcastle Eagles	101-113
Chester Jets	Brighton Bears	90-74
Edinburgh Rocks	London Towers	86-84
Manchester Giants	Thames Valley Tigers	75-87
Derby Storm	Milton Keynes Lions	70-90
Greater London Leopards	Sheffield Sharks	88-96

Quarter Finals

Team 1	Team 2	Score
Milton Keynes Lions	Thames Valley Tigers	70-83
Leicester Riders	Sheffield Sharks	76-99
Chester Jets	Newcastle Eagles	92-83
Birmingham Bullets	Edinburgh Rocks	67-66

Semi Finals

Team 1	Team 2	Score
Chester Jets	Thames Valley Tigers	106-90
Birmingham Bullets	Sheffield Sharks	75-70

Final

13 January 2002

Chester Jets	112–105	Birmingham Bullets
Pts: Calvin Davis 30, John McCord 26, Pero Cameron 19, James Hamilton 19		Pts: Rashod Johnson 39, Brant Bailey 34, Rob Paternostro 20

Sheffield Arena

BBL Trophy

This season's BBL Trophy featured all 12 BBL teams. The First Round saw all 12 teams split into two groups with the top four finishing teams advancing to the knockout stage.

Group Stage

Group A

Team	Pts	Pld	W	L	Percent
1.Chester Jets	10	5	5	0	1.000
2.Brighton Bears	8	5	4	1	0.800
3.Greater London Leopards	6	5	3	2	0.600
4.Thames Valley Tigers	4	5	2	3	0.400
5.Derby Storm	2	5	1	4	0.200
6.Leicester Riders	0	5	0	5	0.000

Group B

Team	Pts	Pld	W	L	Percent
1.Milton Keynes Lions	8	5	4	1	0.800
2.Sheffield Sharks	8	5	4	1	0.800
3.London Towers	6	5	3	2	0.600
4.Newcastle Eagles	6	5	3	2	0.600
5.Birmingham Bullets	2	5	1	4	0.200
6.Edinburgh Rocks	0	5	0	5	0.000

Quarter-finals

February 3, 2002

Milton Keynes Lions

68–67

Thames Valley Tigers

SkyDome Arena, Coventry

February 3, 2002

Chester Jets

91–87

Newcastle Eagles

SkyDome Arena, Coventry

February 3, 2002

Brighton Bears

83–89

London Towers

SkyDome Arena, Coventry

February 3, 2002

Sheffield Sharks

78–83

Greater London Leopards

SkyDome Arena, Coventry

Semi-finals

February 23, 2002

Milton Keynes Lions

73–63

London Towers

SkyDome Arena, Coventry

February 23, 2002

Chester Jets

92–81

Greater London Leopards

SkyDome Arena, Coventry

Final

March 16, 2002

Report

Chester Jets	90–89	Milton Keynes Lions
Scoring by quarter: 27-20, 17-23, 19-26, 27-20
Pts: John Thomas 38, John McCord 19, Pero Cameron 12		Pts: Jermaine Brown 26, Nigel Lloyd 20, Victor Payne 18

National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham

All-Star Game

January 20, 2002

Northern All-Stars

142–196

Southern All-Stars

Telewest Arena, Newcastle upon Tyne

Statistics leaders

Category	Player	Stat
Points per game	John McCord (Chester Jets)	25.5
Rebounds per game	Antonia Garcia (Birmingham Bullets)	14.9
Assists per game	Nigel Lloyd (Milton Keynes Lions)	6.8

Seasonal awards

Most Valuable Player: John Thomas (Chester Jets)
Coach of the Year: Robbie Peers (Chester Jets)
Defensive Player of the Year: Brendan Graves (Edinburgh Rocks)
Most Improved Player: Victor Payne (Milton Keynes Lions)
Sixth Man Award: Rodger Farrington (Brighton Bears)

References

↑ "Cash-strapped Giants sacked from big league". Daily Mail. 2002. Retrieved 2012-11-21.
↑ "South poles ahead in All-Star rout". Britball.com. 2002. Retrieved 2012-11-21.
↑ "Newcastle leap to third". Britball.com. 2002. Retrieved 2012-11-21.

Preceded by 2000–01 season	BBL seasons 2001–02	Succeeded by 2002–03 season

British Basketball League

Bristol Flyers Cheshire Phoenix Glasgow Rocks Leeds Force Leicester Riders London Lions Manchester Giants Newcastle Eagles Plymouth Raiders Sheffield Sharks Surrey Scorchers Worcester Wolves

Competitions	BBL Championship (Play-off Finals) BBL Cup BBL Trophy Cup Winners' Cup (defunct) Women's British Basketball League

Seasons	1972-73 1973-74 1974-75 1975-76 1976-77 1977-78 1978-79 1979-80 1980-81 1981-82 1982-83 1983-84 1984-85 1985-86 1986-87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16

Awards	Individual: Coach of the Year Most Valuable Player Team: British Team of the Year Defensive Team of the Year Team of the Year

Other	BBL TV Expansion British Basketball Union English Basketball League Scottish National League National Cup National Basketball League

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, March 03, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.