2008–09 British Basketball League season

2008–2009 British Basketball League season
League British Basketball League
Sport Basketball
Roll of Honour
BBL champions Newcastle Eagles
Play Off's champions Newcastle Eagles
BBL Cup champions Everton Tigers
BBL Trophy champions Newcastle Eagles

The 2008-2009 season was the 22nd campaign in the history of the British Basketball League (BBL), which commenced on September 14, 2008 with the Cup Winners' Cup. The regular season began a week later with 12 teams competing, though a line-up change saw the Birmingham Panthers withdraw and fold during close season and the inclusion of Worthing Thunder from the English Basketball League.

Newcastle Eagles continued their dominance of Britain's basketball scene, scooping up the League title, the Play-off crown and the BBL Trophy, beating rivals Guildford Heat 71-83 at the Guildford Spectrum. After a promising rookie season for Everton Tigers in 2007-08, the Merseyside team came of age in their sophomore year, finishing as runners-up in the League and the Play-offs whilst entering the record books for their 103-49 win in the BBL Cup Final against Plymouth Raiders, the biggest winning margin (54 points) in BBL history and lowest ever score conceded in a Final.[1]

This season also saw the return of the BBL All-Star game, which was played as a warm-up to the Play-off Grand Final. Two select-teams - the British All-Stars and the Rest of the World All-Stars - were pitted together using a selection of players from across the League, with the Rest of the World team narrowly winning 117-124.

Teams

Team City/Area Arena Capacity Last season
Cheshire Jets Chester Northgate Arena 1,000 11th
Everton Tigers Liverpool Echo Arena &
Greenbank Sports Academy
7,513
600
7th
Guildford Heat Guildford Guildford Spectrum 1,100 2nd
Leicester Riders Leicester John Sandford Centre 800 10th
London Capital London Capital City Academy 300 9th
Milton Keynes Lions Milton Keynes Bletchley Centre 800 4th
Newcastle Eagles Newcastle upon Tyne Metro Radio Arena 6,500 1st
Plymouth Raiders Plymouth Plymouth Pavilions 1,480 3rd
Scottish Rocks Glasgow Kelvin Hall 1,200 5th
Sheffield Sharks Sheffield English Institute of Sport 1,200 6th
Worcester Wolves Worcester University of Worcester 600 8th
Worthing Thunder Worthing Worthing Leisure Centre 1,000 New

Notable occurrences

BBL Championship (Tier 1)

Final standings

TeamPtsPldWLPercentage
1. Newcastle Eagles 56332850.848
2. Everton Tigers 48332490.727
3. Leicester Riders 423321120.636
4. Guildford Heat 423321120.636
5. Plymouth Raiders 403320130.606
6. Sheffield Sharks 323316170.484
7. Scottish Rocks 323316170.484
8. Cheshire Jets 303315180.454
9. Milton Keynes Lions 283314190.424
10. Worcester Wolves 223311220.333
11. Worthing Thunder 203310230.303
12. London Capital 4332310.060
= League winners
= Qualified for the Play-offs

The Play-offs

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
         
1 Newcastle Eagles 88
8 Cheshire Jets 83
1 Newcastle Eagles 93
5 Plymouth Raiders 71
4 Guildford Heat 81
5 Plymouth Raiders 89
1 Newcastle Eagles 87
2 Everton Tigers 84
2 Everton Tigers 84
7 Scottish Rocks 64
2 Everton Tigers 81
3 Leicester Riders 65
3 Leicester Riders 72
6 Sheffield Sharks 71

Quarter-finals

April 22, 2009
Leicester Riders 7271 Sheffield Sharks
John Sandford Centre, Leicester
April 24, 2009
Everton Tigers 8464 Scottish Rocks
Greenbank Sports Academy, Liverpool

Semi-finals

Final

May 3, 2009
3.30pm GMT
Newcastle Eagles 8784 Everton Tigers
Scoring by quarter: 36-17, 15-23, 19-12, 17-32
Pts: Trey Moore 22, Reggie Jackson 19, Darius Defoe 18, Charles Smith 8, Fab Flournoy 7, Tafari Toney 7, Andrew Bridge 6 Pts: Richard Midgley 36, Olu Babalola 25, Marcus Bailey 8, Josh Gross 6, Tony Dorsey 5, Chris Haslam 2, James Jones 2


Cup Winners' Cup

The Cup Winners' Cup was contested between the winners of the BBL Cup and BBL Trophy from the previous season. Guildford were winners of the Trophy and Milton Keynes were winners of the Cup. The tournament was played over two-legs - one at each home arena - and the winner decided by a total aggregae score from both games.

First Leg

September 14, 2008
3.00pm GMT
Guildford Heat 9189 Milton Keynes Lions
Scoring by quarter: 29-27, 24-24, 16-17, 22-21
Pts: Yorick Williams, 23 Pts: Brad Jones, 20

Second Leg

September 19, 2008
7.30pm GMT
Milton Keynes Lions 6068 Guildford Heat
Scoring by quarter: 9-18, 22-20, 11-13, 18-17
Pts: Robert Youngblood, 14
Rebs: Robert Youngblood, 10
Pts: Keonta Howell, 18
Rebs: Keonta Howell, 11
Guildford Heat win 159-149 on aggregate scoring.


EBL National League Division 1 (Tier 2)

Final standings

TeamPtsPldWL
1. Reading Rockets 3618180
2. Manchester Magic 3018153
3. London Leopards 2418126
4. City of Sheffield Arrows 2018108
5. Bristol Academy Flyers 181899
6. Coventry Crusaders 1618810
7. Tees Valley Mohawks 1618810
8. Derby Trailblazers 1018513
9. Cardiff Celts 618315
10. Taunton Tigers 418216
= League winners
= Qualified for the Play-offs


EBL National League Division 2 (Tier 3)

Final standings

TeamPtsPldWL
1. Leeds Carnegie 3622184
2. London Mets 3422175
3. Leicester Warriors 3022157
4. Birmingham A's 2822148
5. Kent Crusaders 2622139
6. Team Northumbria 24221210
7. Plymouth Raiders B 20221012
8. Newi Nets 20221012
9. Colchester Hornets 1622814
10. Plymouth Marjon Cannons 16222814
11. Northampton Neptunes 1022517
12. University of Birmingham 422220
= League winners
= Qualified for the Play-offs


BBL Cup

Of the 12 competing teams in this season's BBL Cup, eight entered into the First Round while the top-four ranked teams from last season's Championship - Guildford Heat, Milton Keynes Lions, Newcastle Eagles and Plymouth Raiders - received byes into the Quarter-finals, where they would also receive home-court advantage.

First Round

October 18, 2008
Leicester Riders 9975 Worthing Thunder
John Sandford Centre, Leicester
October 20, 2008
Scottish Rocks 6988 Everton Tigers

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals 1st Leg

Semi-finals 2nd Leg

December 5, 2008
Everton Tigers 9786 Newcastle Eagles
Greenbank Sports Academy, Liverpool
Plymouth Raiders win 162-142 on aggregate and Everton Tigers win 202-198 on aggregate.

Final

January 18, 2009
3.30pm GMT
Plymouth Raiders 49103 Everton Tigers
Scoring by quarter: 11-20, 11-30, 6-22, 21-31
Pts: Gaylon Moore 19, Andrew Lasker 9, Allister Gall 8, Kwbana Beckles 5, Terrence Durham 4, James Noel 4 Pts: Andre Smith 26, Marcus Bailey 26, Richard Midgley 16, James Jones 11, Olu Babalola 11, Delm Herriman 7


BBL Trophy

The First Round of the BBL Trophy uses its usually round-robin format with the 12 competing teams divided into four regionalised groups with the winner of each group then advancing to a two-legged Semi-final encounter and progress to the Final being determined by a total aggregate score.

Group Stage

Group 1

Team Pts Pld W L Percent
1.Newcastle Eagles 64310.750
2.Sheffield Sharks 44220.500
3.Scottish Rocks 24130.250

Group 3

Team Pts Pld W L Percent
1.Guildford Heat 84401.000
2.Milton Keynes Lions 44220.500
3.London Capital 04040.000

Group 2

Team Pts Pld W L Percent
1.Everton Tigers 84401.000
2.Cheshire Jets 44220.500
3.Leicester Riders 04040.000

Group 4

Team Pts Pld W L Percent
1.Plymouth Raiders 64310.750
2.Worcester Wolves 44220.500
3.Worthing Thunder 24130.250

Semi-finals 1st Leg

February 17, 2009
Everton Tigers 8288 Newcastle Eagles
Greenbank Sports Academy, Liverpool

Semi-finals 2nd Leg

Guildford Heat win 187-161 on aggregate and Newcastle Eagles win 176-159 on aggregate.

Final

March 15, 2009
3.15pm GMT
Guildford Heat 7183 Newcastle Eagles
Scoring by quarter: 21-17, 21-22, 12-23, 17-21
Pts: Keonta Howell 30, Michael Martin 12, Kabir Abu 9 Pts: Trey Moore (MVP) 28, Andrew Bridge 17, Reggie Jackson 13, Darius Defoe 11, Tafari Toney 10

All-Star Game

May 5, 2009
1.30pm GMT
Great Britain All-Stars 117124 Rest of the World All-Stars
Scoring by quarter: 33-33, 22-27, 34-40, 28-24
Pts: Chris Sanders, 30
Rebs: Chris Sanders, 9
Asts: Anthony Martin, 7
Pts: Andrew Lasker, 22
Rebs: Frank Phiffer, 9
Asts: Ryan Patton, 4

Great Britain All-Stars
Num. Player Team
Starters
5 United Kingdom Yorick Williams Milton Keynes Lions
12 United Kingdom Anthony Martin Plymouth Raiders
15 United Kingdom Barry Lamble Leicester Riders
20 United States United Kingdom Gaylon Moore Plymouth Raiders
22 United Kingdom Mike Martin Guildford Heat
Reserves
4 United Kingdom Daniel Hildreth Worthing Thunder
8 United Kingdom Darren Mills London Capital
9 United Kingdom Steven Gayle Cheshire Jets
10 United Kingdom Daniel Sandell Guildford Heat
11 United Kingdom Dru Spinks Milton Keynes Lions
14 United Kingdom Chris Sanders Sheffield Sharks
21 Ghana United Kingdom Ibrahim Gariba London Capital

Rest of the World All-Stars
Num. Player Team
Starters
4 United States Ryan Patton Worthing Thunder
10 United States Duane James Leicester Riders
11 United States Andrew Lasker Plymouth Raiders
21 France Harry Disy Worcester Wolves
23 United States Matt Gorman Sheffield Sharks
Reserves
5 United States Poland Bradd Wierzbicki Leicester Riders
7 United States Keonta Howell Guildford Heat
8 Lithuania Janis Ivanokskis Worthing Thunder
12 Lithuania Vidmantas Uzkuraitis Worcester Wolves
14 United States DeAntoine Beasley Plymouth Raiders
20 United States Chad McKnight Guildford Heat
22 United States Frank Phiffer Cheshire Jets

Seasonal awards

References

  1. James Pearce (2008). "Tigers power to victory in final flourish". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 2010-11-08.
  2. Colin Tattum (2008). "Panthers fold as BBL pull the plug". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 2010-11-08.
  3. BBC Sport (May 21, 2008). "Worthing Thunder set to join BBL". BBC. Retrieved 2010-11-08.
  4. Brian Owen (2008). "Thunder invited into top-flight". The Argus. Retrieved 2010-11-08.
  5. Richard Spiller (2008). "Heat win Cup Winners' Cup". getSurrey.co.uk. Retrieved 2010-11-08.
Preceded by
2007–08 season
BBL seasons
2008–09
Succeeded by
2009–10 season
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