2008–09 British Basketball League season

2008–09 BBL season British Basketball League Basketball Roll of Honour BBL Newcastle Eagles Play Off's ß Newcastle Eagles BBL Cup Everton Tigers BBL Trophy Newcastle Eagles List of British Basketball League seasons British Basketball League 2007–08 2009–10 The 2008–09 BBL season was the 22nd campaign in the history of the British Basketball League (BBL), which commenced on 14 September 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. James Pearce Tigers power to victory in final flourish http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/other-sports/2009/01/19/tigers-power-to-victory-in-final-flourish-100252-22724962/ 2008 2010-11-08 Liverpool Echo 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 United Kingdom right 250 Locations of the 2008–09 BBL teams United Kingdom 53.196 -2.890 Jets bottom United Kingdom 53.385 -2.930 Tigers left United Kingdom 51.24844 -0.56288 Heat left United Kingdom 52.62973 -1.13897 Riders right United Kingdom 51.54016 -0.23282 Capital left United Kingdom 51.997121 -0.723289 Lions right United Kingdom 54.963889 -1.623333 Eagles bottom United Kingdom 50.368889 -4.15 Raiders right United Kingdom 55.868494 -4.294044 Rocks left United Kingdom 53.398333 -1.424444 Sharks right United Kingdom 52.19123 -2.222231 Wolves left United Kingdom 50.8163 -0.4982 Thunder left TeamCity/AreaArenaCapacityLast 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 Following a disastrous rookie campaign and lack of investment the Birmingham Panthers franchise folded during the close season and would not return for the 2008–09 season. Colin Tattum Panthers fold as BBL pull the plug http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-sport/other-sport/basketball/2008/06/04/panthers-fold-as-bbl-pull-the-plug-97319-21021775/ 2008 2010-11-08 Birmingham Mail 2012-02-09 https://web.archive.org/web/20120209221903/http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-sport/other-sport/basketball/2008/06/04/panthers-fold-as-bbl-pull-the-plug-97319-21021775/ dead The gap vacated by Panthers was subsequently occupied by Worthing Thunder who stepped up from the English Basketball League Division 1. BBC Sport Worthing Thunder set to join BBL https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/basketball/7413467.stm 2010-11-08 BBC May 21, 2008 Though their application was accepted before the Panthers folded, Worthing were one of two South-coast franchises bidding for a place in the BBL, with an unsuccessful bid coming from Brighton Cougars. Brian Owen Thunder invited into top-flight http://www.theargus.co.uk/sport/thisweeksfixtures/ryman_premier/news_articles/2150739.Thunder_invited_into_top_flight/ 2008 2010-11-08 The Argus The second edition of the Cup Winners' Cup saw Guildford Heat sweep away the honours yet again with a closely fought two-game series against last season's BBL Cup winners Milton Keynes Lions. Heat ran out victors with a 159-149 aggregate score. Richard Spiller Heat win Cup Winners' Cup http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/sport/s/2035832_basketball_heat_win_cup_winners_cup 2008 2010-11-08 getSurrey.co.uk BBL Championship (Tier 1) Final standings PosTeamPldWL%Pts1Newcastle Eagles332850.848562Everton Tigers332490.727483Leicester Riders3321120.636424Guildford Heat3321120.636425Plymouth Raiders3320130.606406Sheffield Sharks3316170.485327Scottish Rocks3316170.485328Cheshire Jets3315180.454309Milton Keynes Lions3314190.4242810Worcester Wolves3311220.3332211Worthing Thunder3310230.3032012London Capital332310.0604 = League winners = Qualified for the play-offs Playoffs Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final 1 Newcastle Eagles 88 8 Cheshire Jets 83 4 Guildford Heat 81 5 Plymouth Raiders 89 2 Everton Tigers 84 7 Scottish Rocks 64 3 Leicester Riders 72 6 Sheffield Sharks 71 1 Newcastle Eagles 93 5 Plymouth Raiders 71 2 Everton Tigers 81 3 Leicester Riders 65 1 Newcastle Eagles 87 2 Everton Tigers 84 Quarter-finals #eee 22 April 2009 Leicester Riders 72 71 Sheffield Sharks John Sandford Centre, Leicester 24 April 2009 Newcastle Eagles 88 83 Cheshire Jets Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle upon Tyne #eee 24 April 2009 Everton Tigers 84 64 Scottish Rocks Greenbank Sports Academy, Liverpool 26 April 2009 Guildford Heat 81 89 Plymouth Raiders Guildford Spectrum, Guildford Semi-finals #eee 2 May 2009 Newcastle Eagles 93 71 Plymouth Raiders National Indoor Arena, Birmingham 2 May 2009 Everton Tigers 81 65 Leicester Riders National Indoor Arena, Birmingham Final #eee 3 May 2009 3.30pm GMT Report Newcastle Eagles 87 84 36-17 15-23 19-12 17-32 Everton Tigers Trey Moore 22, Reggie Jackson 19, Darius Defoe 18, Charles Smith 8, Fab Flournoy 7, Tafari Toney 7, Andrew Bridge 6 Richard Midgley 36, Olu Babalola 25, Marcus Bailey 8, Josh Gross 6, Tony Dorsey 5, Chris Haslam 2, James Jones 2 National Indoor Arena, Birmingham 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 aggregate score from both games. First leg #eee 14 September 2008 3.00pm GMT Report Guildford Heat 91 89 29-27 24-24 16-17 22-21 Milton Keynes Lions Yorick Williams, 23 Brad Jones, 20 Guildford Spectrum, Guildford Second leg #eee 19 September 2008 7.30pm GMT Report Milton Keynes Lions 60 68 9-18 22-20 11-13 18-17 Guildford Heat Robert Youngblood, 14 Robert Youngblood, 10 Keonta Howell, 18 Keonta Howell, 11 Bletchley Centre, Milton Keynes Guildford Heat win 159-149 on aggregate scoring. EBL National League Division 1 (Tier 2) Final standings PosTeamPldWL%Pts1 Reading Rockets 18 18 0 1.000362 Manchester Magic 18 15 3 0.83330 3 London Leopards 18 12 6 0.66724 4 City of Sheffield Arrows 18 10 8 0.55620 5 Bristol Academy Flyers 18 9 9 0.50018 6 Coventry Crusaders 18 8 10 0.44416 7 Tees Valley Mohawks 18 8 10 0.44416 8 Derby Trailblazers 18 5 13 0.27810 9 Cardiff Celts 18 3 15 0.1676 10 Taunton Tigers 18 2 16 0.1114 = League winners = Qualified for the play-offs EBL National League Division 2 (Tier 3) Final standings PosTeamPldWL%Pts1 Leeds Carnegie 22 18 4 0.818362 London Mets 22 17 5 0.77334 3 Leicester Warriors 22 15 7 0.68230 4 Birmingham A's 22 14 8 0.63628 5 Kent Crusaders 22 13 9 0.59126 6 Team Northumbria 22 12 10 0.54524 7 Plymouth Raiders II 22 10 12 0.45520 8 Newi Nets 22 10 12 0.45520 9 Colchester Hornets 22 8 14 0.36416 10 Plymouth Marjon Cannons 22 8 14 0.36416 11 Northampton Neptunes 22 5 17 0.22710 12 University of Birmingham 22 2 20 0.0914 = 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 #eee 18 October 2008 Leicester Riders 99 75 Worthing Thunder John Sandford Centre, Leicester 20 October 2008 Worcester Wolves 80 89 Sheffield Sharks University of Worcester, Worcester #eee 20 October 2008 Scottish Rocks 69 88 Everton Tigers Kelvin Hall, Glasgow 20 October 2008 Cheshire Jets 88 73 London Capital Northgate Arena, Cheshire Quarter-finals #eee 26 October 2008 Plymouth Raiders 101 76 Leicester Riders Plymouth Pavilions, Plymouth 29 October 2008 Guildford Heat 78 74 Sheffield Sharks Guildford Spectrum, Guildford #eee 31 October 2008 Newcastle Eagles 112 92 Cheshire Jets Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle upon Tyne 2 November 2008 Milton Keynes Lions 75 97 Everton Tigers Bletchley Centre, Milton Keynes Semi-finals 1st leg #eee 23 November 2008 Guildford Heat 73 88 Plymouth Raiders Guildford Spectrum, Guildford 29 November 2008 Newcastle Eagles 112 105 Everton Tigers Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle upon Tyne Semi-finals 2nd leg #eee 26 November 2008 Plymouth Raiders 74 69 Guildford Heat Plymouth Pavilions, Plymouth 5 December 2008 Everton Tigers 97 86 Newcastle Eagles Greenbank Sports Academy, Liverpool Plymouth Raiders win 162-142 on aggregate and Everton Tigers win 202-198 on aggregate. Final #eee 18 January 2009 3.30pm GMT Report Plymouth Raiders 49 103 11-20 11-30 6-22 21-31 Everton Tigers Gaylon Moore 19, Andrew Lasker 9, Allister Gall 8, Kwbana Beckles 5, Terrence Durham 4, James Noel 4 Andre Smith 26, Marcus Bailey 26, Richard Midgley 16, James Jones 11, Olu Babalola 11, Delm Herriman 7 National Indoor Arena, Birmingham 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 TeamPtsPldWLPercent1.Newcastle Eagles64310.7502.Sheffield Sharks44220.5003.Scottish Rocks24130.250 Group 3 TeamPtsPldWLPercent1.Guildford Heat84401.0002.Milton Keynes Lions44220.5003.London Capital04040.000 Group 2 TeamPtsPldWLPercent1.Everton Tigers84401.0002.Cheshire Jets44220.5003.Leicester Riders04040.000 Group 4 TeamPtsPldWLPercent1.Plymouth Raiders64310.7502.Worcester Wolves44220.5003.Worthing Thunder24130.250 Semi-finals 1st leg #eee 14 February 2009 Plymouth Raiders 76 97 Guildford Heat Plymouth Pavilions, Plymouth 17 February 2009 Everton Tigers 82 88 Newcastle Eagles Greenbank Sports Academy, Liverpool Semi-finals 2nd leg #eee 18 February 2009 Guildford Heat 90 85 Plymouth Raiders Guildford Spectrum, Guildford 20 February 2009 Newcastle Eagles 88 77 Everton Tigers Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle upon Tyne Guildford Heat win 187-161 on aggregate and Newcastle Eagles win 176-159 on aggregate. Final #eee 15 March 2009 3.15pm GMT Report Guildford Heat 71 83 21-17 21-22 12-23 17-21 Newcastle Eagles Keonta Howell 30, Michael Martin 12, Kabir Abu 9 Trey Moore (MVP) 28, Andrew Bridge 17, Reggie Jackson 13, Darius Defoe 11, Tafari Toney 10 Guildford Spectrum, Guildford All-Star Game #eee 5 May 2009 1.30pm GMT Great Britain All-Stars 117 124 33-33 22-27 34-40 28-24 Rest of the World All-Stars Chris Sanders, 30 Chris Sanders, 9 Anthony Martin, 7 Andrew Lasker, 22 Frank Phiffer, 9 Ryan Patton, 4 National Indoor Arena, Birmingham +Great Britain All-Stars Num. Player Team Starters 5 UK Yorick Williams Milton Keynes Lions 12 UK Anthony Martin Plymouth Raiders 15 UK Barry Lamble Leicester Riders 20 USA UK Gaylon Moore Plymouth Raiders 22 UK Mike Martin Guildford Heat Reserves 4 UK Daniel Hildreth Worthing Thunder 8 UK Darren Mills London Capital 9 UK Steven Gayle Cheshire Jets 10 UK Daniel Sandell Guildford Heat 11 UK Dru Spinks Milton Keynes Lions 14 UK Chris Sanders Sheffield Sharks 21 Ghana UK Ibrahim Gariba London Capital +Rest of the World All-Stars Num. Player Team Starters 4 USA Ryan Patton Worthing Thunder 10 USA Duane James Leicester Riders 11 USA Andrew Lasker Plymouth Raiders 21 France Harry Disy Worcester Wolves 23 USA Matt Gorman Sheffield Sharks Reserves 5 USA Poland Bradd Wierzbicki Leicester Riders 7 USA Keonta Howell Guildford Heat 8 Lithuania Janis Ivanokskis Worthing Thunder 12 Lithuania Vidmantas Uzkuraitis Worcester Wolves 14 USA DeAntoine Beasley Plymouth Raiders 20 USA Chad McKnight Guildford Heat 22 USA Frank Phiffer Cheshire Jets Seasonal awards Most Valuable Player: Trey Moore (Newcastle) Coach of the Year: Rob Paternostro (Leicester) All-Star First Team: Trey Moore (Newcastle) Andre Smith (Everton) Keonta Howell (Guildford) Robert Yanders (Scots Rocks) Tommy Swanson (Leicester) All-Star Second Team: Mike Martin (Guildford) Josh Gross (Everton) Andrew Lasker (Plymouth) Anthony Paez (Worcester) Chris Sanders (Sheffield) References 2007–08 season 2009–10 season BBL seasons 2008–09 Category:British Basketball League seasons 1 British