1996–97 British Basketball League season

1996–97 BBL season British Basketball League Basketball Roll of Honour BBL Leopards Play Off's London Towers National Cup Leopards BBL Trophy London Towers List of British Basketball League seasons British Basketball League 1995–96 1997–98 The 1996–97 BBL season was known as the Budweiser League for sponsorship reasons. The league retained a total of 13 teams, playing 36 games each. The main change featured the return of Crystal Palace after several seasons of rejected applications. Palace replaced Doncaster Panthers following the liquidation of the South Yorkshire club.http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&userGroupName=oxfshlib&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=BasicSearchForm&docId=IF500804411&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0 "Final place in Olympic team goes to Elliott." Times [London, England] 25 June 1996 The Times Digital Archive The League's two London-based teams dominated throughout the season, with the Leopards team claiming their first silverware in its franchise history after winning the Budweiser League and Sainsbury's Classic Cola Cup double. Their Capital foes, London Towers were equally successful throughout the campaign, clinching the 7 Up Trophy and pipping Leopards to the play-off title, with a one-point victory in the final at Wembley Arena against their rivals. Budweiser League Championship (Tier 1) Final standings PosTeamPldWL%Pts1 Leopards 36 28 8 0.778562 London Towers 36 26 10 0.72252 3 Sheffield Sharks 36 26 10 0.72252 4 Birmingham Bullets 36 26 10 0.72252 5 Chester Jets 36 24 12 0.66748 6 Manchester Giants 36 22 14 0.61144 7 Newcastle Eagles 36 21 15 0.583428 Leicester Riders 36 15 21 0.41630 9 Derby Storm 36 14 22 0.38928 10 Thames Valley Tigers 36 14 22 0.38928 11 Worthing Bears 36 12 24 0.33324 12 Crystal Palace 36 5 31 0.13810 13 Hemel & Watford Royals 36 2 34 0.0554 = League winners = Qualified for the play-offs Playoffs Quarter-finals (1) Leopards vs. (8) Leicester Riders #eee 12 April 1997 Leicester Riders 122 130 Leopards 13 April 1997 Leopards 114 105 Leicester Riders Leopards wins series, 2–0 (2) London Towers vs. (7) Newcastle Eagles #eee 11 April 1997 Newcastle Eagles 79 91 London Towers 15 April 1997 London Towers 70 80 Newcastle Eagles #eee 20 April 1997 London Towers 96 80 Newcastle Eagles London wins series, 2–1 (3) Sheffield Sharks vs. (6) Manchester Giants #eee 13 April 1997 Manchester Giants 72 77 Sheffield Sharks 15 April 1997 Sheffield Sharks 74 68 Manchester Giants Sheffield wins series, 2–0 (4) Birmingham Bullets vs. (5) Chester Jets #eee 13 April 1997 Chester Jets 86 78 Birmingham Bullets 16 April 1997 Birmingham Bullets 82 72 Chester Jets #eee 18 April 1997 Birmingham Bullets 78 81 Chester Jets Chester wins series, 2–1 Semi-finals #eee 3 May 1997 Leopards 102 101 Chester Jets Wembley Arena, London 3 May 1997 London Towers 80 72 Sheffield Sharks Wembley Arena, London Final #eee 4 May 1997 Report London Towers 89 88 Leopards Keith Robinson (MVP) 25, Danny Lewis 22, Neville Austin 11, Roger Duhaney, Tony Windless, Alan Cunningham, Paul Deppisch, Karl Brown Eric Burks 22, Ronnie Baker 20, Tim Davis 16, Robert Youngblood, John Tresvant, John White Wembley Arena, London ?Towers coach Kevin Cadle Leopards coach Billy Mims National League Division 1 (Tier 2) Final standings PosTeamPldWL%Pts1 Ware Rebels 26 21 5 0.808472 Plymouth Raiders 26 20 6 0.76946 3 Coventry Crusaders 26 18 8 0.69344 4 Guildford Swifts 26 18 8 0.69344 5 Oxford Devils 26 16 10 0.61542 6 Westminster Warriors 26 15 11 0.578417 Stockton Mohawks 26 14 12 0.53840 8 Cardiff Phoenix 26 14 12 0.53840 9 Nottingham Knights 26 12 14 0.46237 10 Bury & Bolton Wildcats 26 11 15 0.42336 11 Mid-Sussex Magic 26 10 16 0.38536 12 Brixton TopCats 26 7 19 0.26933 13 Liverpool Atac 26 6 20 0.23132 14 Solent Stars 26 0 26 0.00026 = League winners = Qualified for the play-offs Playoffs Semi-finals 19 April 1997 Plymouth Raiders 56 48 Coventry Crusaders #eee 20 April 1997 Ware Rebels 83 77 Oxford Devils Final #eee 4 May 1997 Ware Rebels 106 118 Plymouth Raiders Wembley Arena National League Division 2 (Tier 3) Final standings PosTeamPldWL%Pts1 Solihull Chiefs 26 25 1 0.962512 London Towers II 26 22 4 0.84648 3 Thames Valley Tigers II 26 20 6 0.76946 4 South Wales SS 26 17 9 0.65443 5 South Bank Leopards 26 15 11 0.57841 6 Derby Storm II 26 15 11 0.578417 Slough Chargers 26 14 12 0.53840 8 Northampton 89ers 26 11 15 0.42337 9 Aston Adante 26 9 17 0.34635 10 Swindon Sonics 26 8 18 0.30834 11 Flintshire Flyers 26 7 19 0.26933 12 Chessington Wildcats 26 7 19 0.26933 13 Sheffield Forgers 26 6 20 0.23131 14 Bournemouth Dolphins 26 5 21 0.19230 = League winners = Qualified for the play-offs Playoffs Final #eee Thames Valley Tigers II 91 83 Solihull Chiefs Wembley Arena Sainsbury's Classic Cola National Cup Fourth round Team 1 Team 2 Score Manchester Giants Crystal Palace 91-61 Coventry Crusaders Sheffield Sharks 56-86 Birmingham Bullets Hemel & Watford Royals 91-84 Cardiff Phoenix London Towers 55-95 Ware Rebels Newcastle Eagles 70-102 Thames Valley Tigers Derby Storm 80-79 Worthing Bears Leicester Riders 74-84 Chester Jets Leopards 103-112 Quarter-finals Team 1 Team 2 Score Sheffield Sharks Leicester Riders 103-98 London Towers Manchester Giants 83-74 Newcastle Eagles Birmingham Bullets 99-93 Thames Valley Tigers Leopards 87-102 Semi-finals Team 1 Team 2 1st Leg 2nd Leg Sheffield Sharks Newcastle Eagles 91-80 75-84 Leopards London Towers 93-92 72-70 Final #eee 19 January 1997http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&userGroupName=oxfshlib&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=BasicSearchForm&docId=IF502201124&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0 Nicholas Harling. "Leopards' leap puts them out of reach." Times [London, England] 20 January 1997 The Times Digital Archive Leopards 87 79 Sheffield Sharks Eric Burks (MVP) 28, John White 28, Robert Youngblood 16, John Tresvant, Tim Davis, Ronnie Baker Roger Huggins 26, Voise Winters 19, Todd Cauthorn, Deon Hames, Isaac Morgan, Ian McKinney, Jason Swaine, Chris Finch Sheffield Arena ?Leopards coach Billy Mims Sheffield coach Jim Brandon 7 Up Trophy Group stage Northern Group TeamPtsPldWLPercent1.Sheffield Sharks105501.0002.Chester Jets85410.8003.Leicester Riders45230.4004.Manchester Giants45230.4005.Derby Storm25140.2006.Newcastle Eagles25140.200 Southern Group TeamPtsPldWLPercent1.Leopards105501.0002.Thames Valley Tigers65320.6003.Worthing Bears65320.6004.Birmingham Bullets65320.6005.Crystal Palace25140.4006.Hemel & Watford Royals05050.000 Leicester finished ahead of Manchester by having the best head-to-head record between the teams, whilst Birmingham qualify as fourth-placed finishers with the best record. London received a bye into Quarter-finals. Quarter-finals Birmingham Bullets vs. Leicester Riders #eee Birmingham Bullets 77 95 Leicester Riders Leicester Riders 69 79 Birmingham Bullets Leicester win on aggregate, 164–156 Leopards vs. London Towers #eee Leopards 79 111 London Towers London Towers 92 90 Leopards London win on aggregate, 203–169 Thames Valley Tigers vs. Chester Jets #eee Thames Valley Tigers 85 91 Chester Jets Chester Jets 89 89 Thames Valley Tigers Chester win on aggregate, 180–174 Worthing Bears vs. Sheffield Sharks #eee Worthing Bears 81 83 Sheffield Sharks Sheffield Sharks 97 85 Worthing Bears Sheffield win on aggregate, 180–166 Semi-finals Chester Jets vs. Leicester Riders #eee Chester Jets 92 88 Leicester Riders Leicester Riders 92 93 Chester Jets Chester win on aggregate, 185–180 Sheffield Sharks vs. London Towers #eee Sheffield Sharks 75 74 London Towers London Towers 80 71 Sheffield Sharks London win on aggregate, 154–146 Final #eee 2 March 1997http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&userGroupName=oxfshlib&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=BasicSearchForm&docId=IF500831562&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0 Nicholas Harling. "Towers' strength in defence keeps grip on trophy." Times [London, England] 3 March 1997 The Times Digital Archive London Towers 67 59 Chester Jets Karl Brown (MVP) 16, Neville Austin 14, Danny Lewis 13, Tony Windless 11, Keith Robinson, Alan Cunningham, Paul Deppisch Hillary Scott 16, Billy Singleton 15, Ricardo Leonard 11, Russ Saunders 10, Nigel Palmer, Mark Ogley National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham ?Towers coach Kevin Cadle Chester coach Mike Burton Seasonal awards Most Valuable Player: John White (Leopards) Coach of the Year: Mike Burton (Chester Jets) All-Star Team: John White (Leopards) Ralph Blalock (Newcastle Eagles) Eric Burks (Leopards) Tony Dorsey (Birmingham Bullets) James Hamilton (Worthing Bears) Roger Huggins (Sheffield Sharks) Danny Lewis (London Towers) Nigel Lloyd (Birmingham Bullets) Billy Singleton (Chester Jets) Voise Winters (Sheffield Sharks) References 30em 1995–96 season 1997–98 season BBL seasons 1996–97 Category:British Basketball League seasons 1 British