2008–09 British Basketball League season

The 2008–2009 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.

2008–2009 British Basketball League season
LeagueBritish Basketball League
SportBasketball
Roll of Honour
BBL championsNewcastle Eagles
Play Off's championsNewcastle Eagles
BBL Cup championsEverton Tigers
BBL Trophy championsNewcastle Eagles

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
Locations of the 2008–09 BBL 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
  • 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.[2]
  • The gap vacated by Panthers was subsequently occupied by Worthing Thunder who stepped up from the English Basketball League Division 1.[3] 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.[4]
  • 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.[5]

BBL Championship (Tier 1)

Final standings
PosTeamPldWL%Pts
1Newcastle Eagles332850.84856
2Everton Tigers332490.72748
3Leicester Riders3321120.63642
4Guildford Heat3321120.63642
5Plymouth Raiders3320130.60640
6Sheffield Sharks3316170.48532
7Scottish Rocks3316170.48532
8Cheshire Jets3315180.45430
9Milton Keynes Lions3314190.42428
10Worcester Wolves3311220.33322
11Worthing Thunder3310230.30320
12London Capital332310.0604
= 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
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
24 April 2009
Everton Tigers 84–64 Scottish Rocks
Greenbank Sports Academy, Liverpool
26 April 2009
Guildford Heat 81–89 Plymouth Raiders

Semi-finals
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
3 May 2009
3.30pm GMT
Newcastle Eagles 87–84 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
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
14 September 2008
3.00pm GMT
Guildford Heat 91–89 Milton Keynes Lions
Scoring by quarter: 29-27, 24-24, 16-17, 22-21
Pts: Yorick Williams, 23 Pts: Brad Jones, 20

Second Leg
19 September 2008
7.30pm GMT
Milton Keynes Lions 60–68 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
Bletchley Centre, Milton Keynes
Guildford Heat win 159-149 on aggregate scoring.

EBL National League Division 1 (Tier 2)

Final standings
PosTeamPldWL%Pts
1Reading Rockets 181801.00036
2Manchester Magic 181530.83330
3London Leopards 181260.66724
4City of Sheffield Arrows 181080.55620
5Bristol Academy Flyers 18990.50018
6Coventry Crusaders 188100.44416
7Tees Valley Mohawks 188100.44416
8Derby Trailblazers 185130.27810
9Cardiff Celts 183150.1676
10Taunton Tigers 182160.1114
= League winners
= Qualified for the Play-offs

EBL National League Division 2 (Tier 3)

Final standings
PosTeamPldWL%Pts
1Leeds Carnegie 221840.81836
2London Mets 221750.77334
3Leicester Warriors 221570.68230
4Birmingham A's 221480.63628
5Kent Crusaders 221390.59126
6Team Northumbria 2212100.54524
7Plymouth Raiders II 2210120.45520
8Newi Nets 2210120.45520
9Colchester Hornets 228140.36416
10Plymouth Marjon Cannons 228140.36416
11Northampton Neptunes 225170.22710
12University of Birmingham 222200.0914
= 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
18 October 2008
Leicester Riders 99–75 Worthing Thunder
John Sandford Centre, Leicester
20 October 2008
Scottish Rocks 69–88 Everton Tigers
20 October 2008
Cheshire Jets 88–73 London Capital
Northgate Arena, Cheshire

Quarter-finals
29 October 2008
Guildford Heat 78–74 Sheffield Sharks
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
23 November 2008
Guildford Heat 73–88 Plymouth Raiders
29 November 2008
Newcastle Eagles 112–105 Everton Tigers
Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle upon Tyne

Semi-finals 2nd Leg
26 November 2008
Plymouth Raiders 74–69 Guildford Heat
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
18 January 2009
3.30pm GMT
Plymouth Raiders 49–103 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
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

Semi-finals 1st Leg
14 February 2009
Plymouth Raiders 76–97 Guildford Heat
17 February 2009
Everton Tigers 82–88 Newcastle Eagles
Greenbank Sports Academy, Liverpool

Semi-finals 2nd Leg
18 February 2009
Guildford Heat 90–85 Plymouth Raiders
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
15 March 2009
3.15pm GMT
Guildford Heat 71–83 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
5 May 2009
1.30pm GMT
Great Britain All-Stars 117–124 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
National Indoor Arena, Birmingham

Seasonal awards
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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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