2008–09 British Basketball League season

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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

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

Final standings

Team Pts Pld W L Percentage
1. Newcastle Eagles 56 33 28 5 0.848
2. Everton Tigers 48 33 24 9 0.727
3. Leicester Riders 42 33 21 12 0.636
4. Guildford Heat 42 33 21 12 0.636
5. Plymouth Raiders 40 33 20 13 0.606
6. Sheffield Sharks 32 33 16 17 0.484
7. Scottish Rocks 32 33 16 17 0.484
8. Cheshire Jets 30 33 15 18 0.454
9. Milton Keynes Lions 28 33 14 19 0.424
10. Worcester Wolves 22 33 11 22 0.333
11. Worthing Thunder 20 33 10 23 0.303
12. London Capital 4 33 2 31 0.060
= 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 72–71 Sheffield Sharks
John Sandford Centre, Leicester
April 24, 2009
Newcastle Eagles 88–83 Cheshire Jets
April 24, 2009
Everton Tigers 84–64 Scottish Rocks
Greenbank Sports Academy, Liverpool
April 26, 2009
Guildford Heat 81–89 Plymouth Raiders

Semi-finals

May 2, 2009
Newcastle Eagles 93–71 Plymouth Raiders
May 2, 2009
Everton Tigers 81–65 Leicester Riders

Final

May 3, 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 Pts: Richard Midgley, 36

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 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

September 19, 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
Guildford Heat win 159-149 on aggregate scoring.

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 99–75 Worthing Thunder
John Sandford Centre, Leicester
October 20, 2008
Worcester Wolves 80–89 Sheffield Sharks
October 20, 2008
Scottish Rocks 69–88 Everton Tigers
October 20, 2008
Cheshire Jets 88–73 London Capital

Quarter-finals

October 26, 2008
Plymouth Raiders 101–76 Leicester Riders
October 29, 2008
Guildford Heat 78–74 Sheffield Sharks
October 31, 2008
Newcastle Eagles 112–92 Cheshire Jets
November 2, 2008
Milton Keynes Lions 75–97 Everton Tigers

Semi-finals 1st Leg

November 23, 2008
Guildford Heat 73–88 Plymouth Raiders
November 29, 2008
Newcastle Eagles 112–105 Everton Tigers

Semi-finals 2nd Leg

November 26, 2008
Plymouth Raiders 74–69 Guildford Heat
December 5, 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

January 18, 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 Pts: Andre Smith/Marcus Bailey, 26

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

February 14, 2009
Plymouth Raiders 76–97 Guildford Heat
February 17, 2009
Everton Tigers 82–88 Newcastle Eagles
Greenbank Sports Academy, Liverpool

Semi-finals 2nd Leg

February 18, 2009
Guildford Heat 90–85 Plymouth Raiders
February 20, 2009
Newcastle Eagles 88–77 Everton Tigers
Guildford Heat win 187-161 on aggregate and Newcastle Eagles win 176-159 on aggregate.

Final

March 15, 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 Pts: Trey Moore, 28

All-Star Game

May 5, 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

Seasonal awards

References

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Preceded by BBL seasons
2008–09		 Succeeded by
2009–10 season
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