The 2005–06 BBL season was the 19th season of the British Basketball League, which ran from 23 September 2005 through to 11 April 2006. The season started earlier than usual because of England's participation in the 2006 Commonwealth Games, which took place during the regular season.
Eleven teams took to the court for the League Championship, which saw each team play each other four times (Twice at home and twice on the road) during the regular season. This was followed by the end of season playoffs which began on 14 April 2006 and ended with Finals weekend on 30 April 2006. One team change in the line-up saw the disappearance of long-time BBL member Thames Valley Tigers who were dissolved by the League after owner John Nike withdrew his financial backing. A consortium of fans bid to save the team resulted in a new franchise being formed, the Guildford Heat who occupied Tigers' place in the Championship.
A notable highlight of the season was Newcastle Eagles's incredible "clean sweep" of trophies winning the Championship, BBL Cup, BBL Trophy and finishing it off with a victory in the Play-off final against Scottish Rocks.
Teams
TeamCity/AreaArenaCapacityLast season Birmingham Bullets Birmingham North Solihull Sports Centre 1,000 11th Brighton Bears Brighton Burgess Hill Triangle 1,800 5th Chester Jets Chester Northgate Arena 1,000 1st Guildford Heat Guildford Guildford Spectrum 1,100 New Leicester Riders Leicester John Sanford Centre 800 10th London Towers London Crystal Palace National Sports Centre 3,500 3rd Milton Keynes Lions Milton Keynes Bletchley Centre 800 8th Newcastle Eagles Newcastle upon Tyne Metro Radio Arena 6,500 2nd Plymouth Raiders Plymouth Plymouth Pavilions 1,480 9th Scottish Rocks Glasgow Braehead Arena 4,000 6th Sheffield Sharks Sheffield Ponds Forge 1,600 4th
Notable occurrences Guildford Heat made their debut appearance in the BBL on 1 October 2005, losing in overtime 89–88 to Newcastle Eagles at the Metro Radio Arena. Newcastle Eagles' Managing Director Paul Blake succeeded Vince Macaulay-Razaq as the new chairman of the BBL prior to the season opening, emphasising that he will strengthen links with England Basketball to lay the foundations for a successful national team. Newcastle picked up their first silverware of the season, with an 83–69 win over London Towers in the BBL Cup final at the National Indoor Arena, in Birmingham on 4 December. Eagles' TJ Walker was awarded MVP with 28 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists. Birmingham Bullets owner Craig Bown breached league regulations when, on 26 January, he cancelled Bullets' home game against Milton Keynes Lions in protest of the suspensions of player Yorrick Williams and coach Skouson Harker. Bullets were docked 1 point. Former NBA star Dennis Rodman made his debut for Brighton Bears on 28 January, only days after leaving the Celebrity Big Brother house. He scored 4 points in 26 minutes of play against Guildford. Rodman went on to feature in three games for the Bears but later investigation found him to be ineligible and Brighton were docked 1 point by the league. The BBL Trophy was also won by Newcastle, who defeated Leicester Riders 71–50 at the SkyDome Arena in Coventry, on 5 February. Newcastle's Andrew Sullivan picked up the MVP with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Leicester's Tony Holley broke the record for the most rebounds in a BBL Trophy Final, bagging 19 in all and beating Alan Cunningham's previous best from 1991. Many clubs missed several of their top English players, who left for the 2006 Commonwealth Games which took place from 15 to 26 March. Peter Scantlebury MBE's England men's team returned hugely successful having defeated Nigeria 80–57 to bring home the bronze medal. The women's team also won bronze.
BBL Championship (Tier 1)
Final standings Each team played each other four times during the regular league season, twice at home and twice on the road. A dominant Newcastle team claimed the League title, with one game to spare against second-placed Scottish Rocks, adding their third piece of silverware for the season.
In their rookie season Guildford Heat finished an impressive fifth, with a 20–20 record, while former heavyweights Brighton Bears and Birmingham Bullets struggled, finishing eighth and last respectively. Both teams were docked one point each, Brighton for fielding an ineligible player against Guildford, while Birmingham owner Craig Bown breached league rules by cancelling the game against Milton Keynes Lions.
PosTeamPldWL%Pts1Newcastle Eagles4030100.750602Scottish Rocks4029110.725583Sheffield Sharks4026140.650524London Towers4022180.550445Guildford Heat4020200.500406Leicester Riders4018220.450367Chester Jets4017230.425348Brighton Bears +4017230.425339Plymouth Raiders4016240.4003210Milton Keynes Lions4016240.4003211Birmingham Bullets ++409310.17517
= League winners = Qualified for the play-offs
+ Brighton Bears were docked 1 point for playing an ineligible player. ++ Birmingham Bullets were docked 1 point due to breach of League Regulations.
Playoffs
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
National League Division 1 (Tier 2)
Final standings PosTeamPldWL%Pts1 Worthing Thunder 26 23 3 0.885462 Reading Rockets 26 22 4 0.84644 3 City of Sheffield Arrows 26 20 6 0.76940 4 Manchester Magic 26 19 7 0.73138 5 Worcester Wolves 26 17 9 0.65434 6 Essex & Herts Leopards 26 17 9 0.65434 7 London United 26 14 12 0.53828 8 Coventry Crusaders 26 14 12 0.53828 9 Kingston Wildcats 26 11 15 0.42322 10 Teesside Mohawks 26 8 18 0.30816 11 PAWS London Capital 26 6 20 0.23112 12 Solent Stars 26 4 22 0.1548 13 King's Lynn Fury 26 4 22 0.1548 14 Nottingham Knights 26 3 23 0.1156 = League winners = Qualified for the play-offs
National League Division 2 (Tier 3)
Final standings PosTeamPldWL%Pts1 West Hertfordshire Warriors 22 18 4 0.818362 Mansfield Express 22 17 5 0.77334 3 Northampton Neptunes 22 12 10 0.54524 4 Derby Trailblazers 22 11 11 0.50022 5 Liverpool 22 11 11 0.50022 6 Plymouth Raiders II 22 11 11 0.50022 7 Birmingham Aston Athletics 22 10 12 0.45520 8 Tamar Valley Cannons 22 10 12 0.45520 9 Newi Nets 22 9 13 0.40918 10 Leicester Warriors 22 9 13 0.40918 11 Colchester Tigers 22 7 15 0.31814 12 Bath Romans 22 7 15 0.31814 = League winners = Qualified for the play-offs
BBL Cup
First round Team 1 Team 2 Score Guildford Heat Leicester Riders 69–65 Scottish Rocks Birmingham Bullets 86–75 Milton Keynes Lions Plymouth Raiders 84–66
Quarter-finals Team 1 Team 2 Score Chester Jets Brighton Bears 94–82 Sheffield Sharks Scottish Rocks 77–81 (OT) London Towers Milton Keynes Lions 81–66 Newcastle Eagles Guildford Heat 82–63
Semi-finals Team 1 Team 2 Score Newcastle Eagles Chester Jets 95–68 London Towers Scottish Rocks 106–97 (OT)
Final
BBL Trophy
Group stage
Northern Group
TeamPtsPldWLPercent1.Newcastle Eagles82.Scottish Rocks83.Sheffield Sharks84.Chester Jets85.Teesside Mohawks8
Midlands Group
TeamPtsPldWLPercent1.Leicester Riders82.Birmingham Bullets83.London Towers84.Milton Keynes Lions85.Essex & Herts Leopards8
Southern Group
TeamPtsPldWLPercent1.Guildford Heat82.Brighton Bears83.Plymouth Raiders84.Worthing Thunder85.London United8
Semi-finals Team 1 Team 2 Score Newcastle Eagles Scottish Rocks 82–72 Guildford Heat Leicester Riders 66–69
Final
Statistics leaders
CategoryPlayerStatPoints per game Chez Marks (London Towers) 22.1Rebounds per game Shawn Jamison (Milton Keynes Lions) 13.7Assists per game TJ Walker (Newcastle Eagles) 8.1
References