The 2002–03 BBL season was the 16th campaign in the history of the British Basketball League.
Teams
TeamCity/AreaArenaCapacityLast season Birmingham Bullets Birmingham Aston Events Centre 2,000 5th (South) Brighton Bears Brighton Brighton Centre & Burgess Hill Triangle 3,600 1,800 2nd (South) Chester Jets Chester Northgate Arena 1,000 1st (North) Essex Leopards Brentwood Brentwood Centre 2,000 4th (South) Leicester Riders Loughborough Loughborough University 1,000 5th (North) London Towers London Crystal Palace National Sports Centre 3,500 1st (South) Milton Keynes Lions Milton Keynes Bletchley Centre 800 3rd (North) Newcastle Eagles Newcastle upon Tyne Telewest Arena 6,500 3rd (North) Scottish Rocks Glasgow Braehead Arena 4,000 4th (North) Sheffield Sharks Sheffield Hallam FM Arena & Ponds Forge 8,500 1,600 2nd (North) Thames Valley Tigers Bracknell John Nike Sports Centre 1,000 6th (South)
Notable occurrences Attracted by the opening of the brand-new 4,000-seat Braehead Arena in Glasgow, Edinburgh Rocks uprooted from their aging Meadowbank venue in Edinburgh and moved 45 miles west to Scotland's largest city Glasgow, and rebranded as the Scottish Rocks. The move received a mixed response from fans; whilst many said that the move would not work, the official supporters club backed the franchise's decision. Although based in Brentwood, Essex for the past two years, Greater London Leopards eventually rebranded the franchise as the Essex Leopards prior to the season starting. Due to a decreasing membership, the league abolished the Conference system it had imposed for the past three seasons and returned the regular single-league table set-up, with the top eight teams progressing to the play-offs.
BBL Championship (Tier 1)
Final standings PosTeamPldWL%Pts1 Sheffield Sharks 40 33 7 0.825662 Brighton Bears 40 30 10 0.75060 3 Chester Jets 40 28 12 0.70056 4 Thames Valley Tigers 40 26 14 0.65052 5 Newcastle Eagles 40 25 15 0.62550 6 Scottish Rocks 40 22 18 0.55044 7 London Towers 40 19 21 0.47538 8 Milton Keynes Lions 40 12 28 0.30024 9 Birmingham Bullets 40 11 29 0.27522 10 Essex Leopards 40 11 29 0.27522 11 Leicester Riders 40 3 37 0.0756
= League winners = Qualified for the play-offs
Playoffs
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
National League Conference (Tier 2)
Final standings PosTeamPldWL%Pts1 Teesside Mohawks 22 21 1 0.955422 Plymouth Raiders 22 18 4 0.81836 3 Reading Rockets 22 16 6 0.72732 4 Worthing Thunder 22 15 7 0.68230 5 Manchester Magic 22 12 10 0.54524 6 Kingston Wildcats 22 11 11 0.50022 7 Sutton Pumas 22 11 11 0.50022 8 Oxford Devils 22 11 11 0.50022 9 Solent Stars 22 7 15 0.31814 10 Ware Rebels 22 4 18 0.1828 11 Hackney White Heat 22 3 19 0.1366 12 Coventry Crusaders 22 3 19 0.1366 = League winners = Qualified for the play-offs
National Cup
Last 16 Team 1 Team 2 Score Kingston Wildcats Essex Leopards 73-102 Manchester Magic Birmingham Bullets 82-85 Teesside Mohawks Leicester Riders 98-97 Scottish Rocks Chester Jets 63-88 Solent Stars Brighton Bears 60-99 Sheffield Sharks Newcastle Eagles 78-80 Plymouth Raiders Thames Valley Tigers 71-113 Milton Keynes Lions London Towers 84-98
Quarter-finals Team 1 Team 2 Score Birmingham Bullets Chester Jets 94-98 Essex Leopards London Towers 89-100 OT Brighton Bears Newcastle Eagles 91-73 Teesside Mohawks Thames Valley Tigers 84-111
Semi-finals Team 1 Team 2 Score Chester Jets Thames Valley Tigers 96-76 London Towers Brighton Bears 80-84
Final
BBL Trophy This season's BBL Trophy featured all 11 BBL teams plus one invited teams from the English Basketball League, the Teesside Mohawks to bring the total number of teams divided evenly. The First round saw all 12 teams split into four regionalised groups with the top finishing team advancing to the semi-finals.
Group stage
Northern Group 1
TeamPtsPldWLPercent1.Chester Jets64310.7502.Sheffield Sharks64310.7503.Leicester Riders04040.000
Southern Group 1
TeamPtsPldWLPercent1.Birmingham Bullets64310.7502.Essex Leopards44220.5003.Milton Keynes Lions24130.250
Northern Group 2
TeamPtsPldWLPercent1.Newcastle Eagles84401.0002.Scottish Rocks44220.5003.Teesside Mohawks04040.000
Southern Group 2
TeamPtsPldWLPercent1.London Towers44220.5002.Thames Valley Tigers44220.5003.Brighton Bears44220.500
Semi-finals
Final
Statistics leaders
CategoryPlayerStatPoints per game Kenny Gregory (Chester Jets) 24.7Rebounds per game David Fisher (Essex Leopards) 10.5Assists per game John Thomas (Chester Jets) 7.3
References