The 2008–09 BBL 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.
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.
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
TeamCity/AreaArenaCapacityLast 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. The gap vacated by Panthers was subsequently occupied by Worthing Thunder who stepped up from the English Basketball League Division 1. 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. 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.
BBL Championship (Tier 1)
Final standings PosTeamPldWL%Pts1Newcastle Eagles332850.848562Everton Tigers332490.727483Leicester Riders3321120.636424Guildford Heat3321120.636425Plymouth Raiders3320130.606406Sheffield Sharks3316170.485327Scottish Rocks3316170.485328Cheshire Jets3315180.454309Milton Keynes Lions3314190.4242810Worcester Wolves3311220.3332211Worthing Thunder3310230.3032012London Capital332310.0604 = League winners = Qualified for the play-offs
Playoffs
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
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
Second leg
Guildford Heat win 159-149 on aggregate scoring.
EBL National League Division 1 (Tier 2)
Final standings PosTeamPldWL%Pts1 Reading Rockets 18 18 0 1.000362 Manchester Magic 18 15 3 0.83330 3 London Leopards 18 12 6 0.66724 4 City of Sheffield Arrows 18 10 8 0.55620 5 Bristol Academy Flyers 18 9 9 0.50018 6 Coventry Crusaders 18 8 10 0.44416 7 Tees Valley Mohawks 18 8 10 0.44416 8 Derby Trailblazers 18 5 13 0.27810 9 Cardiff Celts 18 3 15 0.1676 10 Taunton Tigers 18 2 16 0.1114 = League winners = Qualified for the play-offs
EBL National League Division 2 (Tier 3)
Final standings PosTeamPldWL%Pts1 Leeds Carnegie 22 18 4 0.818362 London Mets 22 17 5 0.77334 3 Leicester Warriors 22 15 7 0.68230 4 Birmingham A's 22 14 8 0.63628 5 Kent Crusaders 22 13 9 0.59126 6 Team Northumbria 22 12 10 0.54524 7 Plymouth Raiders II 22 10 12 0.45520 8 Newi Nets 22 10 12 0.45520 9 Colchester Hornets 22 8 14 0.36416 10 Plymouth Marjon Cannons 22 8 14 0.36416 11 Northampton Neptunes 22 5 17 0.22710 12 University of Birmingham 22 2 20 0.0914 = 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
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals 1st leg
Semi-finals 2nd leg
Plymouth Raiders win 162-142 on aggregate and Everton Tigers win 202-198 on aggregate.
Final
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
Group 1
TeamPtsPldWLPercent1.Newcastle Eagles64310.7502.Sheffield Sharks44220.5003.Scottish Rocks24130.250
Group 3
TeamPtsPldWLPercent1.Guildford Heat84401.0002.Milton Keynes Lions44220.5003.London Capital04040.000
Group 2
TeamPtsPldWLPercent1.Everton Tigers84401.0002.Cheshire Jets44220.5003.Leicester Riders04040.000
Group 4
TeamPtsPldWLPercent1.Plymouth Raiders64310.7502.Worcester Wolves44220.5003.Worthing Thunder24130.250
Semi-finals 1st leg
Semi-finals 2nd leg
Guildford Heat win 187-161 on aggregate and Newcastle Eagles win 176-159 on aggregate.
Final
All-Star Game
+Great Britain All-Stars Num. Player Team Starters 5 Yorick Williams Milton Keynes Lions 12 Anthony Martin Plymouth Raiders 15 Barry Lamble Leicester Riders 20 Gaylon Moore Plymouth Raiders 22 Mike Martin Guildford Heat Reserves 4 Daniel Hildreth Worthing Thunder 8 Darren Mills London Capital 9 Steven Gayle Cheshire Jets 10 Daniel Sandell Guildford Heat 11 Dru Spinks Milton Keynes Lions 14 Chris Sanders Sheffield Sharks 21 Ibrahim Gariba London Capital
+Rest of the World All-Stars Num. Player Team Starters 4 Ryan Patton Worthing Thunder 10 Duane James Leicester Riders 11 Andrew Lasker Plymouth Raiders 21 Harry Disy Worcester Wolves 23 Matt Gorman Sheffield Sharks Reserves 5 Bradd Wierzbicki Leicester Riders 7 Keonta Howell Guildford Heat 8 Janis Ivanokskis Worthing Thunder 12 Vidmantas Uzkuraitis Worcester Wolves 14 DeAntoine Beasley Plymouth Raiders 20 Chad McKnight Guildford Heat 22 Frank Phiffer Cheshire Jets
Seasonal awards
Most Valuable Player: Trey Moore (Newcastle) Coach of the Year: Rob Paternostro (Leicester) All-Star First Team: Trey Moore (Newcastle) Andre Smith (Everton) Keonta Howell (Guildford) Robert Yanders (Scots Rocks) Tommy Swanson (Leicester) All-Star Second Team: Mike Martin (Guildford) Josh Gross (Everton) Andrew Lasker (Plymouth) Anthony Paez (Worcester) Chris Sanders (Sheffield)
References