The 2009–10 BBL season of the British Basketball League (BBL) was the 23rd season since the league's establishment in 1987. The regular season commenced on 25 September 2009, when Milton Keynes Lions claimed the first win of the season with a 94–81 victory in the opening game against Worcester Wolves.
A total of 13 teams took to the court including new start-up franchise Essex Pirates, which was founded by Great Britain Under 20s coach Tim Lewis, and a newly rebranded Rocks team carrying the name of the city of Glasgow instead of their previous Scottish Rocks title.
The League Championship came down to the final game of the season and was only claimed by Newcastle Eagles after Sheffield Sharks lost their last game, 97–95, to Worthing Thunder. Thunder's Evaldas Zabas' basket four seconds from the end meant that Newcastle had won the League even before taking to the court the following day.
Everton Tigers concluded the season with victory in the play-offs despite being the lowest seed in all of their Play-off encounters. An 80–72 win against Glasgow in the final gave Tigers their first ever Play-off title, only two years after its foundation in 2007.
Teams
TeamCity/AreaArenaCapacityLast season Cheshire Jets Chester Northgate Arena 1,000 8th Essex Pirates Southend-on-Sea Southend Leisure & Tennis Centre 1,100 New Everton Tigers Liverpool Echo Arena & Greenbank Sports Academy 7,513 600 2nd Glasgow Rocks Glasgow Kelvin Hall 1,200 7th Guildford Heat Guildford Guildford Spectrum 1,100 4th Leicester Riders Leicester John Sandford Centre 800 3rd London Capital London Capital City Academy 300 12th Milton Keynes Lions Milton Keynes Bletchley Centre & Middleton Hall (thecentre:mk) 800 1,500 9th Newcastle Eagles Newcastle upon Tyne Metro Radio Arena 6,500 1st Plymouth Raiders Plymouth Plymouth Pavilions 1,480 5th Sheffield Sharks Sheffield English Institute of Sport 1,200 6th Worcester Wolves Worcester University of Worcester 600 10th Worthing Thunder Worthing Worthing Leisure Centre 1,000 11th
Notable occurrences Essex Pirates were the latest addition to the BBL, bringing the number of teams up to 13 in total for the season. Due to a sponsorship agreement with Glasgow City Council, the Scottish Rocks rebranded as the Glasgow Rocks to support its hometown. In early November the Worcester Wolves franchise was thrown into turmoil after a Coach Chuck Evans' team talk lead to a much publicised racism row resulting in his resignation and the discipling and sacking of six players following a team strike. In response to this the League agreed to postpone Wolves' following five games until later dates, plus in accordance with the league's rules, the franchise had been fined an undisclosed amount. Paul James marked his return to the League in December when he was appointed as Coach of the new-look Worcester Wolves, succeeding Chuck Evans. Following the scheduled demolition of the Bletchley Centre and delayed construction of their new venue, Milton Keynes Lions sought the use of an unusual facility as their home arena by renting floor space in thecentre:mk shopping mall. Middleton Hall played host to its first game on 12 January against Essex Pirates and would host a further nine games throughout the season. Milton Keynes Lions forward Guy Dupuy was crowned winner of the 2010 BBL Slam Dunk contest on 17 January, beating Kadiri Richard in the final round. Cheshire Jets guard John Simpson failed an Anti-doping drugs test it was announced on 29 March, testing positive for marijuana. The player subsequently had his contract terminated by the club with immediate effect.
BBL Championship (Tier 1)
Final standings PosTeamPldWL%Pts1Newcastle Eagles363150.861622Sheffield Sharks363060.833603Glasgow Rocks3623130.638464Cheshire Jets3622140.611445Everton Tigers3621150.583426Leicester Riders3621150.583427Milton Keynes Lions3618180.500368Worthing Thunder3618180.500369Worcester Wolves3618180.5003610Plymouth Raiders3611250.3052211Guildford Heat3611250.3052212Essex Pirates367290.1941413London Capital363330.0836 = League winners = Qualified for the play-offs
Playoffs
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals 1st leg
Semi-finals 2nd leg
Everton Tigers win 190-158 on aggregate and Glasgow Rocks won 164-158 on aggregate.
Final
EBL National League Division 1 (Tier 2)
Final standings PosTeamPldWL%Pts1 Derby Trailblazers 22 17 5 0.773342 Manchester Magic 22 16 6 0.72732 3 Leeds Carnegie 22 16 6 0.72732 4 Bristol Academy Flyers 22 16 6 0.72732 5 Leicester Warriors 22 13 9 0.59126 6 London Mets 22 12 10 0.54524 7 Reading Rockets 22 12 10 0.54524 8 Taunton Tigers 22 12 10 0.54524 9 London Leopards 22 6 16 0.27312 10 Coventry Crusaders 22 5 17 0.22710 11 Tees Valley Mohawks 22 4 18 0.182812 City of Sheffield Arrows 22 3 19 0.1366 = League winners = Qualified for the play-offs
EBL National League Division 2 (Tier 3)
Final standings PosTeamPldWL%Pts1 Durham Wildcats 20 18 2 0.900362 Brixton TopCats 20 15 5 0.75030 3 Mansfield Giants 20 14 6 0.70028 4 Edmonton Storm 20 13 7 0.65026 5 Westminster Warriors 20 12 8 0.60024 6 Medway Park Crusaders 20 9 11 0.45018 7 Birmingham A's 20 8 12 0.40016 8 Glyndwr Nets 20 8 12 0.40016 9 Team Northumbria 20 8 12 0.40016 10 Plymouth Marjon Cannons 20 3 17 0.1506 11 University of Birmingham 20 2 18 0.1004 = League winners = Qualified for the play-offs
BBL Cup Due to the odd number of teams competing in the BBL Cup – 13 in total – the knockout tournament was structured with the Quarter-finals round featuring the winners of the five First round ties plus three teams given byes. The teams given bye's through the first round were the top-three placed teams from the 2008–09 season league campaign – Everton Tigers, Leicester Riders and Newcastle Eagles.
First round
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals 1st leg
Semi-finals 2nd leg
Cheshire Jets won 167-159 on aggregate and Sheffield Sharks won 167-152 on aggregate.
Final
BBL Trophy For the 2009–10 season the Trophy saw a revamp in its format with the removal of the initial group stages in favour of a straight knockout tournament. All 13 members of the BBL were included plus three invitees from Division One of the English Basketball League, namely London Leopards, Manchester Magic and Reading Rockets.
First round
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals 1st leg
Semi-finals 2nd leg
Newcastle Eagles won 185-176 on aggregate and Cheshire Jets won 181-148 on aggregate.
Final
All-Star Game
Statistics leaders
CategoryPlayerStatPoints per game Mike Cook (Sheffield Sharks) 26.8Rebounds per game Jason Johnson (Leicester Riders) 10.9Assists per game Anthony Martin (Plymouth Raiders) 7.3Steals per game Roderick Middleton (Worcester Wolves) 2.7Blocks per game Kadiri Richard (Worthing Thunder) 2.3
Monthly awards
MonthCoachPlayerOctober Vince Macaulay (Milton Keynes Lions) Tack Minor (Leicester Riders)November Atiba Lyons (Sheffield Sharks) Mike Cook (Sheffield Sharks)December Tony Garbelotto (Everton Tigers) Mike Cook (Sheffield Sharks)January Atiba Lyons (Sheffield Sharks) Reggie Bratton (Worthing Thunder)February Fabulous Flournoy (Newcastle Eagles) Tafari Toney (Sheffield Sharks)March Fabulous Flournoy (Newcastle Eagles) Jason Johnson (Leicester Riders)
Seasonal awards
Most Valuable Player: Mike Cook (Sheffield Sharks) Coach of the Year: Fabulous Flournoy (Newcastle Eagles) Team of the Year: Robert Yanders (Glasgow Rocks) Mike Cook (Sheffield Sharks) Charles Smith (Newcastle Eagles) Jason Johnson (Leicester Riders) Tafari Toney (Sheffield Sharks) Defensive Team of the Year: Reggie Jackson (Newcastle Eagles) Jessie Sapp (Glasgow Rocks) Fabulous Flournoy (Newcastle Eagles) Andrew Sullivan (Newcastle Eagles) Tafari Toney (Sheffield Sharks) British Team of the Year: Perry Lawson (Sheffield Sharks) James Jones (Everton Tigers) Olu Babalola (Everton Tigers) Andrew Sullivan (Newcastle Eagles) Tafari Toney (Sheffield Sharks)
References