2008–09 British Basketball League season
Introduction 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 Eagles332850.848'''56'''2Everton Tigers332490.727'''48'''3Leicester Riders3321120.636'''42'''4Guildford Heat3321120.636'''42'''5Plymouth Raiders3320130.606'''40'''6Sheffield Sharks3316170.485'''32'''7Scottish Rocks3316170.485'''32'''8Cheshire Jets3315180.454'''30'''9Milton Keynes Lions3314190.424'''28'''10Worcester Wolves3311220.333'''22'''11Worthing Thunder3310230.303'''20'''12London Capital332310.060'''4'''  = 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.'''
[[English Basketball League|EBL]] National League Division 1 (Tier 2) === Final standings ===PosTeamPldWL%Pts1  Reading Rockets 18  18  0 1.000'''36'''2  Manchester Magic 18  15  3 0.833'''30''' 3  London Leopards 18  12  6 0.667'''24''' 4  City of Sheffield Arrows 18  10  8 0.556'''20''' 5  Bristol Academy Flyers 18  9  9 0.500'''18''' 6  Coventry Crusaders 18  8  10 0.444'''16''' 7  Tees Valley Mohawks 18  8  10 0.444'''16''' 8  Derby Trailblazers 18  5  13 0.278'''10''' 9  Cardiff Celts 18  3  15 0.167'''6''' 10  Taunton Tigers 18  2  16 0.111'''4'''   = League winners  = Qualified for the play-offs
[[English Basketball League|EBL]] National League Division 2 (Tier 3) === Final standings ===PosTeamPldWL%Pts1  Leeds Carnegie 22  18  4 0.818'''36'''2  London Mets 22  17  5 0.773'''34''' 3  Leicester Warriors 22  15  7 0.682'''30''' 4  Birmingham A's 22  14  8 0.636'''28''' 5  Kent Crusaders 22  13  9 0.591'''26''' 6  Team Northumbria 22  12  10 0.545'''24''' 7  Plymouth Raiders II 22  10  12 0.455'''20''' 8  Newi Nets 22  10  12 0.455'''20''' 9  Colchester Hornets 22  8  14 0.364'''16''' 10  Plymouth Marjon Cannons 22  8  14 0.364'''16''' 11  Northampton Neptunes 22  5  17 0.227'''10''' 12  University of Birmingham 22  2  20 0.091'''4'''   = 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 Eagles''''''6'''4310.7502.Sheffield Sharks'''4'''4220.5003.Scottish Rocks'''2'''4130.250'''Group 3'''TeamPtsPldWLPercent1. '''Guildford Heat''''''8'''4401.0002.Milton Keynes Lions'''4'''4220.5003.London Capital'''0'''4040.000'''Group 2'''TeamPtsPldWLPercent1. '''Everton Tigers''''''8'''4401.0002.Cheshire Jets'''4'''4220.5003.Leicester Riders'''0'''4040.000'''Group 4'''TeamPtsPldWLPercent1. '''Plymouth Raiders''''''6'''4310.7502.Worcester Wolves'''4'''4220.5003.Worthing Thunder'''2'''4130.250=== 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