2002–03 British Basketball League season

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2002–2003 British Basketball League season
LeagueBritish Basketball League
SportBasketball
Roll of Honour
BBL championsSheffield Sharks
Play Off's championsScottish Rocks
National Cup championsBrighton Bears
BBL Trophy championsChester Jets
British Basketball League seasons

The 2002–03 season was the 16th campaign in the history of the British Basketball League.

Teams[]

Locations of the 2002–03 BBL teams
Team City/Area Arena Capacity Last 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 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.[1] 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.[2]
  • 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[]

Pos Team Pld W L % Pts
1 Sheffield Sharks 40 33 7 0.825 66
2 Brighton Bears 40 30 10 0.750 60
3 Chester Jets 40 28 12 0.700 56
4 Thames Valley Tigers 40 26 14 0.650 52
5 Newcastle Eagles 40 25 15 0.625 50
6 Scottish Rocks 40 22 18 0.550 44
7 London Towers 40 19 21 0.475 38
8 Milton Keynes Lions 40 12 28 0.300 24
9 Birmingham Bullets 40 11 29 0.275 22
10 Essex Leopards 40 11 29 0.275 22
11 Leicester Riders 40 3 37 0.075 6
= League winners
= Qualified for the Play-offs

The Play-offs[]

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
         
1 Sheffield Sharks 90 (OT)
8 Milton Keynes Lions 83
1 Sheffield Sharks 74
6 Scottish Rocks 76
3 Chester Jets 84
6 Scottish Rocks 89
6 Scottish Rocks 83
2 Brighton Bears 76
2 Brighton Bears 89
7 London Towers 82
2 Brighton Bears 88
5 Newcastle Eagles 83
4 Thames Valley Tigers 85
5 Newcastle Eagles 101

Quarter-finals[]

19 April 2003
Sheffield Sharks 90–83 (OT) Milton Keynes Lions
19 April 2003
Chester Jets 84–89 Scottish Rocks
19 April 2003
Thames Valley Tigers 85–101 Newcastle Eagles
John Nike Sports Centre, Bracknell

Semi-finals[]

3 May 2003
Brighton Bears 88–83 Newcastle Eagles
National Indoor Arena, Birmingham
3 May 2003
Sheffield Sharks 74–76 Scottish Rocks
National Indoor Arena, Birmingham

Final[]

4 May 2003
5.00pm GMT
Brighton Bears 76–83 Scottish Rocks
Scoring by quarter: 23-18, 25-28, 20-20, 8-17
Pts: Sterling Davis 18, Ralph Blalock 17, Rico Alderson 13 Pts: Shawn Myers 26, Stephan Sheckles 14, Ryan Huntley 13, Billy Singleton 13
National Indoor Arena, Birmingham

National League Conference (Tier 2)[]

Final standings[]

Pos Team Pld W L % Pts
1 Teesside Mohawks 22 21 1 0.955 42
2 Plymouth Raiders 22 18 4 0.818 36
3 Reading Rockets 22 16 6 0.727 32
4 Worthing Thunder 22 15 7 0.682 30
5 Manchester Magic 22 12 10 0.545 24
6 Kingston Wildcats 22 11 11 0.500 22
7 22 11 11 0.500 22
8 22 11 11 0.500 22
9 Solent Stars 22 7 15 0.318 14
10 Ware Rebels 22 4 18 0.182 8
11 Hackney White Heat 22 3 19 0.136 6
12 Coventry Crusaders 22 3 19 0.136 6
= 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[]

12 January 2003
Brighton Bears 89–79 Chester Jets
Pts: Wilbur Johnson (MVP) 24, Ralph Blalock 22, Sterling Davis 15 Pts: 28, Kenny Gregory 25, Pero Cameron 15
National Indoor Arena

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[]

Semi-finals[]

8 February 2003
Chester Jets 97–89 Newcastle Eagles
Aston Events Centre, Birmingham
8 February 2003
Birmingham Bullets 62–86 London Towers
Aston Events Centre, Birmingham

Final[]

15 March 2003
Chester Jets 84–82 London Towers
Scoring by quarter: 30-26, 26-17, 13-22, 15-17
Pts: Kenny Gregory 24, Todd Cauthorn 19, John McCord 16 Pts: Kendrick Warren 21, Theo Dixon 18, Shaheen Holloway 15
Hallam FM Arena, Sheffield

Statistics leaders[]

Category Player Stat
Points per game United States Kenny Gregory (Chester Jets) 24.7
Rebounds per game United States (Essex Leopards) 10.5
Assists per game United States John Thomas (Chester Jets) 7.3

References[]

  1. ^ Mark Woods (2002-07-04). "Rocks leave Edinburgh behind". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
  2. ^ Gordon Scott (2002-06-19). "Rocks fan club would back team in Glasgow". Edinburgh Evening News. Archived from the original on 2013-02-25. Retrieved 2009-11-28.
Preceded by BBL seasons
2002–03 		Succeeded by
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