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1996–97 British Basketball League season

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1996–97 British Basketball League season
LeagueBritish Basketball League
SportBasketball
Roll of Honour
BBL championsLeopards
Play Off's championsLondon Towers
National Cup championsLeopards
BBL Trophy championsLondon Towers
British Basketball League seasons
← 1995-96
1997-98 →

The 1996–1997 BBL season was known as the Budweiser League for sponsorship reasons. The league retained a total of 13 teams, playing 36 games each. The main change featured the long-awaited return of Crystal Palace after several seasons of rejected applications. Palace replaced Doncaster Panthers following the liquidation of the South Yorkshire club.[1]

The League's two London-based teams dominated throughout the season, with the Leopards team claiming their first silverware in its franchise history after winning the Budweiser League and Sainsbury's Classic Cola Cup double. Their Capital foes, London Towers were equally successful throughout the campaign, clinching the 7 Up Trophy and pipping Leopards to the Play-off title, with a one-point victory in the final at Wembley Arena against their rivals.


Budweiser League Championship (Tier 1)

Final standings

Team Pts Pld W L Percentage
1. Leopards 56 36 28 8 0.777
2. London Towers 52 36 26 10 0.722
3. Sheffield Sharks 52 36 26 10 0.722
4. Birmingham Bullets 52 36 26 10 0.722
5. Chester Jets 48 36 24 12 0.666
6. Manchester Giants 44 36 22 14 0.611
7. Newcastle Eagles 42 36 21 15 0.583
8. Leicester Riders 30 36 15 21 0.416
9. Derby Storm 28 36 14 22 0.388
10. Thames Valley Tigers 30 36 14 22 0.388
11. Worthing Bears 24 36 12 24 0.333
12. Crystal Palace 10 36 5 31 0.138
13. Hemel & Watford Royals 4 36 2 34 0.055
= League winners
= Qualified for the Play-offs

The Play-offs

Quarter-finals

(1) Leopards vs. (8) Leicester Riders

12 April 1997
Leicester Riders 122–130 Leopards
13 April 1997
Leopards 114–105 Leicester Riders
Leopards wins series, 2–0

(2) London Towers vs. (7) Newcastle Eagles

11 April 1997
Newcastle Eagles 79–91 London Towers
15 April 1997
London Towers 70–80 Newcastle Eagles
20 April 1997
London Towers 96–80 Newcastle Eagles
London wins series, 2–1

(3) Sheffield Sharks vs. (6) Manchester Giants

13 April 1997
Manchester Giants 72–77 Sheffield Sharks
15 April 1997
Sheffield Sharks 74–68 Manchester Giants
Sheffield wins series, 2–0

(4) Birmingham Bullets vs. (5) Chester Jets

13 April 1997
Chester Jets 86–78 Birmingham Bullets
16 April 1997
Birmingham Bullets 82–72 Chester Jets
18 April 1997
Birmingham Bullets 78–81 Chester Jets
Chester wins series, 2–1

Semi-finals

3 May 1997
Leopards 102–101 Chester Jets

Final

4 May 1997
London Towers 89–88 Leopards
Pts: Keith Robinson (MVP) 25, Danny Lewis 22, Neville Austin 11, Roger Duhaney, Tony Windless, Alan Cunningham, Paul Deppisch, Karl Brown Pts: Eric Burks 22, Ronnie Baker 20, Tim Davis 16, Robert Youngblood, John Tresvant, John White
Wembley Arena, London
Attendance: ?
Towers coach Kevin Cadle
Leopards coach Billy Mims


National League Division 1 (Tier 2)

Final standings

Team Pts Pld W L Percentage
1. Ware Rebels 47 26 21 5 0.808
2. Plymouth Raiders 46 26 20 6 0.769
3. Coventry Crusaders 44 26 18 8 0.692
4. Guildford Swifts 44 26 18 8 0.692
5. Oxford Devils 42 26 16 10 0.615
6. Westminster Warriors 41 26 15 11 0.577
7. Stockton Mohawks 40 26 14 12 0.538
8. Cardiff Phoenix 40 26 14 12 0.538
9. Nottingham Knights 37 26 12 14 0.462
10. Bury and Bolton Wildcats 36 26 11 15 0.423
11. Mid-Sussex Magic 36 26 10 16 0.385
12. Brixton TopCats 33 26 7 19 0.269
13. Liverpool Atac 32 26 6 20 0.231
14. Solent Stars 26 26 0 26 0.000
= League winners
= Qualified for the Play-offs

Play Off Final - Plymouth 118 Ware 106


National League Division 2 (Tier 3)

Final standings

Team Pts Pld W L Percentage
1. Solihull Chiefs 51 26 25 1 0.962
2. London Towers B 48 26 22 4 0.846
3. Thames Valley Tigers B 46 26 20 6 0.769
4. South Wales SS 43 26 17 9 0.654
5. South Bank Leopards 41 26 15 11 0.577
6. Derby Storm B 41 26 15 11 0.577
7. Slough Chargers 40 26 14 12 0.538
8. Northampton 89'ers 37 26 11 15 0.423
9. Aston Adante 35 26 9 17 0.346
10. Swindon Sonics 34 26 8 18 0.308
11. Flintshire Flyers 34 26 7 19 0.269
12. Chessington Wildcats 34 26 7 19 0.269
13. Sheffield Forgers 31 25 6 19 0.240
14. Bournemouth Dolphins 30 25 5 20 0.200
= League winners
= Qualified for the Play-offs

Play Off Final - Thames Valley 91 Solihull 83


Sainsbury's Classic Cola National Cup

Fourth Round

Team 1 Team 2 Score
Manchester Giants Crystal Palace 91-61
Coventry Crusaders Sheffield Sharks 56-86
Birmingham Bullets Hemel & Watford Royals 91-84
Cardiff Phoenix London Towers 55-95
Ware Rebels Newcastle Eagles 70-102
Thames Valley Tigers Derby Storm 80-79
Worthing Bears Leicester Riders 74-84
Chester Jets Leopards 103-112

Quarter Finals

Team 1 Team 2 Score
Sheffield Sharks Leicester Riders 103-98
London Towers Manchester Giants 83-74
Newcastle Eagles Birmingham Bullets 99-93
Thames Valley Tigers Leopards 87-102

Semi Finals

Team 1 Team 2 1st Leg 2nd Leg
Sheffield Sharks Newcastle Eagles 91-80 75-84
Leopards London Towers 93-92 72-70

Final

19 January 1997[2]
Leopards 87–79 Sheffield Sharks
Pts: Eric Burks (MVP) 28, John White 28, Robert Youngblood 16, John Tresvant, Tim Davis, Ronnie Baker Pts: Roger Huggins 26, Voise Winters 19, Todd Cauthorn, Deon Hames, Isaac Morgan, Ian McKinney, Jason Swaine, Chris Finch
Sheffield Arena
Attendance: ?
Leopards coach Billy Mims
Sheffield coach Jim Brandon


7 Up Trophy

Group stage

Northern Group

Team Pts Pld W L Percent
1.Sheffield Sharks 10 5 5 0 1.000
2.Chester Jets 8 5 4 1 0.800
3.Leicester Riders 4 5 2 3 0.400
4.Manchester Giants 4 5 2 3 0.400
5.Derby Storm 2 5 1 4 0.200
6.Newcastle Eagles 2 5 1 4 0.200

Southern Group

Team Pts Pld W L Percent
1.Leopards 10 5 5 0 1.000
2.Thames Valley Tigers 6 5 3 2 0.600
3.Worthing Bears 6 5 3 2 0.600
4.Birmingham Bullets 6 5 3 2 0.600
5.Crystal Palace 2 5 1 4 0.400
6.Hemel & Watford Royals 0 5 0 5 0.000

Leicester finished ahead of Manchester by having the best head-to-head record between the teams, whilst Birmingham qualify as fourth-placed finishers with the best record. London received a bye into Quarter-finals.

Quarter-finals

Birmingham Bullets vs. Leicester Riders

Leicester Riders 69–79 Birmingham Bullets
Leicester win on aggregate, 164–156

Leopards vs. London Towers

London Towers 92–90 Leopards
London win on aggregate, 203–169

Thames Valley Tigers vs. Chester Jets

Chester Jets 89–89 Thames Valley Tigers
Chester win on aggregate, 180–174

Worthing Bears vs. Sheffield Sharks

Sheffield Sharks 97–85 Worthing Bears
Sheffield win on aggregate, 180–166

Semi-finals

Chester Jets vs. Leicester Riders

Leicester Riders 92–93 Chester Jets
Chester win on aggregate, 185–180

Sheffield Sharks vs. London Towers

London Towers 80–71 Sheffield Sharks
London win on aggregate, 154–146

Final

2 March 1997[3]
London Towers 67–59 Chester Jets
Pts: Karl Brown (MVP) 16, Neville Austin 14, Danny Lewis 13, Tony Windless 11, Keith Robinson, Alan Cunningham, Paul Deppisch Pts: Hillary Scott 16, Billy Singleton 15, Ricardo Leonard 11, Russ Saunders 10, Nigel Palmer, Mark Ogley
National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham
Attendance: ?
Towers coach Kevin Cadle
Chester coach Mike Burton

Seasonal awards

References

  1. ^ ""Final place in Olympic team goes to Elliott." Times [London, England] 25 June 1996". The Times Digital Archive.
  2. ^ "Nicholas Harling. "Leopards' leap puts them out of reach." Times [London, England] 20 Jan. 1997". The Times Digital Archive.
  3. ^ "Nicholas Harling. "Towers' strength in defence keeps grip on trophy." Times [London, England] 3 Mar. 1997". The Times Digital Archive.
Preceded by BBL seasons
1996–97 		Succeeded by
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