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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
← 2001-02
2003-04 →

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

Teams

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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 Northgate Arena 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

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

April 19, 2003
Thames Valley Tigers 85–101 Newcastle Eagles
John Nike Sports Centre, Bracknell

Semi-finals

Final

May 4, 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 League Conference (Tier 2)

Final standings

Team Pts Pld W L
1. Teesside Mohawks 42 22 21 1
2. Plymouth Raiders 36 22 18 4
3. Reading Rockets 32 22 16 6
4. Worthing Thunder 30 22 15 7
5. Manchester Magic 24 22 12 10
6. Kingston Wildcats 22 22 11 11
7. Sutton Pumas 22 22 11 11
8. Oxford Devils 22 22 11 11
9. Solent Stars 14 22 7 15
10. Ware Rebels 8 22 4 18
11. Hackney White Heat 6 22 3 19
12. Coventry Crusaders 6 22 3 19
= 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: John McCord 28, Kenny Gregory 25, Pero Cameron 15


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

Final

March 15, 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

Statistics leaders

Category Player Stat
Points per game United States Kenny Gregory (Chester Jets) 24.7
Rebounds per game United States David Fisher (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. Retrieved 2009-11-28. [dead link]
Preceded by BBL seasons
2002–03 		Succeeded by
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