2004–05 British Basketball League season

2004–2005 British Basketball League season
2004–2005 British Basketball League season
League	British Basketball League
Sport	Basketball
Roll of Honour
BBL champions	Chester Jets
Play Off's champions	Newcastle Eagles
BBL Cup champions	Brighton Bears
BBL Trophy champions	Newcastle Eagles
British Basketball League seasons
	← 2003–04 2005–06 →

The 2004–2005 season was the 18th campaign in the history of the British Basketball League, which commenced on 2 October 2004, and ended with Newcastle Eagles' win in the Play-off Final on 1 May 2005. Eagles won their first piece of silverware in 13 years with victories in the Play-offs and the BBL Trophy, against Brighton Bears on their home court at The Brighton Centre.^[1]

The League saw the addition of a new franchise for the first time in eight years – when Edinburgh Rocks joined in 1998 – with Plymouth Raiders stepping up from the English Basketball League Division 1.

Teams

Locations of the 2004–05 BBL teams

Team	City/Area	Arena	Capacity	Last season
Birmingham Bullets	Birmingham	North Solihull Sports Centre	1,000	10th
Brighton Bears	Brighton	Brighton Centre & Burgess Hill Triangle	3,600 1,800	1st
Chester Jets	Chester	Northgate Arena	1,000	5th
Leicester Riders	Leicester	John Sanford Centre	800	9th
London Towers	London	Crystal Palace National Sports Centre	3,500	3rd
Milton Keynes Lions	Milton Keynes	Bletchley Centre	800	8th
Newcastle Eagles	Newcastle upon Tyne	Telewest Arena	6,500	6th
Plymouth Raiders	Plymouth	Plymouth Pavilions	1,480	New
Scottish Rocks	Glasgow	Braehead Arena	4,000	4th
Sheffield Sharks	Sheffield	Hallam FM Arena & Ponds Forge	8,500 1,600	2nd
Thames Valley Tigers	Bracknell	John Nike Sports Centre	1,000	7th

Notable occurrences

Following the withdrawal of major sponsor, Brighton Bears pulled out of the FIBA Europe League just weeks before the start of the tournament, meaning that no British teams would be competing in European competition for the current season.^[2]
Plymouth Raiders played, and won, their first game in the BBL on 2 October 2004, beating the visiting Milton Keynes Lions in a low-scoring game that finished 63–46 in favour of the rookies.^[3]
The first piece of silverware up for gabs, the BBL Cup, was won by Brighton Bears after defeating Scottish Rocks, 90–74 in the Final at the National Indoor Arena, in Birmingham.
Newcastle Eagles won their first title in 13 years after upsetting Brighton in the BBL Trophy Final, which was played at The Brighton Centre. Eagles ran out 85–60 winners in a very one-sided spectacle.
Leicester riders moved back to the city of Leicester after securing a venue and sponsorship with dmu

BBL championship (Tier 1)

Final standings

Team	Pts	Pld	W	L	Percentage
1. Chester Jets	64	40	32	8	0.800
2. Newcastle Eagles	62	40	31	9	0.775
3. London Towers	58	40	29	11	0.725
4. Sheffield Sharks	52	40	26	14	0.650
5. Brighton Bears	44	40	22	18	0.550
6. Scottish Rocks	38	40	19	21	0.475
7. Thames Valley Tigers	36	40	18	22	0.450
8. Milton Keynes Lions	30	40	15	25	0.375
9. Plymouth Raiders	24	40	12	28	0.300
10. Leicester Riders	22	40	11	29	0.275
11. Birmingham Bullets	10	40	5	35	0.125

	= League winners
	= Qualified for the Play-offs

The Play-offs

Quarter-finals			Semi-finals			Final

1	Chester Jets	81

8	Milton Keynes Lions	71
			1	Chester Jets	74

			6	Scottish Rocks	72
3	London Towers	63

6	Scottish Rocks	65
						1	Chester Jets	75

						2	Newcastle Eagles	78
2	Newcastle Eagles	105

7	Thames Valley Tigers	72
			2	Newcastle Eagles	75

			4	Sheffield Sharks	65
4	Sheffield Sharks	91

5	Brighton Bears	56

Quarter-finals

15 April 2005

Newcastle Eagles

105–72

Thames Valley Tigers

Telewest Arena, Newcastle upon Tyne

16 April 2005

London Towers

63–65

Scottish Rocks

Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, London

16 April 2005

Sheffield Sharks

91–56

Brighton Bears

Ponds Forge, Sheffield

17 April 2005

Chester Jets

81–71

Milton Keynes Lions

Northgate Arena, Chester

Semi-finals

30 April 2005

Chester Jets

74–72

Scottish Rocks

National Indoor Arena, Birmingham

30 April 2005

Newcastle Eagles

75–65

Sheffield Sharks

National Indoor Arena, Birmingham

Final

1 May 2005

Report

Chester Jets	75–78	Newcastle Eagles
Scoring by quarter: 14–13, 24–24, 22–18, 15–23
Pts: Trey Moore 20, DJ Harrison 14, Billy Singleon 13		Pts: Andrew Sullivan (MVP) 27, TJ Walker 15, Frank Bennett 9, Jeremy Hyatt 9, Charles Smith 9

National Indoor Arena, Birmingham
Attendance: ?
Jets coach Paul Smith
Eagles coach Fab Flournoy

EBL National League Division 1 (Tier 2)

Final standings

Team	Pts	Pld	W	L
1. City of Sheffield Arrows	42	22	21	1
2. London United	36	22	18	4
3. Reading Rockets	32	22	16	6
4. Worcester Wolves	26	22	13	9
5. Worthing Thunder	26	22	13	9
6. Manchester Magic	24	22	12	10
7. Teesside Mohawks	20	22	10	12
8. Essex & Herts Leopards	18	22	9	13
9. PAWS London Capital	14	22	7	15
10. Solent Stars	10	22	5	17
11. Kingston Wildcats	10	22	5	17
12. Coventry Crusaders	6	22	3	19

	= League winners
	= Qualified for the Play-offs

EBL National League Division 2 (Tier 3)

Final standings

Team	Pts	Pld	W	L
1. Nottingham Knights	36	20	18	2
2. Mansfield Express	30	20	15	5
3. West Hertfordshire Warriors	28	20	14	6
4. King's Lynn Fury	26	20	13	7
5. Liverpool Basketball Club	18	20	9	11
6. Colchester United	16	20	8	12
7. Bath Romans	16	20	8	12
8. Leicester Phoenix	16	20	8	12
9. Northampton Neptunes	14	20	7	13
10. Hackney White Heat	10	19	5	14
11. Tamar Valley Cannons	8	19	4	15

	= League winners
	= Qualified for the Play-offs

BBL Cup

First Round

Team 1	Team 2	Score
Leicester Riders	Thames Valley Tigers	77-95
Birmingham Bullets	Plymouth Raiders	73-75
London Towers	Newcastle Eagles	84-86

Quarter Finals

Team 1	Team 2	Score
Chester Jets	Newcastle Eagles	85-79
Scottish Rocks	Thames Valley Tigers	94-82
Milton Keynes Lions	Sheffield Sharks	82-80
Brighton Bears	Plymouth Raiders	73-68

Semi Finals

Team 1	Team 2	Score
Brighton Bears	Milton Keynes Lions	78-68
Scottish Rocks	Chester Jets	90-75

Final

16 January 2005

Report

Brighton Bears	90–74	Scottish Rocks
Pts: Andrew Alleyne (MVP) 27, Ryan Huntley 22, Tony Holley 14, Steve Lepore 8, Yorick Williams 8, Ajou Deng 8, Rahdi Knapp 3		Pts: Donald Cole 22, Tony Windless 13, Adrian Henning 10, Lamont McIntosh 10, Philip Perre 10, Roni Gordon 6, Dan Wardrope 3

National Indoor Arena, Birmingham
Attendance: ?
Bears coach Nick Nurse
Rocks coach Steve Swanson

BBL Trophy

Group stage

Northern Group 1

Team	Pts	Pld	W	L	Percent
1.Newcastle Eagles	8	4	4	0	1.000
2.Scottish Rocks	4	4	2	2	0.500
3.Teesside Mohawks	0	4	0	4	0.000

Southern Group 1

Team	Pts	Pld	W	L	Percent
1.London Towers	8	4	4	0	1.000
2.Milton Keynes Lions	2	4	1	3	0.250
3.Birmingham Bullets	2	4	1	3	0.250

Northern Group 2

Team	Pts	Pld	W	L	Percent
1.Chester Jets	6	4	3	1	0.750
2.Sheffield Sharks	6	4	3	1	0.750
3.Leicester Riders	0	4	0	4	0.000

Southern Group 2

Team	Pts	Pld	W	L	Percent
1.Brighton Bears	6	4	3	1	0.750
2.Plymouth Raiders	4	4	2	2	0.500
3.Thames Valley Tigers	2	4	1	3	0.250

Semi-finals

20 January 2005

Brighton Bears

87–84

London Towers

Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle

20 January 2005

Newcastle Eagles

92–87

Chester Jets

Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle

Final

6 March 2005

Report

Brighton Bears	60–85	Newcastle Eagles
Pts: Ronnie Baker 21, Steve Lepore 13, Andrew Alleyne 9 Cheyne Gadson 9		Pts: Jeremy Hyatt, 22, Charles Smith (MVP) 18, Frank Bennett 13, TJ Walker 12

Brighton Centre, Brighton
Attendance: ?
Bears coach Nick Nurse
Eagles coach Fab Flournoy

Statistics leaders

Category	Player	Stat
Points per game	Trey Moore (Chester Jets)	22.8
Rebounds per game	Terrence Durham (Plymouth Raiders)	13.6
Assists per game	TJ Walker (Newcastle Eagles)	7.3

References

^ Rob Dugdale (6 March 2005). "Eagles secure BBL Trophy victory". BBC. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
^ BBC Sport (27 October 2004). "Bears face fine for Euro pull-out". BBC. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
^ BBC Sport (2 October 2004). "Bullets edge out Riders". BBC. Retrieved 9 November 2010.

Preceded by 2003–04 BBL season	BBL seasons 2004–05	Succeeded by 2005–06 BBL season

[RDE-1] Rob Dugdale (6 March 2005). "Eagles secure BBL Trophy victory". BBC. Retrieved 9 November 2010.

[BBC-2] BBC Sport (27 October 2004). "Bears face fine for Euro pull-out". BBC. Retrieved 9 November 2010.

[BBCS-3] BBC Sport (2 October 2004). "Bullets edge out Riders". BBC. Retrieved 9 November 2010.

[1]

[2]

[3]

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