2023–24 London Lions season

2023–24 London Lions season
2023–24 London Lions season
BBL champions
Head coach	Petar Božić
Captain	Sam Dekker
Arena	Copper Box Arena
BBL results
Record	33–3 (.917)
Ladder	1st
BBL Trophy	Runners-up; (lost to Phoenix 82–98)
Playoff finish	TBD
EuroCup	Semifinalist; (lost to Paris 0–2)
	Stats at BBL.org.uk
	All statistics correct as of 21 April 2024.
	← 2022–23 2024–25 →

The 2023–24 London Lions season is the 47th season of the franchise in the British Basketball League (BBL), and their 12th under the banner of London Lions.

This season will be their first under the leadership of their new head coach Petar Božić,^[1]^[2] and their second season in the EuroCup Basketball competition.^[3]^[4]

Roster edit

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.

London Lions roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.
C	0	Olaseni, Gabriel	2.10 m (6 ft 11 in)	104 kg (229 lb)
G	1	Taylor, Jordan (I)	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)	88 kg (194 lb)
G/F	2	Nwaba, David (I)	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)	99 kg (218 lb)
G	5	Udeh, Remy	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)	80 kg (176 lb)
G/F	6	Soluade, Morayo	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)	89 kg (196 lb)
F	7	Dekker, Sam (C & I)	2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)	99 kg (218 lb)
F/C	9	Morgan, Conor	2.06 m (6 ft 9 in)	100 kg (220 lb)
G	10	Nelson, Luke	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)	86 kg (190 lb)
G	11	Queeley, Kareem	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)	91 kg (201 lb)
C	14	Djanogly, Joshua	2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)	98 kg (216 lb)
C	20	Sharma, Josh	2.13 m (7 ft 0 in)	104 kg (229 lb)
G	22	Phillip, Tarik	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)	87 kg (192 lb)
F	23	Sandy, Ciaran	2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)	88 kg (194 lb)
G	30	Morgan, Matt (I)	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)	84 kg (185 lb)
G	31	Kaboza, Bradley	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)	79 kg (174 lb)
F	32	Grantham, Donte (I)	2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)	95 kg (209 lb)

Head coach

Petar Božić

Assistant coach(es)

Polat Kaya
Robert Youngblood

Legend

(C) Team captain
(DP) Development player
(IN) Inactive
(I) Import player
Injured

Roster

Updated: 6 March 2024

Standings edit

Ladder edit

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	London Lions (C)	36	33	3	3376	2935	+441	66	Playoffs
2	Cheshire Phoenix	36	23	13	3334	3148	+186	46
3	Caledonia Gladiators	36	23	13	3152	3044	+108	46
4	Sheffield Sharks	36	19	17	2930	2849	+81	38
5	Leicester Riders	36	18	18	3281	3291	−10	36
6	Newcastle Eagles	36	18	18	3256	3177	+79	36
7	Bristol Flyers	36	16	20	2925	2918	+7	32
8	Surrey Scorchers	36	14	22	2955	3092	−137	28

9	Manchester Giants	36	9	27	2920	3311	−391	18
10	Plymouth City Patriots	36	7	29	2887	3251	−364	14

Updated to match(es) played on 21 April 2024. Source: BBC Sport
(C) Champions

The BBL tie-breaker system as outlined in the BBL Rules and Regulations states that in the case of an identical win–loss record, the results in games played between the teams will determine order of seeding.

	Leader and qualification to playoffs
	Qualification to playoffs
	Last place

2023–24 BBL Championship
Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27
Team ╲ Round
Bristol Flyers	4	4	8	4	3	2	2	2	3	4	6	6	4	5	6	6	7	7	7	8	7	7	8	7	7	7	7
Caledonia Gladiators	3	6	6	6	6	4	3	4	4	5	5	3	3	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3
Cheshire Phoenix	1	3	5	3	5	3	4	3	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
Leicester Riders	10	7	3	2	2	5	5	5	6	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	4	4	5	4	5	5	5	5	6	5	5
London Lions	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Manchester Giants	8	10	7	8	8	8	8	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	10	9	9
Newcastle Eagles	5	2	2	7	7	7	7	7	7	6	4	5	6	4	5	4	6	5	4	5	4	4	4	4	4	6	5
Plymouth City Patriots	7	9	9	9	9	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	9	10	10
Sheffield Sharks	6	5	4	5	4	6	6	6	5	3	3	4	5	6	4	5	5	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	5	4	4
Surrey Scorchers	9	8	10	10	10	9	9	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	7	8	8	7	8	8	8	8

Updated to match(es) played on 21 April 2024. Source: BBL.org.uk

EuroCup ladder edit

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Qualification
1	Paris Basketball	18	17	1	1754	1401	+353	Advance to quarterfinals
2	Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv	18	13	5	1729	1600	+129	Advance to quarterfinals
3	London Lions	18	12	6	1608	1546	+62	Advance to eighthfinals
4	Prometey	18	10	8	1598	1574	+24
5	Joventut	18	10	8	1517	1503	+14
6	Beşiktaş Emlakjet	18	9	9	1400	1428	−28
7	Wolves	18	8	10	1462	1550	−88
8	Umana Reyer Venezia	18	8	10	1507	1538	−31
9	Veolia Towers Hamburg	18	2	16	1478	1762	−284
10	Cedevita Olimpija	18	1	17	1509	1660	−151

Source: EuroCup
Rules for classification: All points scored in extra period(s) were not counted in the standings, nor for any tie-break situation.

Game log edit

BBL Championships edit

2023–24 game log
Total: 33–3 (Home: 16–2; Road: 17–1)

September: 4–0 (Home: 2–0; Road: 2–0)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
1	16 September	@ Surrey	W 61–83	Olaseni, Phillip (13)	Gabriel Olaseni (10)	C.Morgan, Kaboza (4)	Surrey Sports Park 850	1–0
2	21 September	Caledonia	W 93–65	Gabriel Olaseni (14)	Gabriel Olaseni (10)	Grantham, Soluade (4)	Copper Box Arena 1,431	2–0
3	23 September	@ Manchester	W 76–115	M.Morgan, Nelson (18)	Josh Sharma (6)	Tarik Phillip (8)	National Basketball Performance Centre 800	3–0
4	28 September	Bristol	W 98–84	Matt Morgan (25)	Grantham, Olaseni (7)	three players (5)	Copper Box Arena 1,494	4–0

October: 7–0 (Home: 4–0; Road: 3–0)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
5	1 October	@ Cheshire	W 82–91	Matt Morgan (33)	Matt Morgan (8)	M.Morgan, Olaseni (3)	Cheshire Oaks Arena 200	5–0
6	8 October	Manchester	W 94–89	Matt Morgan (30)	Tarik Phillip (8)	Jordan Taylor (7)	Copper Box Arena 2,545	6–0
7	13 October	Cheshire	W 99–80	Conor Morgan (17)	Conor Morgan (8)	Luke Nelson (10)	Copper Box Arena 1,778	7–0
8	16 October	Newcastle	W 109–104 (OT)	Matt Morgan (30)	Gabriel Olaseni (9)	Luke Nelson (6)	Copper Box Arena 822	8–0
9	20 October	@ Sheffield	W 76–92	Conor Morgan (19)	Ciaran Sandy (9)	M.Morgan, Nelson (5)	Canon Medical Arena n/a	9–0
10	22 October	Surrey	W 82–70	Conor Morgan (17)	Conor Morgan (8)	Grantham, Phillip (6)	Copper Box Arena 3,258	10–0
11	27 October	@ Newcastle	W 86–99	Conor Morgan (17)	Gabriel Olaseni (10)	Gabriel Olaseni (9)	Vertu Motors Arena n/a	11–0

November: 3–2 (Home: 1–1; Road: 2–1)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
12	3 November	Bristol	W 95–67	Matt Morgan (19)	Gabriel Olaseni (7)	Morayo Soluade (6)	Copper Box Arena 2,300	12–0
13	5 November	@ Plymouth	L 94–70	Bradley Kaboza (21)	Donte Grantham (7)	Morayo Soluade (4)	Plymouth Pavilions n/a	12–1
14	10 November	@ Leicester	W 95–102	Donte Grantham (22)	Donte Grantham (11)	Jordan Taylor (5)	Leicester Arena n/a	13–1
15	19 November	@ Manchester	W 84–92	Matt Morgan (32)	Josh Sharma (9)	Matt Morgan (6)	National Basketball Performance Centre n/a	14–1
16	23 November	Newcastle	L 80–102	Kareem Queeley (13)	Conor Morgan (6)	Jordan Taylor (7)	Copper Box Arena 1,236	14–2

December: 7–1 (Home: 5–1; Road: 2–0)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
17	1 December	@ Leicester	W 79–89	Conor Morgan (19)	C.Morgan, Sharma (7)	Jordan Taylor (8)	Leicester Arena n/a	15–2
18	3 December	Caledonia	L 94–100 (OT)	Gabriel Olaseni (26)	Conor Morgan (6)	Jordan Taylor (8)	Copper Box Arena n/a	15–3
19	8 December	Plymouth	W 91–84	Matt Morgan (27)	Ciaran Sandy (8)	Jordan Taylor (5)	Copper Box Arena 1,304	16–3
20	10 December	Leicester	W 100–62	Conor Morgan (21)	C.Morgan, Sharma (7)	Tarik Phillip (5)	Copper Box Arena 1,447	17–3
21	15 December	Cheshire	W 102–95	Matt Morgan (28)	Jordan Taylor (5)	Jordan Taylor (9)	Copper Box Arena 1,279	18–3
22	17 December	Manchester	W 99–91 (OT)	Matt Morgan (31)	Matt Morgan (11)	Jordan Taylor (7)	Copper Box Arena 1,731	19–3
23	24 December	Sheffield	W 83–64	Conor Morgan (15)	Conor Morgan (10)	Jordan Taylor (5)	Copper Box Arena 2,223	20–3
24	29 December	@ Caledonia	W 79–87	Gabriel Olaseni (18)	Conor Morgan (11)	Jordan Taylor (8)	Playsport Arena 1,600	21–3

January: 1–0 (Home: 0–0; Road: 1–0)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
25	1 January	@ Surrey	W 80–85	Gabriel Olaseni (25)	C.Morgan, Olaseni (8)	Luke Nelson (9)	Surrey Sports Park n/a	22–3

February: 5–0 (Home: 2–0; Road: 3–0)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
26	2 February	@ Newcastle	W 87–105	Donte Grantham (18)	Donte Grantham (8)	Nwaba, Queeley (5)	Vertu Motors Arena 2,700	23–3
27	4 February	Plymouth	W 105–84	Matt Morgan (19)	Kareem Queeley (6)	Tarik Phillip (7)	Copper Box Arena n/a	24–3
28	8 February	Sheffield	W 84–73	Donte Grantham (20)	Donte Grantham (10)	Gabriel Olaseni (5)	Copper Box Arena n/a	25–3
29	11 February	@ Sheffield	W 79–89	Conor Morgan (20)	Tarik Phillip (9)	three players (5)	Canon Medical Arena n/a	26–3
30	17 February	@ Bristol	W 93–101	Matt Morgan (31)	Conor Morgan (11)	Tarik Phillip (6)	SGS College Arena 750	27–3

March: 2–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 1–0)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
31	3 March	Leicester	W 105–89	Sam Dekker (17)	Gabriel Olaseni (6)	Donte Grantham (6)	Copper Box Arena 4,231	28–3
32	8 March	@ Caledonia	W 76–82	Matt Morgan (22)	Gabriel Olaseni (19)	Matt Morgan (5)	Playsport Arena 1,600	29–3
All-Star Game

April: 4–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 3–0)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
33	7 April	@ Bristol	W 71–86	Gabriel Olaseni (21)	Gabriel Olaseni (10)	M.Morgan, Phillip (5)	SGS College Arena 750	30–3
34	12 April	@ Plymouth	W 57–93	Conor Morgan (20)	Josh Sharma (11)	Tarik Phillip (7)	Plymouth Pavilions n/a	31–3
35	18 April	Surrey	W 97–85	Matt Morgan (24)	Josh Sharma (7)	M.Morgan, Phillip (5)	Copper Box Arena 2,243	32–3
36	21 April	@ Cheshire	W 92–105	Matt Morgan (30)	David Nwaba (9)	Matt Morgan (5)	Cheshire Oaks Arena n/a	33–3

2023–24 season schedule

EuroCup edit

2023–24 game log
Total: 12–6 (Home: 4–5; Road: 8–1)

October: 3–1 (Home: 1–1; Road: 2–0)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
1	4 October	Venezia	W 76–69	Donte Grantham (23)	Grantham, Olaseni (7)	Jordan Taylor (7)	Copper Box Arena 1,287	1–0
2	10 October	@ Humburg	W 94–100	Matt Morgan (21)	Conor Morgan (9)	Matt Morgan (6)	Edel-optics.de Arena 1,279	2–0
3	18 October	@ Prometey	W 89–99	Matt Morgan (21)	Donte Grantham (11)	Tarik Phillip (8)	Arena Riga 1,357	3–0
4	24 October	Paris	L 102–106 (2OT)	Matt Morgan (26)	Gabriel Olaseni (11)	Tarik Phillip (9)	Copper Box Arena 6,152	3–1

November: 4–1 (Home: 1–1; Road: 3–0)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
5	2 November	Hapoel Tel Aviv	L 90–98	Matt Morgan (22)	Donte Grantham (12)	Jordan Taylor (8)	Copper Box Arena 85	3–2
6	8 November	@ Joventut Badalona	W 76–87	Gabriel Olaseni (21)	Gabriel Olaseni (9)	Olaseni, Phillip (5)	Pavelló Olímpic de Badalona 2,979	4–2
7	15 November	@ Beşiktaş	W 80–83	Gabriel Olaseni (24)	Matt Morgan (8)	Matt Morgan (7)	Akatlar Arena 2,882	5–2
8	22 November	Cedevita Olimpija	W 101–95	Matt Morgan (24)	Gabriel Olaseni (12)	Jordan Taylor (8)	Copper Box Arena 3,298	6–2
9	28 November	@ Wolves	W 87–101	Conor Morgan (22)	Donte Grantham (8)	Jordan Taylor (5)	Avia Solutions Group Arena 3,724	7–2

December: 2–2 (Home: 1–1; Road: 1–1)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
10	5 December	@ Venezia	W 91–95	Gabriel Olaseni (23)	Gabriel Olaseni (12)	C.Morgan, Taylor (4)	Palasport Taliercio 2,636	8–2
11	13 December	Humburg	L 81–83	Gabriel Olaseni (24)	Gabriel Olaseni (9)	Luke Nelson (5)	Copper Box Arena 1,764	8–3
12	20 December	Prometey	W 89–88	Gabriel Olaseni (19)	Gabriel Olaseni (10)	Matt Morgan (7)	Copper Box Arena 3,378	9–3
13	26 December	@ Paris	L 94–77	Matt Morgan (18)	Gabriel Olaseni (7)	Jordan Taylor (4)	Halle Georges Carpentier 2,764	9–4

January: 2–2 (Home: 1–1; Road: 1–1)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
14	9 January	@ Hapoel Tel Aviv	W 96–100	David Nwaba (17)	Gabriel Olaseni (10)	Tarik Phillip (7)	Aleksandar Nikolić Hall closed event	10–4
15	17 January	Joventut Badalona	L 80–82	Matt Morgan (20)	David Nwaba (8)	Conor Morgan (5)	Copper Box Arena 2,163	10–5
16	24 January	Beşiktaş	W 93–72	Matt Morgan (20)	Grantham, Olaseni (6)	Matt Morgan (4)	Copper Box Arena 1,357	11–5
17	31 January	@ Cedevita Olimpija	W 85–92	Matt Morgan (26)	Gabriel Olaseni (7)	Matt Morgan (6)	Arena Stožice 2,317	12–5

February: 0–1 (Home: 0–1; Road: 0–0)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
18	7 February	Wolves	L 80–85	M.Morgan, Nwaba (16)	Gabriel Olaseni (8)	Matt Morgan (4)	Copper Box Arena 4,119	12–6

2023–24 eurocup schedule

EuroCup Playoffs edit

2024 playoff game log
Total: 2–2 (Home: 1–1; Road: 1–1)

Eightfinals: 1–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–0)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Series
1	6 March	Türk Telekom	W 100–77	David Nwaba (19)	Gabriel Olaseni (8)	Tarik Phillip (5)	Copper Box Arena 3,141	1–0

Quarterfinals: 1–0 (Home: 0–0; Road: 1–0)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Series
1	13 March	@ U-BT Cluj-Napoca	W 79–91	Sam Dekker (21)	David Nwaba (8)	Donte Grantham (4)	Bt-Arena 10,000	1–0

Semifinals: 0–2 (Home: 0–1; Road: 0–1)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Series
1	26 March	@ Paris	L 99–86	David Nwaba (24)	Olaseni, Nwaba (5)	Tarik Phillip (8)	Adidas Arena 5,425	0–1
2	29 March	Paris	L 85–93	Matt Morgan (25)	David Nwaba (9)	David Nwaba (4)	Copper Box Arena 5,486	0–2

2024 eurocup playoff schedule

BBL Trophy edit

2024 BBL Trophy game log
Total: 4–2 (Home: 3–1; Road: 1–1)

January: 4–2 (Home: 3–1; Road: 1–1)

Game	Date	Team	Score	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Location Attendance	Record
1	4 January	Newcastle	W 99–77	C.Morgan, Nelson (20)	C.Morgan, Sandy (9)	Gabriel Olaseni (9)	Copper Box Arena n/a	1–0
2	7 January	Leicester	W 89–74	Donte Grantham (16)	Ciaran Sandy (11)	Tarik Phillip (9)	Copper Box Arena 2,960	2–0
3	12 January	@ Manchester	W 91–100	Matt Morgan (22)	Tarik Phillip (7)	Tarik Phillip (7)	National Basketball Performance Centre n/a	3–0
4	19 January	@ Bristol	L 94–72	Bradley Kaboza (18)	three players (6)	Donte Grantham (5)	SGS College Arena n/a	3–1
5	27 January	Caledonia	W 85–75	Josh Sharma (19)	Gabriel Olaseni (15)	Matt Morgan (4)	Arena Birmingham n/a	4–1
6	28 January	Cheshire	L 82–98	David Nwaba (18)	Donte Grantham (9)	Donte Grantham (3)	Arena Birmingham n/a	4–2

2023–24 trophy schedule

Transactions edit

Re-signed edit

Player	Signed
Sam Dekker
Josh Sharma
Luke Nelson
Morayo Soluade
Jordan Taylor
Tarik Phillip
Kareem Queeley
Bradley Kaboza

Additions edit

Player	Signed	Former team
Gabriel Olaseni		Darüşşafaka
Conor Morgan		Bahçeşehir Koleji
Matt Morgan		Le Mans
Donte Grantham		SLUC Nancy Basket
Ciaran Sandy		Mercyhurst Lakers
Rokas Gustys		Fundación CB Granada
Joshua Djanogly		Wolfenbüttel
David Nwaba	4 January 2023	Motor City Cruise^[5]

Subtractions edit

Player	Reason left	New team
Joshua Ward-Hibbert	Free agent	Newcastle Eagles
Vojtěch Hruban	Free agent	Cholet Basket
Tomislav Zubčić	Free agent	Napoli Basket
Aaron Best	Free agent	Trefl Sopot
Miye Oni	Free agent	Osceola Magic
Rokas Gustys	Released (NRP)	TBC

References edit

^ "London Lions Confirm Petar Božić As New Head Coach". BritishBasketballLeague.com. 17 August 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
^ "London signs head coach Bozic". euroleaguebasketball.net. 10 August 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
^ "2023-24 BKT EuroCup: Group A at a glance". euroleaguebasketball.net. 10 July 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
^ "British Basketball League clubs prepare for historic 2023/24 European campaign". BritishBasketballLeague.com. 31 August 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
^ Maggi, Alessandro (4 January 2024). "David Nwaba signs with London Lions". Sportando.basketball. Retrieved 8 January 2024.

External links edit

London Lions (official website)
British Basketball League

[1] "London Lions Confirm Petar Božić As New Head Coach". BritishBasketballLeague.com. 17 August 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.

[2] "London signs head coach Bozic". euroleaguebasketball.net. 10 August 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.

[3] "2023-24 BKT EuroCup: Group A at a glance". euroleaguebasketball.net. 10 July 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.

[4] "British Basketball League clubs prepare for historic 2023/24 European campaign". BritishBasketballLeague.com. 31 August 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.

[5] Maggi, Alessandro (4 January 2024). "David Nwaba signs with London Lions". Sportando.basketball. Retrieved 8 January 2024.

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