2000–01 British Basketball League season

The 2000–01 BBL season, the 14th since its establishment of the British Basketball League, commenced on 30 September 2000 and ended on 7 April 2001, with a total of 13 teams competing. The regular season saw teams split into two geographically divided Conferences, seven in the North and six in the South, with northern teams playing 36 games and southern teams playing 34 games each. Sheffield Sharks were crowned winners of the North, while London Towers dominated the South, both teams tallying 27 wins in the regular season.

2000–01 BBL season
LeagueBritish Basketball League
SportBasketball
Roll of Honour
BBL championsN Sheffield Sharks
S London Towers
Play Off's championsLeicester Riders
National Cup championsLeicester Riders
BBL Trophy championsChester Jets
British Basketball League seasons

Played in parallel with the regular season, the BBL’s peripheral competition the uni-ball Trophy was conquered by Chester Jets, after a 92-81 win against Newcastle Eagles. Teams also contested the NTL National Cup with clubs from the lower placed National Basketball League, with Leicester Riders prevailing in a close final against Greater London Leopards.

Following the regular season, the top-four teams from each Conference progressed to the play-offs which ran from 14 April to 5 May, climaxing with the Play-off Final at Wembley Arena. Leicester Riders shocked bookmakers and fans alike, taking the Championship title with an 84-75 victory over Sheffield, adding to their National Cup success.

London Towers was the league’s sole representative in European competition, appearing in the Euroleague. They failed to make the Round of 16, finishing 5th in the 6-team Group D with a 1-9 record.

Notable occurrences

edit

BBL Championship (Tier 1)

edit

Final standings

edit

Northern Conference

edit
Pos Team Pld W L % Pts
1 Sheffield Sharks 36 27 9 0.750 54
2 Chester Jets 36 25 11 0.694 50
3 Newcastle Eagles 36 20 16 0.555 40
4 Leicester Riders 36 17 19 0.472 34
5 Manchester Giants 36 15 21 0.416 30
6 Derby Storm 36 6 30 0.166 12
7 Edinburgh Rocks 36 5 31 0.138 10

Southern Conference

edit
Pos Team Pld W L % Pts
1 London Towers 34 27 7 0.794 54
2 Greater London Leopards 34 24 10 0.705 48
3 Milton Keynes Lions 34 21 13 0.617 42
4 Birmingham Bullets 34 18 16 0.529 36
5 Thames Valley Tigers 34 14 20 0.411 28
6 Brighton Bears 34 9 25 0.264 18
= Conference winners
= Qualified for the play-offs

Playoffs

edit

1st round

edit

Quarter-finals

edit

Semi-finals

edit

Final

edit
5 May 2001
5.45pm GMT
Sheffield Sharks 75–84 Leicester Riders
Scoring by quarter: 24-15, 21-21, 12-28, 18-20
Pts: Terrell Myers 14, Peter Scantlebury 14, Nate Reinking 12
Rebs: Peter Scantlebury 10
Asts: Peter Scantlebury 6
Pts: Ralph Blalock 25, Larry Johnson 24, Purnell Perry, 13,
Rebs: Purnell Perry 12
Asts: Larry Johnson 8

National League Conference (Tier 2)

edit

Final standings

edit
Pos Team Pld W L % Pts
1 Plymouth Raiders 21 19 2 0.905 38
2 Worthing Thunder Rebels 21 16 5 0.762 32
3 Teesside Mohawks 21 15 6 0.714 30
4 Manchester Magic 21 9 12 0.429 18
5 Coventry Crusaders 21 7 14 0.333 14
6 Inter-Basket London + 21 7 14 0.333 13
7 Solent Stars 21 6 15 0.286 12
8 Sutton Pumas 21 5 16 0.238 10
= League winners
= Qualified for the play-offs

+ one point deducted
Play Off Final - Plymouth 83 Worthing 77

National League Division 1 (Tier 3)

edit

Final standings

edit
Pos Team Pld W L % Pts
1 Oxford Devils 18 17 1 0.944 34
2 Reading Rockets 18 13 5 0.722 26
3 Westminster Warriors 18 9 9 0.500 18
4 Cardiff Clippers 18 8 10 0.444 16
5 Kingston Wildcats 18 6 12 0.333 12
6 Birmingham Aces 18 6 12 0.333 12
7 Liverpool 18 2 16 0.111 4
= League winners
= Qualified for the play-offs

Play Off Final - Reading 97 Oxford 82

National League Division 2 (Tier 4)

edit

Final standings

edit
Pos Team Pld W L % Pts
1 Derbyshire Arrows 24 24 0 1.000 48
2 Ealing Tornadoes 24 20 4 0.833 40
3 Ware Rebels 24 17 7 0.718 34
4 Hull Icebergs 24 16 8 0.667 32
5 North London Lords 24 15 9 0.625 30
6 Doncaster Panthers 24 12 12 0.500 24
7 Taunton Tigers 24 12 12 0.500 24
8 Mansfield Express 24 11 13 0.458 22
9 NW London Wolverines 24 9 15 0.375 18
10 Northampton Neptunes 24 7 17 0.292 14
11 Brixton TopCats 24 6 18 0.250 12
12 South London Bulls 24 5 19 0.208 10
13 Swindon Sonics 24 3 21 0.125 6
= League winners
= Qualified for the play-offs

Play Off Final - Ealing v Derbyshire 82-81

National League Division 3 (Tier 5)

edit

Final standings

edit
Pos Team Pld W L % Pts
1 Bristol Bombers 22 20 2 0.909 40
2 Worcester Wolves 22 18 4 0.818 36
3 Thames Valley Tigers II 22 18 4 0.818 36
4 Dudley Bears 22 12 10 0.545 24
5 Barking & Dag. Erkenwald 22 11 11 0.500 22
6 Nottingham College 22 11 11 0.500 22
7 Brighton Cougars 22 11 11 0.500 22
8 University of Birmingham 22 10 12 0.455 20
9 Northumbria University 22 8 14 0.364 16
10 Tamar Valley Cannons 22 6 16 0.273 12
11 Derby Storm II 22 3 19 0.136 6
12 Colchester Alliance 22 3 19 0.136 6'
= League winners
= Qualified for the play-offs
Play Off Final - Bristol v Barking & Dagenham Erkenwald 89-67

NTL National Cup

edit

Last 16

edit
Team 1 Team 2 Score
Worthing Thunder Greater London Leopards 67-108
Thames Valley Tigers Sheffield Sharks 112-100
Brighton Bears Manchester Giants 72-74
Chester Jets Newcastle Eagles 85-100
Teesside Mohawks Leicester Riders 102-110
Birmingham Bullets Solent Stars 109-61
Derby Storm Edinburgh Rocks 86-59
Milton Keynes Lions London Towers 81-83

Quarter-finals

edit
Team 1 Team 2 Score
Derby Storm Thames Valley Tigers 74-87
London Towers Manchester Giants 70-61
Greater London Leopards Newcastle Eagles 103-100
Birmingham Bullets Leicester Riders 109-118

Semi-finals

edit
Team 1 Team 2 Score
Leicester Riders Thames Valley Tigers 95-85
Greater London Leopards London Towers 84-82

Final

edit

uni-ball Trophy

edit

Group stage

edit

Group A

Team Pts Pld W L Percent
1.Chester Jets 10 6 5 1 0.833
2.Greater London Leopards 8 6 4 2 0.666
3.Sheffield Sharks 6 6 3 3 0.500
4.Brighton Bears 0 6 0 6 0.000
  • Sheffield qualified as the third-place team with the best record on basket difference.

Group B

Team Pts Pld W L Percent
1.Thames Valley Tigers 8 6 4 2 0.666
2.Derby Storm 6 6 3 3 0.500
3.Birmingham Bullets 6 6 3 3 0.500
4.Leicester Riders 4 6 2 4 0.333
  • Derby qualified ahead of Birmingham on head-to-head results, losing 76-74 and winning 106-90.

Group C

Team Pts Pld W L Percent
1.Newcastle Eagles 10 6 5 1 0.833
2.Milton Keynes Lions 8 6 4 2 0.666
3.Manchester Giants 6 6 3 3 0.500
4.Edinburgh Rocks 0 6 0 6 0.000
  • London Towers received a bye into the Quarter-finals, due to scheduling conflicts with their Euroleague campaign.

Quarter-finals

edit
3 February 2001
Chester Jets 82–74 Derby Storm

Semi-finals

edit

Final

edit
24 March 2001
Chester Jets 92–81 Newcastle Eagles
Scoring by quarter: 27-24, 22-13, 20-29, 23-15
Pts: Loren Meyer, 26, Pero Cameron 20, Duane Clemens 16, James Hamilton 16 Pts: Tony Windless 29, TJ Walker 11, Donnie Johnson 11, Brian Ehlers 11

All-Star Game

edit
20 January 2001
Northern All-Stars 161–148 Southern All-Stars
Pts: Tony Windless, 25 Pts: Tony Christie, 29

Statistics leaders

edit
Category Player Stat
Points per game     John McCord (Thames Valley) 25.50
Rebounds per game   Antonio García (Derby/Birmingham) 14.90
Assists per game   Nigel Lloyd (Milton Keynes) 5.86

Seasonal awards

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "EUROBASKET - basketball". www.eurobasket.com. Archived from the original on 30 March 2008.
  2. ^ Ian Whittell (6 November 2000). "Battling Derby are looking up". The Independent. London. Retrieved 10 December 2009.
  3. ^ Ian Whittell (10 November 2000). "Leopards benefit from tour of US". The Independent. London. Retrieved 10 December 2009.
  4. ^ Richard Taylor (9 December 2000). "Garcia at the centre of a storm". The Independent. London. Retrieved 10 December 2009.[dead link]
  5. ^ Mark Woods (2001). "Leicester drink from fairytale Cup". BritBall. Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 10 December 2009.
  6. ^ Mark Woods (2001). "Windless blows hot as North twinkles". BritBall. Retrieved 10 December 2009.
  7. ^ Mark Woods (2001). "Chester pick up uni-ball Trophy". BritBall. Retrieved 10 December 2009.
  8. ^ Mark Woods (2001). "Leicester story has happy ending". BritBall. Retrieved 10 December 2009.
Preceded by BBL seasons
2000–01
Succeeded by