2000–01 British Basketball League season explained

2000–01 BBL season
League:British Basketball League
Sport:Basketball
Playoffs:Roll of Honour
Conf1:BBL
Conf1 Champ:N Sheffield Sharks
S London Towers
Conf2:Play Off's
Conf2 Champ:Leicester Riders
Conf3:National Cup
Conf3 Champ:Leicester Riders
Conf4:BBL Trophy
Conf4 Champ:Chester Jets
Seasonslist:List of British Basketball League seasons
Seasonslistnames:British Basketball League
Prevseason Year:1999–2000
Nextseason Year:2001–02

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.

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

BBL Championship (Tier 1)

Final standings

Northern Conference

PosTeamPldWL%Pts
1 Sheffield Sharks36 27 9 0.75054
2 Chester Jets36 25 11 0.69450
3 Newcastle Eagles36 20 16 0.55540
4 Leicester Riders36 17 19 0.47234
5 Manchester Giants36 15 21 0.41630
6 Derby Storm36 6 30 0.16612
7 Edinburgh Rocks36 5 31 0.13810

Southern Conference

PosTeamPldWL%Pts
1 London Towers34 27 7 0.79454
2 Greater London Leopards34 24 10 0.70548
3 Milton Keynes Lions34 21 13 0.61742
4 Birmingham Bullets34 18 16 0.52936
5 Thames Valley Tigers34 14 20 0.41128
6 Brighton Bears34 9 25 0.26418
= Conference winners
= Qualified for the play-offs

Playoffs

Final

National League Conference (Tier 2)

Final standings

PosTeamPldWL%Pts
1 Plymouth Raiders21 19 2 0.90538
2 Worthing Thunder Rebels21 16 5 0.76232
3 Teesside Mohawks21 15 6 0.71430
4 Manchester Magic21 9 12 0.42918
5 Coventry Crusaders21 7 14 0.33314
6 Inter-Basket London +21 7 14 0.33313
7 Solent Stars21 6 15 0.28612
8 Sutton Pumas21 5 16 0.23810
= League winners
= Qualified for the play-offs
+ one point deducted
Play Off Final - Plymouth 83 Worthing 77

National League Division 1 (Tier 3)

Final standings

PosTeamPldWL%Pts
1 Oxford Devils18 17 1 0.94434
2 Reading Rockets18 13 5 0.72226
3 Westminster Warriors18 9 9 0.50018
4 Cardiff Clippers18 8 10 0.44416
5 Kingston Wildcats18 6 12 0.33312
6 Birmingham Aces18 6 12 0.33312
7 Liverpool18 2 16 0.1114
= League winners
= Qualified for the play-offs
Play Off Final - Reading 97 Oxford 82

National League Division 2 (Tier 4)

Final standings

PosTeamPldWL%Pts
1 Derbyshire Arrows24 24 0 1.00048
2 Ealing Tornadoes24 20 4 0.83340
3 Ware Rebels24 17 7 0.71834
4 Hull Icebergs24 16 8 0.66732
5 North London Lords24 15 9 0.62530
6 Doncaster Panthers24 12 12 0.50024
7 Taunton Tigers24 12 12 0.50024
8 Mansfield Express24 11 13 0.45822
9 NW London Wolverines24 9 15 0.37518
10 Northampton Neptunes24 7 17 0.29214
11 Brixton TopCats24 6 18 0.25012
12 South London Bulls24 5 19 0.20810
13 Swindon Sonics24 3 21 0.1256
= League winners
= Qualified for the play-offs
Play Off Final - Ealing v Derbyshire 82-81

National League Division 3 (Tier 5)

Final standings

PosTeamPldWL%Pts
1 Bristol Bombers22 20 2 0.90940
2 Worcester Wolves22 18 4 0.81836
3 Thames Valley Tigers II22 18 4 0.81836
4 Dudley Bears22 12 10 0.54524
5 Barking & Dag. Erkenwald22 11 11 0.50022
6 Nottingham College22 11 11 0.50022
7 Brighton Cougars22 11 11 0.50022
8 University of Birmingham22 10 12 0.45520
9 Northumbria University22 8 14 0.36416
10 Tamar Valley Cannons22 6 16 0.27312
11 Derby Storm II22 3 19 0.1366
12 Colchester Alliance22 3 19 0.1366
= League winners
= Qualified for the play-offs

NTL National Cup

Last 16

width=240Team 1width=240Team 2width=80Score
67-108
112-100
72-74
85-100
102-110
109-61
86-59
81-83

Quarter-finals

width=240Team 1width=240Team 2width=80Score
74-87
70-61
103-100
109-118

Semi-finals

width=240Team 1width=240Team 2width=80Score
95-85
84-82

Final

uni-ball Trophy

Group stage

Group A

TeamPtsPldWLPercent
1.Chester Jets106510.833
2.Greater London Leopards86420.666
3.Sheffield Sharks66330.500
4.Brighton Bears06060.000

Group B

TeamPtsPldWLPercent
1.Thames Valley Tigers86420.666
2.Derby Storm66330.500
3.Birmingham Bullets66330.500
4.Leicester Riders46240.333

Group C

TeamPtsPldWLPercent
1.Newcastle Eagles106510.833
2.Milton Keynes Lions86420.666
3.Manchester Giants66330.500
4.Edinburgh Rocks06060.000

Final

All-Star Game

Northern All-Stars
Player width=200Team
James HamiltonChester Jets
Leicester Riders
Newcastle Eagles
Chester Jets
Derby Storm
Leicester Riders
Manchester Giants
Sheffield Sharks
Newcastle Eagles
Edinburgh Rocks
Leicester Riders
Sheffield Sharks
Coach
Chester Jets
Southern All-Stars
Player width=200Team
Birmingham Bullets
Thames Valley Tigers
Milton Keynes Lions
London Towers
Milton Keynes Lions
Greater London Leopards
Brighton Bears
Thames Valley Tigers
Birmingham Bullets
Greater London Leopards
Milton Keynes Lions
London Towers
Coach
Brighton Bears

Statistics leaders

CategoryPlayerStat
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

Notes and References

  1. Web site: EUROBASKET - basketball. www.eurobasket.com . https://web.archive.org/web/20080330030557/http://www.eurobasket.com/events/eluleb/00-01/d.asp . 30 March 2008.
  2. News: Ian Whittell . Battling Derby are looking up . 2009-12-10 . The Independent. London . 6 November 2000.
  3. News: Ian Whittell . Leopards benefit from tour of US . 2009-12-10 . The Independent. London . 10 November 2000.
  4. News: Richard Taylor . Garcia at the centre of a storm . 2009-12-10 . The Independent. London . 9 December 2000.
  5. Web site: Mark Woods . Leicester drink from fairytale Cup . 2001 . 2009-12-10 . BritBall . 8 July 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110708094732/http://www.britball.com/2001/natcupmen01-final.html . dead .
  6. Web site: Mark Woods . Windless blows hot as North twinkles . 2001 . 2009-12-10 . BritBall.
  7. Web site: Mark Woods . Chester pick up uni-ball Trophy . 2001 . 2009-12-10 . BritBall.
  8. Web site: Mark Woods . Leicester story has happy ending . 2001 . 2009-12-10 . BritBall.