2013–14 British Basketball League season explained

2013–14 BBL season
League:	British Basketball League
Sport:	Basketball
Duration:	27 September 2013 – 20 April 2014 25 April 2014 – 11 May 2014 (Playoffs)
No Of Games:	33
No Of Teams:	12
Season:	Regular Season
Top Seed:	Newcastle Eagles
Mvp:	Zaire Taylor (Worcester Wolves)
Mvp Link:	BBL Most Valuable Player Award
Top Scorer:	Victor Moses (Cheshire Phoenix)
Playoffs:	BBL Tournaments
Conf1:	BBL Playoffs
Conf1 Link:	2013–14 British Basketball League season
Conf1 Champ:	Worcester Wolves
Conf1 Runner-Up:	Newcastle Eagles
Conf2:	BBL Cup
Conf2 Link:	2013–14 British Basketball League season
Conf2 Champ:	Leicester Riders
Conf2 Runner-Up:	Newcastle Eagles
Conf3:	BBL Trophy
Conf3 Link:	2013–14 British Basketball League season
Conf3 Champ:	Worcester Wolves
Conf3 Runner-Up:	Glasgow Rocks
Seasonslist:	List of BBL seasons
Seasonslistnames:	BBL
Prevseason Link:	2012–13 British Basketball League season
Prevseason Year:	2012–13
Nextseason Link:	2014–15 British Basketball League season
Nextseason Year:	2014–15

The 2013–14 BBL season was the 27th campaign of the British Basketball League since the league's establishment in 1987. The season featured 12 teams from across England and Scotland, including new entrant Birmingham Knights. East London Royals and Essex Leopards were both due to become the 13th and 14th League members respectively, but after deferring their original entries from the 2012–13 season for a season, both franchises withdrew their applications to join the BBL due to financial constraints.^[1]

On 12 July it was officially announced that the Mersey Tigers franchise had been withdrawn from the up-coming season by the League due to financial trouble that had plagued the club throughout the previous season, which resulted in the Tigers becoming the first club to complete an entire season without a single victory.^[2]

The season started on 27 September 2013 and ended on 11 May 2014 with the Play-off Final at Wembley Arena. Newcastle Eagles claimed a record 6th regular season title but were defeated in the Play-off Final by a dominant Worcester Wolves team who were also victorious in the BBL Trophy, beating Glasgow Rocks on their home court in the Final. Leicester Riders were crowned as the BBL Cup winners, defeating Newcastle in the Final at the National Indoor Arena.

Teams

width=25%	Team	width=19%	City	width=29%	Arena	width=12%	Capacity	width=15%	Last season
Birmingham Knights	Birmingham	North Solihull Sports Centre	600	New
Cheshire Phoenix	Chester	Northgate Arena	1,000	11th
Durham Wildcats	Newton Aycliffe	Newton Aycliffe Leisure Centre	1,200	10th
Glasgow Rocks	Glasgow	Emirates Arena	6,500	3rd
Leicester Riders	Leicester	John Sandford Centre	800	1st
London Lions	London	Copper Box	7,000	8th
Manchester Giants	Manchester	Wright Robinson College	900	9th
Newcastle Eagles	Newcastle upon Tyne	Sport Central	3,000	2nd
Plymouth Raiders	Plymouth	Plymouth Pavilions	1,480	6th
Sheffield Sharks	Sheffield	English Institute of Sport	1,200	7th
Surrey United	Guildford	Surrey Sports Park	1,000	4th
Worcester Wolves	Worcester	Worcester Arena	2,000	5th

Notable occurrences

• New entrant Birmingham Knights joined as the League's 13th franchise whilst East London Royals and Essex Leopards who were both due to become the 14th and 15th League members respectively, withdrew their applications to join the BBL due to financial constraints.^[3]
• Ed Percival was announced as the BBL's new chairman on 27 June 2013, replacing the outgoing Paul Blake who stepped down after nearly a decade in the position.^[4]
• On 12 July it was officially announced that the Mersey Tigers franchise had been withdrawn from the up-coming season by the League due to financial trouble that had plagued the club throughout the previous season, bringing the number of teams back down to 12.^[5]
• Following the sale of Surrey Heat to a partnership group consisting of Surrey Sports Park and London United, the franchise was subsequently rebranded as Surrey United prior to the start of the season.^[6] Due to the takeover, long-time head coach Creon Raftopolous was sacked and replaced by Jack Majewski.^[7]
• Durham Wildcats announced on 13 August that head coach Dave Elderkin had stepped down from the role after 8 years in charge. He was replaced by former Great Britain Women's Under-20 coach Lee Davie.^[8]
• On 7 September – just weeks before the start of the new season – Plymouth Raiders announced that head coach Gavin Love had been sacked following a 'vote of no confidence' from the club's board of directors.^[9] Former Raiders player Jay Marriott was appointed as his successor.
• The BBL announced a new television broadcasting deal with British Eurosport on 23 September,^[10] to complement the recently launched online BBL TV platform.^[11]
• A sell-out crowd saw Worcester Wolves win their first competitive game at their new venue, the Worcester Arena on 4 October, as the home side defeated reigning champions Leicester Riders 73–61.^[12]
• Worcester's 62–69 victory away to Leicester Riders on 16 November, put an end to Leicester's 34-game unbeaten home winning streak, which spanned over three seasons.^[13]
• Controversy surrounded Surrey head coach Jack Majewski and his decision to play star player Brandon McGill in a defeat to Cheshire Phoenix on 8 December, two days after the player suffered concussion following a clash with Darius Defoe in a game against Newcastle Eagles.^[14]
• On 12 January 2014, Leicester retained the BBL Cup after beating Newcastle Eagles in the Final at the National Indoor Arena for the second year running.^[15]
• Bristol Flyers became only the second-ever lower division team to beat BBL opposition and advance to the Quarter-finals of the BBL Trophy, following their 91–75 defeat of Surrey United on 16 January.
• Worcester Wolves claimed their first-ever BBL title with an 83–76 victory over Glasgow Rocks in the BBL Trophy Final on 30 March, in front of 5,000 people on Glasgow's home court, the Emirates Arena.^[16]
• London Lions' Joe Ikhinmwin won the annual BBL Slam Dunk Contest at Emirates Arena on 30 March.^[17]
• Leicester head coach Rob Paternostro and Sheffield Sharks head coach Atiba Lyons both reached a landmark 250th game at the helm of their respective clubs on the weekend of 5/6 April.^[18]
• The first ever competitive BBL game to be staged in Wales took place on 9 April between Cheshire Phoenix and Glasgow Rocks. The game was switched from Cheshire's usual home venue, the Northgate Arena, to the Deeside Leisure Centre in Queensferry, Flintshire due to availability issues.^[19] The "home" team lost 77–90 to the visiting Glasgow Rocks.
• Newcastle Eagles were crowned League Champions for a record sixth time following a 106–58 win away to Surrey, on 13 April.^[20]
• Durham Wildcats and the new Manchester Giants franchise (relaunched in 2012) both secured Play-off berths for the first time in their respective club history's following the conclusion of the regular season.
• Worcester Wolves claimed their second piece of silverware for the season by beating Newcastle in the Championship Play-off Final on 12 May, with a 90–78 victory at Wembley Arena. Wolves' Zaire Taylor was named as the game's Most Valuable Player.^[21]

BBL Championship (Tier 1)

Final standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	%	Pts
1	Newcastle Eagles	33	28	5	0.848	56
2	Sheffield Sharks	33	27	6	0.818	54
3	Worcester Wolves	33	27	6	0.818	54
4		33	23	10	0.697	46
5	Cheshire Phoenix	33	18	15	0.545	36
6	London Lions	33	16	17	0.484	32
7	Manchester Giants	33	14	19	0.424	28
8	Durham Wildcats	33	14	19	0.424	28
9	Plymouth Raiders	33	14	19	0.424	28
10	Glasgow Rocks	33	13	20	0.394	26
11	Surrey United	33	4	29	0.121	8
12	Birmingham Knights	33	0	33	0.000	0

	= League winners
	= Qualified for the play-offs

Playoffs

Quarter-finals

(1) Newcastle Eagles vs. (8) Durham Wildcats

(2) Sheffield Sharks vs. (7) Manchester Giants(3) Worcester Wolves vs. (6) London Lions

(4) Leicester Riders vs. (5) Cheshire Phoenix

Semi-finals

(1) Newcastle Eagles vs. (4) Leicester Riders

(2) Sheffield Sharks vs. (3) Worcester Wolves

Final

EBL National League Division 1 (Tier 2)

Final standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	%	Pts
1	Reading Rockets	26	22	4	0.846	44
2	Essex Leopards	26	20	6	0.769	40
3	Hemel Storm	26	18	8	0.692	36
4	Bradford Dragons	26	17	9	0.654	34
5	Manchester Magic	26	16	10	0.615	32
6	Leeds Carnegie	26	15	11	0.577	30
7	Bristol Academy Flyers	26	14	12	0.538	28
8	Newham Neptunes	26	13	13	0.500	26
9	Tees Valley Mohawks	26	12	14	0.462	24
10	Worthing Thunder	26	11	15	0.423	22
11	Medway Park Crusaders	26	9	17	0.346	18
12	Westminster Warriors	26	7	19	0.269	14
13	Team Northumbria	26	6	20	0.231	12
14	Leicester Warriors	26	2	24	0.078	4

	= League winners
	= Qualified for the play-offs

EBL National League Division 2 (Tier 3)

Final standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	%	Pts
1	Derby Trailblazers	20	17	3	0.850	34
2	Huddersfield Heat	20	15	5	0.750	30
3	Ipswich	20	14	6	0.700	28
4	Brixton TopCats	20	12	8	0.600	24
5	Loughborough University	20	10	10	0.500	20
6	Worcester Wolves II	20	9	11	0.450	18
7	Eastside Eagles	20	9	11	0.450	18
8	Derbyshire Arrows	20	9	11	0.450	18
9	London Westside	20	8	12	0.400	16
10	London United	20	6	14	0.300	12
11	Mansfield Giants	20	1	19	0.050	2

	= League winners
	= Qualified for the play-offs

BBL Cup

The winners of the four 1st Round matches were joined by Glasgow Rocks, Leicester Riders, Newcastle Eagles and Surrey United in the Quarter-finals, who received byes for finishing in the top four BBL Championship positions last season.^[22] The Final was played on 12 January 2014 at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham.

Semi-finals

Plymouth Raiders vs. Leicester Riders

Sheffield Sharks vs. Newcastle Eagles

Final

BBL Trophy

The 12 BBL clubs were joined by Bristol Flyers, Essex Leopards, Leeds Carnegie and Reading Rockets of the English Basketball League to form a straight knock-out competition. The first two rounds featured one-off games whilst the Semi-finals took place over two legs. The Final was held at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow for the second consecutive year and saw Worcester Wolves win their first silverware since joining the BBL in 2006.

Semi-finals

Sheffield Sharks vs. Worcester Wolves

Cheshire Phoenix vs. Glasgow Rocks

Final

Statistics leaders

Category	Player	Stat
Points per game	Victor Moses (Cheshire Phoenix)	23.2
Rebounds per game	Victor Moses (Cheshire Phoenix)	13.2
Assists per game	Zaire Taylor (Worcester Wolves)	6.9
Steals per game	Zaire Taylor (Worcester Wolves)	2.8
Blocks per game	Mike Allison (Durham Wildcats)	2.4
Field goal percentage	Rashad Hassan (Leicester Riders)	66.8%
Free throw percentage	B.J. Holmes (Sheffield Sharks)	87.1%
Three-point field goal percentage	David Watts (Manchester Giants)	42.8%

Monthly awards

Month	Coach of the Month	Player of the Month
October	Paul James (Worcester Wolves)	Will Creekmore (Worcester Wolves)
November	Atiba Lyons (Sheffield Sharks)	Victor Moses (Cheshire Phoenix)
December	John Lavery (Cheshire Phoenix)	Zaire Taylor (Worcester Wolves)
January	Rob Paternostro (Leicester Riders)	Victor Moses (Cheshire Phoenix)
February	Paul James (Worcester Wolves)	Victor Moses (Cheshire Phoenix)
March	Fabulous Flournoy (Newcastle Eagles)	Robert Marsden (Manchester Giants)

Seasonal awards

• Molten Most Valuable Player:^[23] Zaire Taylor (Worcester Wolves)
• Molten Coach of the Year:^[24] Fabulous Flournoy (Newcastle Eagles)
• Molten Team of the Year:^[25]
  • Zaire Taylor (Worcester Wolves)
  • Will Creekmore (Worcester Wolves)
  • Victor Moses (Cheshire Phoenix)
  • Reggie Middleton (Cheshire Phoenix)
  • Malik Cooke (Newcastle Eagles)
• Molten Defensive Team of the Year:^[26]
  • Zaire Taylor (Worcester Wolves)
  • Andrew Sullivan (Leicester Riders)
  • Daniel Northern (Glasgow Rocks)
  • Mike Allison (Durham Wildcats)
  • Fabulous Flournoy (Newcastle Eagles)
  • Paul Gause (Newcastle Eagles)
• Molten British Team of the Year:^[27]
  • David Aliu (Manchester Giants)
  • Robert Marsden (Manchester Giants)
  • James Jones (Manchester Giants)
  • Andrew Sullivan (Leicester Riders)
  • Darius Defoe (Newcastle Eagles)
  • Nick George (Plymouth Raiders)

For the British Team of the Year and Defensive Team of the Year, six players were announced instead of the usual five due to a deadlock in votes cast by the BBL head coaches.^[28]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Mark Woods . Knights in, Royals out, others wait on BBL . 2013 . 2012-06-01 . MVP247.com.
2. Web site: Rob Jeffries . Mersey Tigers "disappointed" at BBL franchise withdrawal . 2013 . 2013-07-15. UK American Sports Fans.
3. Web site: Mark Woods . Knights in, Royals out, others wait on BBL . 2013 . 2013-06-01 . MVP247.com.
4. Web site: Sam Neter . Paul Blake Steps Down to Make Way for New BBL Independent Chairman . 2013 . 2014-06-03 . HoopsFix.com.
5. Web site: Rob Jeffries . Mersey Tigers "disappointed" at BBL franchise withdrawal . 2013 . 2013-07-15. UK American Sports Fans.
6. Web site: Richard Spiller . United we stand, says Surrey's new-look basketball club . 2013 . 2014-06-03 . getSurrey.co.uk .
7. Web site: Mark Woods . Creon out amid Heat takeover. 2013 . 2014-06-04 . MVP247.com.
8. Web site: Mark Woods . Davie moves over to be Durham coach . 2013 . 2014-06-04 . MVP247.com.
9. Web site: Glenn Bryant . Plymouth Raiders sack coach Gavin Love . 2013 . 2014-06-04 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20130913035346/http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/Plymouth-Raiders-sack-coach-Gavin-Love/story-19764558-detail/story.html . 13 September 2013 . dead .
10. Web site: Sam Neter . BBL Announces TV Deal with British Eurosport . 2013 . 2014-06-03 . HoopsFix.com.
11. Web site: Sam Neter . BBL Launches Live & On Demand Online Player . 2013 . 2014-06-03 . HoopsFix.com.
12. Web site: Worcester Wolves 73–61 Leicester Riders . 2013 . 2014-06-03 . WorcesterWolves.org.
13. Web site: Rob Jeffries . Wolves end Riders' 34-game unbeaten home run . 2013 . 2014-06-05 . UK American Sports Fans . https://archive.today/20140605005601/http://www.ukamericansportsfans.com/2013/11/16/on-the-buzzer-wolves-end-riders-34-game-unbeaten-home-run/ . 5 June 2014 . dead .
14. Web site: Rob Jeffries . Surrey's McGill plays in defeat to Phoenix despite "concussion" . 2013 . 2014-06-05 . UK American Sports Fans . https://archive.today/20140605005529/http://www.ukamericansportsfans.com/2013/12/08/surreys-mcgill-plays-in-defeat-to-phoenix-despite-concussion/ . 5 June 2014 . dead .
15. Web site: Joe Townsend . Leicester overcome Newcastle in tense finish . 2014 . 2014-06-05 . BBC Sport.
16. Web site: Nigel Slater . Worcester Wolves hold nerve to win BBL Trophy . 2014 . 2014-06-05 . Worcester Observer . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140330183434/http://worcesterobserver.co.uk/news/breaking-wolves-hold-nerve-win-bbl-trophy/ . 30 March 2014 .
17. Web site: Rob Jeffries . Joe Ikhinmwin destroys Trophy dunk contest . 2014 . 2014-06-05 . UK American Sports Fans . https://web.archive.org/web/20140714221407/http://www.ukamericansportsfans.com/2014/03/31/joe-ikhinmwin-destroys-trophy-dunk-contest/ . 14 July 2014 . dead .
18. Web site: Paternostro clocks up another big landmark with Leicester Riders . https://archive.today/20140605005535/http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Basketball-Paternostro-clocks-big-landmark/story-20917383-detail/story.html . dead . 2014-06-05 . 2014 . 2014-06-05 . .
19. Web site: Rob Jeffries . First ever BBL game in Wales with Nix v Rocks . 2014 . 2014-06-05 . UK American Sports Fans . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304044355/http://www.ukamericansportsfans.com/2014/04/09/first-ever-bbl-game-in-wales-with-nix-v-rocks/ . 4 March 2016 . dead .
20. Web site: Mark Woods . Newcastle Eagles are BBL Champions . 2013 . 2014-06-04 . MVP247.com.
21. Web site: Sam Neter . Worcester Wolves claim 2014 BBL Playoff title . 2014 . 2014-06-05 . HoopsFix.com.
22. Web site: BBL Cup . 2014 . 2014-05-25 . BBL.org.uk.
23. Web site: Sam Neter . Zaire Taylor Crowned BBL Player of the Year . 2014 . 2014-05-12 . HoopsFix.com.
24. Web site: Paul Nilsen . Newcastle Eagles coach Fab Flournoy soaring towards more silverware . 2014 . 2014-05-12 . Daily Express.
25. Web site: Jim Green . Phoenix pair named in BBL Team of the Year . 2014 . 2014-05-12 . Chester Chronicle.
26. Web site: Top team honour for Drew Sullivan . 2014 . 2014-05-26 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20140526040324/http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Leicester-Riders-team-honour-Drew-Sullivan/story-21061846-detail/story.html . 26 May 2014 . dead .
27. Web site: Plymouth Raiders' Nick George fifth in BBL British MVP vote . 2014 . 2014-05-26 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20140526043456/http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/Plymouth-Raiders-Nick-George-fifth-BBL-British/story-21042701-detail/story.html . 26 May 2014 . dead .
28. Web site: Paul Blake . BBL British and Defensive Teams of the Year announced . 2014 . 2014-05-26 . Newcastle-Eagles.com.