British Basketball League

The British Basketball League (BBL) was established in 1987, giving UK basketball fans a home grown league to follow. The league had a major boom in the 1990s bringing in a lot of fans, some great players and a lot of big sponsors. There was a dip at the end of the millennium but since a regrouping in 2002 back to a single league format, the BBL has strengthened greatly.

The Championship

The championship is the mainstay of the BBL season and it sees all teams playing in a 33 game season. The matches in the BLL are played to the standard FIBA rules, with four quarters of 10 minutes being played. If the score is tied at the end of the game, overtime is used, in 5 minute periods until a winner can be decided.

In the league campaign, two points are awarded for a win. The team with the most points at the end of the championship is crowned the BBL champions for the season and the top 8 teams progress to the post season play-offs.

In the event of more than one team being equal on points, the head to head scores are taken as the tie breaker. If this is unable to separate teams, the points difference is taken between the teams involved.

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The Play-Offs

The play-offs, which traditionally take place in April, is played out between the top ranked teams in the championship. The first knockout round is seeded as follows:

• 1^st place v 8^th place
• 2^nd place v 7^th place
• 3^rd place v 6^th place
• 4^th place v 5^th place

The quarter and semi-finals are played out on a home and away basis and the higher placed can choose between playing at home first or second. The team with the highest aggregate score over the two legs progresses to the next round.

The semi-final is also seeded which means that the highest ranked team plays the lowest ranked team remaining in the competition and the remaining two teams play off against each other. Again, the semi-finals are played out over home and away legs with the higher ranked seed getting the chance to play home or away first, depending on what they choose.

The two semi-final winners play off in the final, a one-off game which traditionally takes place at Wembley Arena in London. The winner of the final is crowned play-off champions for the season.

Cup competitions

In addition to the championship and the play-off, there are two cup knock-out tournaments for BBL teams. These are the BBL Cup and the BBL Trophy.

The BBL Cup

The BBL Cup tournament is as follows:

The top four ranked teams in the league received a bye, meaning the bottom 8 teams in the league play-off in the 1^st round. This round is decided by a draw and the games are played on a one-off basis.

The four winners and the four teams who received a bye play-off in the quarter finals. This round is decided by a draw and the games are played on a one-off basis.

The four winners of the quarter finals proceed to the semi-finals, which are played out over two legs.

The two winners of the semi-finals proceed to the BBL Cup final, which is played out as a one-off match at a neutral venue.

The BBL Trophy

The BBL Trophy involves the teams from the BBL and invited teams to make up a total of 16 teams. This means that there are 16 sides involved in the first round. The games in this round are determined by a draw and they are played out in a one-off match.

The 8 winners proceed to the quarter finals. The matches are determined by a draw and are played out as a one-off match.

The 4 winners proceed to the semi-finals. The matches are determined by a draw and are played out on a home and away basis.

The semi-final winners proceed to the final, which is held as a one off game at a neutral venue.

The 2012-13 season

Teams 2012-13 BBL Campaign

Logo	City	Team Name	Official Website
	Cheshire	Phoenix	cheshirephoenix.com
	Durham	Wildcats	godurhamwildcats.com
	Glasgow	Rocks	glasgowrocks.co.uk
	Leicester	Riders	leicesterriders.co.uk
	London	Lions	londonlionsbasketball.com
	Mersey	Tigers
	Newcastle	Eagles	newcastle-eagles.com
	Plymouth	Raiders	plymouthraiders.com
	Sheffield	Sharks	sharksbasketball.co.uk
	Surrey	United	surreyunited.co.uk
	Worcester	Wolves	worcesterwolves.org

The Leicester Riders were the BBL champions. The team picked up 60 points, winning 30 of the 33 games that they played that season. This gave them a 10 point lead over second placed Newcastle Eagles.

The Mersey Tigers were the first team to lose every game in a BBL season, ending with 0 points.

The top eight teams in the league, qualifying for the play-offs were:

• Leicester Riders
• Newcastle Eagles
• Glasgow Rocks
• Surrey Heat

• Worcester Wolves
• Plymouth Raiders
• Sheffield Sharks
• London Lions

The quarter-finals of the play-offs were played out as a home and away two-legged affair.

• Leicester Riders defeated London Lions
• Plymouth Raiders defeated Glasgow Rocks
• Newcastle Eagles defeated Sheffield Sharks
• Surrey Heat defeated Worcester Wolves

In the semi-finals, Leicester Riders defeated the Plymouth Raiders over two legs while Newcastle Eagles defeated Surrey Heat over two logs.

This meant that the play-offs final took place between the teams ranked 1^st and 2^nd from the championship. The final took place on the 28^th of April at London Arena.

Leicester Riders defeated Newcastle Eagles by 68-57, clinching the play-off title to go along with their championship win.

The BBL Cup

The bottom 8 ranked teams in the BBL took part in the first round, which worked out as follows:

• Mersey Tigers – Surrey Heat – 51-103
• Sheffield Sharks – Cheshire Jets – 90-59
• Glasgow Rocks – Manchester Giants – 88-85
• London Lions – Durham Wildcats – 79-76

This meant Surrey Heat, Sheffield Sharks, Glasgow Rocks and London Lions joined Newcastle Eagles, Plymouth Raiders, Leicester Riders and Worcester Wolves in the quarter-finals.

The quarter-final results were:

• Sheffield Sharks – Glasgow Rocks – 72-71
• Newcastle Eagles – Worcester Wolves – 107-85
• London Lions – Leicester Riders – 74-90
• Surrey Heat – Plymouth Raiders – 74-79

The semi-finals were played out over two legs.

The first semi-final played out as:

• Plymouth Raiders – Newcastle Eagles – 90-107
• Newcastle Eagles – Plymouth Raiders – 83-91 OT

This meant that Newcastle Eagles triumphed 190-181 on aggregate.

The second semi-final played out as:

• Sheffield Sharks – Leicester Riders – 70-90
• Leicester Riders – Sheffield Sharks – 75-45

This meant that Leicester Riders triumphed 116-115 on aggregate.

The final of the 2012-13 BBL Cup was played on the 13^th of January at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham. Leicester Riders defeated Newcastle Eagles by 85 to 80.

The BLL Trophy

The 12 teams from the BBL were joined by Essex Leopards, Reading Rockets, Edinburgh Kings and Worthing Thunder.

The 1^st round was:

• London Lion – Cheshire Phoenixs – 88-92
• Worcester Wolves – Plymouth Raiders – 90-77
• Durham Wildcats – Newcastle Eagles – 73-102
• Essex Leopards – Leicester Riders – 63-105
• Manchester Giants – Sheffield Sharks – 73-85
• Edinburgh Kings – Glasgow Rocks – 61-72
• Worthing Thunder – Mersey Tigers – 84-64
• Reading Rockets – Surrey Heat – 68-86

The quarter finals played out as:

• Sheffield Sharks – Glasgow Rocks – 84-81 OT
• Surrey Heat – Leicester Riders – 66-82
• Newcastle Eagles – Worcester Wolves – 88-94
• Worthing Thunder – Cheshire Phoenix – 61-106

The semi-finals were played out over two legs.

The first semi-final played out as:

• Cheshire Phoenix – Sheffield Sharks – 60-74
• Sheffield Sharks – Cheshire Phoenix – 102-74

This meant that Sheffield Sharks triumphed 176-134 on aggregate.

The second semi-final played out as:

• Worcester Wolves – Leicester Riders – 73-82
• Leicester Riders – Worcester Wolves – 66-68

This meant that Leicester Riders triumphed 148-141 on aggregate.

The final of the 2012-13 BBL Trophy was played on the 9^th of March at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow. Sheffield Sharks defeated Leicester Riders by 71 to 69. This loss meant that the Leicester Riders were unable to complete a clean sweep for the 2012-13 season.

The 2013-14 BBL season

The 12 teams in the 2013-14 BBL season are:

• Birmingham Knights
• Cheshire Phoenix
• Durham Wildcats
• Glasgow Rocks
• Leicester Riders
• London Lions

• Manchester Giants
• Newcastle Eagles
• Plymouth Raiders
• Sheffield Sharks
• Surrey United
• Worcester Wolves

The season got underway on the weekend of Friday the 27^th of September 2013.