British Basketball League
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| British Basketball League | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Sport | Basketball |
| Founded | 1987 |
| No. of teams | 10 |
| Country |  England Scotland |
| Current champions | Newcastle Eagles |
| Official website | BBL.org.uk |
The British Basketball League is the top men's professional basketball league in the United Kingdom. The BBL runs two knockout competitions alongside the league championship; the BBL Cup and the BBL Trophy.
The BBL is not to be confused with the English Basketball League or the Scottish Basketball League, which effectively form the second tier of British basketball. There is currently no promotion or relegation between the EBL, SBL and BBL because of the franchise system in use in the BBL (although Plymouth Raiders were elected to the BBL from EBL in 2004).
The league was formed in 1987 from the first division of the National Basketball League as the country's first full professional basketball league. Basketball is a minor sport in the United Kingdom and the BBL faces a constant struggle to keep running, which is evident in the many franchise teams that have come and gone over the 19 completed seasons of the league. The league currently consists of ten teams, with representation from both England and Scotland. The league has been won by eleven different franchises. The 2005-06 league champions were Newcastle Eagles.
All member franchises in the BBL own the league, while a Chairman is elected by the teams to oversea BBL operations. The current Chairman is Paul Blake, the Managing Director of Newcastle Eagles. The head offices are located in Leicester, where the country's oldest team, the Leicester Riders is also based.
Contents |
[edit] History
| Season | Winner |
|---|---|
| 2006-07 | Guildford Heat |
| 2005-06 | Newcastle Eagles |
| 2004-05 | Chester Jets |
| 2003-04 | Brighton Bears |
| 2002-03 | Sheffield Sharks |
| 2001-02 | Chester Jets London Towers |
| 2000-01 | Sheffield Sharks London Towers |
| 1999-00 | Manchester Giants London Towers |
| 1998-99 | Sheffield Sharks |
| 1997-98 | London Leopards |
| 1996-97 | London Leopards |
| 1995-96 | London Towers |
| 1994-95 | Sheffield Sharks |
| 1993-94 | Thames Valley Tigers |
| 1992-93 | Worthing Bears |
| 1991-92 | Kingston Kings |
| 1990-91 | Kingston Kings |
| 1989-90 | Kingston Kings |
| 1988-89 | Glasgow Rangers |
| 1987-88 | Portsmouth FC |
[edit] The 1980s: Elite establishment
The British Basketball League burst onto the British hoops scene in 1987 as the game's foremost clubs opted for a franchise-based competition without promotion or relegation. Seeking to improve the sport's image through greater professionalism, the BBL fast became the benchmark for quality competition in the UK. And with the development and evolution of the BBL Cup and BBL Trophy, there is now ample opportunity for Britain's 10 elite basketball clubs to match ambition with silverware.
In recent years, Newcastle Eagles have been the biggest winner of the game's major prizes after clinching six consecutive major trophies.
In 1988 Portsmouth emerged from the pack to clinch the inaugural BBL Championship title but the following year saw the famous Kingston Kings side of the late 80's and early 90's win the first of three back-to-back league crowns.
[edit] The 1990s: Television, sponsors and crowds flood in
The 1990s also saw an exciting growth in popularity and commercialism of the league. Television crews and exciting sponsors such as Peugeot, Lego, Playboy and Budweiser came flooding in, as did the crowds. The Manchester Giants opened the 1995-96 season in front of a record 14,251 fans at the NYNEX Arena against the London Leopards - still the largest crowd to ever watch a basketball match in Britain.
London Towers, Crystal Palace and the Greater London Leopards ushered in an era of capital success in the mid-1990s and in 1999 a Conference format was introduced, which was mirrored by the NBL the following season. For three seasons the cream of the north and the south followed an American-style system with London Towers invincible in the South.
[edit] The 2000s: The millennium slump
A single-league BBL returned in 2002 and four different franchises have won the Championship title in the four years since. However the new millennium also saw a series of downfalls for the BBL. The collapse of ITV Digital cost the league dear, with many franchises struggling to recover from the lost revenue that the £21 million contract was providing. Long established franchises such as the Giants, the Leopards, Derby Storm, Thames Valley Tigers and Birmingham Bullets have all dropped out in the years since, never to be seen again.
The membership crisis brought about the addition of new franchises such as Guildford Heat and elected teams from the lower-tier English Basketball League, like the Plymouth Raiders, both making a refreshing impact on the old boys, with the Heat qualifying for the post season playoffs in 2005-06, their rookie season.
During the same season Newcastle won 30 of their 40 regular season league fixtures to clinch the Championship crown - the previous season saw the Eagles win 31 matches but lose out to Chester Jets in the final week, by just two points.
[edit] The future: Golden ambition
With 10 elite clubs for the 2006-07 - including expansion franchises Worcester Wolves and London United - the BBL is more compact and more competitive than ever. League chairman and Newcastle Managing Director Paul Blake is determined to market the best that British basketball has to offer at home and abroad and 2007 is expected to see at least two domestic franchises return to European competition, as well as membership expansion to a 14-team league [1].
A new sponsorship deal with television company MKTV promises an injection of £2,500,000 and individual clubs are striking individual tie-ups with local firms keen to jump on the basketball bandwagon. Attendances are soaring [2] and there is a strong emphasis on recruiting and developing homegrown talent with a view to supporting Team GB's London 2012 medal bid. With British NBA star Luol Deng committing to the team [3] and various other stars eligible to also play for Britain, including Ben Gordon, Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Kelenna Azubuike and Joel Freeland [4] the future is certainly looking bright.
With British basketball seemingly on the upside at this given time, interest has grown and although not yet a mainstream sport in the country, a group of American investors, including NBA legend A.C. Green, obviously believes in the potential basketball holds in Britain. Simply known as The Basketball Organisation, the group, based in London and New York are in the process of establishing a professional league to rival that of the BBL. Though this has been greeted with some discomfort amongst the basketball community the new professional league, called the British Basketball Association looks set to tip-off in November 2007.
[edit] Teams
[edit] Current teams
| Club | City | Founded | Colours | Arena | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chester Jets | Chester, Cheshire | 1984 | Black, White, Red | Northgate Arena | 1,300 |
| Guildford Heat | Guildford, Surrey | 2005 | Black, Red, White | Guildford Spectrum | 1,300 |
| Leicester Riders | Leicester, Leicestershire | 1967 | Red, Green, White | De Montfort University | 700 |
| London United | London, Greater London | 2002 | White, Black, Red | Hackney SPACe Centre | 600 |
| Milton Keynes Lions | Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire | 1977 | Purple, Gold, White | Bletchley Centre | 907 |
| Newcastle Eagles | Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyneside | 1976 | Black, Gold, White | Metro Radio Arena | 6,000 |
| Plymouth Raiders | Plymouth, Devon | 1983 | Green, White, Black | Plymouth Pavilions | 1,500 |
| Scottish Rocks | Glasgow, Scotland | 1998 | Navy Blue, White | Braehead Arena | 5,500 |
| Sheffield Sharks | Sheffield, South Yorkshire | 1991 | Yellow, Blue, White | EIS Sheffield | 1,200 |
| Worcester Wolves | Worcester, Worcestershire | 2000 | Navy Blue, Yellow, White | University of Worcester | 550 |
[edit] Inactive teams
Inactive teams, are franchises that still have a membership with the BBL but have chosen not to field a team for the current season. There are currently two inactive teams in the league setup:
Both teams opted to sit-out the 2006-07 season with rumours abound of a European professional league being set-up by the NBA to act as a development league. However this never materialised, at least not for the current season.
[edit] Defunct teams
[edit] BBL Championship
 |
For current news on this topic, see British Basketball League 2006-07 |
[edit] Regular season
The regular season, which runs from October to April, operates as a league format, with each team playing 36 games, which are divided evenly between two home and two away games. The league is played according to FIBA rules and matches consist of four quarters of 10 minutes each. Two points are awarded for a win, with the game going into overtime if the score is tied at the final buzzer - unlimited numbers of 5 minute overtime periods are played until one team is ahead when a period ends.
In the league season, team schedules are not identical and neither are matchdays, with games scheduled mainly around Arena availability. Because of this teams may find themselves playing a series of four or five home games consecutively followed by a straight set of away games. As the regular season is also particularly short, many games are played over weekends as 'doubleheaders', whereby a team will play games (possible a home and away game) on consecutive days, something that is not commonplace in British sports, although often seen in the National Basketball Association and other American sports.
Following the completion of the Championship regular season, the top eight placed teams will advance into the post-season Championship Playoffs, which take place during April, concluding with the Finals Weekend, which is hosted at one of the country's biggest basketball venues, the Metro Radio Arena, in Newcastle.
[edit] Playoffs
| 2007-08 • 2006-07 • 2005-06 |
| 2004-05 • 2003-04 • 2002-03 |
| 2001-02 • 2000-01 • 1999-00 |
| 1998-99 • 1997-98 • 1996-97 |
| 1995-96 • 1994-95 • 1993-94 |
| 1992-93 • 1991-92 • 1990-91 |
| 1989-90 • 1988-89 • 1987-88 |
The post-season Playoffs sees the top eight teams from the regular season advance into a one-game knockout series. The team finishing in first place will play the lowest seeded eighth team (match 1), as will second place against seventh (match 2), third against sixth (match 3)and finally the fourth and fifth placed teams facing each other in match 4. The top seeded team in each game will have home court advantage, with the four winners then going onto to compete in the semi-finals.
Both semi-finals matches are played on the Saturday of the Finals Weekend, usually held during the first week of May at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle. The two winners of the semi-finals will then face each other in the Playoff final on the Sunday of Finals Weekend, with the winners being crowned Playoff champions.
As well as the league Championship and Playoffs, the BBL also has under its jurisdiction the BBL Cup and the BBL Trophy, which are played alongside the regular season. In the 2005-06 season, Newcastle Eagles became only the third team ever to complete a "clean-sweep" of domestic Honours, when they won the League Championship and Playoffs, the BBL Cup, and the BBL Trophy all in one season.
[edit] BBL Cup
The BBL Cup is one of two peripheral competitions operated by the BBL during the regular season, the other being the BBL Trophy. The tournament emerged from the National Cup and was contested for the first time in 2003-04, when the Sheffield Sharks were the inaugural winners.
Presently it is a pure knockout competition comprising of all ten BBL clubs, with the final hosted by the prestigious National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, usually within the first weeks of January. The current holders is the Guildford Heat.
[edit] BBL Trophy
The BBL Trophy, founded along with the league in 1987, begins with a regional group format and comprises the ten BBL clubs plus six invitees from Division 1 of the English Basketball League and the top division of the Scottish Basketball League.
The venue for the Final often changes from season to season, with various arenas such as SkyDome Arena in Coventry, Hallam FM Arena in Sheffield and The Brighton Centre hosting the event over the past few years. The 2007 Trophy Final was held at Newcastle's Metro Radio Arena on March 4 and despite Newcastle Eagles enjoying home court advantage, the contest was won by underdogs Plymouth Raiders, who ran out 74-65 victors.
[edit] Players
[edit] Foreign imports
League rules currently allow for each team to have a maximum of three import players, from outside of the EU, and one naturalised player, who must have British citizenship. The current ruling was integrated at the beginning of the 2006-07 season, reverting from the previous law which allowed four imports and one naturalised player. Because of this previous rule, it was possible for a team to field and entirely American starting five, which was often the case.
In an attempt to reduce foreign players in the BBL and allow for the development of more British players, from the 2007-08 season onwards, only two imported players, and one naturalised player will be permitted in official competition.
[edit] Notable former players
John Amaechi
Rod Brown- Steve Bucknall
Pero Cameron- John McCord
Shawn Myers- Terrell Myers
- Nate Reinking
- Dennis Rodman
- Andrew Sullivan
[edit] Media coverage
[edit] Newspapers
Basketball receives little national media coverage in the United Kingdom. Some national newspapers list results and occasionally provide short summaries of the league's news but more extensive coverage remains minimal. There was a small surge in interest during the 2005-06 season when many national newspapers such as The Sun reported that former NBA player Dennis Rodman had signed for Brighton Bears [5] only weeks after being evicted from Celebrity Big Brother. The press attention quickly faded after 'Rodmania' had died down following his three game appearance for the Southcoast franchise.
Coverage in the towns and cities where BBL clubs are based is more extensive. Newspapers such as the Plymouth Evening Herald, Sheffield Star, Glasgow Herald, Daily Record, Leicester Mercury, Newcastle Chronicle and Worcester Standard have dedicated basketball reporters who cover the local team.
[edit] Television
Television coverage of the BBL is minimal, but certainly expanding. In 2006, league officials signed a £2.5 million broadcasting rights agreement with MKTV to provide coverage of 40 live games per season. [6].
The deal was signed prior to MKTV airing, and so unsurprisingly was greeted with a mixed reaction from followers of the league, not helped by MKTV's failure to launch in Autumn 2006 [7]. However both parties stuck by the agreement and on March 4, 2007, a week after MKTV first aired, the BBL Trophy final between Plymouth Raiders and Newcastle Eagles was broadcast live nationwide on satellite television and worldwide on broadband.
Though the BBL Cup final had also been broadcast live over the internet, two months previosuly, this was the first time in five years that the BBL was screened live on television, since the collapse of ITV Digital in 2002. Before then, the league also enjoyed coverage from Channel 4 in the 1980s and Sky Sports in the late 1990s.
[edit] Radio
Radio coverage of the league is a little more sparse but coverage is available via the successful Eagles Web Radio and Heat Web Radio which, run by fans of Newcastle Eagles and Guildford Heat respectively, broadcast live game commentary over the internet where the said teams are involved in.
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ UKTVSlam! (2007). BBL Fights Back. UKTVSlam.tv. Retrieved on January 27, 2007.
- ^ Simon Rushworth (2006). Rushworth Blog. UKTVSlam.tv. Retrieved on November 11, 2006.
- ^ Rob Dugdale (2006). NBA star Deng ready for GB debut. BBC Sport. Retrieved on November 21, 2006.
- ^ Ian Whittell (2005-11-13). Deng jumps through hoops for Britain. Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved on December 23, 2006.
- ^ Ian Whittell (2006). Rodman to return. The Sun. Retrieved on January 14, 2006.
- ^ Rob Dugdale (2006). BBL signs up with new broadcaster. BBC Sport. Retrieved on September 21, 2006.
- ^ Milton Keynes Today (2006). Do not adjust your set!. miltonkeynestoday.co.uk. Retrieved on November 7, 2006.
[edit] External links
- Official BBL website
- Badaball fanzine
- British section of EuroBasket site
- UKTV Slam!
- What's Bev Got To Do With It? fan forum
| British Basketball League 2006-07 |
| Chester Jets | Guildford Heat | Leicester Riders | London United | Milton Keynes Lions | Newcastle Eagles | Plymouth Raiders | Scottish Rocks | Sheffield Sharks | Worcester Wolves Inactive teams: Brighton Bears | London Towers |
