2007–08 British Basketball League season

BBL seasons
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The 2007–08 season, the 21st since the establishment of the British Basketball League, commenced on 9 September 2007, when the Plymouth Raiders succumbed to the Guildford Heat in the inaugural Cup Winners' Cup competition. The regular season started two weeks later on 21 September with 12 teams including new additions Birmingham Panthers, Everton Tigers and London Capital the later of whom stepped up from EBL Division 1 during the summer. After just one season in the top-flight, London United were forced to drop out due to the loss of its financial backer just weeks before the start of the season.[1]

Guildford's participation in the ULEB Cup saw a British team return to European competition for the first time since Brighton Bears' appearance in the same competition in the 2003–04 season. Out of their depth, the Heat finished their European adventure with a 0-10 record.

On the domestic scene Guildford continued their dominance, collecting the Cup Winners' Cup, BBL Trophy and the Play-off crown. Newcastle Eagles were Champions of the League's regular season campaign, whilst rookie teams Everton and London ended with respectable 7th and 9th-place finishes. The League also secured a live broadcasting contract with Setanta Sports midway through the campaign which saw one televised game a week screened on live on their network.[2]

Teams

Locations of the 2007–08 BBL teams
Team City/Area Arena Capacity Last season
Birmingham Panthers Birmingham &
Telford
UoW, Walsall Campus &
TCAT Arena
1,000
500
New
Cheshire Jets Chester Northgate Arena 1,000 9th
Everton Tigers Liverpool Echo Arena &
Greenbank Sports Academy
7,513
600
New
Guildford Heat Guildford Guildford Spectrum 1,100 1st
Leicester Riders Leicester John Sandford Centre 800 7th
London Capital London Capital City Academy 300 New
Milton Keynes Lions Milton Keynes Bletchley Centre 800 6th
Newcastle Eagles Newcastle upon Tyne Metro Radio Arena 6,500 3rd
Plymouth Raiders Plymouth Plymouth Pavilions 1,480 5th
Scottish Rocks Glasgow Braehead Arena 4,000 4th
Sheffield Sharks Sheffield English Institute of Sport 1,200 2nd
Worcester Wolves Worcester University of Worcester 600 10th

Notable occurrences

BBL Championship

Final standings

TeamPldWLHomeAwayPts
1. Newcastle Eagles 3329416-113-358
2. Guildford Heat 3324911-513-448
3. Plymouth Raiders 3324914-210-748
4. Milton Keynes Lions 33191410-79-738
5. Scottish Rocks 33181510-68-936
6. Sheffield Sharks 3317167-910-634
7. Everton Tigers 33161711-65-1132
8. Worcester Wolves 3314199-85-1128
9. London Capital 3312216-106-1124
10. Leicester Riders 3310234-126-1020
11. Cheshire Jets 339242-147-918
12. Birmingham Panthers 336272-144-1312
= League winners
= Qualified for the Play-offs

The Play-offs

  Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
                           
  1  Newcastle Eagles 105  
8  Worcester Wolves 96  
  1  Newcastle Eagles 63  
  4  Milton Keynes Lions 72  
4  Milton Keynes Lions 105
  5  Scottish Rocks 93  
    4  Milton Keynes Lions 88
  2  Guildford Heat 100
  2  Guildford Heat 81  
7  Everton Tigers 72  
  2  Guildford Heat 81 Third place
  3  Plymouth Raiders 66  
3  Plymouth Raiders 91 1  Newcastle Eagles 92
  6  Sheffield Sharks 73   3  Plymouth Raiders 96

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Third-place game

Final

4 May 2008
5.00pm GMT
Guildford Heat 10088 Milton Keynes Lions
Scoring by quarter: 24-21, 18-20, 25-20, 33-27
Pts: Daniel Gilbert, 27
Rebs: Mike Martin, 10
Pts: Dru Spinks, 22
Rebs: Robert Youngblood, 7

Cup Winners' Cup

The 2007–08 season saw the inauguration of the BBL's newest competition, the Cup Winners' Cup. The pre-season event between last seasons winners of the BBL Cup and BBL Trophy, was staged over two legs with the winner determined by the final aggregate score.

Guildford Heat claimed the upper-hand in the first leg away to Plymouth Raiders with an 83-77 victory, despite being ahead by 18-points, Raiders kept fighting and eventually clawed the game back before losing in the final minutes.

The second leg in Guildford was an equally tight affair, but Heat's strength combined with Raiders' poor free-throw shooting, gave them a 93-91 victory, tallying up to an 176-168 win on aggregate.

9 September 2007
4.00pm GMT
Plymouth Raiders 7783 Guildford Heat
Scoring by quarter: 13-20, 16-23, 24-17, 24-23
Pts: DeAntoine Beasley, 23 Pts: Brian Dux/Mike Martin, 17
15 September 2007
7.00pm GMT
Guildford Heat 9390 Plymouth Raiders
Scoring by quarter: 25-20, 22-21, 14-20, 32-29
Pts: Daniel Gilbert, 20
Rebs: Mike Martin, 12
Pts: Andrew Lasker, 21
Rebs: Gaylon Moore, 13
Guildford win on aggregate, 176–168

BBL Cup

For the 2007–08 edition of the BBL Cup, the top three ranking teams from last seasons BBL Championship - Guildford Heat, Sheffield Sharks and Newcastle Eagles - plus the Milton Keynes Lions, all received a bye into the Quarter-final, leaving the remaining eight clubs to battle it out in the First Round.

First Round

27 September 2007
Leicester Riders 7973 Birmingham Panthers
John Sandford Centre, Leicester

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

15 December 2007
Scottish Rocks 6975 Newcastle Eagles
K2 Arena, Crawley
15 December 2007
Milton Keynes Lions 9180 Guildford Heat
K2 Arena, Crawley

Final

13 January 2008
Milton Keynes Lions 6966 Newcastle Eagles
Scoring by quarter: 9-13, 24-15, 24-17, 12-21
Pts: Kevin Griffin, 24 Pts: Charles Smith, 21

BBL Trophy

This season's BBL Trophy was slightly reformatted from the previous edition of the tournament. The first round comprised three groups of three and one group of four. Gone were the lower league clubs for the English Basketball League and Scottish Basketball League, with the exception of the previous year's EBL Division 1 champions Worthing Thunder, who stepped in to fill the spot vacated by London United, who withdrew prior to the season opener.

Each team played each other twice, once home and once away, and after each group campaign is completed, the top team from each group advanced into the semi-finals. If teams tied on points (2 for a win, 0 for a loss), head-to-head results would come into play.

Group stage

Group 1

Team Pts Pld W L Percent
1.Cheshire Jets 86420.666
2.Plymouth Raiders 86420.666
3.Milton Keynes Lions 66330.500
4.Leicester Riders 26150.166

Group 2

Team Pts Pld W L Percent
1.Guildford Heat 84401.000
2.London Capital 44220.500
3.Worthing Thunder 04040.000

Group 3

Team Pts Pld W L Percent
1.Worcester Wolves 84401.000
2.Sheffield Sharks 44220.500
3.Birmingham Panthers 04040.000

Group 4

Team Pts Pld W L Percent
1.Newcastle Eagles 64310.750
2.Scottish Rocks 64310.750
3.Everton Tigers 04040.000

Semi-finals

Final

The Final for this season's BBL Trophy was held on 2 March 2008, at the Pavilions in Plymouth, the first time the venue has hosted a major final. It was a 'North-South' final contested between Newcastle Eagles and Guildford Heat, and was broadcast live on television, on Setanta Sports 2, and also BBC Radio Newcastle.

Newcastle had been leading 47–35 at the half, but a Guildford comeback led by Most Valuable Player E.J. Harrison and Daniel Gilbert, overhauled the Eagles for their first trophy of the season, after the league and cup double of last season. Harrison scored 10 of his 25 points in the closing quarter with Gilbert scoring 3 in the last minute to cement the trophy for the Heat. Lynard Stewart led all scorers in the match with 26 points, but this was not enough for Newcastle as Fabulous Flournoy's men went down in their second consecutive final after losing to Milton Keynes Lions in the BBL Cup final.

2 March 2008
Guildford Heat 8679 Newcastle Eagles
Scoring by quarter: 21-20, 14-27, 30-14, 21-18
Pts: E.J. Harrison/Daniel Gilbert, 25 Pts: Lynard Stewart, 26

Statistics leaders

CategoryPlayerStat
Points per gameUnited States James Life (Worcester Wolves) 25.9
Rebounds per game Trinidad and Tobago United Kingdom Shawn Myers (Cheshire Jets) 11.3
Assists per game Canada United Kingdom James Whyte (Sheffield Sharks) 7.0
Steals per game United States Maurice Hampton (Scottish Rocks) 2.9
Blocks per game Barbados Andrew Alleyne (Leicester Riders) 1.4
Field goal percentage United States United Kingdom Lynard Stewart (Newcastle Eagles) 65.9%
Free throw percentage United States United Kingdom Charles Smith (Newcastle Eagles) 87.0%
Three-point field goal percentage United Kingdom Chris Haslam (Everton Tigers) 48.5%

Monthly awards

MonthCoachPlayer
OctoberUnited States United Kingdom Fabulous Flournoy (Newcastle Eagles) Trinidad and Tobago United Kingdom Shawn Myers (Cheshire Jets)
NovemberUnited States United Kingdom Sterling Davis (Scottish Rocks) United States Anthony Paez (Worcester Wolves)
DecemberUnited Kingdom Vince Macaulay-Razaq (Milton Keynes Lions) United States Charles Smith (Newcastle Eagles)
JanuaryUnited States United Kingdom Sterling Davis (Scottish Rocks) United States Nigeria Jayson Obazuaye (Cheshire Jets)
FebruaryUnited States United Kingdom Fabulous Flournoy (Newcastle Eagles) United States United Kingdom Tony Dorsey (Guildford Heat)

Seasonal awards

References

  1. 1 2 BBC London (2007). "London United Basketball Team". BBC. Retrieved 2010-11-08.
  2. 1 2 Simon Rushworth (2008). "Basketball back on the box". Sunday Sun. Retrieved 2008-02-17.
  3. Collin Tattum (2007). "Panthers banned from making Telford switch". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 2007-10-02.
  4. Harold McNeil (2007). "Ex-Canisius basketball star Brian Dux injured in car crash in England". The Buffalo News. Archived from the original on 2007-11-14. Retrieved 2007-11-26.
  5. Surrey Advertiser (2007). "Inquiry into 999 response while basketball pro remains in a coma". Surrey Advertiser. Retrieved 2007-11-26.
  6. Colin Tattum (2008). "Panthers trounced in Telford". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 2008-02-18.
Preceded by
2006–07 season
BBL seasons
2007–08
Succeeded by
2008–09 season
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