1994–95 British Basketball League season
The 1994–95 BBL season was known as the Budweiser League for sponsorship reasons. The season featured a total of 13 teams, playing 36 games each. A major change saw the Guildford Kings franchise fold due to the club being unable to negotiate a viable contract with the owners of the Guildford Spectrum.[1] The league sold Kings' licence to a group headed by Robert Earl, Ed Simons and Harvey Goldsmith, who established the Leopards. Oldham Celtics dropped down a division to National League Division One.
1994–95 BBL season | |
---|---|
League | British Basketball League |
Sport | Basketball |
Roll of Honour | |
BBL champions | Sheffield Sharks |
Play Off's champions | Worthing Bears |
National Cup champions | Sheffield Sharks |
BBL Trophy champions | Thames Valley Tigers |
Newcomers Sheffield Sharks formerly Sheffield Forgers won the regular season and claimed the title in their rookie season in addition to becoming National Cup champions. Seventh-seed Worthing Bears caused a huge upset in the post-season Play-off to take the Championship crown with a memorable victory over Manchester Giants in the final.[2] The Thames Valley Tigers secured the BBL Trophy.
Budweiser League Championship (Tier 1)
editFinal standings
editPos | Team | Pld | W | L | % | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Sheffield Sharks | 36 | 29 | 7 | 0.805 | 58 |
2 | Thames Valley Tigers | 36 | 28 | 8 | 0.778 | 56 |
3 | London Towers | 36 | 28 | 8 | 0.778 | 56 |
4 | Manchester Giants | 36 | 26 | 10 | 0.722 | 52 |
5 | Doncaster Panthers | 36 | 25 | 11 | 0.694 | 50 |
6 | Leopards | 36 | 23 | 13 | 0.638 | 46 |
7 | Worthing Bears | 36 | 20 | 16 | 0.555 | 40 |
8 | Birmingham Bullets | 36 | 18 | 18 | 0.500 | 36 |
9 | Derby Bucks | 36 | 10 | 26 | 0.278 | 20 |
10 | Hemel Royals | 36 | 9 | 27 | 0.250 | 18 |
11 | Leicester City Riders | 36 | 8 | 28 | 0.222 | 16 |
12 | Chester Jets | 36 | 6 | 30 | 0.167 | 12 |
13 | Sunderland Scorpions | 36 | 4 | 32 | 0.111 | 8 |
= League winners | |
= Qualified for the play-offs |
Playoffs
editQuarter-finals
edit(1) Sheffield Sharks vs. (8) Birmingham Bullets
(2) Thames Valley Tigers vs. (7) Worthing Bears
(3) London Towers vs. (6) Leopards
(4) Manchester Giants vs. (5) Doncaster Panthers
Semi-finals
editFinal
edit30 April 1995
16:30 |
Worthing Bears | 77–73 | Manchester Giants |
Scoring by quarter: 23–12, 14–23, 9–21, 31–17 | ||
Pts: Cunningham/Irish 19, Harried 17, Lewis 16 Rebs: Harried 13 Asts: Irish 5 MVP: Alan Cunningham |
Pts: Robinson 28, St. Kitts 20, Boden 10 Rebs: St. Kitts 11 Asts: Johnson 7 |
National League Division 1 (Tier 2)
editFinal standings
editPos | Team | Pld | W | L | % | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Crystal Palace | 22 | 21 | 1 | 0.955 | 42 |
2 | Coventry Crusaders | 22 | 18 | 4 | 0.818 | 36 |
3 | Ware Rebels | 22 | 17 | 5 | 0.773 | 34 |
4 | Oldham Celtics | 22 | 14 | 8 | 0.636 | 28 |
5 | Brixton TopCats | 22 | 13 | 9 | 0.591 | 26 |
6 | Stockton Mohawks | 22 | 10 | 12 | 0.455 | 20 |
7 | Bury Wildcats | 22 | 9 | 13 | 0.409 | 18 |
8 | Nottingham Cobras | 22 | 9 | 13 | 0.409 | 18 |
9 | Plymouth Raiders | 22 | 7 | 15 | 0.318 | 14 |
10 | Solent Stars | 22 | 7 | 15 | 0.318 | 14 |
11 | Slough Waterside | 22 | 6 | 16 | 0.273 | 12 |
12 | Swindon Sonics | 22 | 1 | 21 | 0.045 | 2 |
= League winners |
National League Division 2 (Tier 3)
editFinal standings
editPos | Team | Pld | W | L | % | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Cardiff Phoenix | 20 | 18 | 2 | 0.900 | 36 |
2 | Mid Sussex Magic | 20 | 15 | 5 | 0.750 | 30 |
3 | Worcester Chiefs | 20 | 12 | 8 | 0.600 | 24 |
4 | Liverpool Atac | 20 | 12 | 8 | 0.600 | 24 |
5 | Oxford Dons | 20 | 12 | 8 | 0.600 | 24 |
6 | South Bank | 20 | 10 | 10 | 0.500 | 20 |
7 | Westminster | 20 | 9 | 11 | 0.450 | 18 |
8 | Sheffield Forgers | 20 | 8 | 12 | 0.400 | 16 |
9 | Northampton 89ers | 20 | 7 | 13 | 0.350 | 14 |
10 | Stevenage Phoenix | 20 | 5 | 15 | 0.250 | 10 |
11 | Greenwich Admirals | 20 | 2 | 18 | 0.100 | 4 |
= League winners |
National Cup
editFourth round
editTeam 1 | Team 2 | Score |
---|---|---|
Sheffield Sharks | Derby Bucks | 57-56 |
Hemel Hempstead Royals | Leopards | 94-120 |
Sunderland Scorpions | Doncaster Panthers | 94-99 |
Ware Rebels | Birmingham Bullets | 94-110 |
Chester Jets | Manchester Eagles | 78-76 |
Worthing Bears | London Towers | 82-94 |
Crystal Palace | Thames Valley Tigers | 60-74 |
Coventry Crusaders | Leicester Riders | 79-83 |
Quarter-finals
editTeam 1 | Team 2 | Score |
---|---|---|
Doncaster Panthers | Thames Valley Tigers | 59-78 |
Leopards | London Towers | 76-75 |
Chester Jets | Sheffield Sharks | 73-75 |
Leicester City Riders | Birmingham Bullets | 79-99 |
Semi-finals
editTeam 1 | Team 2 | 1st Leg | 2nd Leg |
---|---|---|---|
Leopards | Thames Valley Tigers | 86-80 | 83-99 |
Sheffield Sharks | Birmingham Bullets | 71-72 | 73-68 |
Final
edit5 March 1995[3]
|
Sheffield Sharks | 89–66 | Thames Valley Tigers |
Pts: Roger Huggins 29, Todd Cauthorn 21, Chris Finch 15 | Pts: Steve Bucknall 24, Tony Holley 20, Peter Scantlebury 11 |
7 Up Trophy
editGroup stage
editNorth Group 1
Team | Pts | Pld | W | L | Percent |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1.Doncaster Panthers | 10 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0.833 |
2.Leicester City Riders | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0.667 |
3.Derby Bucks | 4 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0.333 |
4.Sunderland Scorpions | 2 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0.166 |
North Group 2
Team | Pts | Pld | W | L | Percent |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1.Sheffield Sharks | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0.750 |
2.Manchester Giants | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0.750 |
3.Chester Jets | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0.000 |
South Group 1
Team | Pts | Pld | W | L | Percent |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1.Thames Valley Tigers | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0.750 |
2.Birmingham Bullets | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0.750 |
3.Hemel Royals | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0.000 |
South Group 2
Team | Pts | Pld | W | L | Percent |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1.Worthing Bears | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0.750 |
2.London Towers | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0.500 |
3.Leopards | 2 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0.250 |
Sheffield finished ahead of Manchester by having the best head-to-head record between the teams. Thames Valley finished ahead of Birmingham by having the best head-to-head record between the teams.
Semi-finals
editDoncaster Panthers vs. Sheffield Sharks
Thames Valley Tigers vs. Worthing Bears
Final
edit13 January 1995
|
Thames Valley Tigers | 74–69 | Sheffield Sharks |
Pts: Peter Scantlebury 21, Steve Bucknall 15, Tony Holley 14, Neville Austin | Pts: Garnet Gayle 23, Roger Huggins 13, Ploutos Vourliotis, Todd Cauthorn |
National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham
Attendance: 4,000 Thames Valley Coach Mick Bett Sheffield Coach Jim Brandon |
Seasonal awards
edit- Most Valuable Player: Roger Huggins (Sheffield Sharks)
- Coach of the Year: Jim Brandon (Sheffield Sharks)
- All-Star Team:
- Roger Huggins (Sheffield Sharks)
- Karl Brown (Leopards)
- Steve Bucknall (London Towers)
- Chris Fite (Doncaster Panthers)
- Herman Harried (Worthing Bears)
- Nigel Lloyd (Birmingham Bullets)
- Mark Robinson (Manchester Giants)
- Peter Scantlebury (Thames Valley Tigers)
- Tony Windless (London Towers)
- Robert Youngblood (Leopards)
References
edit- ^ ""Leopards step in." Times [London, England] 12 Aug. 1994". The Times Digital Archive.
- ^ BBL Media Guide 2003/04, page 12
- ^ "Nicholas Harling. "Sharks seek the big fish in Europe." Times [London, England] 7 Mar. 1995". The Times Digital Archive.