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2013–14 British Basketball League season

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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]

2013–14 BBL season
LeagueBritish Basketball League
SportBasketball
Duration27 September 2013 – 20 April 2014
25 April 2014 – 11 May 2014 (Playoffs)
Number of games33
Number of teams12
Regular Season
Top seedNewcastle Eagles
Season MVPZaire Taylor (Worcester Wolves)
Top scorerVictor Moses (Cheshire Phoenix)
BBL Tournaments
BBL Playoffs championsWorcester Wolves
  BBL Playoffs runners-upNewcastle Eagles
BBL Cup championsLeicester Riders
  BBL Cup runners-upNewcastle Eagles
BBL Trophy championsWorcester Wolves
  BBL Trophy runners-upGlasgow Rocks
BBL seasons

On 12 July it was officially announced that the Mersey Tigers franchise had been withdrawn from the up-coming season by the League due to financial trouble that had plagued the club throughout the previous season, which resulted in the Tigers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

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Locations of the 2013–14 BBL teams
Team City Arena Capacity 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

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  • 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)

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Final standings

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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 Leicester Riders 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

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Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
             
1 Newcastle Eagles 97 97 194
8 Durham Wildcats 75 82 157
1 Newcastle Eagles 79 83 (OT) 162
4 Leicester Riders 90 71 161
4 Leicester Riders 88 77 164
5 Cheshire Phoenix 76 56 133
1 Newcastle Eagles
2 Worcester Wolves
2 Sheffield Sharks 63 78 141
7 Manchester Giants 60 78 138
2 Sheffield Sharks 59 60 119
3 Worcester Wolves 79 67 146
3 Worcester Wolves 92 86 178
6 London Lions 78 88 166

Quarter-finals

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

27 April 2014
Durham Wildcats 82–97 Newcastle Eagles
Newcastle wins on aggregate, 194–157

(2) Sheffield Sharks vs. (7) Manchester Giants

26 April 2014
Manchester Giants 60–63 Sheffield Sharks
Wright Robinson College, Manchester
27 April 2013
Sheffield Sharks 78–78 Manchester Giants
Sheffield wins on aggregate, 141–138

(3) Worcester Wolves vs. (6) London Lions

25 April 2014
London Lions 78–92 Worcester Wolves
Copper Box, London
27 April 2014
Worcester Wolves 86–88 London Lions
Worcester wins on aggregate, 178–166

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

27 April 2014
Leicester Riders 77–56 Cheshire Phoenix
Leicester wins on aggregate, 164–133
Sir David Wallace Centre, Loughborough

Semi-finals

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

1 May 2014
Leicester Riders 90–79 Newcastle Eagles
Sir David Wallace Centre, Loughborough
4 May 2014
Newcastle Eagles 83–71 (OT) Leicester Riders
Newcastle wins on aggregate, 162–161

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

4 May 2014
Worcester Wolves 67–60 Sheffield Sharks
Worcester wins on aggregate, 146–119

Final

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11 May 2014
3.00pm GMT
Newcastle Eagles 78–90 Worcester Wolves
Scoring by quarter: 15–29, 27–19, 10–24, 26–18
Pts: Darius Defoe, 22
Rebs: Fabulous Flournoy, 10
Asts: Four players, 3		 Pts: Zaire Taylor, 30
Rebs: Will Creekmore, 14
Asts: Zaire Taylor, 9

EBL National League Division 1 (Tier 2)

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Final standings

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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)

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Final standings

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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

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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.

1st round

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19 October 2013
Birmingham Knights 72–103 Plymouth Raiders
North Solihull Sports Centre, Birmingham

Quarter-finals

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2 November 2013
Leicester Riders 74–62 Worcester Wolves
John Sandford Centre, Leicester

Semi-finals

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Plymouth Raiders vs. Leicester Riders

7 December 2013
Leicester Riders 104–77 Plymouth Raiders
Leicester wins on aggregate, 199–166
John Sandford Centre, Leicester

Sheffield Sharks vs. Newcastle Eagles

13 December 2013
Newcastle Eagles 84–57 Sheffield Sharks
Newcastle wins on aggregate, 163–139

Final

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12 January 2014
3.30pm GMT
Leicester Riders 72–69 Newcastle Eagles
Scoring by quarter: 14–20, 18–17, 17–21, 23–11
Pts: Jay Cousinard, 18
Rebs: Andrew Sullivan, 10
Asts: Jay Cousinard, 4		 Pts: Charles Smith, 27
Rebs: Scott Martin, 13
Asts: Andrew Lasker, 4

BBL Trophy

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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.

1st round

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16 January 2014
Bristol Flyers 91–75 Surrey United
WISE Basketball Arena, Bristol
17 January 2014
Leeds Carnegie 48–84 Glasgow Rocks
Carnegie Sports Centre, Leeds
19 January 2014
Essex Leopards 73–101 Newcastle Eagles
Brentwood Centre, Brentwood
19 January 2014
Reading Rockets 73–85 Sheffield Sharks
Rivermead Leisure Complex, Reading
19 January 2014
Manchester Giants 91–74 Birmingham Knights
Wright Robinson College, Manchester
2 February 2014
London Lions 73–82 Worcester Wolves
Copper Box, London

Quarter-finals

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23 February 2014
Manchester Giants 71–73 Glasgow Rocks
Wright Robinson College, Manchester

Semi-finals

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Sheffield Sharks vs. Worcester Wolves

12 March 2014
Worcester Wolves 84–70 Sheffield Sharks
Worcester wins on aggregate, 146–130

Cheshire Phoenix vs. Glasgow Rocks

14 March 2014
Glasgow Rocks 98–77 Cheshire Phoenix
Glasgow wins on aggregate, 172–157

Final

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30 March 2014
3.15pm GMT
Worcester Wolves 83–76 Glasgow Rocks
Scoring by quarter: 15–25, 23–19, 20–11, 25–21
Pts: Jamal Williams, 26
Rebs: Will Creekmore, 15
Asts: Zaire Taylor, 6		 Pts: Gareth Murray, 21
Rebs: Fran Urli, 12
Asts: Fran Urli, 5

Statistics leaders

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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

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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

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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]

References

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  1. ^ Mark Woods (2013). "Knights in, Royals out, others wait on BBL". MVP247.com. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
  2. ^ Rob Jeffries (2013). "Mersey Tigers "disappointed" at BBL franchise withdrawal". UK American Sports Fans. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  3. ^ Mark Woods (2013). "Knights in, Royals out, others wait on BBL". MVP247.com. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  4. ^ Sam Neter (2013). "Paul Blake Steps Down to Make Way for New BBL Independent Chairman". HoopsFix.com. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  5. ^ Rob Jeffries (2013). "Mersey Tigers "disappointed" at BBL franchise withdrawal". UK American Sports Fans. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  6. ^ Richard Spiller (2013). "United we stand, says Surrey's new-look basketball club". getSurrey.co.uk. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  7. ^ Mark Woods (2013). "Creon out amid Heat takeover". MVP247.com. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  8. ^ Mark Woods (2013). "Davie moves over to be Durham coach". MVP247.com. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  9. ^ Glenn Bryant (2013). "Plymouth Raiders sack coach Gavin Love". The Herald. Archived from the original on 13 September 2013. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  10. ^ Sam Neter (2013). "BBL Announces TV Deal with British Eurosport". HoopsFix.com. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  11. ^ Sam Neter (2013). "BBL Launches Live & On Demand Online Player". HoopsFix.com. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  12. ^ "Worcester Wolves 73–61 Leicester Riders". WorcesterWolves.org. 2013. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  13. ^ Rob Jeffries (2013). "Wolves end Riders' 34-game unbeaten home run". UK American Sports Fans. Archived from the original on 5 June 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  14. ^ Rob Jeffries (2013). "Surrey's McGill plays in defeat to Phoenix despite "concussion"". UK American Sports Fans. Archived from the original on 5 June 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  15. ^ Joe Townsend (2014). "Leicester overcome Newcastle in tense finish". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  16. ^ Nigel Slater (2014). "Worcester Wolves hold nerve to win BBL Trophy". Worcester Observer. Archived from the original on 30 March 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  17. ^ Rob Jeffries (2014). "Joe Ikhinmwin destroys Trophy dunk contest". UK American Sports Fans. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  18. ^ "Paternostro clocks up another big landmark with Leicester Riders". Leicester Mercury. 2014. Archived from the original on 5 June 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  19. ^ Rob Jeffries (2014). "First ever BBL game in Wales with Nix v Rocks". UK American Sports Fans. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  20. ^ Mark Woods (2013). "Newcastle Eagles are BBL Champions". MVP247.com. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  21. ^ Sam Neter (2014). "Worcester Wolves claim 2014 BBL Playoff title". HoopsFix.com. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  22. ^ "BBL Cup". BBL.org.uk. 2014. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
  23. ^ Sam Neter (2014). "Zaire Taylor Crowned BBL Player of the Year". HoopsFix.com. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
  24. ^ Paul Nilsen (2014). "Newcastle Eagles coach Fab Flournoy soaring towards more silverware". Daily Express. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
  25. ^ Jim Green (2014). "Phoenix pair named in BBL Team of the Year". Chester Chronicle. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
  26. ^ "Top team honour for Drew Sullivan". Leicester Mercury. 2014. Archived from the original on 26 May 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  27. ^ "Plymouth Raiders' Nick George fifth in BBL British MVP vote". The Herald. 2014. Archived from the original on 26 May 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  28. ^ Paul Blake (2014). "BBL British and Defensive Teams of the Year announced". Newcastle-Eagles.com. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
Preceded by BBL seasons
2013–14 		Succeeded by
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