2003–04 British Basketball League season

The 2003–04 BBL season was the 17th campaign in the history of the British Basketball League.

2003–04 BBL season
LeagueBritish Basketball League
SportBasketball
Roll of Honour
BBL championsBrighton Bears
Play Off's championsSheffield Sharks
BBL Cup championsSheffield Sharks
BBL Trophy championsChester Jets
British Basketball League seasons

Teams

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Locations of the 2003–04 BBL teams
Team City/Area Arena Capacity Last season
Birmingham Bullets Birmingham Birmingham Sports Centre 1,000 9th
Brighton Bears Brighton Brighton Centre &
Burgess Hill Triangle
3,600
1,800
2nd
Chester Jets Chester Northgate Arena 1,000 3rd
Leicester Riders Loughborough Loughborough University 1,200 11th
London Towers London Crystal Palace National Sports Centre 3,500 7th
Milton Keynes Lions Milton Keynes Bletchley Centre 800 8th
Newcastle Eagles Newcastle upon Tyne Telewest Arena 6,500 5th
Scottish Rocks Glasgow Braehead Arena 4,000 6th
Sheffield Sharks Sheffield Hallam FM Arena &
Ponds Forge
8,500
1,600
1st
Thames Valley Tigers Bracknell John Nike Sports Centre 1,000 4th

Notable occurrences

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  • Due to uncertainty regarding the future of Aston Events Centre, the Birmingham Bullets were forced to relocate to a new home venue. Their first games of the campaign were postponed until a suitable venue could be found, with the owner Craig Bown eventually acquiring the use of Birmingham Sports Centre for the duration of the season.[1]
  • With their 68–66 win in the BBL Trophy Final against Brighton Bears, Chester Jets made history as the first team to win the Trophy for four consecutive seasons.[2]

BBL championship (Tier 1)

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Final standings

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Pos Team Pld W L % Pts
1 Brighton Bears 36 30 6 0.833 60
2 Sheffield Sharks 36 26 10 0.722 52
3 London Towers 36 23 13 0.638 46
4 Scottish Rocks 36 23 13 0.638 46
5 Chester Jets 36 21 15 0.583 42
6 Newcastle Eagles 36 18 18 0.500 36
7 Thames Valley Tigers 36 18 18 0.500 36
8 Milton Keynes Lions 36 13 23 0.362 26
9 Leicester Riders 36 5 31 0.138 10
10 Birmingham Bullets 36 2 34 0.055 4
= League winners
= Qualified for the play-offs

Playoffs

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Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
         
1 Brighton Bears 91
8 Milton Keynes Lions 83
1 Brighton Bears 79
5 Chester Jets 80
4 Scottish Rocks 83
5 Chester Jets 86
5 Chester Jets 74
2 Sheffield Sharks 86
2 Sheffield Sharks 118
7 Thames Valley Tigers 110
2 Sheffield Sharks 94
3 London Towers 88
3 London Towers 96
6 Newcastle Eagles 94

Quarter-finals

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Semi-finals

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Final

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2 May 2004
6.00 pm GMT
Sheffield Sharks 86–74 Chester Jets
Scoring by quarter: 18–19, 26–19, 16–17, 26–19
Pts: Lynard Stewart 25, Rob Yanders 19, Justin Phoenix 12, Nate Reinking 12 Pts: Michael Nurse 21, John McCord 18, Calvin Davis 14

EBL National League Division 1 (Tier 2)

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Final standings

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Pos Team Pld W L % Pts
1 Plymouth Raiders 22 20 2 0.909 40
2 Reading Rockets 22 17 5 0.773 34
3 Teesside Mohawks 22 16 6 0.727 32
4 Manchester Magic 22 16 6 0.727 32
5 Worthing Thunder 22 15 7 0.682 30
6 London United 22 11 11 0.500 22
7 City of Sheffield Arrows 22 10 12 0.455 20
8 Ware Rebels 22 9 13 0.409 18
9 Sutton Pumas 22 7 15 0.318 14
10 Solent Stars 22 4 18 0.182 8
11 Kingston Wildcats 22 4 18 0.182 8
12 Bath Romans 22 3 19 0.136 6
= League winners
= Qualified for the play-offs

Haribo Cup

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This season saw the first edition of the newly created Haribo Cup. Following the BBL's decision to withdraw from the National Cup due to import player regulations, the League's newest competition saw all 10 teams competing in a knock-out style tournament culminating in the Grand Final at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham.

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
         
Leicester Riders 100
London Towers 112
London Towers 81
Sheffield Sharks 90
Milton Keynes Lions 74
Sheffield Sharks 85
Sheffield Sharks 83
Scottish Rocks 70
Birmingham Bullets 96
Thames Valley Tigers 105
Thames Valley Tigers 104
Scottish Rocks 105 (OT)
Scottish Rocks 86 (OT)
Newcastle Eagles 82

First round

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Quarter-finals

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8 November 2003
Birmingham Bullets 96–105 Thames Valley Tigers
Birmingham Sports Centre, Birmingham
9 November 2003
Scottish Rocks 86–82 (OT) Newcastle Eagles

Semi-finals

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Final

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11 January 2004
Sheffield Sharks 83–70 Scottish Rocks
Scoring by quarter: 24–14, 22–22, 18–28, 19–6
Pts: H.L. Coleman 22, Lynard Stewart 17, Nate Reinking 13 Pts: Jerry Williams 26, Terence McGee 15, Michael Martin 12

BBL Trophy

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Due to the lack of teams competing in this season's Championship, the BBL Trophy featured all 10 BBL teams plus two invited teams from the English Basketball League (Plymouth Raiders and Teesside Mohawks). The First round saw all 12 teams divided into four regionalised groups with the top finishing team advancing to the Semi-finals.

Group stage

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Semi-finals

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Final

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13 March 2004
Brighton Bears 66–68 Chester Jets
Scoring by quarter: 21–21, 17–17, 17–15, 11–15
Pts: Kendrick Warren 17, Mike Brown 14, Rico Alderson 12 Pts: John McCord 19 (MVP), Michael Nurse 13, Billy Singleton 11
Hallam FM Arena, Sheffield
Attendance: 5,000

Statistics leaders

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Category Player Stat
Points per game   Mike Pegues (Leicester Riders) 24.7
Rebounds per game   Shawn Jamison (Milton Keynes Lions) 11.6
Assists per game     Rob Paternostro (Birmingham Bullets) 7.8

References

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  1. ^ "Bullets move home". 2003. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
  2. ^ "Jets create history". BBC News. 13 March 2004. Archived from the original on 5 May 2004. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
Preceded by BBL seasons
2003–04
Succeeded by