2003–04 British Basketball League season

2003–04 BBL season
2003–04 BBL season
League	British Basketball League
Sport	Basketball
Roll of Honour
BBL champions	Brighton Bears
Play Off's champions	Sheffield Sharks
BBL Cup champions	Sheffield Sharks
BBL Trophy champions	Chester Jets
British Basketball League seasons
	← 2002–03 2004–05 →

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

Teams

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

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)

Final standings

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

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

17 April 2004

Brighton Bears

91–83

Milton Keynes Lions

Brighton Centre, Brighton

17 April 2004

London Towers

94–92

Newcastle Eagles

Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, London

18 April 2004

Scottish Rocks

83–86

Chester Jets

Braehead Arena, Glasgow

18 April 2004

Sheffield Sharks

118–100

Thames Valley Tigers

Hallam FM Arena, Sheffield

Semi-finals

1 May 2004

Brighton Bears

79–80

Chester Jets

National Indoor Arena, Birmingham

1 May 2004

Sheffield Sharks

94–88

London Towers

National Indoor Arena, Birmingham

Final

2 May 2004
6.00 pm GMT

Report

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

National Indoor Arena, Birmingham

EBL National League Division 1 (Tier 2)

Final standings

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

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

26 October 2003

Sheffield Sharks

83–70

Brighton Bears

Hallam FM Arena, Sheffield

26 October 2003

Chester Jets

79–95

Newcastle Eagles

Northgate Arena, Chester

Quarter-finals

8 November 2003

Leicester Riders

100–112

London Towers

Loughborough University, Loughborough

8 November 2003

Birmingham Bullets

96–105

Thames Valley Tigers

Birmingham Sports Centre, Birmingham

9 November 2003

Milton Keynes Lions

74–85

Sheffield Sharks

Bletchley Centre, Milton Keynes Lions

9 November 2003

Scottish Rocks

86–82 (OT)

Newcastle Eagles

Braehead Arena, Glasgow

Semi-finals

29 November 2003

London Towers

81–90

Sheffield Sharks

Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, London

29 November 2003

Thames Valley Tigers

104–105 (OT)

Scottish Rocks

Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, London

Final

11 January 2004

Report

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

National Indoor Arena, Birmingham

BBL Trophy

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

Northern Group 1

Team	Pts	Pld	W	L	Percent
1.Scottish Rocks	8	4	4	0	1.000
2.Newcastle Eagles	4	4	2	2	0.500
3.Teesside Mohawks	0	4	0	4	0.000

Southern Group 1

Team	Pts	Pld	W	L	Percent
1.London Towers	6	4	3	1	0.750
2.Milton Keynes Lions	6	4	3	1	0.750
3.Birmingham Bullets	0	4	0	4	0.000

Northern Group 2

Team	Pts	Pld	W	L	Percent
1.Chester Jets	6	4	3	1	0.750
2.Sheffield Sharks	6	4	3	1	0.750
3.Leicester Riders	0	4	0	4	0.000

Southern Group 2

Team	Pts	Pld	W	L	Percent
1.Brighton Bears	8	4	4	0	1.000
2.Thames Valley Tigers	4	4	2	2	0.500
3.Plymouth Raiders	0	4	0	4	0.000

Semi-finals

7 February 2004

Brighton Bears

86–73

London Towers

Ponds Forge, Sheffield

7 February 2004

Chester Jets

91–85

Scottish Rocks

Ponds Forge, Sheffield

Final

13 March 2004

Report

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

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

^ "Bullets move home". 2003. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
^ "Jets create history". BBC News. 13 March 2004. Archived from the original on 5 May 2004. Retrieved 9 November 2010.

Preceded by 2002–03 season	BBL seasons 2003–04	Succeeded by 2004–05 season

[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.

[1]

[2]

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