2003–04 British Basketball League season

Sports 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

[edit]

Bullets

Bears

Jets

Riders

Towers

Lions

Eagles

Rocks

Sharks

Tigers

class=notpageimage|

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

[edit]

* 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)

[edit]

### Final standings

[edit]

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

[edit]

| 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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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)

[edit]

### Final standings

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

2002–03 season

|  BBL seasons
2003–04 | Succeeded by

2004–05 season

|
|

* v
* t
* e

British Basketball League

Former Teams|

* Birmingham Bullets
* Birmingham Knights
* Birmingham Panthers
* Brighton Bears
* Bristol Flyers
* Calderdale Explorers
* Caledonia Gladiators
* Cheshire Phoenix
* Crystal Palace
* Derby Storm
* Doncaster Panthers
* Durham Wildcats
* Essex Leopards
* Essex Pirates
* Glasgow Rangers
* Guildford Kings
* Leeds Force
* Leicester Riders
* Livingston
* London Capital
* London City Royals
* London Lions
* London Towers
* London United
* Manchester Giants (1989)
* Manchester Giants (2012)
* Mersey Tigers
* Newcastle Eagles
* Oldham Celtics
* Olympic City Giants
* Plymouth City Patriots
* Plymouth Raiders
* Portsmouth
* Sheffield Sharks
* Solent Stars
* Surrey Scorchers
* Thames Valley Tigers
* Worthing Thunder
* Worcester Wolves

Competitions|

* BBL Championship (BBL Playoffs)
* BBL Trophy
* All-Star Game
* BBL Cup
* Cup Winners' Cup
* Women's British Basketball League

Seasons
(List)|

* 1987–88
* 1988–89
* 1989–90
* 1990–91
* 1991–92
* 1992–93
* 1993–94
* 1994–95
* 1995–96
* 1996–97
* 1997–98
* 1998–99
* 1999–00
* 2000–01
* 2001–02
* 2002–03
* 2003–04
* 2004–05
* 2005–06
* 2006–07
* 2007–08
* 2008–09
* 2009–10
* 2010–11
* 2011–12
* 2012–13
* 2013–14
* 2014–15
* 2015–16
* 2016–17
* 2017–18
* 2018–19
* 2019–20
* 2020–21
* 2021–22
* 2022–23
* 2023–24

Awards|

* Coach of the Year
* Most Valuable Player

Other|

* BBL Player
* National Basketball League
* Scottish Basketball Championship
* National Cup
* Timeline of basketball on UK television

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