2019–20 British Basketball League season

The 2019–20 BBL season was the 33rd campaign of the British Basketball League, the top British professional basketball league, since its in 1987. The season featured 12 teams from across England and Scotland. On 17 March 2020, the season was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. On 1 June 2020, the season was cancelled, with no League or Playoffs champions declared.[2]

2019–20 BBL season
LeagueBritish Basketball League
Season2019–20
Number of games73[N 1]
Number of teams12
Regular season
League championsNo champions declared[1]
BBL CupWorcester Wolves (1st title)
BBL TrophyNewcastle Eagles (7th title)
Statistical leaders
Points
  • C. J. Gettys (Eagles)
  • (24.7 PPG)
Rebounds
  • C. J. Gettys (Eagles)
  • (13.2 RPG)
Assists
Records
Highest scoring
  • 213 points
  • Plymouth Raiders 103–110 Newcastle Eagles
  • (8 December 2019)
Winning streak
  • 6 games
  • Leicester Riders
  • (17 January – 29 February 2020)
  • Glasgow Rocks
  • (7 February – 14 March 2020)
Losing streak
  • 13 games
  • Manchester Giants
  • (8 December 2019 – 13 March 2020)

Changes to format

The 2019–20 season saw a significantly revamped format for the first time in a number of years.[3]

The newly-formatted BBL Cup began the 2019–20 season in September, with group stages (2 geographical groups, North and South, of 6 teams each) to determine 8 teams to progress to the Quarter-finals. Single-legged quarter finals and two-legged semi finals matches would determine the two finalists to contest the Cup final.

The Championship would run from December to April. All 12 teams were to play each other twice, once home once away, for a 22-game regular season (as opposed to previous years where teams would play each other 3 times for a 33-game regular season). The top 8 teams would qualify for the end of season Playoffs.

The Playoffs were due to run from April to May and for the first time in 21 years were due to be determined over a best-of-three series. The Playoffs Final would once again be held at the O2 Arena, London.

Teams
Locations of the 2019–20 BBL teams

Arenas and locations
Team City Arena Capacity
Bristol Flyers Bristol SGS WISE Arena
750
Cheshire Phoenix Ellesmere Port Cheshire Oaks Arena
1,400
Radisson RED Glasgow Rocks Glasgow Emirates Arena
1,650
Leicester Riders Leicester Morningside Arena
2,400
London City Royals London Crystal Palace NSC
1,500
London Lions London Copper Box
7,000
Manchester Giants Manchester George H. Carnall Centre
750
Newcastle Eagles Newcastle upon Tyne Eagles Community Arena
3,000
Plymouth Raiders Plymouth Plymouth Pavilions
1,500
B.Braun Sheffield Sharks Sheffield Ponds Forge
1,000
Surrey Scorchers Guildford Surrey Sports Park
1,000
Worcester Wolves Worcester University of Worcester Arena
2,000

Personnel and sponsorship
Team Head coach Captain Main jersey sponsor
Bristol Flyers Greece Andreas Kapoulas[4] England Daniel Edozie[5] Toogood International
Cheshire Phoenix England Ben Thomas Serbia Momčilo Latinović Hillyer McKeown
Radisson RED Glasgow Rocks France Vincent Lavandier[6] Scotland Gareth Murray[7] Carling
Leicester Riders United States Rob Paternostro England Andrew Thomson[8] Jelson Homes
London City Royals England Lloyd Gardner[9] England Orlan Jackman
London Lions England Vince Macaulay[10] England Joe Ikhinmwin[11] ASOS
Manchester Giants England Danny Byrne[12] England Callum Jones Space
Newcastle Eagles England Ian McLeod United States Rahmon Fletcher ESH Group
Plymouth Raiders England Paul James[13] Australia Josh Wilcher
B.Braun Sheffield Sharks United States Atiba Lyons[14] Canada Mike Tuck B.Braun
Surrey Scorchers Zimbabwe Creon Raftopoulos[15] England Tayo Ogedengbe[16] Gidden Place
Worcester Wolves England Matthew Newby Netherlands Maarten Bouwknecht University of Worcester

Coaching changes
Team Outgoing coach Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming coach Date of appointment
Worcester Wolves England Tony Garbelotto End of Interim[17] 1 May 2019 Pre-season England Matthew Newby 22 July 2019[18]
London City Royals England Jay Williams Released [19] 12 August 2019 Pre-season England Lloyd Gardner 16 August 2019 [9]
Newcastle Eagles United States Fabulous Flournoy Signed by Toronto Raptors[20] 3 September 2019 Pre-season England Ian McLeod 6 September 2019 [21]

BBL Cup

The newly-formatted BBL Cup began the 2019–20 season on Friday 20 September, with the group stages running until Sunday 24 November. The 12 teams were split into 2 geographical groups, North and South. Each team played each other twice (once home, once away) with the top 4 teams in each group progressing to the Quarter-finals. Single-legged quarter finals and two-legged semi finals matches determined the two finalists to contest the Cup final on Sunday 26 January at the Arena Birmingham.

North Group
Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Qualification LEI SHE NEW CHE GLA MAN
1 Leicester Riders 10 7 3 812 676 +136 Qualification to quarter finals — 75–54 86–94 58–66 93–58 102–70
2 Sheffield Sharks 10 7 3 804 723 +81 79–63 — 93–69 75–60 84–68 95–61
3 Newcastle Eagles 10 6 4 868 794 +74 69–76 80–83 — 97–68 71–73 104–71
4 Cheshire Phoenix 10 5 5 755 786 −31 63–75 76–72 92–100 — 78–88 96–85
5 Glasgow Rocks 10 4 6 719 764 −45 66–88 101–81 86–90 72–74 — 107–85
6 Manchester Giants 10 1 9 649 864 −215 57–96 70–88 66–94 64–82 20–0 —
Source: http://www.bbl.org.uk/

South Group
Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Qualification LCR WOR BRI LON SUR PLY
1 London City Royals 10 8 2 860 793 +67 Qualification to quarter finals — 77–64 84–57 92–77 92–84 101–92
2 Worcester Wolves 10 6 4 798 798 0 65–67 — 74–70 92–67 77–78 104–100
3 Bristol Flyers 10 6 4 835 837 −2 85–75 94–96 — 97–94 107–99 92–72
4 London Lions 10 5 5 892 872 +20 100–99 85–90 103–69 — 98–87 101–86
5 Surrey Scorchers 10 3 7 829 862 −33 82–84 77–83 64–71 80–77 — 87–77
6 Plymouth Raiders 10 2 8 849 901 −52 87–89 83–53 76–93 80–90 96–91 —
Source: http://www.bbl.org.uk/

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals
3 January 2020
Leicester Riders 71–83 Worcester Wolves
Worcester win 146–137 on aggregate
21 December 2019
Bristol Flyers 91–77 London City Royals
Bristol win 175–159 on aggregate

Final
26 January 2020
Bristol Flyers 59–67 Worcester Wolves
Scoring by quarter: 12–16, 13–18, 18–13, 16–20
Pts: Gentrey Thomas (13)
Rebs: Daniel Edozie (10)
Asts: Chris Taylor (4)		 Pts: Amir Williams (23)
Rebs: Amir Williams (13)
Asts: Maarten Bouwknecht (7)
Arena Birmingham, Birmingham
Attendance: 9,244

BBL Championship

The BBL Championship ran from Friday 6 December – Tuesday 17 March. All 12 teams were scheduled to play each other twice, once home once away, for a 22-game regular season. On 24 January 2020, London City Royals withdrew from the league,[22] and their 1–3 record was expunged.[N 2]

On 17 March 2020, the season was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. On 1 June 2020, the season was cancelled, with no League or Playoffs champions declared.[2]

Standings
Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Pts Qualification
1 Glasgow Rocks 15 12 3 1275 1089 +186 24
2 London Lions 14 10 4 1280 1159 +121 20 Basketball Champions League qualifying rounds[24]
3 Worcester Wolves 14 9 5 1173 1106 +67 18
4 Leicester Riders 12 8 4 1048 975 +73 16
5 Cheshire Phoenix 13 7 6 1079 1060 +19 14
6 Newcastle Eagles 13 7 6 1147 1119 +28 14
7 Sheffield Sharks 13 7 6 1060 1060 0 14
8 Bristol Flyers 12 5 7 937 992 −55 10
9 Surrey Scorchers 14 5 9 1243 1340 −97 10
10 Plymouth Raiders 13 3 10 1098 1185 −87 6
11 Manchester Giants 13 0 13 1003 1258 −255 0
12 London City Royals 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Withdrew from the league
Source: BBC Sport

Results
Home \ Away BRI CHE GLA LEI LON MAN NEW PLY SHE SUR WOR
Bristol Flyers 98–94 71–89 73–69 66–75 87–71 71–85 81–66
Cheshire Phoenix 71–87 95–91 99–88 97–64 83–78
Glasgow Rocks 94–55 79–67 92–53 76–80 67–76 98–61 102–81 91–86
Leicester Riders 70–71 83–76 105–82 101–63 97–79 87–80 91–87
London Lions 99–88 94–78 88–72 99–65 87–79 107–98
Manchester Giants 69–77 73–103 81–97 90–96 87–106 76–79
Newcastle Eagles 70–88 108–97 131–63 76–99 91–78 79–95
Plymouth Raiders 69–75 74–77 82–86 74–90 82–91 103–110 111–82
Sheffield Sharks 86–91 92–80 67–66 81–76 76–69
Surrey Scorchers 93–87 89–88 79–95 96–99 101–95 94–90 94–104 107–97
Worcester Wolves 88–85 79–65 69–76 80–78 77–72 116–91 89–70 93–75
Source: bbl.org.uk
Legend: Blue = home team win; Red = away team win.
Matches with lighter background shading were decided after overtime.

Playoffs

The BBL Playoffs were due to run from Friday 24 April – Sunday 17 May, with the final to be held at the O2 Arena, London. The top 8 teams from the regular season of the BBL Championship would have contested the Playoffs, which for the first time in 21 years were to be determined over a best-of-three series.

BBL Trophy

The BBL Trophy retained the same format as introduced in the 2018–19 season. The twelve BBL teams were joined in the first round draw by four invited teams; Solent Kestrels and Worthing Thunder from the English Basketball League, Dunfermline Reign from the Scottish Basketball Championship and Basketball Wales. There was an open draw to form a bracket, mapping out each team's path to the final which was held, for the 8th consecutive year, at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow.

First round
5 January 2020
Manchester Giants 84–88 Worthing Thunder
George H. Carnall Centre, Manchester

Quarter-finals
19 January 2020
Glasgow Rocks 90–92 (2OT) Cheshire Phoenix
25 January 2020
Worthing Thunder 81–94 Solent Kestrels
Worthing Leisure Centre, Worthing

Semi-finals
1 March 2020
Newcastle Eagles 67–75 Cheshire Phoenix
Newcastle win 155–154 on aggregate
16 February 2020
Bristol Flyers 92–73 Solent Kestrels
Solent Kestrels win 176–159 on aggregate

Final
15 March 2020
3:30 pm
Newcastle Eagles 96–94 (OT) Solent Kestrels
Scoring by quarter: 22–22, 24–23, 31–20, 10–22, Overtime: 9–7
Pts: Rahmon Fletcher (29)
Rebs: Cj Gettys (17)
Asts: Cj Gettys (7)		 Pts: Elliott Sentance (26)
Rebs: Travis Charles (10)
Asts: Elliot Dadds (8)
Emirates Arena, Glasgow
Attendance: 1,000

British clubs in European competitions

No British clubs participated in European competition for the 2019–20 season. Leicester and London both declined their invitations from FIBA.[25]

Notes
  1. A cumulative total of 77 games were played before the season was suspended and ultimately voided. Four games were expunged from the overall tallies, following London City Royals' withdrawal from the league.
  2. The results expunged were a 98–90 victory over Plymouth Raiders, and losses of 104–89 against London Lions, 95–71 to Bristol Flyers and a 20–0 forfeit[23] against Glasgow Rocks.
  3. The match had been scheduled for 26 January 2020. Bristol Flyers were given a bye into the semi-finals following London City Royals' withdrawal from the league.

References
  1. Sutherland, Jonathan (1 June 2020). "Basketball: Glasgow upset as BBL ends season without awarding title". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  2. "BBL Cancels Remainder 2019/20 Season; Looks Ahead to 2020/21". British Basketball League. The Basketball League Ltd. 1 June 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  3. "BBL 2019–20 fixtures and dates confirmed – British Basketball League". 10 July 2019.
  4. "Champion returns for second season with Bristol Flyers". 10 June 2019.
  5. "Edozie back for fifth Flyers season". 25 June 2019.
  6. "Rocks secure Lavandier Long Term | Glasgow Rocks Pro Basketball". Archived from the original on 12 April 2019. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  7. "Rocks Secure Commonwealth Starlet". 12 June 2019.
  8. "Andy Thomson re-signs for 2019/20 season! | Leicester Riders | Britain's oldest professional Basketball Club". Archived from the original on 6 July 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
  9. "Royals announce new Head Coach – Lloyd Gardner". Archived from the original on 16 August 2019. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
  10. "2PT Win for Evansville Aces in Summer Friendly". 4 August 2019. Archived from the original on 6 August 2019. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  11. "Number 7 Joe Ikhinmwin Makes It 7". 3 September 2019. Archived from the original on 5 September 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  12. "Danny Byrne signs new Giants contract – Manchester Giants". 11 March 2019.
  13. "Plymouth Raiders appoint coaching legend Paul James as new boss". 2 July 2018.
  14. "B. Braun becomes new naming rights partner for Sheffield Sharks – Sheffield Sharks".
  15. "Open Access Episode 11". 15 May 2019. Archived from the original on 9 June 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  16. "Tayo Returns!". 2 September 2019. Archived from the original on 5 September 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  17. "Worcester Wolves Look to Bring in New Head Coach". Worcester Wolves. 1 May 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
  18. "Newby joins Worcester to lead the pack". Worcester Wolves. 22 July 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
  19. "Williams Dethroned at Royals".
  20. "Flournoy Realises NBA Dream".
  21. "Macleod Named Interim Head Coach".
  22. "Royals withdraw from the BBL". British Basketball League. The Basketball League Ltd. 24 January 2020. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  23. "Disciplinary Panel findings on Royals v Rocks". British Basketball League. The Basketball League Ltd. 24 December 2019. Retrieved 28 December 2019. Based on these findings and in line with the BBL regulations, the Disciplinary Panel has awarded the game to Glasgow Rocks with a score of 20 to 0, and the Royals have been fined an undisclosed sum.
  24. "Strongest BCL lineup to date ahead of season 5". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  25. "Riders Opt Out of Europe for 2019/20 | Leicester Riders | Britain's oldest professional Basketball Club". Archived from the original on 10 July 2019. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
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