# 2001–02 British Basketball League season

The 2001–02 BBL season was the 15th season in the history of the British Basketball League. The regular season ran from September 27, 2001, to March 31, 2002, whilst the post-season Play-offs culminated with the Grand Final at Wembley Arena on April 27. Chester Jets claimed a famous "clean-sweep" by winning all three BBL competitions as well as the ntl:home National Cup. Jets' head coach Robbie Peers was awarded the League's Coach of the Year accolade whilst John Thomas, also of the Jets, claimed that Player of the Year award.
London Towers represented the United Kingdom in Europe's most prestigious competition, the Euroleague, however the capital-based team came up against giants Kinder Bologna, FC Barcelona and Union Olimpija in Group B and eventually finished with a 0-14 record. Birmingham Bullets made a brief appearance in the North European Basketball League.
The Manchester Giants franchise, once one of the League's title contenders, were withdrawn from the BBL midway through the season by League officials following ongoing financial difficulties. Prior to withdrawing in December, the Giants had a 2-7 record in the Northern Conference.

## Notable occurrences

* It was announced on December 7, 2001, that the Manchester Giants franchise had been withdrawn by League officials. The team had a 2-7 record in the Northern Conference before being expelled from the competition due to unfulfilling a fixture and a lack of finance.
* The Southern All-Star's claimed the annual All-Star Game with an emphatic 196-142 victory against the Northern All-Stars at the Telewest Arena. Greater London Leopards' Rico Alderson was named as the game's MVP with 34 points and 15 rebounds. Brighton Bears' Albert White lead the game scoring with 38 points.
* The Birmingham Bullets' regular season home match against Edinburgh Rocks on February 2, 2002, was abandoned due to a waterlogged court. Severe heavy rain and a leak in the Aston Villa Leisure Centre roof caused the main court to flood and the game to be postponed.

## BBL Championship (Tier 1)
### Final standings
#### Northern Conference

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | % | Pts |
| 1 | Chester Jets | 32 | 24 | 8 | 0.750 | 48 |
| 2 | Sheffield Sharks | 32 | 21 | 11 | 0.656 | 42 |
| 3 | Newcastle Eagles | 32 | 17 | 15 | 0.531 | 34 |
| 4 | Edinburgh Rocks | 32 | 13 | 19 | 0.406 | 26 |
| 5 | Leicester Riders | 32 | 11 | 21 | 0.344 | 22 |
| 6 | Derby Storm | 32 | 3 | 29 | 0.094 | 6 |

#### Southern Conference

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | % | Pts |
| 1 | London Towers | 32 | 21 | 11 | 0.656 | 42 |
| 2 | Brighton Bears | 32 | 21 | 11 | 0.656 | 42 |
| 3 | Milton Keynes Lions | 32 | 16 | 16 | 0.500 | 32 |
| 4 | Greater London Leopards | 32 | 16 | 16 | 0.500 | 32 |
| 5 | Birmingham Bullets | 32 | 15 | 17 | 0.469 | 30 |
| 6 | Thames Valley Tigers | 32 | 14 | 18 | 0.438 | 28 |
* = Conference winners
* = Qualified for the play-offs

### Playoffs
#### 1st Round

* April 6, 2002
| Newcastle Eagles | 94–88 | Greater London Leopards |
* SkyDome Arena, Coventry
* April 6, 2002
| Milton Keynes Lions | 69–64 | Edinburgh Rocks |
* SkyDome Arena, Coventry

#### Quarter-finals

* April 7, 2002
| Sheffield Sharks | 85–81 | Milton Keynes Lions |
* SkyDome Arena, Coventry
* April 7, 2002
| Brighton Bears | 102–101 (OT) | Newcastle Eagles |
* SkyDome Arena, Coventry

#### Semi-finals

* April 14, 2002
| London Towers | 87–104 | Sheffield Sharks |
* SkyDome Arena, Coventry
* April 14, 2002
| Chester Jets | 95–82 | Brighton Bears |
* SkyDome Arena, Coventry

#### Final

* April 27, 2002
* Report
| Chester Jets | 93–82 | Sheffield Sharks |
| Scoring by quarter: 20-19, 25-24, 23-18, 25-21 |||
| Pts: John McCord (MVP) 31, Pero Cameron 20, John Thomas 19, Calvin Davis 12, James Hamilton 11 | | Pts: Lynard Stewart, 18, Michael Payne 15, Justin Phoenix 14, Jeff Monaco 13, Nate Reinking 11 |
* Wembley Arena, London

## National League Conference (Tier 2)
### Final standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | % | Pts |
| 1 | Teesside Mohawks | 18 | 17 | 1 | 0.944 | 34 |
| 2 | Plymouth Raiders | 18 | 14 | 4 | 0.778 | 28 |
| 3 | Solent Stars | 18 | 11 | 7 | 0.611 | 22 |
| 4 | Kingston Wildcats | 18 | 10 | 8 | 0.556 | 20 |
| 5 | Manchester Magic | 18 | 9 | 9 | 0.500 | 18 |
| 6 | Worthing Thunder | 18 | 9 | 9 | 0.500 | 18 |
| 7 | Reading Rockets | 18 | 7 | 11 | 0.389 | 14 |
| 8 | Inter-Basket London | 18 | 5 | 13 | 0.278 | 10 |
| 9 | Coventry Crusaders | 18 | 4 | 14 | 0.222 | 8 |
| 10 | Sutton Pumas | 18 | 4 | 14 | 0.222 | 8 |
* = League winners
* = Qualified for the play-offs
Play Off Final – Teesside 127 Solent 117 (OT)

## National League Division 1 (Tier 3)
### Final standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | % | Pts |
| 1 | Derbyshire Arrows | 22 | 20 | 2 | 0.909 | 40 |
| 2 | Ealing Tornadoes | 22 | 19 | 3 | 0.864 | 38 |
| 3 | Ware Fire | 22 | 16 | 6 | 0.727 | 32 |
| 4 | Oxford Devils | 22 | 16 | 6 | 0.727 | 32 |
| 5 | Hull Icebergs | 22 | 12 | 10 | 0.545 | 24 |
| 6 | Westminster Warriors | 22 | 11 | 11 | 0.500 | 22 |
| 7 | North London Lords | 22 | 7 | 15 | 0.318 | 14 |
| 8 | NW London Wolverines | 22 | 7 | 15 | 0.318 | 14 |
| 9 | Worcester Wolves | 22 | 7 | 15 | 0.318 | 14 |
| 10 | Mansfield Express | 22 | 6 | 16 | 0.273 | 12 |
| 11 | Cardiff Clippers | 22 | 6 | 16 | 0.273 | 12 |
| 12 | Liverpool | 22 | 3 | 19 | 0.136 | 6 |
* = League winners
* = Qualified for the play-offs
Play Off Final – Derbyshire 83 Ealing 81

## NTL National Cup
### Last 16

| Team 1 | Team 2 | Score |
| Worthing Thunder | Leicester Riders | 89-126 |
| Plymouth Raiders | Birmingham Bullets | 75-101 |
| Teesside Mohawks | Newcastle Eagles | 101-113 |
| Chester Jets | Brighton Bears | 90-74 |
| Edinburgh Rocks | London Towers | 86-84 |
| Manchester Giants | Thames Valley Tigers | 75-87 |
| Derby Storm | Milton Keynes Lions | 70-90 |
| Greater London Leopards | Sheffield Sharks | 88-96 |

### Quarter-finals

| Team 1 | Team 2 | Score |
| Milton Keynes Lions | Thames Valley Tigers | 70-83 |
| Leicester Riders | Sheffield Sharks | 76-99 |
| Chester Jets | Newcastle Eagles | 92-83 |
| Birmingham Bullets | Edinburgh Rocks | 67-66 |

### Semi-finals

| Team 1 | Team 2 | Score |
| Chester Jets | Thames Valley Tigers | 106-90 |
| Birmingham Bullets | Sheffield Sharks | 75-70 |

### Final

* 13 January 2002
| Chester Jets | 112–105 | Birmingham Bullets |
| Pts: Calvin Davis 30, John McCord 26, Pero Cameron 19, James Hamilton 19 | | Pts: Rashod Johnson 39, Brant Bailey 34, Rob Paternostro 20 |
* Sheffield Arena

## BBL Trophy

This season's BBL Trophy featured all 12 BBL teams. The First round saw all 12 teams split into two groups with the top four finishing teams advancing to the knockout stage.

### Group stage

| Team | Pts | Pld | W | L | Percent |
| 1.Chester Jets | 10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 2.Brighton Bears | 8 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0.800 |
| 3.Greater London Leopards | 6 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0.600 |
| 4.Thames Valley Tigers | 4 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0.400 |
| 5.Derby Storm | 2 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0.200 |
| 6.Leicester Riders | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0.000 |
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | L | Percent |
| 1.Milton Keynes Lions | 8 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0.800 |
| 2.Sheffield Sharks | 8 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0.800 |
| 3.London Towers | 6 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0.600 |
| 4.Newcastle Eagles | 6 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0.600 |
| 5.Birmingham Bullets | 2 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0.200 |
| 6.Edinburgh Rocks | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0.000 |

### Quarter-finals

* February 3, 2002
| Milton Keynes Lions | 68–67 | Thames Valley Tigers |
* SkyDome Arena, Coventry
* February 3, 2002
| Chester Jets | 91–87 | Newcastle Eagles |
* SkyDome Arena, Coventry
* February 3, 2002
| Brighton Bears | 83–89 | London Towers |
* SkyDome Arena, Coventry
* February 3, 2002
| Sheffield Sharks | 78–83 | Greater London Leopards |
* SkyDome Arena, Coventry

### Semi-finals

* February 23, 2002
| Milton Keynes Lions | 73–63 | London Towers |
* SkyDome Arena, Coventry
* February 23, 2002
| Chester Jets | 92–81 | Greater London Leopards |
* SkyDome Arena, Coventry

### Final

* March 16, 2002
* Report
| Chester Jets | 90–89 | Milton Keynes Lions |
| Scoring by quarter: 27-20, 17-23, 19-26, 27-20 |||
| Pts: John Thomas 38, John McCord 19, Pero Cameron 12 | | Pts: Jermaine Brown 26, Nigel Lloyd 20, Victor Payne 18 |
* National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham

## All-Star Game

* January 20, 2002
| Northern All-Stars | 142–196 | Southern All-Stars |
* Telewest Arena, Newcastle upon Tyne

## Statistics leaders

| Category | Player | Stat |
| Points per game | John McCord (Chester Jets) | 25.5 |
| Rebounds per game | Antonia Garcia (Birmingham Bullets) | 14.9 |
| Assists per game | Nigel Lloyd (Milton Keynes Lions) | 6.8 |

## Seasonal awards

* Most Valuable Player: John Thomas (Chester Jets)
* Coach of the Year: Robbie Peers (Chester Jets)
* Defensive Player of the Year: Brendan Graves (Edinburgh Rocks)
* Most Improved Player: Victor Payne (Milton Keynes Lions)
* Sixth Man Award: Rodger Farrington (Brighton Bears)