# 2002–03 British Basketball League season

The 2002–03 BBL season was the 16th campaign in the history of the British Basketball League.

## Teams

| Team | City/Area | Arena | Capacity | Last season |
| Birmingham Bullets | Birmingham | Aston Events Centre | 2,000 | 5th (South) |
| Brighton Bears | Brighton | Brighton Centre & Burgess Hill Triangle | 3,600 1,800 | 2nd (South) |
| Chester Jets | Chester | Northgate Arena | 1,000 | 1st (North) |
| Essex Leopards | Brentwood | Brentwood Centre | 2,000 | 4th (South) |
| Leicester Riders | Loughborough | Loughborough University | 1,000 | 5th (North) |
| London Towers | London | Crystal Palace National Sports Centre | 3,500 | 1st (South) |
| Milton Keynes Lions | Milton Keynes | Bletchley Centre | 800 | 3rd (North) |
| Newcastle Eagles | Newcastle upon Tyne | Telewest Arena | 6,500 | 3rd (North) |
| Scottish Rocks | Glasgow | Braehead Arena | 4,000 | 4th (North) |
| Sheffield Sharks | Sheffield | Hallam FM Arena & Ponds Forge | 8,500 1,600 | 2nd (North) |
| Thames Valley Tigers | Bracknell | John Nike Sports Centre | 1,000 | 6th (South) |

## Notable occurrences

* Attracted by the opening of the brand-new 4,000-seat Braehead Arena in Glasgow, Edinburgh Rocks uprooted from their aging Meadowbank venue in Edinburgh and moved 45 miles west to Scotland's largest city Glasgow, and rebranded as the Scottish Rocks. The move received a mixed response from fans; whilst many said that the move would not work, the official supporters club backed the franchise's decision.
* Although based in Brentwood, Essex for the past two years, Greater London Leopards eventually rebranded the franchise as the Essex Leopards prior to the season starting.
* Due to a decreasing membership, the league abolished the Conference system it had imposed for the past three seasons and returned the regular single-league table set-up, with the top eight teams progressing to the play-offs.

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

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | % | Pts |
| 1 | Sheffield Sharks | 40 | 33 | 7 | 0.825 | 66 |
| 2 | Brighton Bears | 40 | 30 | 10 | 0.750 | 60 |
| 3 | Chester Jets | 40 | 28 | 12 | 0.700 | 56 |
| 4 | Thames Valley Tigers | 40 | 26 | 14 | 0.650 | 52 |
| 5 | Newcastle Eagles | 40 | 25 | 15 | 0.625 | 50 |
| 6 | Scottish Rocks | 40 | 22 | 18 | 0.550 | 44 |
| 7 | London Towers | 40 | 19 | 21 | 0.475 | 38 |
| 8 | Milton Keynes Lions | 40 | 12 | 28 | 0.300 | 24 |
| 9 | Birmingham Bullets | 40 | 11 | 29 | 0.275 | 22 |
| 10 | Essex Leopards | 40 | 11 | 29 | 0.275 | 22 |
| 11 | Leicester Riders | 40 | 3 | 37 | 0.075 | 6 |
* = League winners
* = Qualified for the play-offs

### Playoffs

| Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final | Final |
| 1 | Sheffield Sharks | 90 (OT) | | | | | | |
| 8 | Milton Keynes Lions | 83 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Milton Keynes Lions | 83 | 1 | Sheffield Sharks | 74 | | | |
| | | | 6 | Scottish Rocks | 76 | | | |
| 3 | Chester Jets | 84 | 6 | Scottish Rocks | 76 | | | |
| 6 | Scottish Rocks | 89 | | | | | | |
| 6 | Scottish Rocks | 89 | | | | 6 | Scottish Rocks | 83 |
| | | | | | | 2 | Brighton Bears | 76 |
| 2 | Brighton Bears | 89 | | | | | | | 2 | Brighton Bears | 76 |
| 7 | London Towers | 82 | | | | | | |
| 7 | London Towers | 82 | 2 | Brighton Bears | 88 | | | |
| | | | 5 | Newcastle Eagles | 83 | | | |
| 4 | Thames Valley Tigers | 85 | 5 | Newcastle Eagles | 83 | | | |
| 5 | Newcastle Eagles | 101 | | | | | | |

#### Quarter-finals

* 19 April 2003
| Sheffield Sharks | 90–83 (OT) | Milton Keynes Lions |
* Ponds Forge, Sheffield
* 19 April 2003
| Chester Jets | 84–89 | Scottish Rocks |
* Northgate Arena, Chester
* 19 April 2003
| Thames Valley Tigers | 85–101 | Newcastle Eagles |
* John Nike Sports Centre, Bracknell
* 20 April 2003
| Brighton Bears | 89–82 | London Towers |
* Brighton Centre, Brighton

#### Semi-finals

* 3 May 2003
| Brighton Bears | 88–83 | Newcastle Eagles |
* National Indoor Arena, Birmingham
* 3 May 2003
| Sheffield Sharks | 74–76 | Scottish Rocks |
* National Indoor Arena, Birmingham

#### Final

* 4 May 2003 5.00pm GMT
* Report
| Brighton Bears | 76–83 | Scottish Rocks |
| Scoring by quarter: 23-18, 25-28, 20-20, 8-17 |||
| Pts: Sterling Davis 18, Ralph Blalock 17, Rico Alderson 13 | | Pts: Shawn Myers 26, Stephan Sheckles 14, Ryan Huntley 13, Billy Singleton 13 |
* National Indoor Arena, Birmingham

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

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | % | Pts |
| 1 | Teesside Mohawks | 22 | 21 | 1 | 0.955 | 42 |
| 2 | Plymouth Raiders | 22 | 18 | 4 | 0.818 | 36 |
| 3 | Reading Rockets | 22 | 16 | 6 | 0.727 | 32 |
| 4 | Worthing Thunder | 22 | 15 | 7 | 0.682 | 30 |
| 5 | Manchester Magic | 22 | 12 | 10 | 0.545 | 24 |
| 6 | Kingston Wildcats | 22 | 11 | 11 | 0.500 | 22 |
| 7 | Sutton Pumas | 22 | 11 | 11 | 0.500 | 22 |
| 8 | Oxford Devils | 22 | 11 | 11 | 0.500 | 22 |
| 9 | Solent Stars | 22 | 7 | 15 | 0.318 | 14 |
| 10 | Ware Rebels | 22 | 4 | 18 | 0.182 | 8 |
| 11 | Hackney White Heat | 22 | 3 | 19 | 0.136 | 6 |
| 12 | Coventry Crusaders | 22 | 3 | 19 | 0.136 | 6 |
* = League winners
* = Qualified for the play-offs

## National Cup
### Last 16

| Team 1 | Team 2 | Score |
| Kingston Wildcats | Essex Leopards | 73-102 |
| Manchester Magic | Birmingham Bullets | 82-85 |
| Teesside Mohawks | Leicester Riders | 98-97 |
| Scottish Rocks | Chester Jets | 63-88 |
| Solent Stars | Brighton Bears | 60-99 |
| Sheffield Sharks | Newcastle Eagles | 78-80 |
| Plymouth Raiders | Thames Valley Tigers | 71-113 |
| Milton Keynes Lions | London Towers | 84-98 |

### Quarter-finals

| Team 1 | Team 2 | Score |
| Birmingham Bullets | Chester Jets | 94-98 |
| Essex Leopards | London Towers | 89-100 OT |
| Brighton Bears | Newcastle Eagles | 91-73 |
| Teesside Mohawks | Thames Valley Tigers | 84-111 |

### Semi-finals

| Team 1 | Team 2 | Score |
| Chester Jets | Thames Valley Tigers | 96-76 |
| London Towers | Brighton Bears | 80-84 |

### Final

* 12 January 2003
| Brighton Bears | 89–79 | Chester Jets |
| Pts: Wilbur Johnson (MVP) 24, Ralph Blalock 22, Sterling Davis 15 | | Pts: John McCord 28, Kenny Gregory 25, Pero Cameron 15 |
* National Indoor Arena

## BBL Trophy

This season's BBL Trophy featured all 11 BBL teams plus one invited teams from the English Basketball League, the Teesside Mohawks to bring the total number of teams divided evenly. The First round saw all 12 teams split into four regionalised groups with the top finishing team advancing to the semi-finals.

### Group stage

| 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 |
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | L | Percent |
| 1.Birmingham Bullets | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0.750 |
| 2.Essex Leopards | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0.500 |
| 3.Milton Keynes Lions | 2 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0.250 |
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | L | Percent |
| 1.Newcastle Eagles | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 2.Scottish Rocks | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0.500 |
| 3.Teesside Mohawks | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0.000 |
| Team | Pts | Pld | W | L | Percent |
| 1.London Towers | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0.500 |
| 2.Thames Valley Tigers | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0.500 |
| 3.Brighton Bears | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0.500 |

### Semi-finals

* 8 February 2003
| Chester Jets | 97–89 | Newcastle Eagles |
* Aston Events Centre, Birmingham
* 8 February 2003
| Birmingham Bullets | 62–86 | London Towers |
* Aston Events Centre, Birmingham

### Final

* 15 March 2003
* Report
| Chester Jets | 84–82 | London Towers |
| Scoring by quarter: 30-26, 26-17, 13-22, 15-17 |||
| Pts: Kenny Gregory 24, Todd Cauthorn 19, John McCord 16 | | Pts: Kendrick Warren 21, Theo Dixon 18, Shaheen Holloway 15 |
* Hallam FM Arena, Sheffield

## Statistics leaders

| Category | Player | Stat |
| Points per game | Kenny Gregory (Chester Jets) | 24.7 |
| Rebounds per game | David Fisher (Essex Leopards) | 10.5 |
| Assists per game | John Thomas (Chester Jets) | 7.3 |