# 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.

## Changes to format

The 2019–20 season saw a significantly revamped format for the first time in a number of years.
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
### 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 | Andreas Kapoulas | Daniel Edozie | Toogood International |
| Cheshire Phoenix | Ben Thomas | Momčilo Latinović | Hillyer McKeown |
| Radisson RED Glasgow Rocks | Vincent Lavandier | Gareth Murray | Carling |
| Leicester Riders | Rob Paternostro | Andrew Thomson | Jelson Homes |
| London City Royals | Lloyd Gardner | Orlan Jackman | |
| London Lions | Vince Macaulay | Joe Ikhinmwin | ASOS |
| Manchester Giants | Danny Byrne | Callum Jones | Space |
| Newcastle Eagles | Ian McLeod | Rahmon Fletcher | ESH Group |
| Plymouth Raiders | Paul James | Josh Wilcher | |
| B.Braun Sheffield Sharks | Atiba Lyons | Mike Tuck | B.Braun |
| Surrey Scorchers | Creon Raftopoulos | Tayo Ogedengbe | Gidden Place |
| Worcester Wolves | Matthew Newby | 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 | Tony Garbelotto | End of Interim | 1 May 2019 | Pre-season | Matthew Newby | 22 July 2019 |
| London City Royals | Jay Williams | Released | 12 August 2019 | Pre-season | Lloyd Gardner | 16 August 2019 |
| Newcastle Eagles | Fabulous Flournoy | Signed by Toronto Raptors | 3 September 2019 | Pre-season | Ian McLeod | 6 September 2019 |

## 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.

### Qualification Stage
#### 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 | Qualification to quarter finals | 79–63 | — | 93–69 | 75–60 | 84–68 | 95–61 |
| 3 | Newcastle Eagles | 10 | 6 | 4 | 868 | 794 | +74 | Qualification to quarter finals | 69–76 | 80–83 | — | 97–68 | 71–73 | 104–71 |
| 4 | Cheshire Phoenix | 10 | 5 | 5 | 755 | 786 | −31 | Qualification to quarter finals | 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 | — |

#### 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 | Qualification to quarter finals | 65–67 | — | 74–70 | 92–67 | 77–78 | 104–100 |
| 3 | Bristol Flyers | 10 | 6 | 4 | 835 | 837 | −2 | Qualification to quarter finals | 85–75 | 94–96 | — | 97–94 | 107–99 | 92–72 |
| 4 | London Lions | 10 | 5 | 5 | 892 | 872 | +20 | Qualification to quarter finals | 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 | — |

### Quarter-finals

* 29 November 2019
| Leicester Riders | 72–63 | London Lions |
* Morningside Arena, Leicester
* 29 November 2019
| Worcester Wolves | 90–86 | Newcastle Eagles |
* University of Worcester Arena, Worcester
* 1 December 2019
| London City Royals | 100–82 | Cheshire Phoenix |
* Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, South London
* 1 December 2019
| Sheffield Sharks | 58–81 | Bristol Flyers |
* Ponds Forge, Sheffield

### Semi-finals

* 13 December 2019
| Worcester Wolves | 63–66 | Leicester Riders |
* University of Worcester Arena, Worcester
* 3 January 2020
| Leicester Riders | 71–83 | Worcester Wolves |
| Worcester win 146–137 on aggregate |||
* Morningside Arena, Leicester
* 13 December 2019
| London City Royals | 82–84 | Bristol Flyers |
* Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, South London
* 21 December 2019
| Bristol Flyers | 91–77 | London City Royals |
| Bristol win 175–159 on aggregate |||
* SGS WISE Arena, Bristol

### Final

* 26 January 2020
* boxscore report
| 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, and their 1–3 record was expunged.
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.

### 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 |
| 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 |

### 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 | |

## 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

* 3 January 2020
| Newcastle Eagles | 133–61 | Dunfermline Reign |
* Eagles Community Arena, Newcastle
* 3 January 2020
| Plymouth Raiders | 62–71 | Sheffield Sharks |
* Plymouth Pavilions, Plymouth
* 4 January 2020
| London Lions | 82–92 | Solent Kestrels |
* University of East London, London
* 5 January 2020
| Surrey Scorchers | 83–102 | London City Royals |
* Surrey Sports Park, Surrey
* 5 January 2020
| Glasgow Rocks | 97–34 | Basketball Wales |
* Emirates Arena, Glasgow
* 5 January 2020
| Manchester Giants | 84–88 | Worthing Thunder |
* George H. Carnall Centre, Manchester
* 5 January 2020
| Cheshire Phoenix | 88–69 | Worcester Wolves |
* Cheshire Oaks Arena, Cheshire
* 10 January 2020
| Bristol Flyers | 95–82 | Leicester Riders |
* SGS WISE Arena, Bristol

### Quarter-finals

* 19 January 2020
| Glasgow Rocks | 90–92 (2OT) | Cheshire Phoenix |
* Emirates Arena, Glasgow
* 24 January 2020
| Newcastle Eagles | 86–79 | Sheffield Sharks |
* Eagles Community Arena, Newcastle
* 25 January 2020
| Worthing Thunder | 81–94 | Solent Kestrels |
* Worthing Leisure Centre, Worthing
| London City Royals | P–P | Bristol Flyers |
* Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, London

### Semi-finals

* 9 February 2020
| Cheshire Phoenix | 79–88 | Newcastle Eagles |
* Cheshire Oaks Arena, Cheshire
* 1 March 2020
| Newcastle Eagles | 67–75 | Cheshire Phoenix |
| Newcastle win 155–154 on aggregate |||
* Eagles Community Arena, Newcastle
* 12 February 2020
| Solent Kestrels | 103–67 | Bristol Flyers |
* Solent Sports Complex, Southampton
* 16 February 2020
| Bristol Flyers | 92–73 | Solent Kestrels |
| Solent Kestrels win 176–159 on aggregate |||
* SGS WISE Arena, Bristol

### Final

* 15 March 2020 3:30 pm
* boxscore report
| 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.