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1997–98 British Basketball League season

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1997–98 BBL season
LeagueBritish Basketball League
SportBasketball
Roll of Honour
BBL championsGreater London Leopards
Play Off's championsBirmingham Bullets
National Cup championsThames Valley Tigers
BBL Trophy championsSheffield Sharks
British Basketball League seasons

The 1997–98 BBL season was known as the Budweiser League for sponsorship reasons. The league featured the same 13 teams as the previous year, playing 36 games each. The only change saw the Hemel Royals renamed the Watford Royals.

Greater London Leopards clinched their second successive Budweiser League title only by virtue of an overtime win in their final game of the season against Sheffield Sharks. Leopards' 102–106 victory in Sheffield meant they finished level on points with title-rivals Birmingham Bullets, but were crowned Champions due to a better head-to-head record over the Midlands team. Birmingham gained some consolation by taking their second Play-off Championship in three years at Wembley Arena, beating off a tough challenge from Thames Valley Tigers, winning 78–75. The Thames Valley Tigers won the National Cup and the Sheffield claimed their first uni-ball Trophy with an 82–79 win over London Towers at the National Exhibition Centre.

London Towers represented the Budweiser League in European competition, participating in the EuroCup.

Notable occurrences

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  • Greater London Leopards won the League title in the final game of the season on April 5, 1998, with a 102–106 overtime victory at Sheffield Sharks. Regulation time ended on 90–90, but Leopards' Eric Burks sunk 9 of their 16 overtime points to win the title for the second successive season.[1]

Budweiser League Championship (Tier 1)

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Final standings

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Pos Team Pld W L % Pts
1 Greater London Leopards 36 29 7 0.806 58
2 Birmingham Bullets 36 29 7 0.806 58
3 Newcastle Eagles 36 25 11 0.694 50
4 Sheffield Sharks 36 25 11 0.694 50
5 Thames Valley Tigers 36 24 12 0.667 48
6 London Towers 36 23 13 0.638 46
7 Derby Storm 36 16 20 0.444 32
8 Manchester Giants 36 15 21 0.416 30
9 Leicester Riders 36 15 21 0.416 30
10 Chester Jets 36 15 21 0.416 30
11 Crystal Palace 36 8 28 0.222 16
12 Worthing Bears 36 7 29 0.194 14
13 Watford Royals 36 3 33 0.083 6
= League winners
= Qualified for the play-offs

Playoffs

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Quarter-finals

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(1) Greater London Leopards vs. (8) Manchester Giants

April 16, 1998
Greater London Leopards 98–107 Manchester Giants
April 19, 1998
Greater London Leopards 81–90 Manchester Giants
Manchester wins series, 2–1

(2) Birmingham Bullets vs. (7) Derby Storm

April 11, 1998
Derby Storm 79–111 Birmingham Bullets
April 14, 1998
Birmingham Bullets 84–86 (OT) Derby Storm
April 19, 1998
Birmingham Bullets 96–81 Derby Storm
Birmingham wins series, 2–1

(3) Newcastle Eagles vs. (6) London Towers

April 12, 1998
London Towers 68–63 Newcastle Eagles
April 14, 1998
Newcastle Eagles 73–50 London Towers
April 19, 1998
Newcastle Eagles 85–87 London Towers
London wins series, 2–1

(4) Sheffield Sharks vs. (5) Thames Valley Tigers

April 11, 1998
Thames Valley Tigers 84–83 Sheffield Sharks
April 14, 1998
Sheffield Sharks 75–97 Thames Valley Tigers
Thames Valley wins series, 2–0

Semi-finals

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May 2, 1998
Birmingham Bullets 90–80 Manchester Giants
May 2, 1998
Thames Valley Tigers 78–71 London Towers

Third-place game

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May 3, 1998
Manchester Giants 87–82 London Towers

Final

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May 3, 1998
Birmingham Bullets 78–75 Thames Valley Tigers
Pts: Tony Dorsey (MVP) 28, Reggie Kirk 18, Nigel Lloyd 16, HL Coleman, Fab Flournoy
Rebs: Lloyd 9
Pts: John McCord 24, Dameon Page 19, Tony Holley 13, Casey Arena, Jason Siemon, Adrian Cummings
Rebs: Holley 13
Wembley Arena, London
Attendance: ?
Bullets coach Mike Finger
Tigers coach Paul James

National League Division 1 (Tier 2)

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Final standings

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Pos Team Pld W L % Pts
1 Richmond Jaguars 22 20 2 0.958 40
2 Plymouth Raiders 22 19 3 0.864 38
3 Stevenage Rebels 22 16 6 0.727 32
4 Teesside Mohawks 22 14 8 0.636 28
5 Solihull Chiefs 22 13 9 0.592 26
6 Coventry Crusaders 22 13 9 0.592 26
7 Guildford Pumas 22 10 12 0.455 20
8 Oxford Devils 22 9 13 0.409 18
9 Westminster Warriors 22 6 16 0.273 12
10 Cardiff Phoenix 22 4 18 0.182 8
11 Mid-Sussex Magic 22 4 18 0.182 8
12 Brixton TopCats 22 4 18 0.182 8
= League winners
= Qualified for the play-offs

Playoffs

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Semi-finals

Richmond Jaguars 208–195 (agg.) Teesside Mohawks
Plymouth Raiders 164–146 (agg.) Stevenage Rebels

Final

Richmond Jaguars 82–67 Plymouth Raiders

National League Division 2 (Tier 3)

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Final standings

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Pos Team Pld W L % Pts
1 Solent Stars 24 23 1 0.962 46
2 Cardiff Clippers 24 20 4 0.833 40
3 London Towers II 24 19 5 0.793 38
4 South Bank University Bulls 24 14 10 0.583 28
5 Bournemouth Dolphins 24 14 10 0.583 28
6 Wolverhampton 24 12 12 0.500 24
7 Flintshire Flyers 24 11 13 0.458 22
8 Northampton 89ers 24 10 14 0.417 20
9 Slough Chargers 24 9 15 0.375 18
10 Liverpool Atac 24 9 15 0.375 18
11 Swindon Sonics 24 9 15 0.375 18
12 Chessington Wildcats 24 5 19 0.208 10
13 Thames Valley Tigers II 24 1 23 0.042 2
= League winners
= Qualified for the play-offs

Playoffs

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Semi-finals

Cardiff Clippers 171–175 (agg.) London Towers II
Solent Stars 202–185 (agg.) South Bank University Bulls

Final

Sainsbury's Classic Cola National Cup

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Fourth round

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Team 1 Team 2 Score
Worthing Bears Crystal Palace 106-102
Coventry Crusaders Thames Valley Tigers 67-91
Stevenage Rebels Manchester Giants 60-93
Leicester Riders Newcastle Eagles 94-76
Leopards Derby Storm 99-90
Sheffield Sharks Watford Royals 85-70
Plymouth Raiders London Towers 77-99
Chester Jets Birmingham Bullets

Quarter-finals

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Team 1 Team 2 Score
Sheffield Sharks Leicester Riders 66-69
London Towers Manchester Giants 75-67
Birmingham Bullets Worthing Bears 111-80
Thames Valley Tigers Leopards 97-89

Semi-finals

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Team 1 Team 2 1st Leg 2nd Leg
Thames Valley Tigers Birmingham Bullets 63-55 63-70
London Towers Leicester Riders 76-74 84-90

Final

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17 January 1998[2]
Thames Valley Tigers 82–78 Leicester Riders
Pts: John McCord 27, Dameon Page 18, Casey Arena 14, Jason Siemon 14, Tony Holley Pts: Billy Singleton 24, Gene Waldron 21, JaRon Boone 12, James Havrilla, Geno Ford
Sheffield Arena
Attendance: ?
Tigers coach Paul James
Riders coach Bob Donewald

uni-ball Trophy

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Group stage

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Northern Group

Team Pts Pld W L Percent
1.Newcastle Eagles 6 5 3 2 0.600
2.Leicester Riders 6 5 3 2 0.600
3.Manchester Giants 6 5 3 2 0.600
4.Sheffield Sharks 4 5 2 3 0.400
5.Chester Jets 4 5 2 3 0.400
6.Derby Storm 4 5 2 3 0.400

Southern Group

Team Pts Pld W L Percent
1.Gtr. London Leopards 10 5 5 0 1.000
2.Thames Valley Tigers 6 5 3 2 0.600
3.Birmingham Bullets 6 5 3 2 0.600
4.Watford Royals 4 5 2 3 0.400
5.Crystal Palace 4 5 2 3 0.400
6.Worthing Bears 0 5 0 5 0.000

Sheffield finished ahead of Chester and Derby by having the best record in matches between the three teams and qualify as fourth-placed finishers with the best record ahead of Watford on basket difference. London Towers received a bye into Quarter-finals.

Quarter-finals

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Greater London Leopards vs. Thames Valley Tigers

January 21, 1998
Thames Valley Tigers 87–95 Greater London Leopards
Greater London wins on aggregate, 178–166

London Towers vs. Manchester Giants

January 14, 1998
London Towers 90–69 Manchester Giants
January 21, 1998
Manchester Giants 69–69 London Towers
London wins on aggregate, 159–138

Newcastle Eagles vs. Birmingham Bullets

January 13, 1998
Newcastle Eagles 70–66 Birmingham Bullets
January 24, 1998
Birmingham Bullets 86–95 Newcastle Eagles
Newcastle wins on aggregate, 165–152

Sheffield Sharks vs. Leicester Riders

January 13, 1998
Sheffield Sharks 97–94 Leicester Riders
January 21, 1998
Leicester Riders 83–99 Sheffield Sharks
Sheffield wins on aggregate, 196–177

Semi-finals

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London Towers vs. Newcastle Eagles

February 3, 1998
London Towers 92–74 Newcastle Eagles
February 13, 1998
Newcastle Eagles 89–89 London Towers
London wins on aggregate, 181–163

Sheffield Sharks vs. Greater London Leopards

February 4, 1998
Sheffield Sharks 103–85 Greater London Leopards
February 12, 1998
Greater London Leopards 90–82 Sheffield Sharks
Sheffield wins on aggregate, 185–175

Final

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March 8, 1998
Sheffield Sharks 82–79 London Towers
Pts: John Amaechi (MVP) 40, Terrell Myers, Mark Robinson, Wilbur Johnson
Rebs: John Amaechi, 16
Pts: Danny Lewis 23, Keith Robinson, James Hamilton, Neville Austin, Marco Baldi, Tamir Berkovitch
Rebs: Keith Robinson, 13
National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham
Attendance: ?
Sharks coach Chris Finch
Towers coach Kevin Cadle

Dairylea Dunkers All-Star Game

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March 22, 1998
7.05pm GMT
Northern All-Stars 168–175 Southern All-Stars
Pts: Leon McGee, 25 Pts: John White, 32

Statistics leaders

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Category Player Stat
Points per game United States Tony Dorsey (Birmingham Bullets) 26.09
Rebounds per game United States Makeba Perry (Greater London Leopards) 11.81
Assists per game Jamaica Cleave Lewis (Watford Royals) 5.78
Steals per game United States Casey Arena (Thames Valley Tigers) 3.11
Blocks per game Canada Brendan Graves (Derby Storm) 2.77

Seasonal awards

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References

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  1. ^ Mark Woods (1998). "Leopards are the Champions". BritBall. Retrieved 2012-12-07.
  2. ^ ""For the Record." Times [London, England] 19 Jan. 1998". The Times Digital Archive.
Preceded by BBL seasons
1997–98
Succeeded by