The 1994–95 BBL season was known as the
Budweiser
Budweiser () is an American-style pale lager, a brand of Belgian company AB InBev. Introduced in 1876 by Carl Conrad & Co. of St. Louis, Missouri, Budweiser has become a large selling beer company in the United States. Budweiser is a filte ...
League for sponsorship reasons. The season featured a total of 13 teams, playing 36 games each. A major change saw the
Guildford Kings franchise fold due to the club being unable to negotiate a viable contract with the owners of the
Guildford Spectrum. The league sold Kings' licence to a group headed by Robert Earl, Ed Simons and Harvey Goldsmith, who established the
Leopards
The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant cat species in the genus ''Panthera''. It has a pale yellowish to dark golden fur with dark spots grouped in rosettes. Its body is slender and muscular reaching a length of with a ...
.
Oldham Celtics dropped down a division to National League Division One.
Newcomers
Sheffield Sharks
The Sheffield Sharks, currently known as B.Braun Sheffield Sharks for sponsorship reasons, are a professional basketball team from the city of Sheffield, England. The Sharks compete in the Super League Basketball and play their home matches at ...
formerly Sheffield Forgers won the regular season and claimed the title in their rookie season in addition to becoming
National Cup The English National Cup is an annual basketball knock-out competition held between professional, semi-professional and amateur teams from the various divisions of the National Basketball League (England), National Basketball League. For most of th ...
champions. Seventh-seed
Worthing Bears
Brighton Bears were a British basketball team based in Brighton, Sussex. From 1984 to 1999 the club was known as the Worthing Bears and was based in the town of Worthing, 12 miles west of Brighton. The Bears played in the top-flight British Bas ...
caused a huge upset in the post-season Play-off to take the Championship crown with a memorable victory over
Manchester Giants in the final.
[BBL Media Guide 2003/04, page 12] The
Thames Valley Tigers
Thames Valley Tigers was a British professional basketball team that competed in the British Basketball League (BBL) until 2005, when funding was ceased and the franchise folded. Based in Bracknell, Berkshire, the team's fans set up a new team ...
secured the BBL Trophy.
Budweiser League Championship (Tier 1)
Final standings
Playoffs
Quarter-finals
(1) Sheffield Sharks vs. (8) Birmingham Bullets
(2) Thames Valley Tigers vs. (7) Worthing Bears
(3) London Towers vs. (6) Leopards
(4) Manchester Giants vs. (5) Doncaster Panthers
Semi-finals
Final
National League Division 1 (Tier 2)
Final standings
National League Division 2 (Tier 3)
Final standings
National Cup
Fourth round
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
7 Up Trophy
Group stage
North Group 1
North Group 2
South Group 1
South Group 2
Sheffield finished ahead of Manchester by having the best head-to-head record between the teams. Thames Valley finished ahead of Birmingham by having the best head-to-head record between the teams.
Semi-finals
Doncaster Panthers vs. Sheffield Sharks
Thames Valley Tigers vs. Worthing Bears
Final
Seasonal awards
* Most Valuable Player:
Roger Huggins (
Sheffield Sharks
The Sheffield Sharks, currently known as B.Braun Sheffield Sharks for sponsorship reasons, are a professional basketball team from the city of Sheffield, England. The Sharks compete in the Super League Basketball and play their home matches at ...
)
* Coach of the Year:
Jim Brandon (
Sheffield Sharks
The Sheffield Sharks, currently known as B.Braun Sheffield Sharks for sponsorship reasons, are a professional basketball team from the city of Sheffield, England. The Sharks compete in the Super League Basketball and play their home matches at ...
)
* All-Star Team:
**
Roger Huggins (
Sheffield Sharks
The Sheffield Sharks, currently known as B.Braun Sheffield Sharks for sponsorship reasons, are a professional basketball team from the city of Sheffield, England. The Sharks compete in the Super League Basketball and play their home matches at ...
)
**
Karl Brown (
Leopards
The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant cat species in the genus ''Panthera''. It has a pale yellowish to dark golden fur with dark spots grouped in rosettes. Its body is slender and muscular reaching a length of with a ...
)
**
Steve Bucknall
Steven Lee Bucknall (born 17 March 1966) is a retired English professional basketball player, and former head coach of British Basketball League (BBL) expansion franchise London Capital.
A and shooting guard, Bucknall was the third English ...
(
London Towers)
**
Chris Fite (
Doncaster Panthers
{{Use British English, date=February 2024
The Doncaster Panthers Basketball Club was a basketball club in Doncaster, England, which existed between 1954 and 1985. Another local team originally called the Doncaster Eagles then changed its name to D ...
)
**
Herman Harried (
Worthing Bears
Brighton Bears were a British basketball team based in Brighton, Sussex. From 1984 to 1999 the club was known as the Worthing Bears and was based in the town of Worthing, 12 miles west of Brighton. The Bears played in the top-flight British Bas ...
)
**
Nigel Lloyd
Nigel A Lloyd is a Barbadian-British basketball coach and former player.
Career
Born in Barbados, Lloyd came to the United States at age 6. He first picked up a basketball in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York. In the 1980s, he attended the ...
(
Birmingham Bullets
The Birmingham Bullets were a British professional basketball team from Birmingham, England who competed in the British Basketball League (BBL). The club was founded in 1974 as Coventry Granwood before moving to Birmingham in 1980 as part of the ...
)
**
Mark Robinson (
Manchester Giants)
**
Peter Scantlebury (
Thames Valley Tigers
Thames Valley Tigers was a British professional basketball team that competed in the British Basketball League (BBL) until 2005, when funding was ceased and the franchise folded. Based in Bracknell, Berkshire, the team's fans set up a new team ...
)
**
Tony Windless (
London Towers)
**
Robert Youngblood (
Leopards
The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant cat species in the genus ''Panthera''. It has a pale yellowish to dark golden fur with dark spots grouped in rosettes. Its body is slender and muscular reaching a length of with a ...
)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:1994-95 British Basketball League season
British Basketball League seasons
1
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...