The 2001–02 BBL season was the 15th season in the history of the

British Basketball League The British Basketball League (BBL) was a men's professional basketball sports league, league in Great Britain. Since its establishment in 1987 the BBL represented the highest level of basketball competition within the United Kingdom. The orga ...

. 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 Wembley Arena () (originally the Empire Pool, currently known as OVO Energy, OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, Greater London, England. The 12,500-seat facility is Greater Lond ...

on April 27.

Chester Jets The Cheshire Phoenix are an English professional basketball team based in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire. Founded in 1984, they are members of the Super League Basketball and play their home games at the Cheshire Oaks Arena. From 1993 until 2015 the ...

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 Many sports leagues, sportswriting associations, and other organizations confer "Coach of the Year" awards. In some sports — including baseball and association football — the award is called the "Manager of the Year" award. Some of the ...

accolade whilst John Thomas, also of the Jets, claimed that

Player of the Year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year. In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is held on b ...

award.

London Towers London Towers were a professional basketball team based in London, England. They enjoyed considerable success in the 1990s and early 2000s, collecting 3 titles in the British Basketball League (BBL) as well as regularly competing in European c ...

represented the United Kingdom in Europe's most prestigious competition, the

Euroleague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

, however the capital-based team came up against giants Kinder Bologna,

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

and

Union Olimpija Košarkarski klub Olimpija () was a men's professional basketball club based in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Olimpija has won 23 National League championships, including eight consecutive titles between 1992 and 1999. They have played in two differen ...

in Group B and eventually finished with a 0-14 record.

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 ...

made a brief appearance in the

North European Basketball League The North European Basketball League, or Northern European Basketball League (NEBL), was a short-lived regional professional basketball league. It was founded in 1998, by Šarūnas Marčiulionis and Dmitry Buriak. The league was the first comme ...

. 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 The Newcastle Arena (currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Utilita Arena) is an indoor arena in the city of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Owned and operated by ASM Global, the naming rights are currently held by Utilita Energy. Ha ...

Greater London Leopards Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality * ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record * "Greater" (song), by MercyMe, 2014 *Greater Bank, an Australia ...

' Rico Alderson was named as the game's MVP with 34 points and 15 rebounds.

Brighton 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 ...

' Albert White lead the game scoring with 38 points. * The

' 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 The Aston Arena (formerly Aston Villa Leisure Centre and Aston Events Centre) was an indoor sports, music and community event venue located in Aston, Birmingham, West Midlands, England. The venue was situated near to Villa Park, the home of As ...

roof caused the main court to flood and the game to be postponed.

BBL Championship (Tier 1)

Final standings

Northern Conference

Southern Conference

Playoffs

1st Round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

National League Conference (Tier 2)

Final standings

Play Off Final – Teesside 127 Solent 117 (OT)

National League Division 1 (Tier 3)

Final standings

Play Off Final – Derbyshire 83 Ealing 81

NTL National Cup

Last 16

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

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

Group A Group B

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

All-Star Game

Statistics leaders

Seasonal awards

* Most Valuable Player: John Thomas (

) * Coach of the Year: Robbie Peers (

) * Defensive Player of the Year: Brendan Graves ( Edinburgh Rocks) * Most Improved Player:

Victor Payne Victor Duane Payne Jr. (July 3, 1899 – October 26, 1981) was an American college basketball and college football coach. He was the head football coach at Abilene Christian College and Simmons University. Payne was also the basketball head coac ...

(

Milton Keynes Lions London Lions are a British professional basketball team based in Stratford, East London, England, and compete in the Super League Basketball (SLB). The team was originally founded in 1977 as the Hemel Hempstead Lakers. Following an ownershi ...

) * Sixth Man Award: Rodger Farrington (

)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2001-02 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 ...