British Basketball League 2005-06

The 2005-06 BBL season was the 19th season of the British Basketball League, which ran from September 23, 2005, through to April 11, 2006. An earlier than usual start should be noted because of England's participation in the 2006 Commonwealth Games, which took place during the BBL regular season. Eleven teams took to the court for the League Championship, which saw each team play each other four times (Twice at home and twice on the road) during the regular season. This was followed by the end of season playoffs which began on April 14, 2006 and ended with Finals Weekend on April 30, 2006.

Newcastle Eagles completed a clean sweep winning the Championship, BBL Cup, BBL Trophy and finishing it off with an impressive victory in the Playoff final against Scottish Rocks.

Notable occurences

*Guildford Heat made their debut appearance in the BBL on October 1, 2005, losing in overtime 89-88 to Newcastle Eagles at the Metro Radio Arena.
*Newcastle Eagles' Managing Director Paul Blake succeeded Vince Macaulay-Razaq as the new chairman of the BBL prior to the season opening, emphasising that he will strengthen links with England Basketball to lay the foundations for a successful national team.
*Newcastle picked up their first silverware of the season, with an 83-69 win over London Towers in the BBL Cup final at the National Indoor Arena, in Birmingham on December 4. Eagles' TJ Walker was awaerded MVP with 28 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists.
*Former NBA star Dennis Rodman made his debut for Brighton Bears on January 28, 2006, only weeks after leaving the Celebrity Big Brother house. A later investigation finds him to ineligible and Brighton are deducted 1 point.
*Birmingham Bullets owner Craig Bown breached league regulations when, on January 26, he cancelled Bullets' home game against Milton Keynes Lions in protest of the suspensions of player Yorrick Williams and coach Skouson Harker. Bullets were deducted 1 point.
*The BBL Trophy was also won by Newcastle, who defeated Leicester Riders 71-50 at the SkyDome Arena in Coventry, on February 5. Newcastle's Andrew Sullivan picked up the MVP with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
*Many clubs missed several of their top English players, who left for the 2006 Commonwealth Games which took place from March 15 to March 26. Peter Scantlebury MBE's England men's team returned hugely successful having defeated Nigeria 80-57 to bring home the bronze medal. The women's team also won bronze.

Final standings

Each team played each other four times during the regular league season, twice at home and twice on the road. A dominant Newcastle team claimed the League title, with one game to spare against second-placed Scottish Rocks, adding their third piece of silverwear for the season.

In their rookie season Guildford Heat finished an impressive fifth, with a 20-20 record, while former heavyweights Brighton Bears and Birmingham Bullets struggled, finishing eighth and last respectively. Both teams were deducted one point each, Brighton for fielding an ineligible player against Guildford, [cite web| author = Richard Taylor | title = Basketball: Bears count Rodman cost | url = http://sport.independent.co.uk/general/article345883.ece | year = 2006 | accessdate = 2007-03-24 | publisher = The Independent ] while Birmingham owner Craig Bown breached league rules by cancelling the game against Milton Keynes Lions. [cite web| author = Richard Taylor | title = Rodman becomes a Bear at close of the BBL's hardest week | url = http://sport.independent.co.uk/general/article341480.ece | year = 2006 | accessdate = 2007-03-24 | publisher = The Independent ]

* (*) Brighton Bears were deduced 1 point for playing an ineligible player.
* (**) Birmingham Bullets were deducted 1 point due to breach of BBL Regulations.

Playoffs

8TeamBracket
RD1=Quarter-finals
RD2=Semi-finals
RD3=Final
group1=
group2=

RD1-seed1=1
RD1-team1=Newcastle Eagles
RD1-score1=78
RD1-seed2=8
RD1-team2=Brighton Bears
RD1-score2=74

RD1-seed3=4
RD1-team3=London Towers
RD1-score3=81
RD1-seed4=5
RD1-team4=Guildford Heat
RD1-score4=99

RD1-seed5=2
RD1-team5=Scottish Rocks
RD1-score5=88
RD1-seed6=7
RD1-team6=Chester Jets
RD1-score6=70

RD1-seed7=3
RD1-team7=Sheffield Sharks
RD1-score7=101
RD1-seed8=6
RD1-team8=Leicester Riders
RD1-score8=85

RD2-seed1=1
RD2-team1=Newcastle Eagles
RD2-score1=115
RD2-seed2=5
RD2-team2=Guildford Heat
RD2-score2=97

RD2-seed3=2
RD2-team3=Scottish Rocks
RD2-score3=101
RD2-seed4=3
RD2-team4=Sheffield Sharks
RD2-score4=84

RD3-seed1=1
RD3-team1=Newcastle Eagles
RD3-score1=83
RD3-seed2=2
RD3-team2=Scottish Rocks
RD3-score2=68

Quarter-finals

*April 14 @ Newcastle Newcastle Eagles 78-74 Brighton Bears
*April 15 @ London London Towers 81-99 Guildford Heat
*April 15 @ Glasgow Scottish Rocks 88-70 Chester Jets
*April 16 @ Sheffield Sheffield Sharks 101-85 Leicester Riders

emi-finals

*April 29 @ NIA, Birmingham Newcastle Eagles 115-97 Guildford Heat
*April 29 @ NIA, Birmingham Scottish Rocks 101-84 Sheffield Sharks

Final

*April 30 @ NIA, Birmingham Newcastle Eagles 83-68 Scottish Rocks

BBL Cup

*December 4 @ NIA, Birmingham Newcastle Eagles 83-69 London Towers

BBL Trophy

*February 5 @ SkyDome, Coventry Newcastle Eagles 71-50 Leicester Riders

Notes