Clarifying the final month of the BBL season
With just under a month of the British Basketball League regular season remaining and teams still jostling for play-off positions, UKAmericanSportsFans.com has decided to help fans understand the potential fate of their team.
The title may have been decided and in the safe hands of Leicester Riders, but there’s still plenty to contend with during this last week of the regular season.
First, second and seventh spots have been decided going into the BBL Playoffs, but the pressure really is on this weekend, more so for that final eighth place spot.
Confirmed spots
(1) Leicester Riders vs (8) Lions
(2) Newcastle Eagles vs (7) Sheffield Sharks
(3) Rocks/Heat/Raiders vs (6) Heat/Raiders/Wolves
(4) Rocks/Heat/Raiders/Wolves vs (5) Heat/Raiders/Wolves
Who will face who from 3rd to 6th
Who:
Glasgow Rocks, Surrey Heat, Marjon Plymouth Raiders and Worcester Wolves
Current situation:
Rocks – P:31 PTS:40
Heat – P:32 PTS:40
Raiders – P:31 PTS:38
Wolves – P:32 PTS:38
Season series:
GLA/SUR – 2/1, GLA/PLY – 2/1, GLA/WOR – 2/1
SUR/PLY – 1/1, SUR/GLA – 1/2, SUR/WOR – 2/1
PLY/SUR – 1/1, PLY/GLA – 1/2, PLY/WOR – 1/1
WOR/GLA – 1/2, WOR/PLY – 1/1, WOR/SUR – 1/2
Still to play:
06/04 – WOR @ PLY
07/04 – PLY @ SUR
Last five league games:
GLA – LLWWL, SUR – LWWLW, PLY – LWWLL, WOR – LLWLW
Strength of remaining schedule:
Rocks: MER (H)
Heat: PLY (H)
Raiders: WOR (H), SUR (A)
Wolves: PLY (A)
What’s at stake:
Glasgow need only to win their final remaining game at home to Mersey to secure third place.
In the event that Rocks lose to the Tigers and Surrey beat Plymouth at home, Surrey will finish in third spot.
For Plymouth to finish in third spot, they too would also need Glasgow to to Mersey, and come out with two wins themselves against Surrey and Worcester.
Worcester cannot finish third, but still could finish fourth, however would need an awful amount of luck on their side in that they would need to finish level with Heat and Raiders on points.
Rocks could also finish level on points in this scenario but they have the head-to-head over all three teams so would finish third without question.
However, the head-to-head series between Heat, Raiders and Wolves would be void though if this was to play out and points difference in games played would need to decide where they all finish. Messy – especially when games between these sides still need to play out, so anything can still happen throughout until the very last play.
Whenever Plymouth have reached the playoffs, they have done so in fifth or higher. Surrey are looking to reach the playoffs for the seventh time in their history. With the exception of the 02/03 season when they won the play-offs, each time the Rocks have finished 4th or higher in the league, they have also reached the Play-off Final. Worcester will be looking to equal their best ever finish in the league of third.
The Undesirable Record
Who:
Mersey Tigers
Current situation:
P:32 PTS:0
Strength of remaining schedule:
Tigers: GLA (A)
What’s at stake:
No team in BBL history has ever finished a season without a win and while in previous seasons teams have played a greater number of league games giving them an increased opportunity to register victories, the 2012/13 Mersey Tigers are on the verge of being awarded the dubious honour of going through a season winless. The worst BBL win-loss record in league history currently belongs to the ’93/94 Oldham Celtics who finished the year 1-35, a win percentage of 2.8%. Unless Mersey win one of their final six games, they will beat that ‘achievement’.
The Tigers have already teased the record books this season by losing to the Newcastle Eagles 121-58, only to fall six points shy of the Top Five Largest Margins Of Defeat. The biggest defeat stands at 72 points (05/12/09 – Riders vs. Capital, 110-38).
But what Mersey missed out on in greatest defeats, they made up for in another way, sneaking into the Top 10 All-Time Fewest Points Scored In The BBL when they lost to the Leicester Riders 79-40 on 17/11/2012.
