The UK Basketball Hub

Andrew Bridge is a bone-fide BBL legend and on top of that has a Commonwealth Games bronze medal to boot! Playing in the Newcastle Eagles team that swept the board, Bridge moved to Sheffield where he closed out his career by winning a little bit more! In his final season with the Sharks last year, Bridge helped the team to achieve a BBL Trophy victory against the much favoured Leicester Riders. He spoke to us about his career, his future, the future of the BBL and what he believes the Sheffield Sharks can achieve. He said: "When I left Sheffield for the first time [in 2002] it was a big event in my life, it was probably the best thing that could have happened as I had to move away and out of my comfort zone." "The biggest highlight for me was playing for Newcastle in 2005/06 when we won the clean sweep and then to play for England at the Commonwealth Games and win a bronze medal - it was the best year of my career." "At Newcastle there was an expec...

The BIG BBL Preview for the Sheffield Sharks is slightly different to the other posts, with Andrew Bridge - now retired - speaking to us ahead of their new season. The Sharks captured the BBL Trophy much to the surprise of most fans as they were playing the powerful force that is the Leicester Riders, who won everything else! Bridge has spent the majority of his career at the Sheffield Sharks and Newcastle Eagles and has won a bronze medal with the English basketball team at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. He believes that it was the right time to leave both the Sheffield Sharks and professional basketball behind. He said: "There was a combination of things [that led him to retire] - my family lived in Newcastle and I lived in Sheffield, I also had other work opportunities with the Youth Sports Trust." "The main sporting reason why I decided to retire was to go out as a winner and end my career in a season when we won a trophy." "There was always a te...

From the 26th August 2013 The UK Basketball Hub brings you: 'THE BIG BBL PREVIEW!' We will be speaking to someone from every team, trying to cover all angles as the new BBL season starts in a month or so! The Birmingham Knights are new to the BBL, how are they shaping up? The London Lions moved to the Copper Box, are they moving into the big leagues now? The Durham Wildcats and Surrey Heat have changed coach, good or bad move? The Newcastle Eagles want to be back on top, can they do it? Will the Leicester Riders defend their crown? Will Glasgow Rocks or Plymouth Raiders push for the play-off crown? Can Cheshire or Manchester get a play-off spot this time around? Will the Sharks win another BBL Trophy? So many questions and we'll try to give you the answers! Here are our confirmed interviewees: 26th August: Birmingham Knights player Martyn Gayle, coach Paul Douglas 27th August: Birmingham Knights owner Jo Aldridge and Durham Wildcats' Richard Warburton...

The 2012/13 BBL league season is coming to a close with the Leicester Riders closing in on the BBL crown and top seeding in the play-offs. The BBL Trophy and BBL Cup have both been decided going to the Riders and Sheffield Sharks respectively in a season which has seen London and Manchester join the league. But who has been the stand out player in the BBL League, Trophy and Cup? And who has been the top coach? Well the UK Basketball Hub want you to vote who you think is the top player and coach on our pole! We have decided on three managers and ten players who you can vote for which are as follows: The Players Andrew Sullivan (Leicester Riders) Jay Couisnard (Leicester Riders) Chez Marks (Cheshire Pheonix) Matthew Schneck (Plymouth Raiders) BJ Holmes (Sheffield Sharks) Joe Chapman (Newcastle Eagles) Charles Smith (Newcastle Eagles) Chavis Holmes (Surrey Heat) Orlan Jackman (London Lions) Alex Owumni (Worcester Wolves) - Kareem Maddox is someone who has been sugges...

The Sheffield Sharks shocked the current BBL leaders Leicester Riders in the BBL Trophy Final. Sheffield came out 71-69 winners at a packed Glasgow Rock's Emirates Arena to lift the second trophy of the season. The Sharks who are battling for the play-offs in the league managed the win against a Leicester side who had lost only three games in all competitions and the Sharks were without Micah Williams who will miss the rest of the season with an injury. But Atiba Lyons' side picked up the deserved victory with a brilliant defensive display and dominant first-half. The Sharks started well with BJ Holmes superb throughout scoring five from seven 3-points shots made as the Sharks looked impressive. At one point the Sharks ha a twelve point lead but Jay Cousinard helped the Leicester Riders claw the game back. The Riders have lost three times in the BBL Trophy final to a deficit of 71 points. They had managed to come through a tough semi-final against Worcester Wolves wh...

The Newcastle Eagles started the weekend strongly with a win against basement club Mersey Tigers who continue their season-long losing streak. The Eagles winning 100-57 on Merseyside to close the gap to the Leicester Riders who were on BBL Trophy duty. Meanwhile on Sunday the Glasgow Rocks picked up a win at home to the Durham Wildcats to move into third place with player-coach Sterling Davis aiming for the top four . Glasgow winning 88-66, The Wildcats can still make the play-offs in a tight battle for 8th. The London Lions made it three wins on the bounce and saw the debut of Rod Brown as they beat BBL Trophy finalists Sheffield Sharks. Lions picked up the 86-78 victory in Crystal Palace to give them a good shot of making the play-offs with the team currently in 7th. Surrey Heat went level with the Worcester Wolves with a 87-78 win against Cheshire Phoenix. Phoenix remain level on points with the Manchester Giants and Sheffield Sharks with the Sharks having multiple games in h...

Sheffield Sharks will meet Leicester Riders in the BBL Trophy final following respective wins against Cheshire Phoenix and Worcester Wolves. The Sharks managed a double victory of Phoenix with an away 74-60 victory followed up with a 102-74 thrashing at the EIS, giving them a 176-134 aggregate score. Leicester meanwhile managed to win away in Worcester with an 82-73 victory to seemingly give them a massive chance of progression to the final. However the Wolves would comeout fighting at the John Sandford but come just short of an amazing comeback, winning 68-66 on the night but losing by seven overall (148-141), allowing Leicester to compete for their second trophy of the season . The two sides met in the cup semi-final with Leicester Riders winning both the away leg (90-70) and the home leg (75-45). Leicester Riders also beat the Sharks 71-55 in Sheffield on the first day of the BBL season and have only lost two BBL games this season. The two teams will meet just FOUR ...