2023–24 London Lions season

2023–24 London Lions season
BBL champions
Playoff champions
Head coach	Petar Božić
Captain	Sam Dekker
Arena	Copper Box Arena
BBL results
Record	33–3 (.917)
Ladder	1st
BBL Trophy	Runners-up (lost to Phoenix 82–98)
Playoff finish	Champions (2nd title) (Defeated Phoenix 88–85)
EuroCup	Semifinalist (lost to Paris 0–2)
Stats at BBL.org.uk
All statistics correct as of 19 May 2024.

The 2023–24 London Lions season is the 47th season of the franchise in the British Basketball League (BBL), and their 12th under the banner of London Lions.

This season will be their first under the leadership of their new head coach Petar Božić,[1][2] and their second season in the EuroCup Basketball competition.[3][4]

Roster

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

London Lions roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. C 0 Olaseni, Gabriel 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) 104 kg (229 lb) G 1 Taylor, Jordan (I) 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 88 kg (194 lb) G/F 2 Nwaba, David (I) 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 99 kg (218 lb) G 5 Udeh, Remy 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 80 kg (176 lb) G/F 6 Soluade, Morayo 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 89 kg (196 lb) F 7 Dekker, Sam (C & I) 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 99 kg (218 lb) F/C 9 Morgan, Conor 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 100 kg (220 lb) G 10 Nelson, Luke 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 86 kg (190 lb) G 11 Queeley, Kareem 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 91 kg (201 lb) C 14 Djanogly, Joshua 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 98 kg (216 lb) C 20 Sharma, Josh 2.13 m (7 ft 0 in) 104 kg (229 lb) G 22 Phillip, Tarik 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 87 kg (192 lb) F 23 Sandy, Ciaran 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 88 kg (194 lb) G 30 Morgan, Matt (I) 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 84 kg (185 lb) G 31 Kaboza, Bradley 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 79 kg (174 lb) F 32 Grantham, Donte (I) 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 95 kg (209 lb)	Head coach Petar Božić Assistant coach(es) Polat Kaya Robert Youngblood Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Development player (IN) Inactive (I) Import player Injured Roster Updated: 6 March 2024

Standings

Ladder

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	London Lions (C)	36	33	3	3376	2935	+441	66	Playoffs
2	Cheshire Phoenix	36	23	13	3334	3148	+186	46
3	Caledonia Gladiators	36	23	13	3152	3044	+108	46
4	Sheffield Sharks	36	19	17	2930	2849	+81	38
5	Leicester Riders	36	18	18	3281	3291	−10	36
6	Newcastle Eagles	36	18	18	3256	3177	+79	36
7	Bristol Flyers	36	16	20	2925	2918	+7	32
8	Surrey Scorchers	36	14	22	2955	3092	−137	28
9	Manchester Giants	36	9	27	2920	3311	−391	18
10	Plymouth City Patriots	36	7	29	2887	3251	−364	14

Updated to match(es) played on 21 April 2024. Source: BBC Sport
(C) Champions

The BBL tie-breaker system as outlined in the BBL Rules and Regulations states that in the case of an identical win–loss record, the results in games played between the teams will determine order of seeding.

	Leader and qualification to playoffs
	Qualification to playoffs
	Last place

2023–24 BBL Championship

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27
Bristol Flyers	4	4	8	4	3	2	2	2	3	4	6	6	4	5	6	6	7	7	7	8	7	7	8	7	7	7	7
Caledonia Gladiators	3	6	6	6	6	4	3	4	4	5	5	3	3	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3
Cheshire Phoenix	1	3	5	3	5	3	4	3	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
Leicester Riders	10	7	3	2	2	5	5	5	6	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	4	4	5	4	5	5	5	5	6	5	5
London Lions	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Manchester Giants	8	10	7	8	8	8	8	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	10	9	9
Newcastle Eagles	5	2	2	7	7	7	7	7	7	6	4	5	6	4	5	4	6	5	4	5	4	4	4	4	4	6	5
Plymouth City Patriots	7	9	9	9	9	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	9	10	10
Sheffield Sharks	6	5	4	5	4	6	6	6	5	3	3	4	5	6	4	5	5	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	5	4	4
Surrey Scorchers	9	8	10	10	10	9	9	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	7	8	8	7	8	8	8	8

Updated to match(es) played on 21 April 2024. Source: BBL.org.uk

EuroCup ladder

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Qualification
1	Paris Basketball	18	17	1	1754	1401	+353	Advance to quarterfinals
2	Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv	18	13	5	1729	1600	+129
3	London Lions	18	12	6	1608	1546	+62	Advance to eighthfinals
4	Prometey	18	10	8	1598	1574	+24
5	Joventut Badalona	18	10	8	1517	1503	+14
6	Beşiktaş Emlakjet	18	9	9	1400	1428	−28
7	Wolves	18	8	10	1462	1550	−88
8	Umana Reyer Venezia	18	8	10	1507	1538	−31
9	Veolia Towers Hamburg	18	2	16	1478	1762	−284
10	Cedevita Olimpija	18	1	17	1509	1660	−151

Source: EuroCup
Rules for classification: All points scored in extra period(s) were not counted in the standings, nor for any tie-break situation.

Game log

Main article: 2023–24 BBL Championship

BBL Championships

2023–24 game log Total: 33–3 (Home: 16–2; Road: 17–1)
September: 4–0 (Home: 2–0; Road: 2–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 16 September @ Surrey W 61–83 Olaseni, Phillip (13) Gabriel Olaseni (10) C.Morgan, Kaboza (4) Surrey Sports Park 850 1–0 2 21 September Caledonia W 93–65 Gabriel Olaseni (14) Gabriel Olaseni (10) Grantham, Soluade (4) Copper Box Arena 1,431 2–0 3 23 September @ Manchester W 76–115 M.Morgan, Nelson (18) Josh Sharma (6) Tarik Phillip (8) National Basketball Performance Centre 800 3–0 4 28 September Bristol W 98–84 Matt Morgan (25) Grantham, Olaseni (7) three players (5) Copper Box Arena 1,494 4–0
October: 7–0 (Home: 4–0; Road: 3–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 5 1 October @ Cheshire W 82–91 Matt Morgan (33) Matt Morgan (8) M.Morgan, Olaseni (3) Cheshire Oaks Arena 200 5–0 6 8 October Manchester W 94–89 Matt Morgan (30) Tarik Phillip (8) Jordan Taylor (7) Copper Box Arena 2,545 6–0 7 13 October Cheshire W 99–80 Conor Morgan (17) Conor Morgan (8) Luke Nelson (10) Copper Box Arena 1,778 7–0 8 16 October Newcastle W 109–104 (OT) Matt Morgan (30) Gabriel Olaseni (9) Luke Nelson (6) Copper Box Arena 822 8–0 9 20 October @ Sheffield W 76–92 Conor Morgan (19) Ciaran Sandy (9) M.Morgan, Nelson (5) Canon Medical Arena n/a 9–0 10 22 October Surrey W 82–70 Conor Morgan (17) Conor Morgan (8) Grantham, Phillip (6) Copper Box Arena 3,258 10–0 11 27 October @ Newcastle W 86–99 Conor Morgan (17) Gabriel Olaseni (10) Gabriel Olaseni (9) Vertu Motors Arena n/a 11–0
November: 3–2 (Home: 1–1; Road: 2–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 12 3 November Bristol W 95–67 Matt Morgan (19) Gabriel Olaseni (7) Morayo Soluade (6) Copper Box Arena 2,300 12–0 13 5 November @ Plymouth L 94–70 Bradley Kaboza (21) Donte Grantham (7) Morayo Soluade (4) Plymouth Pavilions n/a 12–1 14 10 November @ Leicester W 95–102 Donte Grantham (22) Donte Grantham (11) Jordan Taylor (5) Leicester Arena n/a 13–1 15 19 November @ Manchester W 84–92 Matt Morgan (32) Josh Sharma (9) Matt Morgan (6) National Basketball Performance Centre n/a 14–1 16 23 November Newcastle L 80–102 Kareem Queeley (13) Conor Morgan (6) Jordan Taylor (7) Copper Box Arena 1,236 14–2
December: 7–1 (Home: 5–1; Road: 2–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 17 1 December @ Leicester W 79–89 Conor Morgan (19) C.Morgan, Sharma (7) Jordan Taylor (8) Leicester Arena n/a 15–2 18 3 December Caledonia L 94–100 (OT) Gabriel Olaseni (26) Conor Morgan (6) Jordan Taylor (8) Copper Box Arena n/a 15–3 19 8 December Plymouth W 91–84 Matt Morgan (27) Ciaran Sandy (8) Jordan Taylor (5) Copper Box Arena 1,304 16–3 20 10 December Leicester W 100–62 Conor Morgan (21) C.Morgan, Sharma (7) Tarik Phillip (5) Copper Box Arena 1,447 17–3 21 15 December Cheshire W 102–95 Matt Morgan (28) Jordan Taylor (5) Jordan Taylor (9) Copper Box Arena 1,279 18–3 22 17 December Manchester W 99–91 (OT) Matt Morgan (31) Matt Morgan (11) Jordan Taylor (7) Copper Box Arena 1,731 19–3 23 24 December Sheffield W 83–64 Conor Morgan (15) Conor Morgan (10) Jordan Taylor (5) Copper Box Arena 2,223 20–3 24 29 December @ Caledonia W 79–87 Gabriel Olaseni (18) Conor Morgan (11) Jordan Taylor (8) Playsport Arena 1,600 21–3
January: 1–0 (Home: 0–0; Road: 1–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 25 1 January @ Surrey W 80–85 Gabriel Olaseni (25) C.Morgan, Olaseni (8) Luke Nelson (9) Surrey Sports Park n/a 22–3
February: 5–0 (Home: 2–0; Road: 3–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 26 2 February @ Newcastle W 87–105 Donte Grantham (18) Donte Grantham (8) Nwaba, Queeley (5) Vertu Motors Arena 2,700 23–3 27 4 February Plymouth W 105–84 Matt Morgan (19) Kareem Queeley (6) Tarik Phillip (7) Copper Box Arena n/a 24–3 28 8 February Sheffield W 84–73 Donte Grantham (20) Donte Grantham (10) Gabriel Olaseni (5) Copper Box Arena n/a 25–3 29 11 February @ Sheffield W 79–89 Conor Morgan (20) Tarik Phillip (9) three players (5) Canon Medical Arena n/a 26–3 30 17 February @ Bristol W 93–101 Matt Morgan (31) Conor Morgan (11) Tarik Phillip (6) SGS College Arena 750 27–3
March: 2–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 1–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 31 3 March Leicester W 105–89 Sam Dekker (17) Gabriel Olaseni (6) Donte Grantham (6) Copper Box Arena 4,231 28–3 32 8 March @ Caledonia W 76–82 Matt Morgan (22) Gabriel Olaseni (19) Matt Morgan (5) Playsport Arena 1,600 29–3 All-Star Game
April: 4–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 3–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 33 7 April @ Bristol W 71–86 Gabriel Olaseni (21) Gabriel Olaseni (10) M.Morgan, Phillip (5) SGS College Arena 750 30–3 34 12 April @ Plymouth W 57–93 Conor Morgan (20) Josh Sharma (11) Tarik Phillip (7) Plymouth Pavilions n/a 31–3 35 18 April Surrey W 97–85 Matt Morgan (24) Josh Sharma (7) M.Morgan, Phillip (5) Copper Box Arena 2,243 32–3 36 21 April @ Cheshire W 92–105 Matt Morgan (30) David Nwaba (9) Matt Morgan (5) Cheshire Oaks Arena n/a 33–3
2023–24 season schedule

EuroCup

Main article: 2023–24 EuroCup Basketball

2023–24 game log Total: 12–6 (Home: 4–5; Road: 8–1)
October: 3–1 (Home: 1–1; Road: 2–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 4 October Venezia W 76–69 Donte Grantham (23) Grantham, Olaseni (7) Jordan Taylor (7) Copper Box Arena 1,287 1–0 2 10 October @ Humburg W 94–100 Matt Morgan (21) Conor Morgan (9) Matt Morgan (6) Edel-optics.de Arena 1,279 2–0 3 18 October @ Prometey W 89–99 Matt Morgan (21) Donte Grantham (11) Tarik Phillip (8) Arena Riga 1,357 3–0 4 24 October Paris L 102–106 (2OT) Matt Morgan (26) Gabriel Olaseni (11) Tarik Phillip (9) Copper Box Arena 6,152 3–1
November: 4–1 (Home: 1–1; Road: 3–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 5 2 November Hapoel Tel Aviv L 90–98 Matt Morgan (22) Donte Grantham (12) Jordan Taylor (8) Copper Box Arena 85 3–2 6 8 November @ Joventut Badalona W 76–87 Gabriel Olaseni (21) Gabriel Olaseni (9) Olaseni, Phillip (5) Pavelló Olímpic de Badalona 2,979 4–2 7 15 November @ Beşiktaş W 80–83 Gabriel Olaseni (24) Matt Morgan (8) Matt Morgan (7) Akatlar Arena 2,882 5–2 8 22 November Cedevita Olimpija W 101–95 Matt Morgan (24) Gabriel Olaseni (12) Jordan Taylor (8) Copper Box Arena 3,298 6–2 9 28 November @ Wolves W 87–101 Conor Morgan (22) Donte Grantham (8) Jordan Taylor (5) Avia Solutions Group Arena 3,724 7–2
December: 2–2 (Home: 1–1; Road: 1–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 10 5 December @ Venezia W 91–95 Gabriel Olaseni (23) Gabriel Olaseni (12) C.Morgan, Taylor (4) Palasport Taliercio 2,636 8–2 11 13 December Humburg L 81–83 Gabriel Olaseni (24) Gabriel Olaseni (9) Luke Nelson (5) Copper Box Arena 1,764 8–3 12 20 December Prometey W 89–88 Gabriel Olaseni (19) Gabriel Olaseni (10) Matt Morgan (7) Copper Box Arena 3,378 9–3 13 26 December @ Paris L 94–77 Matt Morgan (18) Gabriel Olaseni (7) Jordan Taylor (4) Halle Georges Carpentier 2,764 9–4
January: 2–2 (Home: 1–1; Road: 1–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 14 9 January @ Hapoel Tel Aviv W 96–100 David Nwaba (17) Gabriel Olaseni (10) Tarik Phillip (7) Aleksandar Nikolić Hall closed event 10–4 15 17 January Joventut Badalona L 80–82 Matt Morgan (20) David Nwaba (8) Conor Morgan (5) Copper Box Arena 2,163 10–5 16 24 January Beşiktaş W 93–72 Matt Morgan (20) Grantham, Olaseni (6) Matt Morgan (4) Copper Box Arena 1,357 11–5 17 31 January @ Cedevita Olimpija W 85–92 Matt Morgan (26) Gabriel Olaseni (7) Matt Morgan (6) Arena Stožice 2,317 12–5
February: 0–1 (Home: 0–1; Road: 0–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 18 7 February Wolves L 80–85 M.Morgan, Nwaba (16) Gabriel Olaseni (8) Matt Morgan (4) Copper Box Arena 4,119 12–6
2023–24 eurocup schedule

EuroCup Playoffs

2024 playoff game log Total: 2–2 (Home: 1–1; Road: 1–1)
Eightfinals: 1–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 6 March Türk Telekom W 100–77 David Nwaba (19) Gabriel Olaseni (8) Tarik Phillip (5) Copper Box Arena 3,141 1–0
Quarterfinals: 1–0 (Home: 0–0; Road: 1–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 13 March @ U-BT Cluj-Napoca W 79–91 Sam Dekker (21) David Nwaba (8) Donte Grantham (4) Bt-Arena 10,000 1–0
Semifinals: 0–2 (Home: 0–1; Road: 0–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 26 March @ Paris L 99–86 David Nwaba (24) Olaseni, Nwaba (5) Tarik Phillip (8) Adidas Arena 5,425 0–1 2 29 March Paris L 85–93 Matt Morgan (25) David Nwaba (9) David Nwaba (4) Copper Box Arena 5,486 0–2
2024 eurocup playoff schedule

BBL Trophy

Main article: 2024 BBL Trophy

2024 BBL Trophy game log Total: 4–2 (Home: 3–1; Road: 1–1)
January: 4–2 (Home: 3–1; Road: 1–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 4 January Newcastle W 99–77 C.Morgan, Nelson (20) C.Morgan, Sandy (9) Gabriel Olaseni (9) Copper Box Arena n/a 1–0 2 7 January Leicester W 89–74 Donte Grantham (16) Ciaran Sandy (11) Tarik Phillip (9) Copper Box Arena 2,960 2–0 3 12 January @ Manchester W 75–106 Matt Morgan (22) Tarik Phillip (7) Tarik Phillip (7) National Basketball Performance Centre n/a 3–0 4 19 January @ Bristol L 94–72 Bradley Kaboza (18) three players (6) Donte Grantham (5) SGS College Arena n/a 3–1 5 27 January Caledonia W 85–75 Josh Sharma (19) Gabriel Olaseni (15) Matt Morgan (4) Arena Birmingham n/a 4–1 6 28 January Cheshire L 82–98 David Nwaba (18) Donte Grantham (9) Donte Grantham (3) Arena Birmingham n/a 4–2
2023–24 trophy schedule

BBL Playoffs

Main article: 2024 BBL Playoffs

2024 playoff game log Total: 5–0 (Home: 3–0; Road: 2–0)
Quarterfinals: 2–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 1–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 1 28 April Surrey W 80–65 Gabriel Olaseni (16) Gabriel Olaseni (7) Matt Morgan (7) Copper Box Arena n/a 1–0 2 3 May @ Surrey W 96–105 Matt Morgan (22) Gabriel Olaseni (8) Jordan Taylor (7) Surrey Sports Park n/a 2–0
Semifinals: 2–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 1–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 3 10 May @ Newcastle W 75–106 David Nwaba (19) Gabriel Olaseni (11) Tarik Phillip (8) Vertu Motors Arena 1–0 4 12 May Newcastle W 94–81 M.Morgan, Nwaba (18) Donte Grantham (11) M.Morgan, Phillip (5) Copper Box Arena 1,740 2–0
Playoff final: 1–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Series 5 19 May Cheshire W 88–85 Sam Dekker (17) Sam Dekker (10) Tarik Phillip (7) The O2 Arena n/a 1–0
2024 playoff schedule

Transactions

Re-signed

Player	Signed
Sam Dekker
Josh Sharma
Luke Nelson
Morayo Soluade
Jordan Taylor
Tarik Phillip
Kareem Queeley
Bradley Kaboza

Additions

Player	Signed	Former team
Gabriel Olaseni		Darüşşafaka
Conor Morgan		Bahçeşehir Koleji
Matt Morgan		Le Mans
Donte Grantham		SLUC Nancy Basket
Ciaran Sandy		Mercyhurst Lakers
Rokas Gustys		Fundación CB Granada
Joshua Djanogly		Wolfenbüttel
David Nwaba	4 January 2023	Motor City Cruise[5]

Subtractions

Player	Reason left	New team
Joshua Ward-Hibbert	Free agent	Newcastle Eagles
Vojtěch Hruban	Free agent	Cholet Basket
Tomislav Zubčić	Free agent	Napoli Basket
Aaron Best	Free agent	Trefl Sopot
Miye Oni	Free agent	Osceola Magic
Rokas Gustys	Released (NRP)	TBC

See also

• 2023–24 British Basketball League season
• London Lions

References

1. "London Lions Confirm Petar Božić As New Head Coach". BritishBasketballLeague.com. 17 August 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
2. "London signs head coach Bozic". euroleaguebasketball.net. 10 August 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
3. "2023-24 BKT EuroCup: Group A at a glance". euroleaguebasketball.net. 10 July 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
4. "British Basketball League clubs prepare for historic 2023/24 European campaign". BritishBasketballLeague.com. 31 August 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
5. Maggi, Alessandro (4 January 2024). "David Nwaba signs with London Lions". Sportando.basketball. Retrieved 8 January 2024.

External links

• London Lions (official website)
• British Basketball League