2022–23 London Lions season

The 2022–23 London Lions season was the 46th season of the franchise in the British Basketball League (BBL), and their 11th under the banner of London Lions.

2022–23 London Lions season
BBL champions
Playoff champions
Cup champions
Head coach	Ryan Schmidt
Captain	Sam Dekker
Arena	Copper Box Arena
BBL results
Record	32–4 (.889)
Ladder	1st
BBL Cup	Champions (3rd title) (Defeated Riders 71–79)
BBL Trophy	Quarterfinalist (lost to Gladiators 52–50)
Playoff finish	Champions (1st title) (Defeated Riders 88–80)
EuroCup	Eightfinalist
Stats at BBL.org.uk
Player records
Points	S. Dekker 17.1
Rebounds	K. Koufos 9.4
Assists	T. Taylor 5.2
All statistics correct as of 23 April 2023.
← 2021–22 2023–24 →

This season will be their first under the leadership of their new head coach Ryan Schmidt,^[1] and their first season in the EuroCup Basketball competition.^[2]

Roster

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

2022–23 London Lions roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age F 0 Soko, Ovie  (IN) 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 100 kg (220 lb) 34 – (1991-02-07)7 February 1991 C 1 Zubčić, Tomislav (I) 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) 110 kg (243 lb) 35 – (1990-01-17)17 January 1990 G/F 2 Ward-Hibbert, Joshua 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 86 kg (190 lb) 31 – (1994-01-25)25 January 1994 G 3 Best, Aaron (I) 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 85 kg (187 lb) 32 – (1992-09-01)1 September 1992 G 4 Taylor, Jordan (I) 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 88 kg (194 lb) 35 – (1989-09-30)30 September 1989 G/F 6 Soluade, Morayo 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 89 kg (196 lb) 29 – (1995-07-12)12 July 1995 F 7 Dekker, Sam (C & I) 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 99 kg (218 lb) 30 – (1994-05-06)6 May 1994 F 8 Welche, Zamoku 1.99 m (6 ft 6 in) 20 – (2004-10-16)16 October 2004 G 10 Nelson, Luke 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 86 kg (190 lb) 29 – (1995-06-29)29 June 1995 G 11 Queeley, Kareem  1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 91 kg (201 lb) 23 – (2001-03-30)30 March 2001 F 13 Oni, Miye 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 93 kg (205 lb) 27 – (1997-08-04)4 August 1997 C 20 Sharma, Josh 2.13 m (7 ft 0 in) 104 kg (229 lb) 28 – (1996-09-28)28 September 1996 C 21 Komagum, Jonathan 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 98 kg (216 lb) 26 – (1998-11-13)13 November 1998 G 22 Phillip, Tarik 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 87 kg (192 lb) 31 – (1993-08-10)10 August 1993 G 31 Kaboza, Bradley 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 79 kg (174 lb) 23 – (2001-06-29)29 June 2001 C 41 Koufos, Kosta  (I) 2.13 m (7 ft 0 in) 125 kg (276 lb) 36 – (1989-02-24)24 February 1989 F 77 Hruban, Vojtěch (I) 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) 87 kg (192 lb) 35 – (1989-08-29)29 August 1989	Head coach Ryan Schmidt Assistant coach(es) Polat Kaya Robert Youngblood Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Development player (IN) Inactive (I) Import player Injured Roster Updated: 21 April 2023

Standings

Ladder

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	London Lions (C)	36	32	4	3168	2592	+576	64	Playoffs
2	Leicester Riders	36	25	11	3185	2951	+234	50
3	Bristol Flyers	36	25	11	2993	2873	+120	50
4	Caledonia Gladiators	36	19	17	3005	2990	+15	38
5	Cheshire Phoenix	36	19	17	2948	2927	+21	38
6	Manchester Giants	36	17	19	3228	3223	+5	34
7	Sheffield Sharks	36	17	19	2668	2691	−23	34
8	Newcastle Eagles	36	11	25	2879	3034	−155	22
9	Plymouth City Patriots	36	11	25	2845	3254	−409	22
10	Surrey Scorchers	36	4	32	2763	3147	−384	8

Updated to match(es) played on 23 April 2023. 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

2022–23 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	28	29
Bristol Flyers	3	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	1	3	3	3	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	3
Caledonia Gladiators	—	—	6	8	7	8	8	8	8	6	7	5	4	5	6	6	6	5	5	4	4	5	4	5	5	5	4	4	4
Cheshire Phoenix	4	4	4	4	5	6	5	6	7	5	6	7	6	4	4	4	4	4	4	6	6	6	6	6	7	6	6	5	5
Leicester Riders	—	6	5	6	8	4	3	3	3	2	2	2	1	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	2	2	2
London Lions	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Manchester Giants	5	1	2	3	3	3	4	4	5	7	8	8	8	7	5	5	5	6	6	5	5	4	5	4	4	4	5	7	6
Newcastle Eagles	—	8	10	10	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	8
Plymouth City Patriots	2	5	7	7	6	7	7	7	6	8	4	4	5	6	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	8	8	8	8	8	8	9
Sheffield Sharks	7	9	8	5	4	5	6	5	4	4	5	6	7	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	7	7	6	7	7	6	7
Surrey Scorchers	6	7	9	9	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10

Updated to match(es) played on 23 April 2023. Source: BBL.org.uk

EuroCup ladder

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Qualification
1	Gran Canaria	18	15	3	1535	1411	+124	Advance to eighthfinals
2	Türk Telekom	18	13	5	1516	1412	+104
3	Hapoel Tel Aviv	18	13	5	1589	1395	+194
4	Promitheas	18	11	7	1482	1504	−22
5	Paris Basketball	18	10	8	1545	1539	+6
6	Budućnost VOLI	18	9	9	1396	1348	+48
7	London Lions	18	8	10	1454	1454	0
8	Hamburg Towers	18	6	12	1459	1535	−76
9	Dolomiti Energia Trento	18	4	14	1315	1471	−156
10	Śląsk Wrocław	18	1	17	1312	1534	−222

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

Game log

Main article: 2022–23 BBL Championship

BBL Championships

2022–23 game log Total: 32–4 (home: 17–1; road: 15–3)
September: 2–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 1–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 23 September @ Sheffield W 73–86 Sam Dekker (23) Kosta Koufos (8) Ovie Soko (5) Ponds Forge 1,000 1–0 2 30 September Leicester W 89–78 Tomislav Zubčić (20) Sam Dekker (11) Luke Nelson (8) Copper Box Arena not available 2–0
October: 5–1 (Home: 3–0; Road: 2–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 3 5 October Caledonia W 95–87 Sam Dekker (30) Sam Dekker (8) Queeley, van Oostrum (4) Copper Box Arena not available 3–0 4 7 October @ Newcastle W 72–85 Sam Dekker (15) Josh Sharma (8) Luke Nelson (5) Vertu Motors Arena not available 4–0 5 15 October @ Surrey W 64–83 Luke Nelson (18) Nelson, Sharma, Zubčić (6) Luke Nelson (5) Surrey Sports Park 1,000 5–0 6 21 October Cheshire W 75–60 Vojtěch Hruban (17) Devon van Oostrum (6) Luke Nelson (4) Copper Box Arena not available 6–0 7 23 October Manchester W 91–83 Tomislav Zubčić (22) Kosta Koufos (9) Devon van Oostrum (7) Copper Box Arena not available 7–0 8 28 October @ Sheffield L 87–81 Tomislav Zubčić (25) Kosta Koufos (14) Aaron Best (6) Ponds Forge 300 7–1
November: 0–1 (Home: 0–0; Road: 0–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 9 6 November @ Bristol L 75–71 Sam Dekker (28) Kosta Koufos (10) Luke Nelson (4) SGS College Arena 800 7–2
December: 5–0 (Home: 3–0; Road: 2–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 10 1 December Manchester W 95–71 Josh Sharma (28) Joshua Ward-Hibbert (9) Luke Nelson (11) Copper Box Arena 750 8–2 11 11 December @ Cheshire W 74–89 Ovie Soko (12) Kosta Koufos (11) Nelson, Soluade (5) Cheshire Oaks Arena 1,100 9–2 12 16 December Bristol W 95–60 Sam Dekker (25) Kosta Koufos (11) Dekker, Soluade (5) Copper Box Arena not available 10–2 13 27 December @ Leicester W 75–81 Sam Dekker (21) Kosta Koufos (14) Jordan Taylor (10) Morningside Arena 666 11–2 14 30 December Plymouth W 87–63 Luke Nelson (19) Joshua Ward-Hibbert (12) Jordan Taylor (6) Copper Box Arena 3,000 12–2
January: 4–0 (Home: 2–0; Road: 2–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 15 8 January @ Caledonia W 60–84 Aaron Best (15) Josh Sharma (10) Luke Nelson (6) Emirates Arena 900 13–2 16 20 January @ Surrey W 67–88 Aaron Best (18) Joshua Ward-Hibbert (7) Morayo Soluade (5) Surrey Sports Park 1,000 14–2 17 22 January Sheffield W 75–63 Aaron Best (18) Komagum, Koufos (9) Dekker, Soluade (4) Copper Box Arena 4,382 15–2 18 26 January Cheshire W 89–79 Tomislav Zubčić (19) Sam Dekker (8) Jordan Taylor (7) Copper Box Arena 964 16–2
February: 4–0 (Home: 2–0; Road: 2–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 19 5 February @ Plymouth W 79–88 Tomislav Zubčić (21) Ovie Soko (8) Tomislav Zubčić (8) Plymouth Pavilions not available 17–2 20 12 February @ Cheshire W 65–86 Luke Nelson (21) Josh Sharma (12) Luke Nelson (9) Cheshire Oaks Arena 1,200 18–2 21 14 February Surrey W 88–62 Vojtěch Hruban (18) Tomislav Zubčić (7) Luke Nelson (9) Copper Box Arena 2,402 19–2 22 19 February Bristol W 82–64 Koufos, Nelson (18) Kosta Koufos (11) Jordan Taylor (5) Copper Box Arena 3,410 20–2
March: 7–1 (Home: 3–1; Road: 4–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 23 3 March @ Leicester W 77–102 Sam Dekker (18) Jonathan Komagum (8) Jordan Taylor (7) Morningside Arena not available 21–2 24 5 March Caledonia W 99–67 Vojtěch Hruban (21) Oni, Sharma (6) Jordan Taylor (6) Copper Box Arena 3,500 22–2 25 10 March @ Manchester W 76–87 Sam Dekker (18) Miye Oni (10) Jordan Taylor (4) National Basketball Centre not available 23–2 26 12 March @ Plymouth W 51–102 Sam Dekker (18) Joshua Ward-Hibbert (8) Sam Dekker (8) Plymouth Pavilions 1,000 24–2 27 17 March @ Newcastle W 85–88 Sam Dekker (17) Josh Sharma (5) Jordan Taylor (7) Vertu Motors Arena 3,000 25–2 28 19 March Sheffield L 80–82 Sam Dekker (24) Miye Oni (8) Hruban, Soluade, Taylor, Zubčić (3) Copper Box Arena 2,663 25–3 29 23 March Newcastle W 100–69 Vojtěch Hruban (19) Jonathan Komagum (10) Oni, Taylor (5) Copper Box Arena 1,549 26–3 30 31 March Surrey W 88–75 Vojtěch Hruban (17) Vojtěch Hruban (8) Nelson, Taylor (6) Copper Box Arena 3,395 27–3
April: 5–1 (Home: 3–0; Road: 2–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 31 2 April @ Bristol L 87–82 (OT) Jordan Taylor (19) Ward-Hibbert, Zubčić (7) Aaron Best (4) SGS College Arena 800 27–4 32 7 April Leicester W 83–81 Miye Oni (18) Morayo Soluade (7) Best, Oni, Nelson, Zubčić (3) Copper Box Arena 4,590 28–4 33 9 April @ Manchester W 90–96 Aaron Best (28) Best, Dekker (6) Jordan Taylor (6) National Basketball Centre 200 29–4 34 16 April Newcastle W 89–68 Aaron Best (20) Aaron Best (7) Jordan Taylor (8) Copper Box Arena 4,176 30–4 35 21 April Plymouth W 96–62 Vojtěch Hruban (25) Josh Sharma (6) Jordan Taylor (8) Copper Box Arena 3,694 31–4 36 23 April @ Caledonia W 61–93 Vojtěch Hruban (19) Josh Sharma (8) Nelson, Taylor (6) Emirates Arena 700 32–4
2022–23 season schedule

EuroCup

Main article: 2022–23 EuroCup Basketball

2022–23 game log Total: 8–10 (home: 3–6; road: 5–4)
October: 1–2 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–2) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 12 October @ Hapoel Tel Aviv L 76–59 Tomislav Zubčić (21) Kosta Koufos (10) Devon van Oostrum (5) Drive in Arena 3,514 0–1 2 19 October Trento W 80–75 Ovie Soko (22) Ovie Soko (14) Hruban, Nelson (4) Copper Box Arena 2,183 1–1 3 26 October @ Gran Canaria L 87–69 Vojtěch Hruban (18) Ovie Soko (9) Ovie Soko (5) Gran Canaria Arena 2,411 1–2
November: 2–1 (Home: 1–1; Road: 1–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 4 2 November Budućnost L 78–87 Best, Dekker (15) Josh Sharma (6) Sam Dekker (6) Wembley Arena 1,791 1–3 5 23 November @ Hamburg W 75–103 Tomislav Zubčić (22) Sam Dekker (7) Oni, Soluade (6) Edel-optics.de Arena 1,688 2–3 6 30 November Wrocław W 97–80 Sam Dekker (18) Koufos, Soko (6) Luke Nelson (6) Copper Box Arena 1,801 3–3
December: 1–2 (Home: 0–1; Road: 1–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 7 7 December @ Patras W 67–77 Sam Dekker (20) Kosta Koufos (9) Luke Nelson (4) Dimitris Tofalos Arena 507 4–3 8 15 December @ Türk Telekom L 102–74 Sam Dekker (20) Dekker, Koufos (7) Sam Dekker (6) Ankara Spor Salonu 6,137 4–4 9 22 December Paris L 80–93 Sam Dekker (19) Kosta Koufos (10) Jordan Taylor (9) Copper Box Arena 5,297 4–5
January: 1–2 (Home: 0–2; Road: 1–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 10 11 January Hapoel Tel Aviv L 93–95 Sam Dekker (29) Kosta Koufos (9) Jordan Taylor (9) Wembley Arena 2,907 4–6 11 19 January @ Trento W 70–84 Sam Dekker (23) Dekker, Koufos (10) Jordan Taylor (8) Blm Group Arena 1,389 5–6 12 25 January Gran Canaria L 57–60 Sam Dekker (18) Kosta Koufos (11) Jordan Taylor (5) Copper Box Arena 2,306 5–7
February: 1–1 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 13 2 February @ Budućnost L 78–68 Sam Dekker (27) Sam Dekker (8) Jordan Taylor (4) Morača Sports Center 1,515 5–8 14 9 February Hamburg W 83–66 Kosta Koufos (17) Kosta Koufos (11) Dekker, Hruban (4) Copper Box Arena 3,813 6–8
March: 2–2 (Home: 0–2; Road: 2–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 15 9 March @ Wrocław W 76–83 Jordan Taylor (23) Miye Oni (12) Miye Oni (4) Centennial Hall 2,146 7–8 16 16 March Patras L 89–93 Tomislav Zubčić (24) Sharma, Zubčić (9) Miye Oni (5) Copper Box Arena 2,678 7–9 17 22 March Türk Telekom L 84–89 Sam Dekker (25) Oni, Sharma (6) Jordan Taylor (7) Copper Box Arena 4,092 7–10 18 30 March @ Paris W 85–96 Tomislav Zubčić (24) Josh Sharma (6) Jordan Taylor (8) Halle Georges Carpentier 800 8–10
2022–23 eurocup schedule

EuroCup Playoffs

2023 finals game log Total: 0–1 (home: 0–0; road: 0–1)
Eightfinals: 0–1 (Home: 0–0; Road: 0–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 12 April @ Joventut L 89–78 Tomislav Zubčić (19) Oni, Soluade, Taylor, Zubčić (3) Oni, Nelson (5) Palau Olimpic De Badalona 7,105 0–1
2023 finals schedule

BBL Cup

Main article: 2022–23 BBL Cup

2022–23 BBL Cup game log Total: 3–0 (home: 1–0; road: 2–0)
Quarterfinal: 1–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 26 November Cheshire W 74–65 Hruban, Nelson (12) Komagum, Koufos, Ward-Hibbert (6) Nelson, Oni (4) Copper Box Arena 1,500 1–0
Semifinal: 1–0 (Home: 0–0; Road: 1–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 2 19 December @ Bristol W 79–97 Kosta Koufos (24) Kosta Koufos (7) Jordan Taylor (6) SGS College Arena 770 2–0
Cup Final: 1–0 (Home: 0–0; Road: 1–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 3 29 January @ Leicester W 71–79 Sam Dekker (22) Kosta Koufos (12) Jordan Taylor (4) Utilita Arena Birmingham 10,000 3–0
2022–23 cup schedule

BBL Trophy

Main article: 2022–23 BBL Trophy

2023 BBL Trophy game log Total: 1–1 (home: 1–0; road: 0–1)
First round: 1–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 12 January Worthing W 89–53 Aaron Best (24) Komagum, Ward-Hibbert (13) Luke Nelson (7) Copper Box Arena not available 1–0
Quarterfinal: 0–1 (Home: 0–0; Road: 0–1) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 2 10 February @ Caledonia L 52–50 Joshua Ward-Hibbert (14) Joshua Ward-Hibbert (8) Luke Nelson (4) Emirates Arena 500 1–1
2022–23 trophy schedule

Playoffs

Main article: 2022–23 BBL Playoffs

2023 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 Record 1 28 April @ Newcastle W 78–108 Josh Sharma (18) Miye Oni (8) Nelson, Taylor (5) Vertu Motors Arena 2,214 1–0 2 1 May Newcastle W 99–86 Sharma, Taylor (18) Josh Sharma (5) Luke Nelson (7) Crystal Palace National Sports Centre 1,039 2–0
Semifinals: 2–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 1–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 3 7 May Cheshire W 82–74 Tomislav Zubčić (15) Josh Sharma (9) Jordan Taylor (8) Crystal Palace National Sports Centre 912 3–0 4 8 May @ Cheshire W 81–102 Best, Sharma (16) Aaron Best (7) Nelson, Soluade, Taylor (5) Cheshire Oaks Arena not available 4–0
Playoff final: 1–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 0–0) Game Date Team Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 5 14 May Leicester W 88–80 Best, Taylor (15) Miye Oni (10) Jordan Taylor (7) The O2 Arena 3,000 5–0
2023 playoff schedule

Transactions

Re-signed

Player	Signed
Joshua Ward-Hibbert[3]	3 July
Bradley Kaboza[4]	5 August

Additions

Player	Signed	Former team
Morayo Soluade[5][6]	5 July	Básquet Coruña
Ovie Soko[7][8]	8 July	Shiga Lakestars
Josh Sharma[9]	12 July	Trefl Sopot
Kareem Queeley[10]	14 July	San Pablo Burgos
Kosta Koufos[11]	15 July	NBA G League Ignite
Vojtěch Hruban[12]	22 July	Basketball Nymburk
Luke Nelson[13]	3 August	ESSM Le Portel
Sam Dekker[14]	7 August	Bahçeşehir Koleji S.K.
Tarik Phillip[15]	9 August	San Pablo Burgos
Aaron Best[16]	14 August	Hamilton Honey Badgers
Jonathan Komagum[17]	25 August	Sacramento State
Devon van Oostrum[18]	7 September	Landstede Hammers
Miye Oni[19]	17 November	Utah Jazz
Jordan Taylor[20]	12 December	U-BT Cluj-Napoca

Subtractions

Player	Reason left	New team
Will Neighbour[21]	Free agent	Cheshire Phoenix
Dirk Williams[22]	Free agent	Manchester Giants
Chris Tawiah	Free agent	KK MZT Skopje
Devon van Oostrum[19]	Released	n/a
Ryan Martin	Free agent	Surrey Scorchers
Ovie Soko[23]	Inactive	n/a

See also

• 2022–23 British Basketball League season
• London Lions