Hapoel Holon B.C.

Hapoel Holon B.C., also known for sponsorship reasons as Hapoel Unet Holon B.C., is a professional basketball club that is based in Holon, Israel. Holon plays in the Ligat HaAl, which is the top level division of Israeli pro club basketball. The club won their first Israeli League national championship in 2008, after beating the perennial league champions Maccabi Tel Aviv, in the competition's Final Four.

This article is about the basketball club. For the football club, see Hapoel Holon F.C.
Hapoel Unet Holon B.C.
LeaguesIsraeli Premier League
Founded1947 (1947)
HistoryHapoel Holon B.C.
(1947–present)
ArenaHolon Toto Hall
Capacity5,400
LocationHolon, Israel
Team colorsPurple and Yellow
         
CEORoy Dvora
PresidentEitan Lanciano
Head coachStefanos Dedas
Team captainShlomi Harush
OwnershipShlomo Issac
Championships1 Israeli Championship
2 Israeli State Cup
Websitehapoel-holon.co.il

History

The club was founded in 1947 and was one of the founding clubs of the top division in 1954, finishing second in their first season.

Holon returned to the top division at the end of the 2006–07 season after playing for 7 years in the second and even the third divisions, and finished the 2007–08 regular season at the top of the table. They reached the Playoff Final, where they defeated Maccabi Tel Aviv 73–72 to claim their first championship, with Malik Dixon scoring the winning shot two seconds to the end of the game. PJ Tucker won the MVP title. It was the first time Maccabi Tel Aviv had failed to win the championship in 14 years.[1]

The club has reached the final of the State Cup six times, but did not pick up their first prize in that competition until 2009, when Brian Tolbert hit a three-pointer as time expired to give them a 69–68 win over Maccabi Haifa in that year's final.[2]

On January 16, 2010, the club celebrated its 1000th game in the Ligat HaAl. In the 2009–10 season, the club was under scrutiny after failing to pay the balance of last years staff and players throughout the end of the season.

In 2018, Holon won its second State Cup after beating Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Final, behind MVP Glen Rice, Jr.[3]

Later in 2018, Holon was blown out by Maccabi in the Israeli League final.

Arena
Holon Toto Hall, home arena of the club

Hapoel Holon plays its home games at the 5,600 seat[4] Holon Toto Hall.

Honours

Total titles: 3

Domestic competitions
  • Israeli Championships
    • Winners (1): 2007–08
    • Runners-up (3): 1954, 1955, 2018
    • semi-finals (9): 1983, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1995, 1999, 2008, 2012, 2018
  • State Cup
    • Winners (2): 2009, 2018
    • Runners-up (5): 1959, 1961, 1986, 1991, 1995
  • League Cup (unofficial)
    • Runner-up (1): 2011

Other competitions
  • Kfar Tavor, Israel Invitational Game
    • Winners (1): 2017

Season by season
Season Tier Division Pos. W–L State Cup European competitions
2007–08 1 Premier League 1st 22–7 Semifinalist
2008–09 5th 15–12 Champion
2009–10 12th 6–16
2010–11 7th 12–19
2011–12 5th 17–13 Semifinalist
2012–13 9th 12–15 3 EuroChallengeT164–8
2013–14 7th 16–17 Round of 16
2014–15 5th 18–19 Round of 16
2015–16 10th 12–21
2016–17 5th 23–14 Semifinalist
2017–18 2nd 26–14 Champion 3 Champions LeagueRS3–11
2018–19 3rd 25–12 Semifinalist 3 Champions LeagueRS7–7
4 FIBA Europe CupSF2–4
2019–20 QF 13–18 Quarterfinalist 3 Champions LeagueRS6–8
2020–21 3 Champions League

Colors and mascot

The team's colors are yellow and purple after a Jewish American fan of the Los Angeles Lakers donated uniforms in the colors of his favorite club. Before that, the team played in red and white uniforms, like almost every 'Hapoel' team.

For many years Holon's mascot was a tiger. It appeared on the team's logo for many years and in the 1990s the team's logo read 'Hapoel Tigers Holon'. After the team won the 2007–08 National League championship, and upgraded to the first division, the old symbol was changed and redesigned, keeping Holon's symbol, the tiger.

Players

Current roster
Hapoel Holon roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.Nat.NameHt.Age
F/C 5 Howell, Richard 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 29 – (1990-09-26)26 September 1990
F 7 Thompson, Ryan 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 32 – (1988-06-09)9 June 1988
G 9 Shetaynman, Sagie 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) 20 – (2000-05-29)29 May 2000
F 10 Pnini, Guy 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 36 – (1983-09-04)4 September 1983
F/C 11 Moraidi, Shir 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) 20 – (2000-03-27)27 March 2000
G 12 Harush, Shlomi (C) 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 32 – (1987-11-03)3 November 1987
PG 24 Ohayon, Yogev 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) 33 – (1987-04-24)24 April 1987
G 41 Harris, Manny 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 30 – (1989-09-21)21 September 1989
F/C 77 Sasson, Daniel 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 28 – (1992-01-12)12 January 1992
F/C –– Trocki, Uriel 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 23 – (1996-11-28)28 November 1996
G –– Harris, C. J. 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 86 kg (190 lb) 29 – (1991-02-19)19 February 1991
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
  • Matan Harush
  • Amit Sherf
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured
Updated: June 17, 2020

Depth chart
Pos. Starting 5 Bench 1 Bench 2
C Richard Howell Daniel Sasson
PF Guy Pnini Shir Moraidi
SF Chris Johnson (basketball, born 1990) Willy Workman
SG
PG Yogev Ohayon Sagie Shetaynman
  • The Israeli league rule requires every team to have at least one Israeli on the court at any time.
  • There should be at least 7 Israelis and up to 5 foreigners on a 12-men game sheet.

Source: basket.co.il

Notable players
A Hapoel Holon home game

Holon's best homegrown player was Ofer Eshed who played for the club between 1957 and 1972 and he is the all-time points leader in the team, with 7,495 points. Israel Elimelech (Nicknamed – The King) is considered to be the club's biggest symbol. Played in holon during two decades – and led the team to many successful seasons in the premier league. Played in the legendary home grown team of holon in the 1980s, with Niv Boogin (Doctor Boogin), Avi Maor, and the Israeli-American player Micheal Carter (The Crazy – Meshugah), who was known for driving the fans crazy. Other notable players were : Tzahi Peled, Danny Hadar, Rami Zeig and from very early days and the contingent of ex Egyptian players : Marcel Hefetz.

The team's 2 titles were won by 2 winning baskets, scored by the 2007–08 PG Malik Dixon, and 2008–09 SG Brian Tolbert. Dixon scored a two-pointer 2 seconds to the end of the championship match against Maccabi Tel-Aviv, leaving Maccabi a 2-second possession which they failed to score in. Tolbert scored a three-point buzzer beater in the cup final, after he got the ball from an inbound pass by Deron Washington.

Over the years the club has signed several former NBA players, including P.J. Tucker, Ken Bannister, Clarence Kea, Richard Dumas and Dominic McGuire. John Thomas, who has played in 2009–10 season, is also a former NBA player, with a history in five teams, such as New Jersey Nets, Atlanta Hawks, etc.

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

References
  1. Heroic Holon dethrones Maccabi Tel Aviv Haaretz
  2. Hapoel Holon steals historic first basketball State Cup from Haifa Haaretz
  3. בפעם השנייה: גביע המדינה נוסע לחולון! (in Hebrew). February 16, 2018.
  4. 5,600 מקומות (in Hebrew).
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.