Hapoel Holon B.C.

Hapoel Holon B.C. is a professional basketball club that is based in Holon, Israel. Holon plays in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, which is the top level division of Israeli pro club basketball. The club won their first Israeli Basketball Premier 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 Holon B.C.
LeaguesIsraeli Premier League
Founded1947 (1947)
HistoryHapoel Holon B.C.
(1947–present)
ArenaHolon Toto Hall
Capacity5,500
LocationHolon, Israel
Team colorsPurple and Yellow
   
CEORoy Dvora
PresidentEitan Lanciano
Head coachStefanos Dedas
Team captainGuy Pnini
OwnershipShlomo Issac
Championships1 Israeli Championship
2 Israeli State Cup
Websitehapoel-holon.co.il

History

The club was founded in 1947.[1][2][3] It 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 third divisions. They 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 prior to the end of the game.[4] PJ Tucker won the MVP title.[5] It was the first time Maccabi Tel Aviv had failed to win the championship in 14 years.[6]

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.[7][4]

On January 16, 2010, the club celebrated its 1,000th game in the Ligat HaAl. In the 2009–10 season, the club was under scrutiny after failing to pay the balance of the prior year's 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.[8][4]

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

Arena
Holon Toto Hall, home arena of the club

Between the years 1953–2015, Hapoel Holon played its home games in the May 1 hall in Holon, Also known as the "tin hall" due to its being made of tin-like irons. It was inaugurated on the 5th Independence Day of the State of Israel, in 1953, in a game against Hapoel Tel Aviv, in which Hapoel Holon won 41:38. The hall was the first in the country to have lighting installed that made it possible to play in the dark.

Due to its low capacity of 2,800 seats, the tin hall was deemed unfit for hosting Israeli basketball premiere league games.

In 2012, A construction began of a new Hall in Park Peres - the Holon Toto Hall, named after Ofer Eshed, an iconic Hapoel Holon player in the past.

Since its completion in 2015, Hapoel Holon plays its home games at in the 5,500 seat Holon Toto Hall.[5]


Honours

Total titles: 3

Domestic competitions

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

Season by season
Season Tier Division Pos. W–L State Cup League Cup European competitions
2007–08 1 Premier League 1st 22–7 Semifinalist —
2008–09 5th 15–12 Champion Quarterfinalist
2009–10 12th 6–16 Quarterfinalist Quarterfinalist
2010–11 7th 12–19 Round of 16 Quarterfinalist
2011–12 5th 17–13 Semifinalist Runner-up
2012–13 9th 12–15 Quarterfinalist Quarterfinalist 3 EuroChallengeT164–8
2013–14 7th 16–17 Round of 16 Semifinalist
2014–15 5th 18–19 Round of 16 Quarterfinalist
2015–16 10th 12–21 First round Quarterfinalist
2016–17 5th 23–14 Semifinalist —
2017–18 2nd 26–14 Champion Quarterfinalist 3 Champions LeagueRS3–11
2018–19 3rd 25–12 Semifinalist Quarterfinalist 3 Champions LeagueRS7–7
4 FIBA Europe CupSF2–4
2019–20 QF 13–18 Quarterfinalist Quarterfinalist 3 Champions LeagueRS6–8
2020–21 Semifinalist Runner-up 3 Champions LeaguePO4–2
   Balkan League2R5–0

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
SF 2 Workman, Willy 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 30 – (1990-03-14)14 March 1990
SF 4 Johnson, Chris 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 30 – (1990-04-29)29 April 1990
C 5 Howell, Richard 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 30 – (1990-09-26)26 September 1990
PF 7 Zach, Tal 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 23 – (1997-11-07)7 November 1997
SG 8 Bourdillon, Frédéric 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 29 – (1991-05-16)16 May 1991
PG 9 Brandwein, Oded 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in) 32 – (1988-02-15)15 February 1988
F 10 Pnini, Guy (C) 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) 37 – (1983-09-04)4 September 1983
G 11 Harris, C. J. 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 29 – (1991-02-19)19 February 1991
C 14 De Zeeuw, Maxime 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 33 – (1987-04-27)27 April 1987
G 18 Neeman Tzedek, Aviel 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 22 – (1998-12-17)17 December 1998
G 21 Fogelman, Ofek 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) 18 – (2002-07-13)13 July 2002
PG 24 Ohayon, Yogev 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in) 33 – (1987-04-24)24 April 1987
SG 25 McGee, Tyrus 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 29 – (1991-03-14)14 March 1991
PF 32 Miles, Isaiah 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 26 – (1994-06-09)9 June 1994
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
  • Matan Harush
  • Amit Sherf
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured
Updated: November 23, 2020

Depth chart
Pos. Starting 5 Bench 1 Bench 2 Reserve
C Maxime De Zeeuw Richard Howell
PF Isaiah Miles Guy Pnini Tal Zach
SF Chris Johnson Willy Workman
SG C.J. Harris Tyrus McGee Frédéric Bourdillon Aviel Neeman Tzedek
PG Yogev Ohayon Oded Brandwein Ofek Fogelman
  • 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
Shlomi Harush

Holon's best homegrown player was Ofer Eshed who played for the club between 1957 and 1972. 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. He played in Holon during two decades, and led the team to many successful seasons in the Premier League. He played on the legendary home-grown team of Holon in the 1980s, with Niv Boogin (Doctor Boogin), Motti Daniel, Avi Maor, and the Israeli-American player Mike 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 before 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, Cliff Pondexter, Albert King, Richard Dumas, and Dominic McGuire. John Thomas, who played in the 2009–10 season, is also a former NBA player, with a history in five teams, including the New Jersey Nets and Atlanta Hawks.

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

References
  1. "Basketball - Hapoel Holon BC (Israel) : palmares, results and name". www.the-sports.org.
  2. "Glen Rice Jr. on a mission in the Holy land". Eurohoops. November 9, 2017.
  3. "Hapoel Holon". TheSportsDB.com.
  4. "Group C preview: Three teams with the same dream are set to make their BIBL debut". balkanleague.net.
  5. "Hapoel Holon". TheSportsDB.com.
  6. "Heroic Holon dethrones Maccabi Tel Aviv", Haaretz
  7. "Hapoel Holon steals historic first basketball State Cup from Haifa", Haaretz
  8. בפעם השנייה: גביע המדינה נוסע לחולון! (in Hebrew). February 16, 2018.
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