Hapoel Holon

Hapoel Unet Holon
Leagues	Ligat HaAl Champions League
Founded	1954
History	Hapoel Holon (1954–present)
Arena	Holon Toto Hall
Arena Capacity	5,600
Location	Holon, Israel
Team colors	Purple and Yellow
CEO	Roy Dvora
President	Eitan Lanciano
Head coach	Dan Shamir
Ownership	Shlomo Ayzek
Championships	1 Israeli Championship 1 Israeli State Cup
Website	hapoel-holon.co.il
Uniforms
Home Away

Hapoel Holon, for sponsorship reasons Hapoel Unet Holon, is a basketball club based in Holon, Israel. Holon plays in the Ligat HaAl, the top division of Israeli basketball. The club won their first Israeli championship in 2008, after beating perennial champions Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Final Four.

History

The club was founded in 1947 and was one of the founding clubs of the top division in 1954 when established, 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.

Honours

Total titles: 2

Domestic competitions

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

Season by season

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 2006/2007 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
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Age 1.5 !G 5000000000000000000♠0 USA ! Holloway, Tu 7000182000000000000♠1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) 000000001989-10-12-0000 27 – (1989-10-12)12 October 1989 1.5 !G 7000100000000000000♠1 USA ! Wyatt, Khalif 7000193000000000000♠1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 000000001991-06-10-0000 26 – (1991-06-10)10 June 1991 5.0 !C 7000700000000000000♠7 ISR ! RUS ! Chubrevich, Alex 7000212000000000000♠2.12 m (6 ft 11 in) 000000001986-07-23-0000 31 – (1986-07-23)23 July 1986 5.0 !C 7001100000000000000♠10 Israel ! Zach, Tal 7000208000000000000♠2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 000000001997-11-07-0000 19 – (1997-11-07)7 November 1997 1.0 !PG 7001110000000000000♠11 USA ! Taylor, Jordan 7000185000000000000♠1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 000000001989-09-30-0000 27 – (1989-09-30)30 September 1989 1.5 !G 7001120000000000000♠12 Israel ! Harush, Shlomi (C) 7000185000000000000♠1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 000000001987-11-03-0000 29 – (1987-11-03)3 November 1987 4.5 !F/C 7001150000000000000♠15 Israel ! Mor, Jonathan 7000204999999999999♠2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 000000001995-02-11-0000 22 – (1995-02-11)11 February 1995 1.5 !G 7001210000000000000♠21 USA ! Delaney, Paul 7000188000000000000♠1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 000000001986-08-30-0000 30 – (1986-08-30)30 August 1986 3.0 !SF 7001440000000000000♠44 Israel ! Sapir, Tom 7000198000000000000♠1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 000000001998-01-17-0000 19 – (1998-01-17)17 January 1998 3.0 !SF Israel ! Pnini, Guy 7000200999999999999♠2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 000000001983-09-04-0000 33 – (1983-09-04)4 September 1983 1.0 !PG Israel ! Blatt, Tamir 7000185000000000000♠1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 000000001997-05-04-0000 20 – (1997-05-04)4 May 1997 1.5 !G Israel ! DEN ! Colman, Chanan 7000188000000000000♠1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 000000001984-03-10-0000 33 – (1984-03-10)10 March 1984 4.5 !F/C USA ! Thomas, TaShawn 7000202999999999999♠2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 000000001993-02-27-0000 24 – (1993-02-27)27 February 1993 4.5 !F/C USA ! Israel ! Alexander, Joe 7000202999999999999♠2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 000000001986-12-26-0000 30 – (1986-12-26)26 December 1986 1.5 !G USA ! Walden, Corey 7000188000000000000♠1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 000000001992-08-05-0000 25 – (1992-08-05)5 August 1992 2.5 !G/F USA ! Trawick, Jabril 7000198000000000000♠1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 000000001992-06-17-0000 25 – (1992-06-17)17 June 1992	Head coach Dan Shamir Assistant coach(es) Ofer Ron Jonathan Alon Legend (C) Team captain Injured Roster Transactions Updated: August 9, 2017

Depth chart

Notable players

A Hapoel Holon home game

Holon Toto Hall, home of the club

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.

References

External links

• Official website (in Hebrew)
• Holoniafans – The Official fansite (in Hebrew)
• Fansite – The Kometz From Gate 3 (in Hebrew)