Hapoel Holon B.C.

History

Hapoel Holon was founded in 1947. It was one of the founding clubs of the top division in 1954, finishing second in their first season.

Hapoel 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. Former and future NBA player P. J. Tucker won the MVP title. It was the first time Maccabi Tel Aviv had failed to win the championship in 14 years.

The club has reached the final of the Israeli Basketball 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.

On January 16, 2010, Hapoel Holon celebrated its 1,000th game in the Ligat HaAl.

In 2018, Hapoel Holon won its second State Cup after beating Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Final, behind MVP and former NBA player Glen Rice Jr.

In 2022, Hapoel Holon won its second Israeli Premier League championship, defeating Hapoel Jerusalem in the semifinals and Bnei Herzliya in the finals, sweeping the series 2-0.

That same year, Hapoel Holon reached the Final Four of the Basketball Champions League for the first time, which was held in Bilbao, Spain. The team, however, was unable to secure a victory in either game, losing to Lenovo Tenerife in the semifinals and to Riesen Ludwigsburg in the third-place playoff.

Arena

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 in the 5,500 seat Holon Toto Hall.

Honors

Total titles: 5

Domestic

• Israeli Championships :Winners (2): 2008, 2022 :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 :Runner-up (2): 2011, 2020

European

• Basketball Champions League :Semifinalist (1): 2021–22 :Final 8 (1): 2020–21
• FIBA Europe Cup :Semifinalist (1): 2018–19

Regional competitions

• Balkan League :Winners (1): 2020–21

Season by season

Players

Current roster

Depth chart

• 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.

Notable players

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.

• ISR Ofer Eshed 13 seasons: '57–'72
• ISR Rami Zeig-Barak 13 seasons: '57–'72
• ISR Moti Daniel 9 seasons: '78–'85, '99–'01
• ISR Niv Boogin 14 seasons: '78–'91, '95–'96
• ISR Israel Elimelech 16 seasons: '78–'92, '95–'97
• ISR Ofer Fleischer 4 seasons: '82–'83, '99–'02
• USAISR Mike Carter 5 seasons: '82–'84, '92–'95
• USA Clarence Kea 1 season: '84–'85
• USAISR Desi Barmore 6 seasons: '84–'90
• USA Ken Bannister 1 season: '86–'87
• USAISR Joe Dawson 2 seasons: '87–'88, '01–'02
• USA Earl Williams 2 seasons: '88–'89, '90–'91
• USA Ben McDonald 1 season: '88–'89
• USA Richard Dumas 1 season: '90–'91
• ISR Kobi Baloul 6 seasons: '90–'94, '99–'01
• USA David Henderson 2 seasons: '92–'94
• USA Richard Rellford 1 season: '93–'94
• USA David Thirdkill 1 season: '94–'95
• USA Shelton Jones 2 seasons: '94–'95, '96
• ISR Yoav Saffar 4 seasons: '94–'98
• USA Milt Wagner 1 season: '95–'96
• USA Derrick Hamilton 1 season: '95–'96
• USA Joe Wylie 2 seasons: '97–'98, '00–'01
• USA Greg Sutton 1 season: '98–'99
• ISR Moshe Mizrahi 3 seasons: '98–'01
• USA Miles Simon 1 season: 2000
• USA Corey Crowder 1 season: '99–'00
• MKD Dušan Bocevski 1 season: '99–'00
• USA P. J. Tucker 1 season: '07–'08
• USA Malik Dixon 1 season: '07–'08
• USA Tre Simmons 1 season: '07–'08
• USA Eric Campbell 1 season: '07–'08
• USA Chris Watson 2 seasons: '07–'09
• ISR Moran Roth 3 seasons: '07–'08, '10–'12
• ISR Guni Israeli 5 seasons: '07–'08, '13–'17
• USA Elton Brown 1 season: '08
• DOM Luis Flores 1 season: '08–'09
• USA Deron Washington 1 season: '08–'09
• USA Dwayne Mitchell 1 season: '09–'10
• USA John Thomas 1 season: '09–'10
• SRB Saša Bratić 1 season: '10
• USA Richard Melzer 1 season: '10–'11
• USAISR Jamie Arnold 1 season: '10–'11
• USAARM Bryant Dunston 1 season: '11–'12
• USA Ron Lewis 1 season: '11–'12
• ISR Shlomi Harush 8 seasons: '11–'15, '16–'20
• USA Dominic Waters 1 season: '12–'13
• USA Jerome Dyson 1 season: '12–'13
• USA Frank Hassell 1 season: '12–'13
• USA Laurence Bowers 1 season: '13–'14
• USA Scottie Reynolds 3 seasons: '13–'14, '16, '19
• USAISR Isaac Rosefelt 3 seasons: '13–'16
• USA Dominic McGuire 1 season: '14–'15
• USA Tony Crocker 1 season: '14–'15
• USA Jordan Taylor 2 seasons: '14–'15, '16–'17
• USA Will Clyburn 1 season: '15–'16
• USA James Bell 1 season: '16–'17
• USA Darion Atkins 2 seasons: '16–'17, '18–'19
• USA Khalif Wyatt 2 seasons: '16–'17, '18–'19
• USA Tu Holloway 1.5 seasons: '16–'18
• USA Glen Rice Jr. 1 season: '17–'18
• USA TaShawn Thomas 1 season: '17–'18
• ISR Tamir Blatt 1 season: '17–'18
• USAISR Joe Alexander 2 seasons: '17–'18, '19, '21
• USA Corey Walden 2 seasons: '17–'19
• USA DeQuan Jones 1 season: '18–'19
• ISR Ofer Yaakobi
• ISR Chaim Zlotikman

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.

References

References

1. "Basketball - Hapoel Holon BC (Israel): palmares, results and name".
2. (November 9, 2017). "Glen Rice Jr. on a mission in the Holy land".
3. "Hapoel Holon".
4. "Group C preview: Three teams with the same dream are set to make their BIBL debut".
5. "Hapoel Holon".
6. [https://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/988605.html "Heroic Holon dethrones Maccabi Tel Aviv"] {{Webarchive. link. (January 8, 2009 , ''[[Haaretz]]'')
7. [https://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/sports/hapoel-holon-steals-historic-first-basketball-state-cup-from-haifa-1.270581.html "Hapoel Holon steals historic first basketball State Cup from Haifa"], ''Haaretz''
8. link. (February 16, 2018)
9. (June 9, 2022). "Joe Ragland leads Holon to 2022 Israeli Championship title".