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.

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

Arena

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

Honours

Total titles: 3

Domestic competitions

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

Depth chart

Notable players

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 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, Avi Maor, and the Israeli-American player Micheal Carter, 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.