Hapoel Jerusalem B.C.

הפועל 'מגדל' ירושלים; Hapoel Jerusalem Basketball Club
Leagues	Eurocup; Israeli Super League; Israeli Cup
Founded	1943
History	1943 – Present
Arena	Malha Arena; (capacity: 3,000)
Location	Jerusalem, Israel
President	Dani Klein
Head coach	Sharon Drucker
Championships	1 ULEB Cup; (2004); 4 Israeli State Cups; (1996, 1997, 2007, 2008); 2 League Cup; (2009, 2010)
Website	hapoel.co.il
	Uniforms
Home	Away

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Hapoel 'Migdal' Jerusalem (Hebrew: הפועל 'מגדל' ירושלים‎) is a professional basketball team that is based in Jerusalem, Israel. The club currently plays in the Eurocup, Israeli Super League (the top division of Israeli basketball), and the Israeli State Cup.

[edit] History

Hapoel Jerusalem fans in The Malha Arena

Hapoel Jerusalem was founded in 1943 and initially played in a small court on Histadrut Street, before moving to the YMCA Arena, and finally moving to the only indoor arena in Jerusalem at that time: "The Strauss Arena". In the late 1980s the team moved to the 3,000-seat Malha Arena.

In 1996 and 1997, Hapoel won the State Cup, defeating Maccabi Tel Aviv in the finals, at the Yad Eliyahu Arena (now known as the Nokia Arena). The team was led by Adi Gordon, widely considered the team's symbol and one of its best players.

In 2004, Hapoel Jerusalem won their first European title – the ULEB Cup, defeating Real Madrid in the final. (In the same year, the other major European basketball trophy—the Euroleague – was won by another Israeli team, Maccabi Tel Aviv.

In 2005 a percentage of the team was bought by the Israeli-Russian billionaire Arcadi Gaydamak. The team got stronger, and bought four American players, with an NBA record – Tamar Slay, Horace Jenkins, Roger Mason and Mario Austin. The team also purchased Israeli star Meir Tapiro and other Israeli leading players.

In 2007, Hapoel won its third State Cup, defeating Bnei HaSharon 103–85 at Nokia Arena.

In early 2008 Hapoel came back from being 22 points down, in the 4th quarter to win its fourth State Cup, beating Maccabi Tel Aviv 93–89. In late 2008 Hapoel won its first Israeli Basketball League Cup, beating Ironi Nahariya 84–69.

In September 2009, Guma Aguiar had joined Hapoel Jerusalem as the team's sponsor and helped clear the debts left by Mr. Gaydamak. This ensured Hapoel would be able to compete yet again at the highest leavels. On October 8, 2009 Hapoel beat Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Winner Cup finals 86–80, winning the club's second cup in a row.

[edit] Roster

Hapoel Jerusalem roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Nat.	Name	Ht.	Age
6.0 !C	4	USA !	Thomas, John	2.06 m (6 ft 9 in)	&1000000000000003600000036
6.0 !C	5	USA !	Varnado, Jarvis	2.06 m (6 ft 9 in)	&1000000000000002300000023
4.5 !PF	6	Israel !	Kokia, Uri	2.02 m (6 ft 8 in)	&1000000000000003000000030
1.0 !PG	7	Israel !	Dotan, Guy	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)	&1000000000000002000000020
2.0 !SG	8	USA !	Strawberry, D.J.	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)	&1000000000000002600000026
1.0 !PG	9	Israel !	Israeli, Guni	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)	&1000000000000002700000027
1.0 !PG	10	Israel !	Naimy, Yuval	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)	&1000000000000002600000026
4.5 !PF	11	Israel !	Kadir, Elishay	2.02 m (6 ft 8 in)	&1000000000000002400000024
3.0 !SF	12	Israel !	Mizrahi, Moshe	2.02 m (6 ft 8 in)	&1000000000000003100000031
3.0 !SF	13	USA !	Jackson, Luke	2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)	&1000000000000003000000030
1.0 !PG	14	USA !	Bradley, Avery	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)	&1000000000000002100000021
4.5 !PF	15	USA !	Randle, Brian	2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)	&1000000000000002600000026
3.0 !SF	21	Israel ! USA !	Salop, Andrew	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)	&1000000000000002800000028
2.0 !SG	23	Israel !	Sa'ar, Uri	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)	&1000000000000002400000024