Opens with due diligence.
I was born near the trash hall, played in Holon for 15 years including 5 adult years, coached for twenty years in its youth department, and one of the stands in the new hall was named after my father, who was its greatest player of all time.
So I have an emotional connection to Holonia, and hence (almost) everything is professional.
The show of the security record
of the 2008 championship created a mad burst of emotions in those who cherish Holon.
First championship after 60 years of activity, first championship in 15 years of a team that is not Maccabi Tel Aviv, in the victory over Maccabi, at Maccabi's home.
But it was a one-time championship, in the Final Four and not in the series, after which Holon almost disintegrated, did not play at all in Europe, and did not leverage the success.
(Although she won the trophy next season, which was waved by Chris Watson, the only player left in the championship season).
The 2022 championship is a little less exciting because it is impossible to win a first and immature love.
But it is a much more mature, mature and complete championship because it reflects a long period of crystallization and development, and produces happiness and well-being that will remain long-term.
It gives confidence along the way and financial stability, and builds a very deep sense of belonging and identification with the group.
This championship belongs to a great coach and excellent players, but above all, it is a championship of an entire club, of the army of fans, and especially of the quality sports management over the last few years.
How special it is to win a championship in the series and not in the Final Four, at home, after you stole the home game in Game 1, and not in Elijah's hand in a single game, like the previous three titles.
An entire club championship, Photo: Alan Schieber
However,
in full, this championship began with the move to the new hall built in the east of the city.
Anyone who grew up like me in the trash can, has a hard time believing that we have gained the viewing experience that exists in the new hall, and it happens over and over again.
Large, luxurious, cozy, super modern, and especially that someone wise managed to convince the designer to paint the chairs and walls purple, and the roof in a way that reminds and mimics the ancient roof of the tin hall, only the buckets of the mythical Saturnian butler are missing.
This hall allows families and children to come to the game without the fear of being pushed out of the bins, and gradually increase the number of subscribers and addicts to talk.
The hall is located in the center of a sports and entertainment park, as part of a cultural revolution that has taken place in the city in recent years.
Moti Sasson has never been the object of congratulations and love from Holon fans.
But they should take the trophy, and come to the mayor's office to say thank you to him too, because it was this hall that enabled the real upgrade for the team, which culminated in the championship celebrations.
The audience of Holon.
The highlight, Photo: Alan Schieber
Risk Management Ltd.
Between fans and the team there is an unwritten contract. The best team, with the best coach, within the highest budget you can achieve, and maintain the character of the club. "
And here the Holon management wins in its commitment to its fans any other management.
Especially this season, while Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Jerusalem replaced a substitute coach just to end the season, and when neighboring Maccabi Rishon Lezion released all of its Israeli assets and was relegated.
At the same time, a great team was built in Holon, and it replaced a good coach with a better coach in the middle of a European series, signed 4 new foreigners during the season, and managed a dream trip to Bilbao to the Final Four, which ended in two losses, but Gordy strengthened the connection with the fans.
Under budget constraints, every decision had to be perfect.
And in retrospect, it was a management performance - no less than the performances on the pitch.
Optimizing decision making, choosing quality over savings, taking risks in the short run to reap the rewards in the long run.
At the same time insisting on playing in Europe, properly handling crises, and setting important secondary goals, most of which are related to community support.
And it paid off for Eitan Lanciano and his teammates, and by and large.
And they are the MVP of the season.
Management has a lot of shares to win, Photo: Alan Schieber
Professional management
Hapoel Holon has no official professional manager.
Not Zofar, not Nicola.
The management coaches her and gives him an almost free hand to choose players and a way.
But above, below and around, there is a nucleus of consciousness that comes from the club's DNA.
He comes from the fans, from the tradition, from the character that the mythological groups of Holonia have, and everything crystallizes into the character of Israel Elimelech, who seems to me to be able to call stand B after him, even in his lifetime.
That is why Maurizio Buscalia was fired despite relative success, because the team he built did not play "Holon basketball".
And that was the founding event of the season, which led Guy Goodes to stand on the lines.
Will two go together unless they are meant to?
Turns out they were meant for too.
In the first game of the season, Goodes and Rishon Lezion were defeated by Holon.
In his last game in Rishon Lezion, Hobbes was defeated by Herzliya.
And in his last game this season, he defeated Herzliya and won his first championship.
League drop and championship that season.
"There is no such thing," shouted Amit Horsky in the first Holon Cup.
And even now Goodes feels he is a guest of the fans and the club, and in his modesty and wisdom he has adapted himself to the character and the team, and has not tried to distort it.
The excess experience he had over Yotam Halperin and Oren Aharoni has a decisive weight in the championship that was achieved in the semifinal and final series without a home advantage.
The regional defense played a crucial role in the final series.
The one from Holon disrupted Herzliya's attack, leaving Bab and Hooker 14 points.
On the other hand, the area of Herzliya helped Holon, because it forced it to play together and avoid isolation and solo playing.
And that was the key.
7: 1 balance in the playoffs, big credit to Coach GG, who lived the game and was ready for any scenario.
Guy Goodes.
Full credit, Photo: Alan Schieber
Sha'ar Hagai
Joe Ragland MVP of the playoffs, and gave a wonderful second half.
Ragland and Maggie defeated the opposing guards throughout the playoffs and dominated the series.
Holon scored 14 threes in both finals, and took a second championship 14 years after the first.
Chris Johnson maintains, able to keep every player in the world in every position.
Michael Kaiser won with his own hands the first game in the final, Manco again opened wonderfully, Dalton again contributed a lot, Misgav scored when it was tough.
But there is a player to whom this championship belongs, and his name is Guy Pnini.
Pnini's arrival in Holon 5 years ago changed the club's perception of itself.
Suddenly a Euroleague player arrives, talking about titles without blinking an eye.
To this day, Maccabi Tel Aviv pays for the big mistake of his release.
He upgraded Holonia to the level of basketball, the level of thought and the level of expectations.
And as usual, even in the championship game, when things did not work out, and the area of Herzliya was oppressive, Pnini rose and indifferently buried two threes, spiced with penetration and an assist to Dalton that closed the story.
8 years after winning the Euroleague Cup,
He waved a championship plate.
A huge story of a great actor, whose old age glorifies and restores the actor he is.
pearly.
Brought more than experience, Photo: Alan Schieber
A fellow in a time of need
and if there is an anonymous local hero who has kept the torch alive and the spirit of the club at the professional level for the last four seasons, his name is Amit Sharaf, and he deserves credit for his part in the championship cake.
He was the assistant to five different coaches (Shamir, Drucker, Dads, Buscalia and Guy Goodes), took care of the smooth transfer of information between them, and even kept a cool when Dads returned to Lyon during the Corona period and managed 7 games alone, including a big win in the 2020 playoffs in the Corona.
He is the one who prepared the scouting reports on the league teams and the Champions League, and throughout the playoff series lived the game next to Goodes, alerted, whispered, corrected and cheated, and gave a spectacular performance of a true assistant to the coach.
Dadas recently invited him to join Fenerbahce's professional team in the Euroleague, but he decided there was nothing like home.
A loyal colleague, who will still reach the highest levels, and from the front door.
Herzliya
is much more than a good word for Herzliya, who built a huge team on a small budget, won the cup and reached the playoff final.
All the experience of Eldad Akunis and Zofar Abdia has accumulated to an exact quality, and the best choice was in a novice but experienced coach.
Oren Aharoni is the figure of the future coach of Israeli basketball.
Modest, smart, assertive but flexible, one that players are dying to play for.
Herzliya has already signed Bab and Hooker for another season, and hopes to return with a strong squad next year.
But her problem is not the faculty, but the hall, and until she has a large and modern hall, there will be a very significant ceiling to the ability to progress.
And in this matter too she can learn from Holon.
Lots of compliments to the modest group, Photo: Alan Shiver
Finally, or a new beginning
Holon is not a city like Tel Aviv, Haifa or Jerusalem.
It does not have a senior football team, since Tzafririm Holon disbanded and faded away. The whole city is talking about basketball.
The atmosphere before the game was charged, full of hopes, expectations, and pressure.
The sight of the plate standing in the middle of the field at the beginning of the game was even more stressful.
Some of the crowd has already talked about how they will get a ticket for Sunday for Game 3. Just download the Nahas shovel, with the memory of Game 2 against Jerusalem still sitting in the head.
The victory in Game 3 in Jerusalem was the biggest game of the season.
It was a return from the grave, after total despair.
But Goodes and his players have learned from every loss this season, and from that game in particular.
And from the first moment it was clear that they were on a different level of readiness and would not let that happen again.
And yet, even at 16 points 3 minutes to go, celebrations have not yet begun.
The anxiety was silenced, until Oren Aharoni took out Chris Bab and threw away the white towel.
And there is nothing to lament about the break-in to the pitch at the end.
It was reminiscent of the Boston flooding, with Bob Cozy dribbling into the crowd.
This is their championship, and they will celebrate it on the field.
their.
Goods.
Raised the team after the loss to Jerusalem, Photo: Alan Shiber
For all these fans, Holonia is the second family.
For some, this is the first family.
And after a weekend of parties they will return to their regular occupations. To work, to study, to the army, to home. But they will be a little different. To draw from him pride and consolation. And he created in them kindness, and grace, and compassion. And in really difficult moments he will buy them hope. And give them strength for another 15 years of love and respect for their club, and for themselves.
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