Hapoel Jerusalem will meet Telekom Bonn in the FIBA Champions League final on Sunday, in what is considered the Reds' biggest game in recent years in Europe. In honor of this exciting event, we have collected for you the four sparks in red history.
ULEB Final vs Real Madrid 2003/04 Season
It was a peak season in Israeli basketball. The Israeli national team reached the quarterfinals of the EuroBasket for the first time in 30 years, Maccabi Tel Aviv won the Euroleague, Hapoel Tel Aviv reached the semifinals of the EuroChallenge, and Hapoel Jerusalem also recorded its greatest achievement - winning its first European title, and so far only one (at least until tonight?).
Sharon Drucker had a particularly talented group: Will Solomon – one of the most virtuoso players to ever wear the red jersey – Doron Schaefer, the fondly remembered Kelly McCarthy and Tunji Awajobi, who dominated under the baskets against players taller than him. In the quarterfinals they stunned the great Rytas Vilnius of Shiskauskas, Yevtukas and Kuzminskas, and in the semi-finals they eliminated Serbian Železnik Belgrade.
The final against Real Madrid already seemed like an impossible task - but not if you ask Hapoel Jerusalem. The team from the capital unchallenged dominated the support of the Red Army that filled the arena in Charleroi, winning a memorable 72:83.
UEFA Champions League Final vs Telekom Bonn, 2022/23 Season
Will Hapoel Jerusalem win the second title in its history tonight? Could such a win start the Adelson era in the capital on the right foot and change history? If that happens, this game, this moment, may even be remembered as bigger than that game against Real Madrid.
Aleksandar Dzikic built a team in the summer that was considered gray and raised many question marks among commentators and fans. Slowly, the Reds came together and became one team that is hard to beat. They beat Maccabi Tel Aviv in the cup final and showed superiority in almost all meetings this season - as well as over Hapoel Tel Aviv, the third side at the top.
In Europe, things took time, but with 1-5 in the Top 16 and a huge series against AEK Athens in the quarter-finals, including 40 points in the third game (the only loss was under the shameful events in Ouaka) - the team from the capital has become one that no one wants to meet. Even Tenerife, last season's champions, with the wonderful Marcelinho Huertas and Giorgi Shermadini, surrendered on Friday. Tonight the big test.
Jerusalem players celebrate reaching the final, photo: FIBA Official ETR
Eurocup Semi-Final vs Valencia, Game 2, 2016/17 Season
The season under coach Simona Pianiani is remembered as erratic, but Hapoel Jerusalem has reached money-time in a big way. They won the championship after losing the cup final, and recorded their biggest achievement in Europe in the last 15 years (again, until tonight) – a semi-final in a factory considered particularly high-quality.
The Spanish team is one of the best the Reds have met in all their years in Europe. Rafa Martinez, Bojan Dubljevic, Fernando San Emetrio, Pierre Oriola and many more led the Spaniards to a home victory in the first game of the series, especially remembered for the difficult events between the local police and Israeli fans.
The second game took place on Friday afternoon, and the arena was filled almost to capacity. Terrence Kinsey, Curtis Jarrells, Yotam Halperin and Amara Stoudemire provided heroic play en route to an impressive 66:79, leveling the series at 1-1. Valencia easily won the third game and reached the final, but that Friday will be remembered for many years to come among the Reds fans.
Simona Pianiani and his actors, photo: Alan Cheever
ULEB Quarter-finals vs. AS Roma, Game 2 - 2005–06 Season
Diane Bodroga is probably the greatest player to step on the floor in Malha in an official game. The Serbian star was already at the end of his career and beyond his prime, but still produced impressive displays, and alongside his legendary coach Svetislav Pešić dreamed of adding a respectable European title to the packed trophy cabinet.
This was Arkady Gaydamak's first season as owner, and the oligarch poured large sums of money into giving Erez Edelstein a monstrous roster, with Horace Jenkins, Mario Austin, Roger Mason and Meir Tapiro.
Meir Tapiro. What a group was around him, photo: Ami Shumen
The first game in Italy ended with a reasonable minus of 8 points (92:84), and the feeling in the air was that it could be done. Eyewitnesses who attended the match say it was one of the loudest games ever played in Israel. Fans in Malha understood the magnitude of the stand and the power of the opposing star - and pushed their players to an unimaginable 56:74 over the Romans en route to the semi-finals.
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