2017–18 Israeli Basketball Premier League

The 2017–18 Israeli Basketball Premier League, for sponsorship reasons Ligat Winner, was the 64th season of the Israeli Basketball Premier League. Hapoel Jerusalem is the defending champion.

Israeli Basketball Premier League
Season	2017–18
Dates	October 8, 2017 – June 14, 2018
Teams	12
TV partner(s)	Sports Channel
Regular season
Season MVP	Sek Henry
Promoted	Hapoel Be'er Sheva
Relegated	Maccabi Haifa
Finals
Champions	Maccabi Tel Aviv (52nd title)
Runners-up	Hapoel Holon
Semifinalists	Hapoel Jerusalem Hapoel Tel Aviv
Finals MVP	Alex Tyus
Awards
Sixth Man	Adrian Banks
Rising Star	Yovel Zoosman
Best Defender	Joaquin Szuchman
Most Improved	Nimrod Levi
Statistical leaders
Points Glen Rice Jr. 24.3 Rebounds Demetrius Treadwell 9.2 Assists Avi Ben Chimol 7.2 Index Rating Glen Rice Jr. 29.9
← 2016–17 2018–19 →

Competition format

Twelve teams took part in the regular season, where they played against each other four times home-and-away in a double round-robin format. The first eight qualified teams advanced to the playoffs. The last qualified team was relegated to the Liga Leumit. The regular season started 8 October 2017.

Teams

Herzliya

Gilboa

Nes Ziona

Holon

Jerusalem

Ashdod

Rishon LeZion

Tel Aviv

Haifa

Nahariya

Eilat

Teams 2017–18

Ironi Nes Ziona has been promoted to the league after winning 2016–17 National League, and comes back just one year after their relegation.^[1] Maccabi Kiryat Gat, who finished in last place during the 2016–17 season, relegated to the Liga Leumit^[2]

Stadia and locations

Team	Home city	Stadium	Capacity
Bnei Herzliya	Herzliya	HaYovel Herzliya	1,500
Hapoel Eilat	Eilat	Begin Arena	1,490
Hapoel Gilboa Galil	Gilboa Regional Council	Gan Ner Sports Hall	2,100
Hapoel Holon	Holon	Holon Toto Hall	5,500
Hapoel Jerusalem	Jerusalem	Pais Arena	11,000
Hapoel Tel Aviv	Tel Aviv	Drive in Arena	3,504
Ironi Nahariya	Nahariya	Ein Sarah	2,500
Ironi Nes Ziona	Ness Ziona	Lev Hamoshava	1,200
Maccabi Ashdod	Ashdod	HaKiriya Arena	2,200
Maccabi Haifa	Haifa	Romema Arena	5,000
Maccabi Rishon LeZion	Rishon LeZion	Beit Maccabi Rishon	2,500
Maccabi Tel Aviv	Tel Aviv	Menora Mivtachim Arena	10,383

Personnel and sponsorship

Team	Chairman	Head coach	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Bnei Herzliya	Eldad Akunis	Arik Shivek	Peak	Rav-Bariach
Hapoel Eilat	Motti Amsalem	Sharon Drucker	And1	Fattal
Hapoel Gilboa Galil	Haim Ohayon	Ariel Beit-Halahmy	Peak
Hapoel Holon	Eitan Lanciano	Dan Shamir	Peak	UNET
Hapoel Jerusalem	Ori Allon	Oded Kattash	Macron[3]	Bank Yahav
Hapoel Tel Aviv	Rami Cohen	Danny Franco	Peak	SP
Ironi Nahariya	Nissim Alfasi	Eric Alfasi	Peak
Ironi Nes Ziona	Tomer Yamin	Nadav Zilberstein	Kappa	Hai Motors
Maccabi Ashdod	Meir Kikoz	Brad Greenberg	And1	Kaplan Medical Center
Maccabi Haifa	Jeff Rosen	Barak Peleg	Peak	Hunter
Maccabi Rishon LeZion	Itzhak Peri	Zvika Sherf	Under Armour	ILAND.TV
Maccabi Tel Aviv	Shimon Mizrahi	Neven Spahija	Nike	FOX

Managerial changes

Departure date	Team	Outgoing head coach	Reason	Hire date	Incoming head coach	Ref.
November 9, 2017	Hapoel Jerusalem	Fotios Katsikaris	Fired	November 9, 2017	Modi Maor	[4]
November 14, 2017	Hapoel Eilat	Meir Tapiro	Fired	November 18, 2017	Sharon Drucker	[5][6]
December 5, 2017	Bnei Herzliya	Mickey Gorka	Fired	December 20, 2017	Arik Shivek	[7][8]
February 22, 2018	Hapoel Jerusalem	Modi Maor	Fired	February 22, 2018	Oded Kattash	[9]
April 10, 2018	Maccabi Rishon LeZion	Shmulik Brener	Fired	April 10, 2018	Zvika Sherf	[10]
April 22, 2018	Maccabi Haifa	Offer Rahimi	Resigned	April 27, 2018	Barak Peleg	[11][12]

Regular season

In the regular season, teams play against each other at least three times home-and-away in double a round-robin format. The six first qualified teams advance to the playoffs. The regular season started on 8 October 2017.

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Maccabi Tel Aviv	33	23	10	2816	2620	+196	56	Advance to play-offs
2	Hapoel Holon	33	22	11	2895	2792	+103	55
3	Hapoel Jerusalem	33	21	12	2738	2614	+124	54
4	Maccabi Ashdod	33	20	13	2722	2605	+117	53
5	Hapoel Tel Aviv	33	19	14	2756	2717	+39	52
6	Hapoel Gilboa Galil	33	17	16	2749	2792	−43	50
7	Hapoel Eilat	33	16	17	2559	2613	−54	49
8	Ironi Nes Ziona	33	13	20	2704	2788	−84	46
9	Ironi Nahariya	33	13	20	2689	2760	−71	46
10	Bnei Herzliya	33	12	21	2612	2775	−163	45
11	Maccabi Rishon LeZion	33	11	22	2757	2792	−35	44
12	Maccabi Haifa (R)	33	11	22	2560	2689	−129	44	Relegation to Liga Leumit

Source: Basket.co.il
(R) Relegated

Players strike

On May 22, 2018, the Israeli Basketball Players Association announced a strike after the league introduced a rule, which enforced the teams to have at least two Israeli players on court at the same time.^[13] On May 24, the league announced that the season would be ended with one regular season game remaining and that no playoffs would be held due to the ongoing strike.^[14][15]

However, on May 25, 2018, the Israeli League Management have reached an agreement with the Israeli Basketball Players Association and the strike ended.^[16][17]

Play-offs

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5
Maccabi Tel Aviv	3–1	Ironi Nes Ziona	94–62	94–95	102–93	96–79	-
Maccabi Ashdod	1–3	Hapoel Tel Aviv	91–86	77–98	78–99	74–79	-
Hapoel Jerusalem	3–1	Hapoel Gilboa Galil	78–85	93–85	107–105	99–74	-
Hapoel Holon	3–2	Hapoel Eilat	89–83	86–100	87–81	70-87	82-71

Source: Ligat Winner

Final Four

Main article: 2018 Israeli Basketball Premier League Final Four

	Semifinals				Final
	June 10
	Maccabi Tel Aviv	98
					June 14
	Hapoel Tel Aviv	74
					Maccabi Tel Aviv	95
	June 11
					Hapoel Holon	75
	Hapoel Holon	80
	Hapoel Jerusalem	76

Clubs in European competitions

Team	Competition	Progress	Ref
Maccabi Tel Aviv	EuroLeague	Regular season
Hapoel Jerusalem	EuroCup	Regular season	[18]
Hapoel Holon	Champions League	Regular season	[19]
Bnei Herzliya	FIBA Europe Cup	Regular season	[20]

Final standings

Pos	Team	Qualification or relegation
1	Maccabi Tel Aviv	Automatically qualified for 2018–19 EuroLeague
2	Hapoel Holon	Qualified for 2018–19 Basketball Champions League
3	Hapoel Jerusalem
4	Hapoel Tel Aviv
5	Maccabi Ashdod
6	Hapoel Gilboa Galil
7	Hapoel Eilat
8	Ironi Nes Ziona	Qualified for 2018–19 FIBA Europe Cup
9	Ironi Nahariya
10	Bnei Herzliya
11	Maccabi Rishon LeZion
12	Maccabi Haifa	Relegated to the Ligat Leumit

All-Star Game

The 2018 Israeli League All-star event was held on March 2, 2018, at the Menora Mivtachim Arena in Tel Aviv.^[21]

The International team won the game 137–122. The MVP of the game was Pierre Jackson who scored 18 points along with 6 assists.^[22]

Corey Webster won the Three-Point Shootout ^[23] and Jaron Johnson won the Slam Dunk Contest.^[24]

Rosters

Israeli All-Stars Pos Player Team Starters G Tamir Blatt Hapoel Holon G Adrian Banks Hapoel Tel Aviv F Shawn Dawson Bnei Herzliya F Amit Simhon Hapoel Eilat C Alex Tyus Maccabi Tel Aviv Reserves G Yiftach Ziv Ironi Nahariya G Avi Ben-Chimol Maccabi Rishon LeZion G Joaquin Szuchman Hapoel Gilboa Galil F Willy Workman REP Maccabi Haifa F Nimrod Levi Maccabi Ashdod F/C Elishay Kadir Ironi Nes Ziona C Richard Howell Hapoel Jerusalem F Oz Blayzer INJ Maccabi Haifa Head coach: Dan Shamir (Hapoel Holon) Head coach: Ariel Beit-Halahmy (Hapoel Gilboa Galil)

International All-Stars Pos Player Team Starters G Pierre Jackson Maccabi Tel Aviv G Jerome Dyson Hapoel Jerusalem F Glen Rice Jr. Hapoel Holon F Tony Gaffney Hapoel Tel Aviv F/C Zach LeDay Hapoel Gilboa Galil Reserves G Jordan Loyd REP1 Hapoel Eilat G Khalif Wyatt Ironi Nes Ziona G Sek Henry REP2 Maccabi Ashdod G Jason Siggers Maccabi Rishon LeZion F Alex Young Ironi Nahariya F/C Brandon Bowman Maccabi Haifa F/C Jeff Adrien Bnei Herzliya G Derwin Kitchen INJ1 Hapoel Eilat F David Laury INJ2 Maccabi Ashdod Head coach: Neven Spahija (Maccabi Tel Aviv) Head coach: Brad Greenberg (Maccabi Ashdod)

Game

Israeli All-Stars v International All-Stars

March 2, 2018	Israeli All-Stars	122–137	International All-Stars	Tel Aviv
14:00	Scoring by quarter: 27-34, 28-41, 36-20, 31-42
Sport 5	Pts: Kadir 26 Rebs: Tyus & Kadir 9 Asts: Blatt & Ben Chimol 8 PIR: Kadir 31	Box Score Report	Pts: LeDay 19 Rebs: Gaffney & Dyson 8 Asts: Jackson 6 PIR: Gaffney 24	Arena: Menora Mivtachim Arena Attendance: 11,000 Referees: Eyal Porhiles, Lior Beinish, Rotem Koza

Three-point shootout

Contestants

Pos.	Player	Team	1st round	Final round
G	Corey Webster	Ironi Nahariya	16	22
F	Guy Pnini	Hapoel Holon	20	15
G	Tamir Blatt REP	Hapoel Holon	17	15
G	John DiBartolomeo	Maccabi Tel Aviv	15	-
F	Amit Simhon	Hapoel Eilat	14	-
G	Jerome Dyson	Hapoel Jerusalem	8	-
G	Khalif Wyatt	Ironi Nes Ziona	8	-
G	Or Cohen	Hapoel Jerusalem (Youth)	8	-
F	Jonathan Skjöldebrand INJ	Ironi Nahariya	-	-

Source: Basket.co.il

Slam Dunk Contest

Contestants

Pos.	Player	Team	1st round	2nd round	Final round
F	Jaron Johnson	Ironi Nes Ziona	40	40	39
G	Adrian Banks	Hapoel Tel Aviv	40	40	36
G	Sek Henry	Maccabi Ashdod	37	-	-
F/C	Zach LeDay	Hapoel Gilboa Galil	34	-	-

Source: Basket.co.il

Statistical leaders

Points Pos Player Club PPG 1 Glen Rice Jr. Hapoel Holon 24.3 2 Zach LeDay Hapoel Gilboa Galil 19.5 3 Jordan Loyd Hapoel Eilat 17.4 4 Sek Henry Maccabi Ashdod 17.3 5 Jeff Adrien Bnei Herzliya 17.2

Assists Pos Player Club APG 1 Avi Ben-Chimol Maccabi Rishon LeZion 7.2 2 Sek Henry Maccabi Ashdod 6.2 3 J'Covan Brown Hapoel Gilboa Galil 5.9 4 Pierre Jackson Maccabi Tel Aviv 5.3 5 Ángel Rodríguez Maccabi Haifa 4.7

Rebounds Pos Player Club RPG 1 Demetrius Treadwell Hapoel Eilat 9.2 2 Talib Zanna Ironi Nes Ziona 8.9 3 Jeff Adrien Bnei Herzliya 8.8 4 Murphy Holloway Maccabi Rishon LeZion 8.5 5 Zach LeDay Hapoel Gilboa Galil 8.2

Efficiency Pos Player Club PIR 1 Glen Rice Jr. Hapoel Holon 29.9 2 Zach LeDay Hapoel Gilboa Galil 23.0 3 Jeff Adrien Bnei Herzliya 21.2 4 Murphy Holloway Maccabi Rishon LeZion 20.1 5 Jordan Loyd Hapoel Eilat 20.0

Other statistics

Category	Player	Team	Average
Steals	Ángel Rodríguez	Maccabi Haifa	2.4
Blocks	Reginald Buckner	Maccabi Haifa	1.5
Turnovers	Ángel Rodríguez	Maccabi Haifa	3.3
Minutes	Amit Simhon	Hapoel Eilat	34:20
2P%	Ronald Roberts	Hapoel Jerusalem	76.9%
3P%	Yotam Halperin	Hapoel Jerusalem	48.5%
FT%	Corey Walden	Hapoel Holon	92.0%

Source: Basket.co.il

Individual game highs

Category	Player	Team	Total	Opponent
Points	Glen Rice Jr.	Hapoel Holon	43	Maccabi Ashdod (Nov 18, 17)
Rebounds	Zach LeDay	Hapoel Gilboa Galil	20	Hapoel Jerusalem (Dec 10, 17)
Assists	Avi Ben-Chimol	Maccabi Rishon LeZion	16	Hapoel Tel Aviv (Apr 9, 18)
Steals	Pierre Jackson	Maccabi Tel Aviv	7	Ironi Nahariya (Dec 12, 17)
Blocks	Joe Alexander	Hapoel Holon	6	Hapoel Jerusalem (Mar 24, 18)
Three Pointers	Jerome Dyson	Hapoel Jerusalem	8	Maccabi Rishon LeZion (Jan 15, 18)

Source: RealGM

Awards

Yearly awards

Regular season MVP

Pos.	Player	Team
SG	Sek Henry	Maccabi Ashdod

Source: basket.co.il

Finals MVP

Pos.	Player	Team
C	Alex Tyus	Maccabi Tel Aviv

Source: basket.co.il

All-Israeli League Teams

First Team		Second Team
Player	Team	Player	Team
Jerome Dyson	Hapoel Jerusalem	John DiBartolomeo	Maccabi Tel Aviv
Sek Henry	Maccabi Ashdod	Joaquin Szuchman	Hapoel Gilboa Galil
Amit Simhon	Hapoel Eilat	Jordan Loyd	Hapoel Eilat
Joe Alexander	Hapoel Holon	Tomer Ginat	Hapoel Tel Aviv
Zach LeDay	Hapoel Gilboa Galil	Alex Tyus	Maccabi Tel Aviv

Source: basket.co.il

Coach of the Year

Dan Shamir

Coach	Team
Dan Shamir	Hapoel Holon

Source: basket.co.il

Quarterfinals MVP

Pos.	Player	Team
PG	Jeremy Pargo	Maccabi Tel Aviv

Source: basket.co.il

Best Defender

Pos.	Player	Team
SG	Joaquin Szuchman	Hapoel Gilboa Galil

Source: basket.co.il

Most Improved Player

Pos.	Player	Team
PF	Nimrod Levi	Maccabi Ashdod

Source: basket.co.il

Sixth Man of the Year

Pos.	Player	Team
SG	Adrian Banks	Hapoel Tel Aviv

Source: basket.co.il

Rising Star

Pos.	Player	Team
SG	Yovel Zoosman	Maccabi Tel Aviv

Source: basket.co.il

Monthly Awards

Player of the Month

Month	Rounds	Player	Team	EFF	Ref
October	1–4	Alex Young	Ironi Nahariya	21.0	[25]
November	5–7	Glen Rice Jr. (1/2)	Hapoel Holon	28.0	[26]
December	8–10	Zach LeDay (1/2)	Hapoel Gilboa Galil	30.7	[27]
January	11–15	Sek Henry	Maccabi Ashdod	25.8	[28]
February	16–17	Glen Rice Jr. (2/2)	Hapoel Holon	44.0	[29]
March	18–21	Jeff Adrien	Bnei Herzliya	33.0	[30]
April	22–27	Zach LeDay (2/2)	Hapoel Gilboa Galil	27.8	[31]

Israeli Player of the Month

Month	Rounds	Player	Team	EFF	Ref
October	1–4	Tomer Ginat (1/2)	Hapoel Tel Aviv	16.3	[32]
November	5–7	Joe Alexander	Hapoel Holon	23.3	[33]
December	8–10	Joaquin Szuchman	Hapoel Gilboa Galil	16.6	[34]
January	11–15	Nimrod Levi	Maccabi Ashdod	16.4	[35]
February	16–17	Guy Pnini	Hapoel Holon	9.3	[36]
March	18–21	Amit Simhon	Hapoel Eilat	14.8	[37]
April	22–27	Tomer Ginat (2/2)	Hapoel Tel Aviv	18.5	[38]

Coach of the Month

Month	Rounds	Coach	Team	W-L	Ref
October	1–4	Eric Alfasi	Ironi Nahariya	3–1	[39]
November	5–7	Dan Shamir (1/2)	Hapoel Holon	3–0	[40]
December	8–10	Ariel Beit-Halahmy (1/2)	Hapoel Gilboa Galil	3–0	[41]
January	11–15	Brad Greenberg	Maccabi Ashdod	5–0	[42]
February	16–17	Dan Shamir (2/2)	Hapoel Holon	2–0	[43]
March	18–21	Nadav Zilberstein	Ironi Nes Ziona	3–1	[44]
April	22–27	Ariel Beit-Halahmy (2/2)	Hapoel Gilboa Galil	6–0	[45]

MVP of the Round

Brandon Bowman

Round	Player	Team	EFF	Ref.
October
1	Tomer Ginat	Hapoel Tel Aviv	18	[46]
2	Alex Young	Ironi Nahariya	22	[47]
3	Brandon Bowman	Maccabi Haifa	26	[48]
4	David Laury	Maccabi Ashdod	32	[49]
	Sek Henry		26
November
5	Tyler Stone	Hapoel Gilboa Galil	40	[50]
6	J'Covan Brown (1/2)	Hapoel Gilboa Galil	42	[51]
7	Glen Rice Jr. (1/4)	Hapoel Holon	43	[52]
December
8	Tony Gaffney	Hapoel Tel Aviv	36	[53]
9	Zach LeDay	Hapoel Gilboa Galil	33	[54]
10	Jerome Dyson (1/3)	Hapoel Jerusalem	29	[55]
January
11	Jordan Loyd	Hapoel Eilat	43	[56]
12	Taurean Green	Bnei Herzliya	31	[57]
13	Jerome Dyson (2/3)	Hapoel Jerusalem	27	[58]
14	D'Angelo Harrison (1/2)	Hapoel Gilboa Galil	41	[59]
15	Murphy Holloway (1/2)	Maccabi Rishon LeZion	35	[60]
February
16	Glen Rice Jr. (2/4)	Hapoel Holon	42	[61]
17	Glen Rice Jr. (3/4)	Hapoel Holon	46	[62]
March
18	Khalif Wyatt	Ironi Nes Ziona	26	[63]
19	Glen Rice Jr. (4/4)	Hapoel Holon	46	[64]
20	Tu Holloway	Hapoel Holon	28	[65]
21	Oz Blayzer	Maccabi Haifa	34	[66]
April
22	Joaquin Szuchman	Hapoel Gilboa Galil	24	[67]
23	J'Covan Brown (2/2)	Hapoel Gilboa Galil	38	[68]
24	Murphy Holloway (2/2)	Maccabi Rishon LeZion	34	[69]
25	Amit Simhon	Hapoel Eilat	24	[70]
26	Jerome Dyson (3/3)	Hapoel Jerusalem	21	[71]
May
27	D'Angelo Harrison (2/2)	Hapoel Gilboa Galil	39	[72]
28	Joe Alexander	Hapoel Holon	41	[73]
29	Cameron Long	Maccabi Ashdod	28	[74]
30	Lior Eliyahu	Hapoel Jerusalem	26	[75]
31	Shawn Dawson	Bnei Herzliya	28	[76]
32	Jeremy Pargo	Maccabi Tel Aviv	30	[77]
33	Richard Howell	Hapoel Jerusalem	25	[78]

Average attendances

Included playoffs games.

Pos	Team	Total	High	Low	Average	Change
1	Hapoel Jerusalem	105,763	10,802	3,774	5,876	−9.2%†
2	Maccabi Tel Aviv	86,650	8,000	2,205	4,814	−4.2%†
3	Hapoel Holon	64,000	5,100	2,500	3,556	+8.9%†
4	Hapoel Tel Aviv	51,422	3,536	900	2,857	−3.6%†
5	Maccabi Haifa	32,009	3,487	500	2,001	−4.3%†
6	Ironi Nahariya	31,350	2,500	1,600	1,959	+2.9%†
7	Maccabi Rishon LeZion	24,500	2,200	600	1,531	−15.1%†
8	Hapoel Gilboa Galil	22,300	2,100	850	1,312	+23.2%†
9	Bnei Herzliya	18,100	1,400	700	1,131	−4.0%†
10	Ironi Nes Ziona	19,650	1,300	650	1,092	−7.1%†
11	Hapoel Eilat	16,400	1,300	550	965	−10.1%†
12	Maccabi Ashdod	16,604	2,000	500	922	+6.5%†
	League total	488,748	10,802	500	2,373	−7.9%†

Updated to games played on 1 June 2018
Source: Israeli Basketball Super League

See also

• 2017–18 Israeli Basketball State Cup
• 2017 Israeli Basketball League Cup