Ligat Winner
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Ligat Winner | |
|---|---|
| Current season or competition: Ligat Winner 2007-08 |
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| Sport | Basketball |
| Founded | 1954 |
| Commissioner | Avner Koppel |
| No. of teams | 10 |
| Country(ies) |  Israel |
| Most recent champion(s) |
Hapoel Holon |
| Most championship(s) | Maccabi Tel Aviv (47 times) |
| TV partner(s) | Sport 5 Channel 10 |
| Official website | www.bsl.org.il |
Ligat Ha'al (Hebrew: ליגת העל, super league), or the Israeli Basketball Super League (BSL), is the top tier of league basketball competition in Israeli basketball, making it Israel's primary basketball competition. For sponsorship reasons, the league is also referred to as Ligat Winner (English: Winner League, Hebrew: ליגת ווינר), with "Winner" being the name of a game operated by the league's primary sponsor, the Israeli Sports Betting Board[1]. The league is also sometimes referred to as the Israeli Premier League.
Contents |
[edit] Overview
Ligat Winner comprises the top ten basketball clubs in Israel, and was founded in 1954.
The League itself is most known in Europe due to the success of the Israeli teams in the European competitions such as the Euroleague, ULEB Cup and FIBA's EuroCup. Many undrafted and free agent players from Europe and the NBA play in the Israeli league as an alternative to NBA competition.
The League is the first division in Israeli basketball: the two team that finishes last in a season is relegated to the Second Division, while the Second Division's top 8 team compete in play-off system right after the end of the regular season and the teams that reached the final series are promoted to the Premier League for the following season. The four teams that finish the season on top compete against each other for the Championship title in a "Final Four" tournament format.
[edit] Links with the NBA
During the 1980s and the early 1990s there were many basketball games between the Israeli League stars and NBA teams such as the Phoenix Suns, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Orlando Magic, all of which were played in Israel.
In October 2005, Israeli Maccabi Tel Aviv defeated the Toronto Raptors 105-103 in an exhibition game that was played in Toronto, Canada; this was the first victory for a European team over an NBA team at its home court.
Over the years, the league has exported many of its foreign players to the NBA. However, as of 2008, no Israeli-born player has played in the NBA, although three players have been drafted: Doron Sheffer (who played U.S. college basketball at Connecticut), Yotam Halperin and Lior Eliyahu.
[edit] Titles by team
| Team | Winners | Runner-Up |
|---|---|---|
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | 47 | 5 |
| Hapoel Tel Aviv | 5 | 20 |
| Hapoel Holon | 1 | 2 |
| Hapoel Galil Elyon | 1 | 2 |
| Hapoel Ramat Gan | 0 | 6 |
| Hapoel Jerusalem | 0 | 6 |
[edit] Basketball Super League champions
| Season | Champion | Runner-up | Score | Format |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007/08 | Hapoel Holon | Maccabi Tel Aviv | 73-72 | Final four format |
| 2006/07 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Jerusalem | 80-78 | Final four format |
| 2005/06 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Jerusalem | 96-66 | Final four format |
| 2004/05 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Tel Aviv | 3:0 | Best of 5 series |
| 2003/04 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Tel Aviv | 3:0 | Best of 5 series |
| 2002/03 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Ironi Naharia | 3:0 | Best of 5 series |
| 2001/02 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Ironi Ramat Gan | 3:0 | Best of 5 series |
| 2000/01 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Jerusalem | 3:0 | Best of 5 series |
| 1999/2000 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Maccabi Ironi Raanana | 3:1 | Best of 5 series |
| 1998/99 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Jerusalem | 3:1 | Best of 5 series |
| 1997/98 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Eilat | 3:0 | Best of 5 series |
| 1996/97 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Jerusalem | 3:0 | Best of 5 series |
| 1995/96 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Jerusalem | 3:0 | Best of 5 series |
| 1994/95 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Galil Elyon | 3:0 | Best of 5 series |
| 1993/94 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Tel Aviv | 3:0 | Best of 5 series |
| 1992/93 | Hapoel Galil Elyon | Hapoel Tel Aviv | 3:1 | Best of 5 series |
| 1991/92 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Tel Aviv | 3:2 | Best of 5 series |
| 1990/91 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Maccabi Rishon LeZion | 3:1 | Best of 5 series |
| 1989/90 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Galil Elyon | 3:0 | Best of 5 series |
| 1988/89 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Tel Aviv | 2:0 | Best of 3 series |
| 1987/88 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Tel Aviv | 2:1 | Best of 3 series |
| 1986/87 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Tel Aviv | 2:1 | Best of 3 series |
| 1985/86 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Elitzur Netania | 2:0 | Best of 3 series |
| 1984/85 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Tel Aviv | 2:1 | Best of 3 series |
| 1983/84 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Ramat Gan | 2:0 | Best of 3 series |
| 1982/83 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Ramat Gan | 2:0 | Best of 3 series |
| 1981/82 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Ramat Gan | Mini-league of top three teams from regular season | |
| 1980/81 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Ramat Gan | Regular season only | |
| 1979/80 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Tel Aviv | Regular season only | |
| 1978/79 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Tel Aviv | 2:0 | Best of 3 series |
| 1977/78 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Gevat/Yagur | Mini-league of top six teams from regular season | |
| 1976/77 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Ramat Gan | Regular season only | |
| 1975/76 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Gevat/Yagur | Regular season only | |
| 1974/75 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Ramat Gan | Regular season only | |
| 1973/74 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Maccabi Iron Ramat Gan | Regular season only | |
| 1972/73 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Maccabi Iron Ramat Gan | Regular season only | |
| 1971/72 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Gevat/Yagur | Regular season only | |
| 1970/71 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Tel Aviv | Regular season only | |
| 1969/70 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Tel Aviv | Regular season only | |
| 1968/69 | Hapoel Tel Aviv | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Regular season only | |
| 1967/68 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Tel Aviv | Regular season only | |
| 1966/67 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Tel Aviv | Regular season only | |
| 1965/66 | Hapoel Tel Aviv | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Regular season only | |
| 1964/65 | Hapoel Tel Aviv | Hapoel Haifa | Regular season only | |
| 1963/64 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Tel Aviv | Regular season only | |
| 1962/63 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Tel Aviv | Regular season only | |
| 1961/62 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Haifa | Regular season only | |
| 1960/61 | Hapoel Tel Aviv | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Regular season only | |
| 1959/60 | Hapoel Tel Aviv | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Regular season only | |
| 1958/59 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Tel Aviv | Regular season only | |
| 1957/58 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Tel Aviv | Regular season only | |
| 1956/57 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Tel Aviv | Regular season only | |
| 1955/56 | Cancelled due to war | |||
| 1954/55 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Holon | Regular season only | |
| 1953/54 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | Hapoel Holon | Regular season only | |
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ BSL Sponsors. Israeli Basketball Super League. Retrieved on 2007-10-24.
[edit] External links
- Official site (Hebrew)
- Official site (English)
- Segevsport coverage (Hebrew)
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