Maccabi Ironi Ramat Gan ( he, מכבי עירוני רמת גן, formerly Ironi Ramat Gan) is a professional
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
club based in
Ramat Gan
Ramat Gan ( he, רָמַת גַּן or , ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located east of the municipality of Tel Aviv and part of the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. It is home to one of the world's major diamond exchanges, and man ...
in central
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
. The team currently plays in the
Israeli Basketball Premier League, the top division of Israeli basketball. It plays at the Shalom Zisman Municipal sports Arena, which has a
seating capacity
Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...
for 1,400.
History
The Maccabi Ramat Gan basketball club was formed in 1946. Since 1968, it has been permanent in the first league.
In 1972, it lost in the cup final to Maccabi Tel Aviv, 108–99, with Ramat Gan's star, Belgium-born Kamil Dirks, scoring a still-unbroken cup final record of 43 points.
In the seasons 1971–72 and 1972–73, it finished second in the league. The same happened in the 1982–83 season.
The club also took its first steps in the European Cup in the 1973–74 season. A notable game was its victory over
Sinudyne Bologna. With one of the club's founders, Samuel Jacobson, as the coach and stars such as Larry Gordon and
Bob Griffin, Ramat Gan gained a surprising victory in the result 114–94.
Its all-time leading scorer,
Doron Jamchi
Doron Jamchi, also spelled Jamchy ( he, דורון ג'מצ'י; born July 1, 1961), is an Israeli former professional basketball player. At a height of , he played at the shooting guard and small forward positions. He was the top scorer in the 19 ...
, made his first steps in 1978; he left to Maccabi Tel Aviv in 1985 after incredible years, with him being the league leading scorer for several seasons.
In 1987–88, led by head coach
Effi Birnbaum
Efraim "Effi" Birnbaum (אפרים "אפי" בירנבאום; born 11 June 1954), is an Israeli professional basketball coach.
Coaching career
He was the Israeli Super League's Coach of the Year, in 2005. Birnbaum was the head coach of Maccabi ...
, the club lost again to Maccabi Tel Aviv in the cup final at 107–85.
In the 1996–97 season, after increasing pressure from the city mayor, Maccabi Ramat Gan merged with another team, Beitar Ramat Gan, and is now called Maccabi Ironi Ramat Gan.
In 2001–02, it finished the season only second to Maccabi Tel Aviv, the champion.
In 2009–10, the team dropped to Liga Leumit after losing the relegation playoff in the Super League.
Ramat Gan returned to the first league at the end of the 2022–2023 season, led by its former captain, now coach,
Shmulik Brener
Shmulik Brener (שמוליק ברנר; also Shmuel Brener; March 8, 1981) is an Israeli former professional basketball player and coach. He played the point guard position. In 2010 Brener was named to the Israeli Basketball Premier League Quintet ...
.
Players
Depth chart
* The Israeli league rule requires every team to have at least one Israeli on the court at any time.
* There should be maximum 5 foreigners on a 12-men game sheet.
Notable players
:To appear in this section a player must have either:
* Set a club record or won an individual award as a professional player.
* Played at least one official international match for his senior national team or one
NBA game at any time.
*
David Bernsley
David Scott Bernsley (דייוויד ברנסלי; born May 6, 1969) is an American-Israeli former basketball player. He played the forward and center positions. He played in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, and for the Israeli national bas ...
*
Erez Markovich
*
Tunji Awojobi
Tunji Femi Awojobi (born July 30, 1973) is a retired Nigerian professional basketball player. A former boxer, Awojobi graduated from Boston University in 1997. Following graduation, he played in several European countries, most notably in Israel. ...
See also
*
:Ironi Ramat Gan players
References
Basketball teams in Israel
Sport in Ramat Gan
Liga Leumit (basketball) teams
Basketball teams established in 1970
1970 establishments in Israel
{{Israel-basketball-team-stub