Nitzan Yehuda Hanochi (; born 10 June 1986) is an Israeli professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player who last played for

Bnei Herzliya Bnei Herzliya Basket (, lit. ''Sons of Herzliya''), is a professional basketball club that is based in Herzliya, in central Israel. The club plays in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, the top division of Israeli basketball. History The club w ...

of the

Israeli Basketball Premier League Ligat HaAl (, lit., ''Supreme League or Premier League''), or the Israeli Basketball Premier League, is a professional basketball league in Israel and the highest level of basketball in the country. The league's name is abbreviated as either BSL ...

. He was named the Israeli Basketball Premier League Most Improved Player in 2011, and the

Israeli Basketball Premier League Defensive Player of the Year The Israeli Basketball Premier League Defensive Player of the Year, or Israeli Basketball Super League Defensive Player of the Year, is an award given to the best defensive player of each season of the Israeli Basketball Premier League, which is th ...

in 2012.

Early life

Hanochi was born in

Ra'anana Ra'anana () is an affluent city in the southern Sharon, Israel, Sharon Plain of the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel. It was founded in 1922 as an American-Jewish settlement, 1 km south of the village of Tabsur, where a ...

, he played for

Maccabi Ra'anana Maccabi Ra'anana () is a professional basketball club that is based in Ra'anana, Israel. The club plays in the Liga Leumit (basketball), Israeli National League, the second-tier division league of Israel. History Maccabi Ra'anana was founded in 19 ...

youth teams. Hanochi also played high school basketball for Metro West High School team in Ra'anana and led them to win the national championship in the 2003–04 season.

Professional career

In 2004, Hanochi started his professional career with

Bnei Hasharon Bnei Herzliya Basket (, lit. ''Sons of Herzliya''), is a professional basketball club that is based in Herzliya, in central Israel. The club plays in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, the top division of Israeli basketball. History The club w ...

, but later was loaned to Maccabi Giva'at Shmuel. On 27 July 2006, Hanochi signed a two-year contract extension with

. On 5 July 2008, Hanochi signed with

Ironi Nahariya Ironi Nahariya Basketball Club () known for sponsorship reasons as Ironi Rain Nahariya () is a professional basketball club based in city of Nahariya in northern Israel. The team plays in the Liga Leumit (the second tier of Israeli basketball) and ...

for the 2008–09 season, joining his former head coach Yakov Gino. On 13 August 2009, Hanochi signed with Hapoel Afula for the 2009–10 season. On 5 July 2010, Hanochi signed a three-year deal with Maccabi Rishon LeZion, under head coach

Effi Birnbaum Efraim "Effi" Birnbaum (; born 11 June 1954), is an Israeli professional basketball coach. Coaching career He was the Israeli Basketball Super League, Israeli Super League's Israeli Basketball Premier League Coach of the Year, Coach of the Year, ...

. On 12 February 2011, Hanochi was named Player of the Month for games played in January. On 19 May 2011, Hanochi was named Most Improved Player of the 2010–11 Israeli League season. In his second season with Rishon LeZion, Hanochi became the team's captain and later was named Israeli League All-Star and the

Defensive Player of the Year Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY or DPOTY) is the name of an award given in sports for outstanding defensive play by a single player over the course of a season. Many sports leagues award this type of award. League awards for Defensive Player o ...

. On 9 July 2013, Hanochi signed with Hapoel Eilat for the 2013–14 season. On 9 July 2014, Hanochi returned for a second stint in Maccabi Rishon LeZion, signing a two-year contract. On 14 March 2016, Hanochi signed a two-year contract extension with Rishon LeZion. That season, Hanochi helped Rishon LeZion to win the 2016 Israeli League Championship. On 18 December 2017, Hanochi missed Rishon LeZion's game against

due to injury, Hanochi's absence ended his streak of consecutive games played at 242—the longest longest streak in the history of the

. On 12 July 2018, Hanochi returned to

for a second stint, signing a three-year deal.

Israeli national team

Hanochi was a member of the Israeli national team at the

Eurobasket 2013 EuroBasket 2013 was the 38th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe. It took place from 4 September until 22 September 2013 in Slovenia. The number of participating teams was 24. France men's national basketball ...

. Hanochi was also a member of the Israeli Under-18 and Under-20 national teams.

References

External links

RealGM Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanochi, Nitzan 1986 births Living people Bnei HaSharon players Bnei Herzliya basketball players Hapoel Afula players Hapoel Eilat basketball players Israeli Basketball Premier League players Israeli men's basketball players Ironi Nahariya players Maccabi Givat Shmuel players Maccabi Rishon LeZion basketball players Shooting guards Sportspeople from Ra'anana 21st-century Israeli sportsmen