1928–29 New York Hakoahs season

New York Hakoahs American Basketball League (original) 1929 18 25 Nat Holman Davey Banks & Nat Holman(?)Nelson Murry R. The Originals: The New York Celtics Invent Modern Basketball 1999 Bowling Green State University Popular Press 0-87972-793-4, p. 168 Davey Banks & Nat Holman(?) Arcadia HallNEW YORK HAKOAHS - Pro Basketball Encyclopedia en-US Pro Basketball Encyclopedia 2014-05-26 2026-07-05 https://probasketballencyclopedia.com/season/new-york-hakoahs/ 5th (both 1st and 2nd halves) Did not qualify New York Original Celtics New York Original Celtics The 1928–29 New York Hakoahs season was officially considered the first and only season of play held by the New York Hakoahs franchise. However, the Hakoahs (Hakoah being the Hebrew word for strengthSclar Ari Basketball and the Jews https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/basketball-and-the-jews/ My Jewish Learning) would be named the replacement team for the Original Celtics after their team owner, Jim Furey, was sentenced to Sing Sing prison for a year for embezzlement (which would end up causing the Original Celtics franchise to break up their team roster in the process).https://www.apbr.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4091 The Original Celtics - apbr.org www.apbr.org As such, this season would also (potentially) be considered both the fifteenth season of independent play and the fifth professional season of play as well for the Original Celtics, albeit unofficially so due to the Celtics being suspended from the ABL this season following complaints involving them and team owner Jim Furey going to prison for embezzlement not long afterward. Due to the Original Celtics' roster being broken up and being spread out to other ABL teams this season (notably the Cleveland Rosenblums), the Hakoahs would end up only having a couple of the Original Celtics' players in Davey Banks and Nat Holman (the latter of whom being the team's player-coach this season) remaining on the team by the time they began play in the ABL as the replacement for the Original Celtics. Because of the team's roster being stripped bare and broken up following Jim Furey's time spent in prison (with the original plan for the team's players being that John "Pete" Barry and Dutch Dehnert going to the Rochester Centrals, Joe Lapchick going to the Cleveland Rosenblums, John Beckman going to what was to be a planned expansion team within the city of Baltimore at the time, and Davey Banks and Nat Holman taking part in the new team representing New YorkNelson Murry R. The Originals: The New York Celtics Invent Modern Basketball 1999 Bowling Green State University Popular Press 0-87972-793-4, p. 168), the New York Hakoahs would end up having the majority of their players be predominantly Jewish (similar to what the Philadelphia Sphas were doing in the city of Philadelphia back when they previously were in the ABL in the prior two seasons of play as the Philadelphia Warriors), with Nat Holman being named the (new) head coach of the team while playing for the Hakoahs as well.Levine Peter Ellis Island to Ebbets Field: Sport and the American Jewish Experience 1993 Oxford University Press 9780190282127 https://books.google.com/books?id=rF_nBwAAQBAJ&dq=%22new+york+hakoahs%22&pg=PT98 3 July 2019 en In an attempt to have the Hakoahs become as successful as the Original Celtics franchise was for Banks and Holman at the time, the duo decided to add in Herman "Chickie" Passon from the Philadelphia Warriors turned (briefly) independently ran Philadelphia Sphas franchise (though he wouldn't be a part of the team's final roster by the time they began playing), Willie McDonald (apparently was listed with the last name of Marron somehow?) from the Brooklyn Visitations, and three league rookies in Reds Sherr from the University of Pennsylvania, Sam Schein from the City College of New York, and Red Wolfe from New York University, with later additions in former CCNY college teammates of Holman's in Irv Goldberg, Doc Edelstein, and Teddy Meisel all joining the team to reunite under Holman's vision as well.Nelson Murry R. The Originals: The New York Celtics Invent Modern Basketball 1999 Bowling Green State University Popular Press 0-87972-793-4, pp. 168–169 Unfortunately for this New York squad, the new players that the Hakoahs would get to enter the ABL with would not be as high quality as the players that were on the Original Celtics during the previous two seasons, as the Hakoahs would surprisingly struggle under Holman's coaching prowess during this season of play. Not only that, while the Original Celtics and teams from the ABL's first few seasons had good quality contracts that made paying their players feel affordable in written bonds at the time, the New York Hakoahs would end up having players like Jammy Moskowitz hold only a $300 per month contract through verbal agreements instead, which would hurt the Hakoahs' form of play that season as well.Peterson Robert Cages to Jump Shots: Pro Basketball's Early Years 1990 Oxford University Press, Inc. 0-19-505310-9, p. 89 While the overall record the Hakoahs got this season would be 18–25 for a fifth place finish, the split season formatting that returned to action for this season would actually see the Hakoahs get a combined 5th place placement throughout both halves of the season with their first half of the season resulting in a below-average 13–16 record and the second half of the season leading to a worse-looking 5–9 record to lead to that overall fifth place finish. The placement of the New York team during this season would easily result in the Hakoahs failing to live up to the reputation that the Original Celtics squad had throughout their history up until this point in time. By the time the following season was about to commence, Original Celtics team owner Jim Furey would be released from prison due to the time he had originally spent from embezzlement earlier on, which led to the Original Celtics returning to action once more and taking over the spot that was held by the Hakoahs in the ABL for the 1929–30 season, albeit with an entirely new, broken up roster to work with by comparison to what he had on his team beforehand. By that point, however, the Original Celtics wouldn't be the same franchise that they once were beforehand, and after ten games there, that Celtics franchise would end up folding operations in 1930 after leaving the ABL (which itself would be struggling due to the long-term effects of the Great Depression) on December 19, 1929. Roster Due to information on American Basketball League players being generally hard to find, there are bound to be more gaps and/or inaccuracies found in certain areas on the team's roster spots than usual.1928 New York Hakoahs basketball Statistics en StatsCrew 2026-07-15 2026-07-15 https://www.statscrew.com/basketball/roster/t-ABLNYH/y-19281928-29 New York Hakoahs (ABL) en peachbasketsociety.blogspot.com Mike Wilk 2026-07-15 https://peachbasketsociety.blogspot.com/2017/12/1928-29-new-york-hakoahs-abl.html Player PositionDavey BanksG/FGaza ChizmadiaF/CDoc EdelsteinG/FSonny GluckGIrv GoldbergG/FBob GriebeF/CNat HolmanG/FHank KnudsenCWillie McDonaldFStretch MeehanCTeddy MeiselG/FJammy MoskowitzG/FSam ScheinGReds SherrF/CRed SkurnickG/FLefty TopelGRed WolfeG American Basketball League Standings +First HalfTeamWinsLossesWinning %Cleveland Rosenblums199.679Fort Wayne Hoosiers1810.643Brooklyn Visitations1512.556Chicago Bruins1512.556New York Hakoahs1316.448Trenton (Royal) Bengals1216.429Rochester Centrals1115.423Paterson Whirlwinds619.240 +Second Half TeamWinsLossesWinning %Fort Wayne Hoosiers113.786Cleveland Rosenblums104.714Brooklyn Visitations104.714Rochester Centrals77.500New York Hakoahs59.357Trenton (Royal) Bengals48.333Chicago Bruins410.286Paterson Whirlwinds39.250 References New York Hakoahs New York Hakoahs New York Hakoahs New York Hakoahs New York Hakoahs