Halperin, Yotam

Halperin was considered the best prospect to come out of Israel in the last decade. However, he has been underused by Maccabi Tel Aviv in the last two years and may be losing his chance to become a leading force in European basketball.

Birth and Death Dates:
b. Jan. 24, 1984

Career Highlights:
Halperin led his high school Metro-West of Ra'anana to the national title in 1999-2000 with his superb play. He graduated from the Maccabi Tel Aviv under-16 team to become the star of their youth system in 2000. The Maccabi youth team won the league and cup twice in a row (in 2000-2001 and 2001-2002) and Yotam made headlines across the nation.

Yotam played for the Israeli under-18 team in the 2000 European Championship. His finest performance came against Yugoslavia in the third game. He scored 23 points, including 5 three point baskets, and helped Israel to a 70-64 win.

Halperin was promoted to the Maccabi senior team and took his first tentative steps in the 2002-2003 season. He played for 9.1 minutes, averaging 5.1 points and 1.1 assists per game. Maccabi won the league and cup "double" that year. Yotam was recently called up to the Israeli senior national squad.

A natural scorer, Yotam is already one of the leaders of the Israeli national team, having been a starting guard when Israel lost, 86-81, to Germany in the first game of the 2003 European Championships although Halperin contributed four points. In Israel's humiliating 94-62 loss to Lithuania Halperin started on the bench, but was a formidable presence in the Israeli backline, scoring 10 points while going 2 for 2 in three-point attempts. Yotam also came off the bench to play a few minutes in Israel's September 7, 2003, 91-75 win over Latvia. He had even less court time when Israel beat Slovenia, 78-76, to qualify for the quarterfinal against Spain. The Israeli national team was beaten, 78-64, by the Spaniards as Halperin watched from the bench. In the final placement game against Greece, Halperin shot well, scoring 12 points, but Israel lost the match, 63-56. They finished the tournament seventh overall.

Halperin helped Maccabi to their fourth Superleague title on May 1, 2004. He scored 7 points at 67% and made four assists as Maccabi beat Bologna 118-74 in the final. This was the first European title for the youngster.

Yotam is starred for the Israeli national youth team in the 2004 European Youth Championship in the Czech Republic. Israel met the highly physical Latvians in the first game of the tournament, on July 23. They struggled at first, but Israel won 73-68 as Halperin scored 16 points. The Israeli star was excellent in the second game against Russia the following day. Halperin scored 11 points in the third quarter and scored an important three point shot, putting Israel ahead 60-49 late in the third quarter. Despite Yotam�s 25 point performance, Israel collapsed in the fourth quarter and lost 90-83. Israel upset a highly rated Spain 86-77 in the third game. Halperin was the leading Israeli scorer with 24 points and he is fast becoming one of the stars of the tournament. On July 27, Israel took on the Czech Republic with a chance to qualify for the quarter-finals. Halperin enjoyed a sensational fourth quarter as he almost single-handedly squashed a late Czech comeback. He scored 16 points in Israel's 78-68 victory. In a meaningless game held July 28, since Israel had already guaranteed the second place in group 2, Israel lost to Croatia 104-84. Halperin was on song yet again with a team leading 22 point performance. Yotam was injured in the quarter-final match against Serbia. Though he was forced to hobble around the court, he was on fine scoring form as he scored 20 points. Israel won 83-82 in a very dramatic game. Halperin had fully recovered in time for the semi-final match-up with Greece. The point guard scored 22 of his 32 points in the second half as Israel beat the Greeks 88-82. Unfortunately for Israel, Halperin gave his worst performance yet in the competition final against Slovenia. He scored 8 points as Israel lost, having led throughout the second and third quarters, 66-61 for a second place finish.

Yotam was part, albeit a minor part, of the 2005 Maccabi Tel Aviv Euroleague winning team. The young guard played in the semifinal but did not score. In the final, Halperin was given a slightly larger role and scored two points in one attempt as Maccabi beat Tau Victoria 90-78.

Origin:
Tel Aviv, Israel

Position:
Point Guard

Physical description:
6"0

Career Statistics:
8 games for the national team, scoring 79 points.

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