Heroes Den Bosch

Heroes Den Bosch is a Dutch professional basketball club based in 's-Hertogenbosch.^[1] The club plays in the BNXT League since 2021 and in the top basketball division in the Netherlands since 1972. Founded as EBBC in 1951, the club had several sponsored names the following decades.

Heroes Den Bosch
Leagues	BNXT League
Founded	18 October 1952; 71 years ago (1952-10-18)
Arena	Maaspoort
Capacity	2,700
Location	's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands
Team colors	Red, White, Blue
President	Bob van Oosterhout
General manager	Stefan Wessels
Head coach	Erik Braal
Ownership	Bob van Oosterhout
2021–22 position	BNXT League, 5th of 21
Championships	17 Dutch Championships 8 Dutch Cups 3 Dutch Supercups 1 Ricoh Cup 1 Haarlem Basketball Week
Retired numbers	4 (5, 9, 12, 12)
Website	heroesdenbosch.com
Home Away

Den Bosch has won a record seventeen Dutch championships, a record eight Dutch Cups and two Dutch Supercup titles. The team has also been a regular at European competitions, most recently the FIBA Europe Cup. Heroes plays their home games at the Maaspoort, which has a capacity of approximately 2,700 people.^[2]

History

On 18 October 1952, Eerste Bossche Basketball Club (EBBC) was founded by Cees Vossen, Tom van der Leur, Hans van Oorschot and Frans van de Wiel. In 1962, Den Bosch played in the top division Eredivisie for the first time, but not very successful. Subsequently, the team was relegated again. In 1979, EBBC won its first title. In 1980, the team became Nashua Den Bosch after its new main sponsor. Its increased budget led to six consecutive Dutch titles between 1982 and 1987.

Nashua Den Bosch in the 1980s

 

Star player Mike Reddick, to the right of Aleksandar Đorđević, in 1988

In December 1979, Nashua signed as the club's new main sponsor.^[3] In the next 10 years, Nashua won 9 national championships and was close to the European top clubs. Star players such as Tom Barker, Dan Cramer, Mitchell Plaat, David Lawrence, Henk Pieterse, Paul Thompson and Mike Reddick played for Nashua in this decade.

Den Bosch changed its home arena to the newly built Maaspoort, increasing its home capacity from 1,200 to 3,500. Nashua played in the 1979 FIBA Intercontinental Cup.

EiffelTowers (2005–2013)

Decades later, in June 2005, Den Bosch merged with EiffelTowers Nijmegen to form EiffelTowers Den Bosch. Following the merger the club had one of the largest budgets in the Netherlands, and with that they were able to attract high-quality players. In their first season they had immediate success by winning the Dutch League title. The year after that (2006–07) EiffelTowers The Bosch would win the title again after a clean sweep against the Matrixx Magixx, after losing only four games in the regular season. The two following years, Den Bosch reached the finals, but lost twice to Amsterdam.

In 2012, EiffelTowers won its fifteenth Dutch championship, after beating ZZ Leiden 1–4 in a best-of-seven-series.

SPM Shoeters (2013–2016)

 

Nashua presenting five new players in 1987

After 13 years playing as the EiffelTowers, in 2013, the club changed its name to SPM Shoeters as a reference to its new main sponsor SPM Shoes and Boots, a shoe producer based in Waalwijk.^[4] Along with the name change the club changed the team colors to black, after playing in red since 2000.

In the 2014–15 season, Shoeters won its sixteenth DBL championship after Donar was beaten 4–1 in the Finals. The team also performed excellently in the EuroChallenge that season, reaching the Top 16. Star of the season for Den Bosch was Brandyn Curry, who was named DBL Playoffs MVP.

After the 2015–16 season, it was revealed that Shoeters was dealing with serious financial problems which had the team on the edge of bankruptcy.^[5]

New Heroes (2016–2019)

In October 2016, the team was bought by Triple Double BV, a sports marketing enterprise. Owner of the company Bob van Oosterhout took over the club which was no longer in danger of dissolution. On 6 November 2016, Den Bosch found a new main sponsor and subsequently was named New Heroes Basketball after signing a three-year deal with the local online training platform New Heroes.^[6] In its first season as New Heroes, the club finished fourth in the DBL and was swept by Donar in the semi-finals.

In the 2017–18 season, Croatian coach Silvano Poropat signed a two-year contract.^[7] Under Poropat, Heroes finished fourth once again but was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Rotterdam Basketbal. Following the disappointing season, Poropat and Heroes parted ways.

On 31 May 2018, Kees Akerboom Jr. announced his retirement at age 34.^[8] Akerboom, who played 11 seasons for the club, had his jersey number 12 retired.^[9]

For the 2018–19 season, Ivica Skelin was appointed as head coach. This season, New Heroes played in the FIBA Europe Cup after a European absence of 3 years. In Group D, Heroes had a 3–3 record and finished in third place. In the DBL playoffs, Den Bosch was once again eliminated in the semifinals, this time by Landstede.

Heroes Den Bosch (2019–present)

On 21 August 2019, the club announced it was changing its name to Heroes Den Bosch and it is not planning to change the club name anymore.^[10] In June, Heroes signed Jean-Marc Jaumin as its new head coach.^[11]

On 15 June 2021, Heroes signed three-time DBL champion Erik Braal as head coach.^[12] In the 2021–22 season, the DBL merged with the PBL into the BNXT League, in which the national leagues of Belgium and the Netherlands are combined. On 29 May 2022, Heroes ended a 7-year drought when it won its seventeenth national championship, beating ZZ Leiden in the finals series 3–2.

Logos

Heroes Den Bosch logos
2009–2013	2013–2016	2017–2019	2019–now

Home arenas

 

Interior view of the Maaspoort during a Heroes game in 2022

After many successful seasons by Nashua Den Bosch in the 1980s, a true basketball hall was built with the Maaspoort. The arena was opened on 3 September 1982 with a game against the NBA All-Stars.^[13]

• De Vinkenkamp
• Maaspoort: 1982–present

Honours

Domestic

Dutch National Champions (record)^[14]

• Winners (17): 1978–79, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1992–93, 1995–96, 1996–97, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2011–12, 2014–15, 2021–22

Dutch Cup (record)^[14]

• Winners (8): 1992–93, 1999–00, 2001–02, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2012–13, 2015–16, 2023–24

Dutch SuperCup^[15]

• Winners (3): 2013, 2015, 2022

Ricoh Cup^[16]

• Winners (1): 2000

European

FIBA Saporta Cup^[16]

• Runner-up (1): 1978–79

Worldwide

FIBA Intercontinental Cup^[16]

• Runners-up (1): 1982

Friendly

Haarlem Basketball Week^[16]

• Winners (1): 2006

All-time records

 

Kees Akerboom, Jr. holds the record for most games played

• Most Dutch Basketball League champions (17 championships)
• Most games played: Kees Akerboom, Jr. (671 games)^[17]

Players

Retired numbers

 

Retired numbers hanging in the Maaspoort

Heroes Den Bosch retired numbers
No	Player	Position	Tenure	Retirement date
5	Jan Dekker	G	1976–1983
9	Jos Kuipers	PF/C	1981–1984, 1986–1999	9 December 2021^[18]
12	Kees Akerboom Sr.	G	1975–1986
12	Kees Akerboom Jr.	SG	2001–2004, 2006–2018	23 September 2018^[9]

Current roster

Further information: 2022–23 Heroes Den Bosch season

Heroes Den Bosch roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Age F 1   Thomas, Donte 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 27 – (1996-05-06)6 May 1996 G 2   van Vliet, Boy 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) 29 – (1994-07-13)13 July 1994 PF 3   Grantsaan, Lagio 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) 26 – (1997-09-23)23 September 1997 PG 4   Naar, Emmett 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 29 – (1994-07-03)3 July 1994 PF 6   Kohs, Verners 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 26 – (1997-05-21)21 May 1997 SF 10   Helfrich, Keime 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) 26 – (1997-09-05)5 September 1997 G 11   Webster, Kobe 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) 25 – (1999-03-31)31 March 1999 C 21   van der Mars, Thomas 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 33 – (1990-11-15)15 November 1990 F/C 24   Rijkers, Florian 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in) 18 – (2005-08-30)30 August 2005 SG 25   Ndow, Chris-Ebou 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 30 – (1993-12-10)10 December 1993 SG 31   Price, Austin 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 28 – (1995-09-15)15 September 1995 G 30   Dorsey-Walker, Sherron 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 31 – (1993-03-16)16 March 1993 C 33   Kok, Jito 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 30 – (1994-03-23)23 March 1994	Head coach   Erik Braal Assistant coach(es)   Mike de Kraker Strength & conditioning coach(es)   Rik Van Waes Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Development player (I) Import player   Injured Roster Transactions Updated: 22 September 2022

Depth chart

Pos.	Starting 5	Bench 1	Bench 2
C	Thomas van der Mars	Jito Kok	Florian Rijkers
PF	Donte Thomas	Verners Kohs	Lagio Grantsaan
SF	Chris-Ebou Ndow	Keime Helfrich
SG	Austin Price	Boy van Vliet
PG	Emmett Naar	Kobe Webster

Notable players

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.

Criteria
To appear in this section a player must have either: Set a club record or won an individual award while at the club Played at least one official international match for their national team at any time Played at least one official NBA match at any time.

•   Kees Akerboom, Sr.
•   Kees Akerboom, Jr.
•   Tai Wesley
•   Arvin Slagter
•   Brandyn Curry
•   Ali Farokhmanesh
•   DeJuan Wright
•   David Gonzalvez
•   Andre Young
•   Frank Turner
•   Sherron Dorsey-Walker
•   Leon Rodgers
•   Matt Bauscher
•   Damone Brown
•   Julien Mills
•   Florian Rijkers
•   Leon Williams
•   Jeroen van der List
•   Sam Jones
•   Dean Oliver
•   Travis Reed
•   Gert Kullamäe
•   Peter van Paassen
•   Stefan Wessels
•   Rogier Jansen
•   Maarten Bouwknecht
•   Andrew Sullivan
•   Kikas Gomes
•   Dan Cramer

Season by season

Season	Tier	League	Pos.	Dutch Cup	European competitions
1996–97	1	DBL	1st		2 Saporta Cup	RS
1997–98	1	DBL	4th		2 Saporta Cup	RS
1998–99	1	DBL	4th
1999–00	1	DBL	5th	Winner
2000–01	1	DBL	3rd
2001–02	1	DBL	6th	Winner
2002–03	1	DBL	5th
2003–04	1	DBL	2nd
2004–05	1	DBL	5th
EiffelTowers Den Bosch
2005–06	1	DBL	1st	Eighthfinalist	4 EuroCup Challenge	T16
2006–07	1	DBL	1st	Eighthfinalist	2 ULEB Cup	RS
2007–08	1	DBL	2nd	Winner	2 ULEB Cup	RS
2008–09	1	DBL	2nd	Winner	3 EuroChallenge	T16
2009–10	1	DBL	5th	Quarterfinalist	3 EuroChallenge	RS
2010–11	1	DBL	3rd	Semifinalist
2011–12	1	DBL	1st	Quarterfinalist
2012–13	1	DBL	3rd	Winner
SPM Shoeters
2013–14	1	DBL	2nd	Semifinalist	3 EuroChallenge	RS
2014–15	1	DBL	1st	Runners-up	3 EuroChallenge	T16
2015–16	1	DBL	4th	Champions
Heroes Den Bosch
2016–17	1	DBL	4th	Eighthfinalist
2017–18	1	DBL	5th	Semifinalist
2018–19	1	DBL	4th	Quarterfinalist	4 FIBA Europe Cup	RS
2019–20	1	DBL	3rd^[a]	Fourth round
2020–21	1	DBL	2nd	Quarterfinalist	4 FIBA Europe Cup	R16
2021–22	1	BNXT League (National)	5th 1st	Runners-up	4 FIBA Europe Cup	RS

1. The 2019–20 season was cancelled prematurely in March 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. No playoffs were played and no champions were named.

European record

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home^[A]	Away^[A]	Agg^[A]
2013–14	EuroChallenge	Regular season	Antwerp Giants	83–76	72–77	3rd in Group A
			JDA Dijon	66–70	64–83
			Rakvere Tarvas	78–71	70–57
2014–15	EuroChallenge	Regular season	Brindisi	71–69	62–76	2nd in Group
			Ulm	87–76	82–91
			Södertälje Kings	115–108 (OT)	72–88
		Second round	Avtodor	107–108 (OT)	85–89	4th in Group K
			Skyliners Frankfurt	92–94 (OT)	70–75
			Tartu University	78–77	64–71
2018–19	FIBA Europe Cup	Second qualifying round	Balkan	76–86	68–66	144–152^[B]
		Regular season	Avtodor	93–97	79–89	3rd place in Group
			Ironi Nes Ziona	102–87	85–91
			JIP Pardubice	91–58	68–64
2020–21	FIBA Europe Cup	Regular season	Parma	63–85 (N)		2nd place in Group F
			Donar	99–98 (OT, N)
			Borisfen	DNP
		Round of 16	Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski	83–92 (N)
2021–22	FIBA Europe Cup	Regular season	Benfica	76–78	78–73	3rd in Group C
			Opava	87–82	88–72
			Parma	75–92	52–67

Notes

1. Heroes Den Bosch points are listed first.
2. Despite losing, Heroes qualified for the regular season as "Lucky Loser".

List of head coaches

Coach	Nationality	Tenure	Honours
Bill Sheridan	United States	1976–1977
Ton Boot	Netherlands	1978–1980	2× Dutch Basketball League
Bill Sheridan	United States	1980–1982	1× Dutch Basketball League
Ton Boot	Netherlands	1982–1985	2× Dutch Basketball League
Charis Saideris	Netherlands	1989
Toon van Helfteren	Netherlands	1997–1998
Toon van Helfteren	Netherlands	2001–2005
Randy Wiel	Netherlands	2005–2009	2× Dutch Basketball League, 2× NBB Cup
Don Beck	United States	2009–2010
Maarten van Gent (interim)	Netherlands	1 April 2010 – 1 July 2010
Raoul Korner	Austria	2010–2013	1× Dutch Basketball League, 1× NBB Cup
Sam Jones	Netherlands	2013–2016	1× Dutch Basketball League, 1× NBB Cup, 1× Supercup
Sander van der Holst	Netherlands	2016–2017
Silvano Poropat	Croatia	2017 – August 2018
Ivica Skelin	Croatia	3 September 2018 – 22 June 2019
Jean-Marc Jaumin	Belgium	23 June 2019 – 31 May 2021
Erik Braal	Netherlands	15 June 2021 – present	1× Dutch champion, 1× Dutch Cup

References

1. "Dukes Unlimited Den Bosch basketball, News, Roster, Rumors, Stats, Awards, Transactions, Details". Eurobasket.com. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
2. Zaal en ruimtes 31 August 2015 at the Wayback Machine msedb.nl
3. "Nashua Den Bosch in the 80's – Heroes Den Bosch – Basketball". Heroes Den Bosch. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
4. Martens, Jan (24 October 2015). "SPM stopt als sponsor bij Shoeters". Brabants Dagblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 7 November 2023.
5. Faillissement SPM Shoeters dreigt, basketbalclub Den Bosch heeft grote geldschulden
6. "New Heroes is nieuwe naam en sponsor basketbalclub Shooters in Den Bosch". Omroep Brabant. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
7. NEW HEROES CONTRACTEERT SILVANO POROPAT ALS HOOFDCOACH
8. "Kees Akerboom stopt met basketbal". BD.nl. 31 May 2018. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
9. "Den Bosch zwaait Akerboom uit". Eredivisie basketbal Nederland, basketballleague.nl (in Dutch). 23 September 2018. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
10. "Na 15 clubnamen heten Bossche basketballers voortaan Heroes Den Bosch, geen sponsor meer in de naam". Omroep Brabant. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
11. "New Heroes – Jean-Marc Jaumin naar Den Bosch". newheroesbasketball.com. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
12. "Heroes Den Bosch verwelkomt head coach Erik Braal – Heroes Den Bosch – Basketball". Heroes Den Bosch. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
13. "Nashua Den Bosch in the 80's – Heroes Den Bosch – Basketball". Heroes Den Bosch. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
14. "Landskampioenen, bekerwinnaars en competitiewinnaars" (in Dutch). J-dus.com. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
15. "Super Cup" (in Dutch). J-dus.com. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
16. Erelijst 4 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine spmshoeters.nl
17. "Basketballer Kees Akerboom jr. pakt record: 656 wedstrijden voor Bossche club – Omroep Brabant".
18. "Heroes Den Bosch eert de eeuwige nummer 9 Jos Kuipers, die 'zijn tijd ver vooruit was'". Brabants Dagblad. 10 December 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2022.

External links

• Official website (in Dutch)
• Eurobasket.com Den Bosch Page

51°43′21.64″N 5°18′55.87″E / 51.7226778°N 5.3155194°E / 51.7226778; 5.3155194