Den Helder Suns

Den Helder Suns is a professional basketball club based in Den Helder, Netherlands. The club was founded in 2016 and entered the Dutch Basketball League in the 2017–18 season. The team plays its home games in the Sporthal Sportlaan, which has a capacity of 1,000 people.

Den Helder Suns
LeaguesDutch Basketball League
Founded2016 (2016)[1]
ArenaSporthal Sportlaan
Capacity1,000
LocationDen Helder, Netherlands
Team colorsBlue, Black, White, Gold
       
PresidentJames Meijer
Head coachPeter van Noord
2019–20 positionDBL, 7th of 9
Retired numbers1 (5)
Websitedenheldersuns.nl

History

After the bankruptcy of the Netherlands' professional BV Den Helder team during the 2013–14 season, a professional basketball representative team from Den Helder was missing for three seasons. In 2016, the Suns organisation was founded with the goal of making a return to the Dutch Basketball League (DBL). On June 30, 2017, Den Helder Suns announced it would return to the highest level in the 2017–18 season.[2] On July 14, 2017, the Suns announced "Peter van Noord head coach Den Helder Suns."[3]

In its first DBL season, Suns finished in the eight place of the regular season, above last-placed BAL. Captain Tjoe de Paula, who played for different clubs from Den Helder before, got his number retired on 19 April 2018.[4]

Season by season
Key
Playoff berth
ROYDBL Rookie of the Year
Season Tier League Regular season Playoffs NBB Cup Head coach Individual awards
Finish Played Wins Losses Win%
Den Helder Suns
2017–18 1 DBL 8th 34 6 28 .176 – Quarterfinals Peter van Noord Boyd van der Vuurst de Vries (ROY)
2018–19 1 DBL 5th 34 12 22 .353 Lost quarter-finals (Donar), 0–2 Eightfinals Boy van Vliet (ROY)
2019–20[lower-alpha 1] 1 DBL 7th 23[lower-alpha 1] 7 16 .304 – Semifinalist –
2020–21 1 DBL TBD
  1. The 2019–20 season was curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The season finished in March, the Suns played only 23 games.

Players

Retired numbers

On 19 April 2018, Suns retired its first number as Tjoe de Paula was honored, who played for BV Den Helder during the periods 2001–2003, 2004–2006, 2008–2009 and 2017–18.[4]

Den Helder Suns retired numbers
No Nat. Player Position Tenure Ceremony date
5Tjoe de PaulaGuard2017–201819 April 2018[4]

Current roster
Den Helder Suns roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.Nat.Name
G/F 2 Rivers, Xyon (DP)
G 3 Lugtenburg, Neill
PG 4 Gorissen, Nino
SF 6 Kolhorn, Mickey
SG 7 Kovac, Ben
SF 8 Van Den Langenbergh, Killian
G/F 9 van den Elzen, Stan
C 10 Brussen, Yarick
PF 11 Koopman, Tom
PG 13 van der Vuurst de Vries, Boyd (C)
C 15 Halman, Dyon
F 20 Brace, Bolden
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
  • Tristan van Santen
Physiotherapist(s)
  • Britt Lugtenburg
Team manager
  • Marco Starrenburg
  • Simon Hoogendoorn
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Development player
  • (I) Import player
  • Injured
Updated: 21 October 2020

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

Notable players

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

Individual awards

DBL Rookie of the Year

DBL MVP Under 23

Top scorers by season
Season Name PPG
2017–18 Tjoe de Paula 14.8
2018–19 Boy van Vliet 14.4
2019–20 Yarick Brussen 13.1

Head coaches
Period Name Honours
2017–present Peter van Noord

References
  1. The Den Helder Suns is the successor of Den Helder Kings which went bankrupt in 2014 and while it is a new organisation, it can be seen as a phoenix club.
  2. "Den Helder volgend seizoen terug in eredivisie basketbal! - Den Helder Actueel". www.DenHelderActueel.nl. Archived from the original on 5 March 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  3. "Peter van Noord Head Coach Den Helder Suns". Noordhollands Dagblad. 14 July 2017.
  4. "Tjoe de Paula voor altijd de Helderse nummer 5" (in Dutch). Denhelderactueel.nl. 19 April 2018. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
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