Against the background of the expected departure of Oded Katash, Hapoel Jerusalem is already working hard to find a replacement coach. After making a decision in principle to appoint a foreign coach, the capital has drawn up a list of candidates, and the two most prominent names are that of the Italian Luca Banke and the Lithuanian Danius Adomitis.
Banki, 55, who is considered the leading candidate, is an experienced and highly regarded coach. For years he was the assistant to former Jerusalem coach Simona Pianigani in Siena, and remains very close to him to this day.
Since coaching Jerusalem, Pianigani has remained in excellent contact with the club’s leaders, and it is not inconceivable that the Reds have helped Pianigani to persuade Banki to come, even though he may be named in the G-League. As head coach, Banki coached Milan from 2013-2015 and then traveled to Turin, Bamberg, AK Athens and Locomotive Cuban.
The other candidate is 47-year-old Lithuanian Danius Adomitis, who has coached Ritas Vilnius in recent years, where he is less big than Banki but is considered a promising coach in Lithuanian basketball. As a player, Adumatis is remembered from his time at Zalgiris in the late 90s, and as a coach he gained experience mainly with Britas and Neptunes.
