Long training sessions in a short and focused workplace • Emphasis on defense versus offensive focus • Hapoel Jerusalem could not have had a different coach than Oded Katash than Dainius Adumatis, but his acquaintances are sure: "They made a good choice"
Adumitis.
"Loves hard work and players who give 100 percent"
Photography:
From Instagram
Adomitis in the Lithuanian national team
Photography:
FIBA, the official website
When Hapoel Jerusalem realized that Oded Katash was closed in Panathinaikos, the club's leaders began searching for the ideal replacement.
Within a short time, three leading names were concentrated - Luca Banki, the Serbian Alexander Djikic and Adumatis.
The one who led the tests and also ultimately recommended choosing the Lithuanian coach is athletic director Yotam Halperin, who used his connections and talked to many professionals across the continent before the decision was made.
Despite the professional and behavioral differences between the new coach and his predecessor, those who know Adomitis point to a professional who knows how to get the most out of the player material available to him.
In Jerusalem, it is known that Katsch has built a staff that can succeed through team play and not through individual abilities, which is one of the reasons why the Lithuanian was chosen.
Benas Matkevicius, who has been the international scout for the Boston Celtics for the past few years and also worked for the Lithuanian national team as one of Adumatis' assistants, told Israel Today: "Dainius is a very organized man who takes business very seriously. "And his ability to prepare for games is high."
On the style of basketball, he says: "Jerusalem made a good choice, because he is the right man for an offensive team that plays at a high pace like Jerusalem. It is his basketball. He wants a team that will share the ball between the players, does not like to see selfish basketball, but an offensive style that creates situations for everyone. The guards will be very important in the running game he wants to dictate. "
At the beginning of December, Edvinas practiced Lithuanian Shakus with Jerusalem for two weeks, and managed to gather opinions and thoughts about Katsch's training style.
At the same time, he is well acquainted with the designated replacement from their year-and-a-half joint Britas Vilna.
"When he's angry, he's angry"
"Katash has easier and calmer training, and in general he is a calm person," analyzes Shakus, "Adomitis is not crazy, but when he is angry - he is angry. That's why the players work hard for him, because they are afraid of him. They are afraid of a good section."
Beyond the conduct, the guard-forward also points to a professional difference: "With Katsch they played mostly pick-and-roll and outbursts, and with Adomitis there will be more team basketball because he likes a team to play like a real team and there is a method both on offense and defense."
Another difference between the previous coach and his replacement also lies in the nature of the training and its length.
While Katsch usually prefers short, focused training, Adomitis trains almost twice a day almost every day of the week - in the morning usually without contact and works mostly on shooting and 5-on-0 training, and in the evening intense and prolonged training.
"When we were losing, the training was longer and harder," he recalled.
Despite the high and tough professional demands he sometimes exhibits, Adomitis is a coach of players, one who is willing to do anything to keep his people, those who show 100 percent effort.
"He is a good man," says Matkevicius, who also currently serves as assistant coach of the Lithuanian national team. "A family man, respectful of everyone, open to everyone, treats his team well and listens, and his ear is attentive to the players' problems and difficulties. It's an actor and what everyone's needs are. "
Shakus says similar things: "He likes players who work hard and give what they have. I remember I was a young Britas player and he was an assistant coach. Anyone who wanted to work extra and stay after training, he would stay and give the ball away for hundreds of shots as well."
Former Hapoel Holon To Holloway who played last season for Adomitis Britas Vilna expands: "He invests a lot in working on basics, and I enjoyed it. He is very tough on defense and I think it can suit a team that Jerusalem has."
When we asked him what his tips were for the Jerusalem players about the new boss, he replied: "He requires a defensive game and bring supreme effort every night. As long as they do it - they will be fine."
To the same question that Schuss answered with almost the same answer: "Just play, work hard and work as hard as possible. That's what he likes - hard work and players who give 100 percent on the field."
Enter the millennium on the right foot
What Katsch and Adumatis have in common is their glorious career as actors.
Like the Israeli he replaces, the Lithuanian is also gifted with great playing wisdom and although his original role was forward, he actually served as another coordinator on the pitch.
The career highs of both came around the same time: in the 1998/99 season, Adomitis was part of one of the top teams in the history of European basketball, Zalgiris Kaunas, which also won the European Champions Cup.
A year later, Katsch led Panathinaikos to the title, and a few months later Adomitis won a bronze medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. He later played in Poland, France and Latvia before retiring in 2009.
But where are the degrees?
In the end, a coach is measured by achievements and titles, probably in a club like Jerusalem.
In his three years as the team's coach, Katsch won two trophies, but got stuck twice in the quarterfinals of the Champions League and did not reach the Final Four in Israel.
Lithuanians' expectations will be at least one step higher.
When looking at the coaching career of Adomitis (47) do not see impressive achievements.
Immediately after retiring he worked for three seasons as an assistant coach and as a head coach in Polish Polish.
After a brief and unsuccessful period in 2012 as coach of Evil and Wloclawek, he moved on to coach the youth of Ritas Vilnius and served as an assistant coach in the senior team before being briefly appointed as head coach.
He later progressed to Juventus and Neptune.
In the last two seasons he has returned to Rita Vilnius, with whom he won the trophy (only the team's second title in the last decade) and qualified for the EuroCup quarterfinals with his team starring Chris Kramer.
At the same time, he coached the Lithuanian national team in the years 2019-2016, but despite the quality basketball he presented under him, he was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the 2017 European Championships and also in the 2019 World Championships. After the last tournament, he resigned.
"We played great basketball, but we had bad luck with tough rivals in games for promotion to the quarterfinals," Matkevichius tries to explain the losses in the crucial games, "In my opinion, Adomitis is an underrated coach. He has great potential, he knows how to deal with players with big names "And a lot of ego. He has a huge room for progress as a coach. I think they have not yet seen enough of his abilities, and the move to Jerusalem can help him."
Tonight (Wednesday, 21:00, Sports 5) Adomitis will watch his new team play against Turk Telecom.
A victory will put it in a great position to qualify for the next stage of the Champions League, where the Lithuanian will also have to succeed in the important games.
No one wants to think about loss.
