The tendency at Hapoel Jerusalem lately has been to continue with Yotam Halperin on the lines, believing that he has the potential to be an excellent coach, but at the same time options for several foreign coaches have been examined.
After the failed attempt with Dainius Adumatis, the club realized that if they go for a foreign coach, he must be a senior coach.
One of the few names on CEO Guy Harel's list was Alexander Djikic. Already a few weeks ago, when it was decided that the Serbian coach would not continue at Bodchenost, he received a phone call from Harel telling him he would be happy to see him come to the capital. They matured into agreements and signing the contract.
In Jerusalem it is said that one of the reasons for choosing Dzikic is the fact that he is a degree contractor.
The 51-year-old coach is one of the most decorated Serbian coaches, even if most of his titles have not been achieved at the highest levels in Europe.
Note the list of achievements: the 2018 Adriatic League champion, 4 times the Slovenian league champion, 3 times the Slovenian Cup holder, 3 wins the Slovenian Cup, twice the Montenegrin Cup holder, and the 2011 FIBA EuroChallenge champion.
Dzikic recorded his most notable achievement in 2018, when he won with the Budućnost the league title after winning the final series over the Red Star and led the club to a rare appearance in the Euroleague, where he also made 15 appearances in the 2018/2019 season, including big wins On CSKA Moscow and Barcelona.
Guy Harel.
Express phone, Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
The connection between the people of Jerusalem and the Serbian coach began already in the middle of the 2020/2021 season, after the surprising departure of Oded Katash to Panathinaikos.
Dzikic was one of the three finalists, and Dainius Adumatis was preferred over him at the last minute.
Now came the closing of the circle.
"Can spend the maximum"
"I'm the king of small budgets," Dzikic testified in the past.
This may also be one of the reasons why the management of Hapoel Jerusalem insisted on it.
In the new era, the team from the capital is looking for itself financially and it is still not clear what the level of the players' budget will be at its disposal.
"Alexander is a coach who adapts himself to any situation and can make the most of what is given to him," says Serbian journalist Nikola Stojkovic of Mozart.
"He quickly understands what's going on at the club and what resources are available to him and builds the best team possible from it."
"He has rock star status in Belgrade," says Tomer Levinson, who trained under him for a week in 2016 when a partisan was interested in signing the young Israeli forward on a long-term contract.
"He gets insane respect from everyone - management, fans and players."
Stojkovic's explanation will be of great interest to the people of Jerusalem and the fans of the team.
"Alexander has a very special status in the partisan. Besides growing up at the club as a coach, from the years he worked as an assistant in the youth departments, in the most difficult years in the previous decade he took the team and dealt with all economic and organizational problems and did a good job. Fans will not forget what he did here."
Exercise book
One of the biggest concerns of professionals in Israel when offering them coaches from the Balkans, is their ability to adapt to the style of basketball in Israel and deal with a dressing room full of Americans.
Dzikic is a different type.
In 2005, when he was just 34, he received a prestigious appointment when he became assistant coach at the Minnesota Timberwolves and became only the second European to be appointed to the position of assistant coach in the NBA, after Igor Kokushkov at the Clippers.
For two years, under Dwayne Casey, he suffered from "Americanization" and after returning to Europe his style of play changed, as did working with foreign players on the teams he worked for over the years.
Aleksandar Dzikic is the new head coach of Hapoel Jerusalemhttps: //t.co/p9hsmQKpYq
- Eurohoops (@Eurohoopsnet) June 18, 2022
"Alexander plays a lot of pick-and-roll and therefore likes coordinators who know how to deliver and activate the other players and athletic chins who know how to move with and without the ball.
"His teams are throwing a lot of threes (in his only season in the Euroleague Budchenost broke the three-point record in the factory - 21, YM and AS)," said Stojkovic.
"He has an exercise book, he is focused and knows how to convey his desires and requirements to the players. He has a huge knowledge of basketball.
"On defense he demands discipline from the players. He likes to give young players a chance. In general, you will see a coach who puts his whole being at work. It's something that is respected wherever he has worked."
It can not be applied
Unlike other coaches from the Balkans and Eastern Europe and although he is a Serbian who was educated in Partisan, known for its tough coaching generations, Dzikic is considered a coach of players.
In Jerusalem, learning from (bitter) experience from the period with Adumatis, this fact had a decisive consideration.
"A partisan wanted me to sign for a few years and it was important for my parents to go to school, because I was still a young child, and Djikic himself went around for two days in Belgrade with my father to look for an American school that would suit me," Levinson recalled.
"He is an amazing man with a lot of passion and respect for the people around him."
Tomer Levinson.
Remember Dzikic as my father,
Not to be mistaken, Djikic is a tough coach with high demands and standards and it is really impossible to turn him around, but at the same time he believes in personal conversations and makes sure that his players have a good private life.
Hapoel Jerusalem's new coach is a colorful personality who will add a lot of color to the league.
His press parties have become a thing of the past over the years, and he really does not provide clichés in them.
A special type, and not just because of its large body structure.
Hapoel Jerusalem will be Dzikic's third experience as head coach outside the Balkans.
In 2012 he led Rita Vilnius to the semi-finals of the EuroCup, one of the great achievements of the Lithuanian team in the European arena for many years.
On that great journey played under him Jonas Valencia and our acquaintance Tyrese Rice.
On the other hand his second and final attempt so far ended in a crash when he was fired in the middle of the season from Estudiantes after achieving just four wins in 18 rounds.
The dismissals were to no avail, and the team finished the season in last place in the table.
Few foreign coaches are successful in the Spanish league, and Djikic failed to break the statistics.
Last season he returned to the comfort zone and led Budchenost to a double win in the Montenegrin league.
However he suffered many injuries from key players and instability in the level of basketball his team displayed.
In the EuroCup, Budchenost was eliminated in the quarterfinals and in the Adriatic League was stopped in the semifinals by a partisan.
Now the Serbian coach is coming to a team that in the last two years has been looking for itself and has suffered quite a few failures on all fronts.
What is certain is that next season will not be boring in the arena, and this is already a good opening.
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