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Andrzej Adamek
Andrzej Adamek (born 6 January 1972) is a Polish basketball coach and former professional basketball player. Early careerAdamek was born on 6 January 1972 in Wałbrzych. He began playing basketball in his home town. In 1995–96 he moved to the Polonia Przemyśl. With this team he achieved a Polish vice-championship. In 1998 he came back to Lower Silesia and played in Zepter Idea Śląsk Wrocław. The main reasons why he left Polonia Przemyśl were their financial problems and worse position in the league. In Wrocław he did not belong to the most important players, he did not stand out. He did not even appear on the bench very often. During the 1999–00 season after talks with the Slask's authorities he decided to move to the Kielce. However this step was not the best solution for Adamek. He still played rarely. From Kielce he moved to the Prokom Trefl Sopot. The beginning of the season was successful for him. He played regularly. But when the Prokom's activist hired Igor Miličić everything changed. "Szkopek" had big difficulties with his place in the team again. In 2002 he came back to Wrocław and played for Idea Śląsk Wrocław. In 2003 he decided to play abroad; he chose Swedish league. In 2004 he returned to his hometown and started to play and coach Górnik Wałbrzych. He retired definitely in 2005. He coached Górnik Wałbrzych in First Polish League (actually First Polish League is the second after the PLK). He has made a contribution to remain his team in First Polish League. In 2006 he was assistant coach in Śląsk Wrocław Adamek also has spent a short while as head coach of the Śląsk Wrocław.He took over the team when the management were looking for a new coach. He was a temporary head coach but he had a chance to show his skills in ULEB Cup.In the 2008–2009 season he began as assistant coach in Śląsk Wrocław. However - after the financial problems - Śląsk Wrocław was withdrawn from PLK. Adamek received an offer from the Górnik Wałbrzych and decided to take over the team. Because of the financial problems in Górnik, Adamek has moved to the Turów Zgorzelec where he is working as assistant coach of Paweł Turkiewicz. As assistant coach in Turów he has advanced to the national finals. Professional careerAndrzej Adamek was a multiple PLK champion with Śląsk Wrocław. He also was a runner-up with Polonia Przemyśl. Moreover, he performed for Polish national basketball team. Coaching careerHe used to be called the one of the most promising coaches of young generation in Poland. In 2006, he was named the Polish national basketball team assistant coach, to head coach Andrej Urlep. He was an assistant coach of the Polish Basketball National Team during the EuroBasket 2007 in Spain. In 2012, he won his first championship as the head coach. Adamek, however, has had a very prolific career as an assistant coach. He is a 7x Polish Basketball League champion, 2x runner-up and 1x bronze medalist. Adamek is the former head coach of the U-18 Polish National Basketball Team. In 2019, his team was a runner-up in the FIBA U-18 Division B European Championships, held in Oradea, Romania, and advanced to the top flight Division A. In 2022, Adamek's team finished 9th in the FIBA U-18 European Championships, hosted by the city of İzmir, Turkey] Poland saved the Division A spot for another year. In June 2023, Adamek became the head coach of Górnik Wałbrzych, his first club as player, then the tier-2 league team. He returned to his hometown after two successful years as the Śląsk Wrocław assistant coach, winning the 2022 Polish Basketball League championship and finishing as runner-up one campaign later. In 2023-24, Adamek's Górnik Wałbrzych clinched playoffs as the 2nd seed. Eventually, Górnik won the finals against Enea Abramczyk Astoria Bydgoszcz 3-1, despite trailing 0-1, and earned a spot in the Polish Basketball League. Górnik returned to top flight after 15 years in lower leagues. External links |
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