Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem announced Thursday evening that it has dismissed Fotis Katsikaris as head coach of the team and promoted top assistant Mody Maor to take his place. Jerusalem made the decision after its 81-91 home loss to previously winless Galatasaray Odeabank Istanbul on Wednesday in the 7DAYS EuroCup. One year after reaching the EuroCup Semifinals, Jerusalem is 1-4 and in last place in its group at the midway point of the regular season.

Maor was also an assistant under Coach Simone Pianigiani last season in Jerusalem. Before that he was on the staffs of Tzvika Sherf at Maccabi Ashdod and Lior Lubin at Hapoel Holon. This will be his first head coaching gig. Katsikaris, who turned 50 this year, had previously coached five EuroCup teams: Valencia Basket, Aris Thessaloniki, Bilbao Basket, Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar and UCAM Murcia. He was chosen as the 2012-13 EuroCup Coach of the Year after leading Bilbao to the title game that season.