Mark Dickel hopes it won’t be his last stint with Gilas Pilipinas

TNT Team Consultant Mark Dickel. INQUIRER PHOTO/ Sherwin Vardeleon

His stint as Gilas Pilipinas coach will only last for two games. But Mark Dickel is hoping he’d make a splash, big enough that he could be considered for the long haul.

“I’m going to come in and do the best job I can. Hopefully, if we win, I get the chance to do it again,” he told reporters less than 24 hours since his appointment by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP).

Dickel, TNT KaTropa’s active consultant, was formally introduced as the Nationals’ temporary mentor on Wednesday, formalizing what has long been posted on the Fiba Asia Cup 2021 qualifiers website.

“I’m a bit happy. [But also] a little bit not shocked,” he said of his designation. “[I’m] surprised because you want to think you can get a job like that. But it’s another thing when you actually get it.”

This won’t be Dickel’s first foray into international-level coaching, as he once commandeered the Albanian national team in the EuroBasket from 2010 through 2011.

Dickel, a two-time Olympian with the Tall Blacks, New Zealand’s national team, will be steering a Gilas squad that might parade a healthy mix of amateurs and pros in the first window of the qualifying games.

The Philippines is set to play rising regional power Thailand on Feb. 20, and then Indonesia three days later.

Fortunately, Dickel said, he’ll be plunging into action all primed up, thanks to his exposure to the UAAP—and “obviously being in the PBA”—which began late in 2018.

“It’s a good group of guys,” he said of the 24-man talent pool. “I believe we’re starting early and the practice will be every day.”

Gilas’ preparations for the qualifying games could go full steam on Feb. 6 at Ateneo’s Moro Lorenzo Sports Center.

The SBP also said on Wednesday that it will name a full-time coach for Gilas by November, just in time for the qualifiers’ second window.