National coach Mark Dickel admitted he is disappointed over the postponement of Gilas Pilipinas’ Fiba Asia Cup 2021 qualifying game against Thailand.
“Obviously disappointing, because it would’ve been awesome to play a home game—a game in front of the fans. But it is what it is,” he told scribes after the pool’s practice at Meralco Gym in Ortigas on Friday night.
Dickel, though, sees the rescheduling as an opportunity to fine-tune this bunch—especially its cohesion.
“You get more time to really have everybody understand: A. What their roles are; B, What is expected; C, What they got to do out there,” said the interim mentor with Gilas set to face Indonesia on Feb. 23 in Jakarta.
“Anytime you get more day to do [those], the game’s going to look better,” he added.
Fiba announced the shelving of the Philippines’ hosting of Thailand, which was originally set on Feb. 20 at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, due to COVID-19 outbreak.
On top of the added days of training, Dickel said that he is pleased with how much this crop of amateur and pro stars has jelled as a unit.
“There’s definitely an improvement from two days ago, from four days ago,” he said. “It’s going in the right direction.”
Abu Tratter, Alaska’s sophomore forward and a member of “23 for 2023” talent pool assembled by former mentor Chot Reyes over two years ago, joined the session for the first time that night.
“Coming in here is always an opportunity. I’m always soaking things up,” he said. “It’s making sure I learn.”
“He has improved a whole lot in just one year. Credit to his coaches at Blackwater and Alaska, they’ve done a really good job with him,” said Dickel of the Aces bruiser.