Mark Dickel's Interim Appointment as Gilas Coach: Why It's Good?

Ladies and gentlemen, Gilas Pilipinas will have a new face who will call the shots from the sideline: Mark Dickel.

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Of course, he's no longer a new face for PBA fans and players alike as he's the active consultant of the TNT KaTropa in the PBA- calling the shots alongside Coach Bong Ravena.

While the SBP's choice for a head coach for the national team may have surprised some, we all have to remember that SBP made it clear that Dickel's appointment as top tactician is only for the first window of the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers this February where the nationals are slated to play against Thailand and Indonesia. It means that the SBP will announce a full-time head coach for the national team in time for the second window of the qualifiers come November.

Now, everyone is probably asking: Why hire someone who isn't even a head coach in the PBA? 

There are two reasons why Mark Dickel has been chosen:

Manny V. Pangilinan, the chairman emeritus of the SBP, trusts Dickel due to the fact that the 43-year old former player has helped turn things around in TNT, even helping the KaTropa reach the PBA Finals during the Commissioner's Cup last year. And frankly, the KaTropa were a consistent top 4 finisher during the recently-concluded 44th season of the league and that's something that you cannot take away from Dickel.

And the other reason, it's just an interim appointment.

But more than the fact that Mark Dickel has the trust of the chairman emeritus of the SBP, the mere fact that the pool of the national squad for the February games is made up of young guys including Dickel's players in TNT: Ray Parks, Troy Rosario, and RR Pogoy, makes Dickel a good choice to handle the team for the said games. Not because the team has Ray Parks and company not because the national squad needs someone who is young but has already garnered experience playing and coaching in the international scene of basketball. 

How good the team will fare under Dickel is solely up to Dickel as he will have the big headache of assembling the 12-man team that will play in February. That and how the players will work during practices and during the games themselves. 

In short, Mark Dickel can only do so much. 

Photo is from Rappler