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Gilas Pilipinas interim head coach Mark Dickel believes that it is not impossible for the national team to take the next step in international basketball by advancing to the second round of the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
“I think Gilas can do it. I don’t think it can be undone,” Dickel said on the Coaches Unfiltered podcast last week. “I see they can get out of their group. I think that’s a realistic expectation to do that in 2023. There’s no reason we can’t do that.”
Naturally, the planners of Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) will have a lot of work ahead of them if they want to turn a noble dream into reality.
Dickel, coach of the Gilas team that beat Indonesia in the first window of the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers in February, emphasized the need to get a naturalized player who, rather than being pushed into a leading role, fits the bill. rest of his companions. they are preferably playing their true positions internationally.
“Obviously, who you meet in the place of the naturalized is very, very important: how that guy fits into what you’re doing instead of being the lead. I just feel like he has to be one of the guys,” he explained. “And then the other players on the team, they have to have a real position at the international level. You can’t play them out of position.”
The size deficit could be resolved if Gilas Youth stars Kai Sotto and AJ Edu develop well enough to be Gilas’s center, but Dickel said the positionless basketball trend could also go a long way toward denying. any other disadvantage related to the roof.
“Obviously size is a premium. That’s something we might not have much of here, but with AJ Edu and Kai Sotto and other guys like that are coming, there’s no reason in the future why we can’t have” . that size, “he said.” And if you take a step back and see how the games are being played now, it’s more athleticism, speed and size that helps you, being more out of position.
Prolonged preparation and sufficient stakeholder support are also indispensable factors, Dickel said.
“The Philippines have shown before that they can do it,” said Dickel. “It really comes down to preparation, and preparation doesn’t start in a year. It starts in three or four years, and you have to identify who the players are, and you have to have them training at a high, high level.
“And you have to have the cooperation not only of the professional leagues but of the national program, and there has to be a director of that program, and there has to be people who support him in that program. This is how we did it. That’s right. how we could do it. “
Of course, he was referring to a little-known New Zealand team that broke into the 2002 World Championship semi-finals, a result that remains the country’s best on the world stage to this day.
Dickel, the starting point guard for the Tall Blacks during that spectacular run, sees no reason why the Philippines should not produce a similar result going forward, as the New Zealand team and Gilas’ current program have one thing in common: Tab Baldwin.
Baldwin, the current SBP director of programs, was the head coach of that same New Zealand team and was responsible for laying the foundation for success during that era, Dickel said.
“Tab took our country from 96th place in the world to fourth. So that’s the right person to be in control of a show. He has a proven track record. He knows what he’s doing,” he shared. “And Tab coached us all from the U-15, the U-17, the U-20 to the national team. So we had a real familiarity there.”
The current Ateneo coach is also an excellent teacher, something that bodes well not only for the national team but also for younger players eager to shape themselves as better basketball players.
“I think what people really don’t understand is how well Tab teaches the young to play, and the older ones, but particularly the younger ones, to play. He really teaches them to play,” said Dickel. “You don’t realize that at the time, but as you get older, you tend to go step by step and prosper, and what you’ve already learned, older players have to start learning. It’s very important.
“So as a young Filipino starting in the Philippines, I would try to go to the Ateneo. They really teach you how to play, they have a great coach and staff. There is no one better in this country to learn from.”
That ability to teach regardless of the circumstances could be put to the test soon, as Baldwin and SBP find themselves pressed for time to prepare for the second window of the Asian Cup playoffs.
FIBA announced on Sunday that Group A, where Gilas is grouped alongside Korea, Thailand and Indonesia, will play in a mini-bubble in Manama, Bahrain, for the continuation of the group stage sometime next month. However, the national team has yet to put together a roster that will need to be filled without the PBA stars currently participating in the 2020 Philippines Cup action in Pampanga.
Although it’s a bit challenging, Dickel believes Baldwin will be able to put together a competitive team in time for next month.
“If you give him a group of young men, they are going to perform very well. So I have no doubt that it will help whoever the coach is to prepare those guys as much as possible. If it happens, I’m sure they will be ready and they will do well, ”he said.
“However, that’s a tough question against Korea in that window. It’s not an easy thing. But I think he can prepare those guys, and the other coaches who are involved in that can prepare them and be really competitive against Thailand.” and whoever can play in that window. “
