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Gilas Pilipinas interim coach and active TNT consultant Mark Dickel has some advice for Kai Sotto, who recently announced that he would join the NBA G-League professional program.
“I think he has improved a lot since last year. I think he is a super talent. It is difficult to know which is the right path. You are 7 feet 2 inches and your biggest attribute is that you are a great passer. That can work especially if you can shoot the ball and he has shown himself capable of shooting the ball, “said Dickel, who personally saw Sotto in many practice sessions at the Athenaeum.
“But the game is changing all the time. You have to be able to stretch to the three-point line and you have to be able to protect the screen and the reels really well to be an NBA prospect. But that’s the most difficult thing. The big ones have to learn is to protect the screen and the laps. If you are him, the offensive ending will be much easier than the defensive one. “
“If you can work on your agility, if you can work a little on your strength. If you can work on your speed, if you can work on the screensaver and on the reels. In the NBA, that’s all there is.”
Dickel shared these thoughts and insights on Philippine basketball at a session of the Blackwater Elite international Hoop Coaches webinar on Wednesday night.
In the session, titled “Philippine Basketball in the Eyes of a Foreigner,” Dickel admitted that he didn’t know much about the Philippines until he arrived in Manila in 2016 as an assistant coach for New Zealand in the FIBA Olympic Qualification Tournament.
“I knew Jayson Castro. Obviously I knew Terrence Romeo. I knew June Mar [Fajardo]. I knew Troy [Rosario]. Like through exploration things, “recalled the 43-year-old man.
He realized from the get-go that Filipino fans were very knowledgeable about the game.
“He didn’t know much about Filipino basketball other than the incredible passion. Everyone knew about the game when he was sitting on the bench. You will know a lot about the countries you will go to when you play from the comments he receives from the crowd. And when people they are educated in the game. You can tell right away that they knew what was going on, “said Dickel.
He added that people in his native country did not have the same passion for basketball and were more immersed in more popular sports like rugby and cricket.
The opportunity came in 2018 when TNT KaTropa appointed him to flank coach Bong Ravena as the team’s active training consultant for that year’s Governors Cup.
Dickel, who coached the Australian NBL’s Canterbury Rams, was recommended by former TNT tactician Bill Bayno and mentor Tab Baldwin to the team.
The two older coaches were positive influences on his budding coaching career and had seen first-hand how Dickel operated as a guard for their respective teams.
Bayno was Dickel’s collegiate coach at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas from 1996 to 2000. The former baseman even led the NCAA Division 1 in attendance in his senior year.
Baldwin, on the other hand, had guided Dickel from the time he was 11 years old until Baldwin left the team when Dickel was 29 years old.
“I just took the opportunity. It was too good an opportunity to turn down, come and get me out of my comfort zone a little bit. For me, it was the challenge of coming here and really not knowing anything.” Dickel recalled.
He also explained that accepting the TNT training period was going to be something “no one else wants,” according to Bayno.
“There is a lot of pressure on your job. You know, like you had bad results, you are not going to be there.”
Being a new kid wasn’t that difficult with Dickel as he already experienced it while playing as an import overseas. He played professionally in various parts of Europe for 14 years.
When he first arrived at the KaTropa, the team was not as successful as it should have been based on its depth, according to his observations.
“And for me this house should be right and then I looked at the list we had on the players we had and we had talented players all over the court. So it didn’t really match that our team was fighting like this.” “
What Dickel also noticed about Filipino basketball is that some teams do not necessarily play on their strengths, but rather conform to a style that is not suitable for them.
The teams, according to Dickel, had a tendency to copy San Miguel’s style of play. However, that could pose a problem since no one else had June Mar Fajardo obstructing the lane.
However, he noted that the Philippine brand of basketball is unique and combines the right amounts of speed, agility, quickness, shooting, passion and toughness.
Dickel also sees that the Philippines has a bright future and will remain a power in Asia, provided there is continuity.
“The New Zealand national team is probably better now, but we have 10-15 players who could play in that [higher level]. But in PBA, there are probably between 40 and 50 players who can play at that level. “
He also added that the country probably has more time preparing than others, taking New Zealand as an example, where they only had two or three days of preparation before competing.
When asked how the country would improve on the world stage, he said that Filipinos should rely less on dribbling and more on ball movement.
“I don’t think it’s a system. I think it’s the skill sets. Like, shooting is a great prerequisite, but dribbling as little as possible and getting good shots. It distorts defense more and makes it much more difficult to protect.” So how can you dribble the ball less and get more good shots? “
“Be better out of the trap. Be better moving without the ball. Be a better coach. Be a better passer. Be a better cutter.”
