MANILA, Philippines – The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) on Wednesday announced that Mark Dickel will call the shots for Gilas Pilipinas in the first window of the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers.

Dickel currently serves as the coaching consultant of the TNT KaTropa in the PBA.

As interim head coach, Dickel will be tasked with preparing the national team for its games against Thailand on February 20, and Indonesia on February 23.

Gilas will host Thailand, the silver medalist in the recent 30th Southeast Asian Games, before traveling to the Britama Arena to play Indonesia.

"In his short stint in the Philippines, Coach Mark has performed creditably well," SBP chairman emeritus Manny V. Pangilinan said.

Dickel has been with TNT since the 2018 PBA Governors' Cup. He helped the KaTropa reach the finals of the 2019 PBA Commissioners' Cup.

The 24-man pool of Gilas Pilipinas for the upcoming window includes three members of the KaTropa: Roger Pogoy, Troy Rosario, and Ray Parks.

"We want to hit the ground running for the upcoming 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers," Pangilinan said. "We all know what he did to help TNT in such a short span and we’re confident he can also move things quickly as we prepare for the first window this February."

Also included in the pool are: Kiefer Ravena and Poy Erram from NLEX, Christian Standhardinger from NorthPort, Japeth Aguilar from Ginebra, CJ Perez from Columbian, Mac Belo from Blackwater, and Matthew Wright from Phoenix.

Adding youth into the team are recent PBA draftees Isaac Go, Matt and Mike Nieto, Rey Suerte, and Allyn Bulanadi along with Justine Baltazar, Dave Ildefonso, Thirdy Ravena, Kobe Paras, Juan and Javi Gomez de Liano, Jaydee Tungcab, and Dwight Ramos.

SBP will name a full-time head coach by the second window of the qualifiers, scheduled for November 2020.

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