Josh Giddey Officially Enters the 2021 NBA Draft
April 27, 2021
Mark Dickel
- Nationality: NZL/AUS
- Date of Birth: 21/12/76
- Place of Birth: Dunedin, Otago (New Zealand)
- Position: PG
- Height (CM): 188
- Weight (KG): 88
- Junior Assoc: NZ - Dunedin
- College: UNLV (1996–2000)
- NBL DEBUT: 20/10/00
- AGE AT DEBUT: 23
- LAST NBL GAME: 1/04/11
- AGE AT LAST GAME: 34
- NBL History: Victoria 2001-2002 | Sydney 2011
- Championships: 0
- None
BIO: Mark Robert Dickel was born in Dunedin, Otago (NZ) and attended Logan Park High School in Dunedin, New Zealand.
In 1993, he joined the Otago Nuggets of the New Zealand National Basketball League and played there until 1996 when he left for college in the United States.
FAMILY: Dickel’s father, Carl, was a New Zealand women’s national basketball team head coach for 10 years and coached the Otago Nuggets for four years from 1994 to 1997.
Dickel’s brother, Richard, is a well known coach in and around Australia and New Zealand, having coached the Waikato Pistons, Otago Nuggets, Southland Sharks and Adelaide Lightning, as well as Southland Under 17, Under 19 and Under 21 team’s.
Dickel’s nephew, Luke Aston, also plays in the New Zealand NBL.
NBL EXPERIENCE
Mark Dickel made his NBL debut with the Victoria Titans at 23 years of age. He scored 12 points in his first game.
After three years in the NBA, Chris Anstey returned to play for Brian Goorjian and the Titans. Although Anstey’s signature was a major coup, Victoria also suffered a major loss with Frank Drmic signing with Brisbane. In a surprise move, however, Drmic would exercise a European out clause before the start of the season and head overseas before backflipping, returning to Australia and inking a deal with the Sydney Kings. To fit Anstey in, Victoria released Nathan Taylor (to Melbourne), replaced David Smith with Jason Smith’s older brother Darren and signed Kiwi guard Mark Dickel to replace Drmic.
Dickel, who just graduated from UNLV, was signed as an import player as New Zealand players weren’t considered local players in the NBL until 2003.
Anstey (16.4 points, 9.4 rebounds and 2.0 blocks) returned a vastly improved player from the NBA, but coach Goorjian surprised many by bringing Anstey off the bench this season, favouring Brett Wheeler (13.0 points, 8.0 rebounds) in the starting line-up as he looked to replicate the success of the double-headed centre that was Anstey and John Dorge during the Magic’s 1996 championship run.
Offensively the Titans were led by Jason Smith (20.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists) who put up career high scoring numbers this season, and Tony Ronaldson (16.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 2.3 assists), Darryl McDonald (15.4 points, 5.0 rebounds, 7.9 assists, and 2.7 steals) and Dickel (13.2 points, 3 rebounds, and 5.1 assists) filled out the remainder of the starting line-up.
As a result of mid-season injuries to Ben Pepper, Chris Anstey and Darren Smith, development players Marcus Wright and Pero Vasiljevic were elevated to the full roster and helped the team finish the season strong. Victoria finished the season in first place (22-6) with Anstey, who was named the Titans MVP despite doing it all coming off the bench, was an easy choice for the league’s Sixth Man of the Year.
This saw them face off against long-time rivals, the sixth-placed Adelaide 36ers and behind a season high scoring performance from Anstey (27 points and collected 16 rebounds) took out game one (101-96). The Sixers, behind star duo Darnell Mee and Kevin Brooks, would then rebound to win games two (96-83) and three (115-103). Mee (22 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists) and Brooks (25 points and 7 rebounds) put up big numbers over the three-game series.
As a result of finishing first, the Titans being the highest placed loser in the Qualifying Finals allowed them to proceed to the semi-finals. There they would face the Townsville Crocodiles, led by 37 year old Robert Rose, who had just become the league’s oldest winner of the NBL’s MVP award. Thanks to veteran players Tony Ronaldson (22 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists) and Darryl McDonald (20 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists) stepped up and delivered a game one win for Victoria (106-97). An injury to Anstey in the early moments of game two saw him miss the remainder of the series, which saw the Titans lose both game two (98-82) and three (101-97). A major factor was Anstey suffering an injury in the early moments of game two which kept him out of both games.
In a twist of fate, the Crocodiles roster was made up of a number of players discarded by Brian Goorjian in recent years. In addition to Rose, both Pat Reidy and Mike Kelly were Titans cast-offs, both playing huge roles in eliminating the Titans. Reidy (19 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists) was an equal game high scorer (with Rose and Andrew Goodwin) in game two, while Kelly (17 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists) was the clear difference maker in the deciding game three.
The Titans falling short of the Grand Final was also the first time a Brian Goorjian team hadn’t reached an NBL Grand Final since 1996 (seven years).
2001/02
After the Titans failed to reach the Grand Final in 2001, the first time a Brian Goorjian team hadn’t reached a NBL Grand Final in seven years. It was decided the triple big man rotation of Chris Anstey, Brett Wheeler, and Ben Pepper wasn’t working, and as a result, Pepper was not re-signed. As a result of Darryl McDonald becoming a naturalised Australian, the team used its second import spot to sign power forward Jamahl Mosely as his replacement. Mark Dickel remained the team’s second import, as New Zealand players were not considered local players until 2003. The Titans’ next moves were replacing Glen Siegle with young guard Nathan Crosswell who had been playing for the Melbourne Tigers state league squad.
Anstey would move into the starting lineup this season, and alongside team captain Tony Ronaldson, Jason Smith, Brad Sheridan and McDonald guide the team to a first place regular season finish for the second year in a row.
The team featured six players scoring in double-figures that year with team captain Ronaldson (19.5 points and 4.5 rebounds) leading the team way. Anstey, who would fill the box score in multiple categories each game, averaging 16.8 points, 10.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.3 blocks per game resulting in him being awarded the Titans club MVP. Mosely, who averaged 11.5 points and 6.7 rebounds off the bench, become the first import player to win the league’s sixth man of the year award in the process. As well as Jason Smith (18.8 points and 5.4 rebounds), Darryl McDonald (12.0 points and 7.3 assists), Mark Dickel (11.6 points) to round out one of the most productive team rotations in NBL history.
The first stage of the playoffs saw Victoria take on sixth-placed Melbourne and, after winning game one (113-107), went on to lose games two (105–107) and three (103-97). As a result of finishing first, they progressed to the next stage as a result of being the highest-ranked losing team in the Qualifying Finals. This time, facing third-ranked Adelaide this time, the Titans lost game one in Melbourne 92-99, evened the series with a 86-81 win in Adelaide, then lost game three 103-92. The loss would become the last game for the Victoria Titans franchise, with the team falling into financial strife shortly after. The team would sell their licence to a group comprising a number of former North Melbourne Giants staff headed by Peter Fiddes and rebranding to the Victoria Giants.
SYDNEY KINGS
2010/11
In December 2010, Dickel signed with the Sydney Kings for the rest of the 2010/11 NBL season. His debut with the Kings was delayed until 8 January 2011 due to a calf injury. On 30 January 2011, he tore his calf in the final quarter of a 94–91 away loss to the Gold Coast Blaze. He returned on 6 March 2011 and played a further five games.
Mark Dickel played three seasons in the NBL, playing for both the Victoria Titans and the Sydney Kings. He averaged 11.2 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 5.4 assists in 71 NBL games.
CAREER RANKINGS:
– 47th in assists per game.
NBL TOTAL STATISTICS
| SEASON | AGE | TEAM | TEAM RECORD | GP | MINS | PTS | REB | AST | OR | DR | STL | BLK | TO | PF | FGM | FGA | FG% | 3PM | 3PA | 3P% | FTM | FTA | FT% | TS% | EFG% | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-11 | 34 | Sydney | 8-20 (9) | 9 | 227.0 | 32 | 27 | 44 | 3 | 24 | 8 | 1 | 13 | 24 | 9 | 30 | 30% | 9 | 26 | 35% | 5 | 8 | 63% | 47% | 45% | 9 |
| 2001-02 | 25 | Victoria | 21-9 (1) | 29 | 965.0 | 336 | 127 | 177 | 24 | 103 | 24 | 8 | 96 | 81 | 102 | 267 | 38% | 35 | 106 | 33% | 97 | 143 | 68% | 50% | 45% | 28 |
| 2000-01 | 24 | Victoria | 22-6 (1) | 33 | 980.0 | 434 | 100 | 168 | 20 | 80 | 25 | 6 | 95 | 72 | 137 | 343 | 40% | 63 | 181 | 35% | 97 | 139 | 70% | 53% | 49% | 33 | Totals | 71 | 2172 | 802 | 254 | 389 | 47 | 207 | 57 | 15 | 204 | 177 | 248 | 640 | 38.8% | 107 | 313 | 34.2% | 199 | 290 | 68.6% | 52% | 47% | 33 |
NBL PER GAME STATISTICS
| SEASON | AGE | TEAM | TEAM RECORD | GP | MINS | PTS | REB | AST | OR | DR | STL | BLK | TO | PF | FGM | FGA | FG% | 3PM | 3PA | 3P% | FTM | FTA | FT% | TS% | EFG% | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-11 | 34 | Sydney | 8-20 (9) | 9 | 25.2 | 3.6 | 3.0 | 4.9 | 0.3 | 2.7 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 1.4 | 2.7 | 1.0 | 3.3 | 30% | 1.0 | 2.9 | 35% | 0.6 | 0.9 | 63% | 47% | 45% | 9 |
| 2001-02 | 25 | Victoria | 21-9 (1) | 29 | 33.3 | 11.6 | 4.4 | 6.1 | 0.8 | 3.6 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 3.3 | 2.8 | 3.5 | 9.2 | 38% | 1.2 | 3.7 | 33% | 3.3 | 4.9 | 68% | 50% | 45% | 28 |
| 2000-01 | 24 | Victoria | 22-6 (1) | 33 | 29.7 | 13.2 | 3.0 | 5.1 | 0.6 | 2.4 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 2.9 | 2.2 | 4.2 | 10.4 | 40% | 1.9 | 5.5 | 35% | 2.9 | 4.2 | 70% | 53% | 49% | 33 | Total | 71 | 30.6 | 11.3 | 3.6 | 5.5 | 0.7 | 2.9 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 2.9 | 2.5 | 3.5 | 9.0 | 38.8% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 34.2% | 1.5 | 4.4 | 68.6% | 52% | 47% | 33 |
CAREER HIGHS
| POINTS | REBOUNDS | ASSISTS | STEALS | BLOCKS | TURNOVERS | TRIPLE DOUBLES | 33 | 11 | 14 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
|---|
FIBA EXPERIENCE
Dickel was first selected for the New Zealand national basketball team in 1994. In 1995, Dickel was both junior and senior Tall Blacks player of the year. In 1997, he played in the World Under 23 championships in Melbourne and averaged 16 points and 6 assists being recognised as a top 5 player at the tournament.
Dickel was a part of the history making Tall Black squad, whom competed in the countries in their first Olympics tournament in 2000. Their campaign ended in a game between New Zealand and Angola to determined who finish last. Playing off for eleventh spot and neither having won a single game, New Zealand came away victorious with a 70-60 win and finished in eleventh spot.
Dickel again made history, playing on the Tall Black team that not only defeated Australia to earn a spot at the 2002 FIBA World Championships, but went on to reach the bronze medal game. There, New Zealand would fall to Dirk Nowitzki led German team (94-117) to finish fourth, the countries highest finish ever at a major FIBA tournament. Dickel finished the tournament ranked third in assists per game.
Dickel remained a part of the national program for the 2004 Olympic games. There, Tall Blacks failed to win a game in their opening pool, resulting in them facing Australia in a crossover game to determine FIBA rankings. New Zealand then lost to Australia, 98-80, in the classification matches to finish in tenth place.
Dickel was a part of the Tall Blacks squad that competed at the 2006 FIBA World Championships (Japan). There, New Zealand (2–4) made it to the second round before being eliminated by Argentina (62-79). They finished the tournament tied for ninth place. Unfortunately, Dickel only played two matches due to a drug suspension.
Dickel played for the Tall Blacks for more than 100 games.
FIBA TOTAL STATISTICS
| YEAR | AGE | GP | MINS | PTS | REB | AST | OR | DR | STL | BLK | TO | PF | FGM | FGA | FG% | 3PM | 3PA | 3P% | FTM | FTA | FT% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 30 | 3 | 66 | 25 | 7 | 8 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 22 | 40.9% | 2 | 10 | 20.0% | 5 | 9 | 55.6% |
| 2004 | 28 | 6 | 182 | 56 | 21 | 27 | 6 | 15 | 7 | 0 | 13 | 13 | 18 | 40 | 45.0% | 3 | 17 | 17.6% | 17 | 25 | 68.0% |
| 2002 | 26 | 9 | 234 | 60 | 33 | 41 | 7 | 26 | 10 | 0 | 16 | 23 | 16 | 48 | 33.3% | 10 | 32 | 31.3% | 18 | 26 | 69.2% |
| 2000 | 24 | 6 | 141 | 52 | 16 | 9 | 2 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 10 | 17 | 35 | 48.6% | 5 | 13 | 38.5% | 13 | 14 | 92.9% | Total | 24 | 623 | 193 | 77 | 85 | 16 | 61 | 25 | 0 | 48 | 52 | 60 | 145 | 41% | 20 | 72 | 28% | 53 | 74 | 72% |
FIBA PER GAME STATISTICS
| YEAR | AGE | GP | MINS | PTS | REB | AST | OR | DR | STL | BLK | TO | PF | FGM | FGA | FG% | 3PM | 3PA | 3P% | FTM | FTA | FT% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 30 | 3 | 22.0 | 8.3 | 2.3 | 2.7 | 0.3 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 7.3 | 40.9% | 0.7 | 3.3 | 20.0% | 1.7 | 3.0 | 55.6% |
| 2004 | 28 | 6 | 30.3 | 9.3 | 3.5 | 4.5 | 1.0 | 2.5 | 1.2 | 0.0 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 3.0 | 6.7 | 45.0% | 0.5 | 2.8 | 17.6% | 2.8 | 4.2 | 68.0% |
| 2002 | 26 | 9 | 26.0 | 6.7 | 3.7 | 4.6 | 0.8 | 2.9 | 1.1 | 0.0 | 1.8 | 2.6 | 1.8 | 5.3 | 33.3% | 1.1 | 3.6 | 31.3% | 2.0 | 2.9 | 69.2% |
| 2000 | 24 | 6 | 23.5 | 8.7 | 2.7 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 2.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 2.2 | 1.7 | 2.8 | 5.8 | 48.6% | 0.8 | 2.2 | 38.5% | 2.2 | 2.3 | 92.9% | Total | 24 | 26.0 | 8.0 | 3.2 | 3.5 | 0.7 | 2.5 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.2 | 2.5 | 6.0 | 41% | 0.8 | 3.0 | 28% | 2.2 | 3.1 | 72% |
INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE
- New Zealand - Otago Nuggets (1993–1996, 2003, 2012–2014), Wellington Saints (1998, 2002), North Harbour Kings (2000), Southland Sharks (2011) | Turkey - Fenerbahçe (2002–2004), Erdemirspor (2004–2005), Mutlu Akü Selçuk Üniversitesi (2008) | Belgium - Telindus Oostende (2003–2004) | Russia - Lokomotiv Rostov (2005–2006) | Poland - Anwil Włocławek (2006–2007) | Greece - Maroussi (2007), Trikala 2000 (2009–2010) | Germany - Brose Baskets Bamberg (2007–2008)
Dickel joined the Otago Nuggets for the 1993 New Zealand NBL season, playing his first season in New Zealand before going on to spend four straight seasons with the club from 1993–1996.
In 1998, during the northern-hemisphere off-season, Dickel suited up for the Wellington Saints in New Zealand while on his US college summer break.
After returning home in 2000, Dickel joined the North Harbour Kings for the final two games of the 2000 New Zealand NBL season before later returning to the Wellington Saints for the 2002 New Zealand NBL season.
Dickel moved to Turkey for the 2002–03 Turkish Basketball League season with Fenerbahçe, leading the league in assists at 5.6 per game and finishing as the competition’s assists leader on season summaries listed at 5.7 per game.
During the European off-season in 2003, Dickel returned to New Zealand for a second stint with the Otago Nuggets, then signed with Telindus Oostende in Belgium for the 2003–04 season before leaving the club in December 2003.
Dickel re-joined Fenerbahçe in January 2004 for the remainder of the 2003–04 season, and one noted highlight from his time in Istanbul was a triple-double against Galatasaray in the 2002–03 season with 16 points, 13 rebounds, and 11 assists.
In mid-2004, Dickel returned to Turkey with Erdemirspor for the 2004–05 season and averaged 19.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 8.7 assists in 24 games, a season in which he led the Turkish league in assists.
In 2005, Dickel signed a two-year deal with Lokomotiv Rostov in Russia, but in August 2006 he returned a positive drug test for cannabis and received a two-match suspension from Basketball New Zealand plus an additional 10-day suspension from FIBA, with the situation contributing to Lokomotiv terminating the second year of his contract.
In September 2006, Dickel signed with Anwil Włocławek in Poland for the 2006–07 season, leaving in January 2007 to join Maroussi in Greece, where he was forced out after one game due to a season-ending back injury.
In July 2007, Dickel signed with reigning German champions Brose Baskets Bamberg, and after leaving in January 2008 following the end of the club’s EuroLeague campaign he returned to Turkey for the rest of the 2007–08 season with Mutlu Akü Selçuk Üniversitesi.
In January 2009, Dickel joined Trikala 2000 in Greece for the rest of the 2008–09 season and averaged 7.1 points per game across 14 appearances as the club avoided relegation, then re-signed in December 2009 for the remainder of the 2009–10 season.
In November 2010, Dickel signed with the Southland Sharks for the 2011 New Zealand NBL season, playing under his brother Richard as head coach.
Dickel signed a two-year deal with the Otago Nuggets in September 2011, adding the role of Basketball Otago’s director of development, and in 2013 he averaged 8.1 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 7.8 assists across 17 games while leading the New Zealand NBL in assists as the league’s Assist Champion at 9.1 assists per game.
In 2014, Dickel was appointed player-coach of the Nuggets and averaged 13.7 points and 6.4 rebounds while leading the league in assists again at 8.7 assists per game.
COLLEGE
Dickel played college basketball at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas from 1996 to 2000, tying for the team lead in assists his freshman year of 1996/97 and leading the team in that category in his remaining three seasons.
Dickel suited up for UNLV during the 1996–97 season, when the Rebels went 22–10 under head coach Bill Bayno, and as a freshman he averaged 5.1 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game while sharing the team lead in assists.
In the 1997–98 season, UNLV finished 20–13 (7–7 in WAC play) and won the WAC tournament to reach the NCAA tournament for the program’s first appearance since 1991, and Dickel averaged 5.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game while earning recognition that included All-WAC Tournament honours.
As a junior in 1998–99, Dickel appeared in 33 games and posted 6.5 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 6.6 assists per game, with UNLV finishing 16–13 and taking the WAC regular-season title, while his career-high 183 assists that season made him the team leader in the category and pushed his two-season point-guard stretch to 65 games with 306 total assists and a 42–23 team record in those first two years running the position.
Dickel’s senior year of 1999–2000 became his most productive campaign, as he played all 31 games and totaled 402 points (13.0 per game) while producing 280 assists (9.0 per game) to lead NCAA Division I men’s basketball in assists per game, along with 123 rebounds (4.0 per game), 53 steals (1.7 per game), 51 made three-pointers on 138 attempts (37.0%), and 109 made free throws on 141 attempts (77.3%) in 1,135 minutes (36.6 per game).
During the 2000 Mountain West Conference tournament run, Dickel was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player after averaging 13.3 points and 11.3 assists across three games, highlighted by a career-high 18 assists in a 97–92 win over Wyoming on March 10, 2000, and he was later named an Associated Press All-America honorable mention selection that same month.
Across his four seasons at UNLV, Dickel appeared in postseason play every year (two NIT appearances and two NCAA tournament appearances), finished his Rebels career with 945 total points, 776 total assists (third on the school’s all-time list), and 161 steals (sixth in school history), while UNLV’s 1999–2000 team went 23–8, won both the Mountain West regular-season and tournament championships, and advanced to the NCAA tournament as a No. 10 seed before losing in the first round.
AWARDS
- Eurocup All-Star (2006)
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Turkish League assists leader (2005)
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NZNBL All-Star Five (2002)
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2× NZNBL assist champion (1998, 2014)
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NZNBL Rookie of the Year (1993)
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Second-team All-Mountain West (2000)
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WAC Pacific Division Freshman of the Year (1997)
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NCAA season assists leader (2000)
COACHING HISTORY
Upon retirement Dickel moved into coaching. Dickel was the head coach of the Albanian national team from 2010 to 2011.
On 15 August 2014, Dickel was named the head coach of the Canterbury Rams, effectively ending his 21-year playing career after signing a two-year deal with the club. He acted as coach from 2015-2018. He then worked as a team consultant of the TNT KaTropa of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) from 2018-2020.
In January 2020, Dickel was named interim coach of the Philippine national team for the first window of the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers.
Related
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