The 66-year-old moved to Australia in 2007 with wife Sharon but the couple are in Dunedin on holiday until Sunday and watched the Nuggets dispatch the Taranaki Mountain Airs and Southland Sharks last weekend.
Dickel's son, Mark, captains the side but Dickel senior would stayed tuned regardless. He coached the side from 1994 to 1997 and led the Nuggets into the playoffs in 1995 and 1997.
He is biased, of course. Like all dads, he is immensely proud of his son. But equally, Dickel knows basketball and believes the Nuggets are capable of doing more than reaching the playoffs - they could win it.
''They are going to be very hard to beat,'' Dickel said.
''They are a team that has all the bases covered. They have specialists in every position and most other teams don't have that.
''And they are all better-than-adequate defenders and that is the key thing. They are not allowing teams to score enough points for them to win.''
Better than adequate is an understatement. The Nuggets concede fewer points (74.9) than any other team while scoring a league-high 97.4 points.
It is an intoxicating mix of uncompromising defence and sparkling offence which has seen the team make a perfect start to the season with seven consecutive wins.
From what Dickel has seen - he has watched two games live and also caught the Nuggets' win over the Hawks on the internet - this team compares favourably with the teams he coached.
''We always struggled for depth. This team has some depth. Even without Hayden [Allen] they still won in the weekend relatively easily. That just shows they have depth with the likes of young [Riki] Buckrell, [James] Ross and Luke Aston.
''Aston played really well in the win against the Hawks and contributed really positively. Getting guys to do that is just absolutely key to you having a successful run and a successful season.''
The Nuggets will seek to keep their winning streak alive when they host the Hawks in the return match at the Edgar Centre tonight. They won the earlier fixture 81-74 but the Hawks will be desperate. They will still be stinging from a shock loss to the Super City Rangers and need to start winning if they are going to feature in the post-season.
The Hawks are led by former Tall Blacks coach Tab Baldwin, who told the Otago Daily Times earlier this week his side needed to match the Nuggets' physicality.
Dickel read the comments and wondered whether Baldwin was entering into a bit of gamesmanship - perhaps trying to influence the referees before tip-off and even get a few more foul calls going his team's way.
''Tab knows they read the papers. I think that could have been a little message to the referees. You know: the Nuggets foul a lot. From what I saw ... the Hawks got away with a lot more fouls.''
While Dickel is optimistic about the season, he is also a little cautious.
''You can't get ahead of yourself. It is an easy sport if you just play it a possession at a time.
''The Nuggets have hit the court running and at this time of the year are in better shape than anyone else. But some of the other teams are going to get better. You are always going to have some tough games but that is why defence is so important.
''The first half is kids' stuff. Anyone can play in the first half, but the Nuggets have had really good third quarters. The key thing is consistency and that is what they have been. Barring injuries, I can't see any reason why they won't be in every game.''
Nuggets v Hawks
Edgar Centre, tonight 7pm
Nuggets: Antoine Tisby, BJ Anthony, Akeem Wright, Hayden Allen, Mark Dickel (captain), Brendon Polyblank, Riki Buckrell, James Ross, Matt Trueman, Luke Aston, Hayden Miller, Tony Fisher.
Hawks: Darko Cohadarevic, Brian Greene, Paora Winitana, Everard Bartlett, Aidan Daily, Dion Prewster, Sam Walker, Alonzo Burton, Ezra Nikora, Matt Wilson.
