Qatar National Basketball Team

Per the recent article below. I am seeking any and all information on the Qatar National Basketball Team. Contact information...website...team ownership anything you can provide. Would be helpful. Thank you!

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Greater focus needed for youth development’
Published: Monday, 9 June, 2008, 02:27 AM Doha Time

Kent Davison (left), the head coach of the Qatar national basketball team is seen with assistant coaches Cliff Levingston (centre) and Chris Westlake
By John Verghese
KENT Davison, the head coach of the Qatar national basketball team believes the country can be a major force in the sport in Asia with greater focus on youth development and lower age-groups.
In an exclusive interview to Gulf Times yesterday, Davison said it is imperative to get more youth and kids involved in the game.
"If we can get more kids to be excited about the sport and have more number of players then selection for the national team would become easier due to a wider talent base," said the American coach on the sidelines of the national team's training camp at the Al Gharafa indoor hall.
"Popularising the game can be achieved by having top stars conducting workshops at schools and at local clubs," said Davison, a former National Basketball Association (NBA) Development League coach with Roanoke Dazzle in Virginia.
"There is a need to identify and develop talent in the under-18 and under-15 age-groups for the country to have a bright future in the sport.
"Having watched players in the Heir Apparent's and Emir's Cup competitions I must say that there are some extremely talented players but for a country to stay ahead of competition there is great need to develop young players who can blend well with their older teammates in international competitions," said the coach, who assumed charge in April this year.
"Al Rayyan did well to complete a double winning the Heir Apparent's and Emir's Cup trophies and so did Al Arabi in emerging victorious in the GCC Clubs Championship," he said.
Davison and his two assistants, Cliff Levingston and Chris Westlake who are currently preparing the national team for their participation in four tournaments in the coming months have a task on hand as Qatar look to revive their fortunes following a dip in performance levels after their second place finish in the 2006 Asian Games in Doha.
After touching a high in the 2006 Games under American coach Joseph Stiebing, where Qatar took the silver after losing to China in the final, the national team finished seventh at the 24th Fiba Asia Championships in Japan last year.
In the ensuing months, the Qatar national team will feature in the William Jones Cup (Taiwan) and King Abdullah tournament (Jordan) in July as well as the GCC Championship in Oman (August) and the Stankovic Cup in Kuwait (October).
"During my stint in Qatar my aim would be to enable the team to qualify for the 2010 World Championships in Turkey and the long term goal of qualifying for the Olympic Games," said Davison, who has coached the likes of Charlotte Bobcats' shooting guard Matt Carroll, Sacramento Kings' forward Mikki Moore and Washington Wizards' power forward Andray Blatche.
"Though last year's results were disappointing, Qatar is definitely a better team. My efforts would be to enable the team to reach their previous levels and also to surpass them.
"After we qualify for the worlds, I would like the team to post a couple of victories rather than just participating in the event," he said, referring to Qatar's previous appearance in the 2006 World Championships in Japan, where they lost all their matches in Group 'C' featuring Greece, Turkey, Lithuania, Australia and Brazil.
"The forthcoming William Jones Cup tournament will help the players to familiarise themselves with the support staff and it will also contribute in developing a cohesive unit," he said.
The coach also termed Qatar internationals Daoud Musa Daoud, Yaseen Ismail, Erfan Ali Saeed, Baker Ahmad and Mohamed Salah as players who will play key roles for the side.
"Size of the players here is a big concern but we need to overcome this with other skills. Identifying and developing quality point guards for the national team will be a priority in the coming months."
The coach has also said that he would select about 16 players at the end of the camp in the last week of June.
"The squad of 16 will help us to split them into two teams and try out various combinations including the chance to try out youngsters alongside their older teammates. This will also give the players sufficient time to recover during competitions which sometimes involve nine games in about 10 days," he explained.
"Levingston's experience as a player in the NBA for 11 years with Detroit Pistons, Atlanta Hawks, Denver Nuggets and his two NBA championship wins with Chicago Bulls as well as his coaching stint in the Continental Basketball Association league and the United States Basketball League is bound to inspire the players," said Davison.
Westlake, the other assistant coach represented the University of Wisconsin in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) competitions.
"We have got a lot of work to do but I am confident of delivering results with help from my support staff."
Gulf Times Newspaper, 2008