Director of National Basketball Teams, Rashed Al-Naqbi, stated that the unprecedented achievement of the team in winning the silver medal at the 'Dubai International' tournament, which concluded the day before yesterday, represents a fundamental pillar to build upon in the plan to rebuild 'Al-Abiyad' (the national team) with the aim of returning Emirati basketball to Asian tournaments. The national team, despite losing the final match to the Tunisian 'Etoile Sportive du Sahel' (ESS) with a score of (77-93) the day before yesterday, achieved the best result in its history in 'Basketball Dubai', surpassing the bronze medal it won last year. Al-Naqbi told 'Emirates Today': 'The upward trajectory of the team, its consecutive winning streak, and reaching the final for the first time in its history at the Dubai tournament, provide a clear picture of the experience gained by the young players that 'Al-Abiyad' includes. This represents the fundamental pillar in the plan to rebuild the team towards returning Emirati basketball to its natural place in Asia.' He explained: 'The awarding of the team's players, Hamad Abdul Latif, as the best young player, and Saif Hamad (19 years old) as the best emerging talent, along with players under the age of 25, made the team one of the youngest in 'Basketball Dubai' in terms of average age. This is a positive indicator of the level of experience gained and the strength of the matches these players played, continuing the development journey.' He continued: 'From a technical perspective, looking at the final match the team played in the absence of Mahmoud Al-Sawan and Khalifa Khalil, we notice that ESS decided the match in the first quarter, which ended in favor of the Tunisians (37-19), indicating a gap in experience, especially since 'Al-Abiyad' managed to tie the scores in the second and third quarters (22-22 and 17-17) and stand firm against the physical strength of ESS, before the team managed to gain a slight advantage in the fourth quarter (19-17).' Regarding the experience of foreign professionals in the team, with the presence of the American trio from Al-Ahli, Al-Bataeh, and Al-Wasl—Dishawn Washington, Anthony Criswell, and Scottie Chavie—Al-Naqbi said: 'The primary goal of their participation is to rest the national players, especially those recently returning from injury. This is an experience that will be evaluated and placed on the federation's table to benefit from the rules of the International Federation to naturalize an additional player within the team's roster, alongside our current player De'Marco Dickerason. This provides additional options that can save us from minor technical details in the future, in addition to recurring injuries that deprived 'Al-Abiyad' last November from returning to the top tier of Asian competitions within the first classification level that qualifies for Asian tournaments and a chance to qualify for the World Cup.'
