DOHA, Qatar (QBF Men’s League): Brian Rowsom is a man on a mission. Having taken over the reins of Al Rayyan just days before the last year’s 23rd FIBA Asia Champions Cup in Manila and taken them to a bronze medal finish, the 46-year-old is back at the helm of the Qatar champions as the team went on a rampage to finish the first round of the 2011-12 QBF Men’s League winning all the seven games.

“We all should very humble and focused on the task at hand, that is to win the the league Championship,” Rowsom told this website as Rayyan prepared for the all important second round of games scheduled to start on Saturday.

Excerpts

FIBA Asia: Take us through the season so far for Al Rayyan.

Rowsom: So far, we are playing very well as a team on offense and defense which makes us more effective. We have good team chemistry! I still believe that we can get better moving into the 2nd round also, so we have to keep working hard.

FIBA Asia: What is the one point you are very impressed about the team this season?

Rowsom: The most impressive point that I see thus far is our defense! We are making it very difficult for teams to score and in basketball if you can contain your opponents from scoring then you will always have a chance to win games.

FIBA Asia: What is the one point that you are disappointed with? Let’s say you think the team needs more to work on.

Rowsom: The one thing I am most disappointed in is our inconsistency sometimes on offense. We play good for a few minutes and then other times we have difficulty in scoring or moving the ball around enough to the proper player. This is something we are working on constantly in the practices now.

FIBA Asia: You have an almost unchanged team, including the foreigner, from last year. Is that a reason why the team looks well settled?

Rowsom: I wanted to keep our team together for this season so that we could develop better team chemistry than other clubs. It is very important that players know each other and what they can do. And the only way to do this is to play together a lot. I thought this was a very important point for us to be successful for this season.

FIBA Asia: Any other comments?

Rowsom: My only comment would be that we have a healthy and prosperous 2nd round of the league and that we all remain very humble and focused on the task at hand which is hopefully winning the league Championship Inshallah!

S Mageshwaran / FIBA Asia