If healthy, Saad confident Qatar will play better in February Qualifiers

DOHA (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifiers) - Qatar dropped their first two games in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifiers, but leading scorer Abdulrahman Saad believes Qatar will be much better in the next two games - as long as the team is healthy.

Qatar lost their home Qualifier against Kazakhstan 82-70 and then were beaten 65-39 at Iran. But new head coach Tim Lewis was missing three leading players in November.

Mansour El-Hadary, Mohamed Mohamed and Yehia Abdelhaleem all missed both games. They were Qatar's third, fourth and sixth-best scorers, respectively, at the FIBA Asia Cup 2017 - making up 23.7 points. El-Hadaray was Qatar's top point guard at 3.7 assists while Mohamed averaged 2.3 assists a game. And Abdelhaleem is a 21-year-old 6ft 9in (2.05m) power forward.

"We had a new coach and at the same time a lot of injuries to key players. Therefore it was difficult for coach Lewis to prepare the team the way he was planning since he was missing important players," said Saad, who averaged 19.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.0 steals in the November Qualifiers.

While the results were not what Saad and Qatar wanted, the 21-year-old guard really enjoyed the game against Kazakhstan because it was played in his home city of Doha.

"It was unbelievable feeling playing at home. Fans of all people in Qatar supported us, and the whole atmosphere was excellent," said Saad, who plays his club basketball with Al Gharafa in Qatar. "It felt so nice to play at home. I hope in the next two games we will reward them with victories."

The 6ft 1in (185m) guard also really values the new Competition System.

"It is exciting for everyone to play home and away. So you have the home-court advantage and we give to the fans the opportunity to connect with our national team," Saad said. "I understand that it can be hard for the teams to get together, but the gains for all are huge."

Saad, who has played at two FIBA Asia Cups, also believes the Qualifiers will help Qatar continue to develop its basketball.

Qatar playing in front of their home fans at the Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiyah Arena in Doha.

"It will inspire a lot of young kids to see the national team on the court," he said. "I am sure that the local players will find the motivation needed to continue playing basketball and even try to become better."

One result of the injuries was the Qatari team giving more young players a chance to play. Saad was one of five players 23 years or younger, including 17-year-old Raslan Al-Abdulla. At the same time, there were also four players 33 years or older.

"The veterans are supporting us the best way and leading us. I believe that in the next two years, the new generation of Qatar basketball will continue on the same road and we will add our own mark to the country’s basketball legacy," Saad said.

Abdulrahman Saad playing at the FIBA Asia Cup 2017.

Next up for Saad and Qatar in February are two road Qualifiers, playing against Iraq and at Kazakhstan. And Saad thinks that Qatar will be much better if they have some of those injured players back.

"I believe that we will see our real level in the next games, and I am sure we will do much better. First of all, though, we need to get back all of our players healthy," Saad said.

FIBA