Breaking down the Qatar National Basketball Team

Breaking down the Qatar National Basketball Team

by rick olivares

Roster

4 Mansour Elhadary PG

5 Jarvis Hayes SG/SF

6 Saad Abdulrahman Ali SG

7 Daoud Musa Daoud PG/SG

8 Khalid Suliman Abdi F

9 Ali Turki Ali F

10 Yasseen Musa F

11 Erfan Saeed F

12 Mohammed Seleem Abdulla C

13 Mohd Yousuf Mohammed C

14 Malek Salem Abdulla SG

15 Baker Ahmad Mohammed F

Coach Tom Wisman

Assistant Coach Bashir Yusuf Mohamed

Record thus far in the 2013 FIBA Asia Championships 3-0

Record vs. the Philippines in FIBA play: 3-0

Key Player stats:

El Hadary – 7.0 points, 1.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists

Hayes – 16.6 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists

Daoud – 13.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 2.6 turonovers

Musa – 8.0 points, 8.6 rebounds, 3.0 assists

Saeed – 10.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.0 assist

 

Looking at Qatar: So far they’ve defeated Japan, Hong Kong, and Jordan. Save for Japan, the others were relatively easy matches for them.

They’ve played only three matches and are relatively fresher than other squads. That’s going to help those veterans of their who have logged a lot of mileage.

Offense: They like to jack up a lot of threes and outside shots. Forty-five of their team’s 79.0 points come from the perimeter. But they like to move the ball around and look for the open man.

They aren’t really a team that likes to pound the ball inside or to attack the interior.

When they have the opportunity, they like to overpower their opponents with their athleticism and their size.

Daoud is their primary ball hander but I don’t think he’s been tested. I’d like to see how they handle the press. But Daoud has good court sense and is a very good leader for this team.

Musa is another veteran who is smart and doesn’t make too many mistakes. He can whip that ball around when he posts opponents up.

They don’t really like a fast-paced game as they prefer the halfcourt game.

Defense: I find them slow on rotations and have particular trouble guarding the pick and roll. They aren’t also great in defending the perimeter. They get confused when opposing teams try to run them through screens. Smart teams like Korea and Chinese Taipei can pick them apart if they aren’t careful.

They don’t box out well nor do they communicate well on defense.

How should the Philippines play Qatar?

The Philippines has to key in on Qatar defensively. Press. Harass the ball carriers and prevent the inside pass to Musa or Saeed. They look to pass first for the outside shot before pounding it inside.

Offensively, confuse them with those screens as they don’t switch particularly well. Attack them at every opportunity rather than settle for the outside shot.

Run at them every chance.

I know we haven’t beaten them in three tries but I think what we have here is an opportunity to make a statement game.

Gabe Norwood on Qatar: We will take our time and really concentrate on tape. This team is different than last year’s team since they now have a wing naturalized player. We need to find a way to limit Jarvis Hayes. And rebounding will also be key with their height advantage.