The Turkish coach was hired with an eye on developing a formidable squad for the home World Cup in two years.
Qatar national basketball team head coach Hakan Demir said he expects to continue building on the progress made in recent months, following Qatar’s exit from the FIBA Asia Cup 2025.
“I believe if we look at this journey from eight months ago to today, I believe Qatar basketball and the team have improved,” Demir told FIBA, the sport’s governing body, after bowing out of the tournament. “We will continue our momentum to go up.”
Qatar bowed out of the 16-team competition with three losses, the one against reigning champions Australia on Sunday being the latest after South Korea and Lebanon, the latter being a narrow defeat.
Despite starting strongly, Qatar could not preserve their initial lead of 18-13 against the mighty Aussies and ultimately fell 110-82 at the King Abdullah Sports City.
The initial phase mirrored the fashion in which Demir’s charges had managed to show flashes of control in the previous fixtures.
They came within touching distance of an upset against Lebanon with less than a minute to play, but Karim Zeinoun came clutch to hand the Cedars an 84-80 win.
Demir praised the calibre that his team managed to carry throughout the tournament.
“My team, until the end, showed their character and they kept fighting,” he said. “Every game, we showed our fight and team spirit.”
The Qatar head coach also insisted his side could have fared better had they been pitted in any other group.
“I believe if we [had been] in another group, we would’ve had more chances to qualify,” he added.
It was under Demir’s tutelage that Qatar managed to turn around the woes of the initial fixtures to qualify for the continental tournament for the first time in eight years.
The Turkish coach masterminded a comeback which saw the Maroons finish 4-2 with back-to-back wins, including a one-point win against the tough Iranians.
Among the positives from the Asia Cup will be the performances that Abdulrahman Saad and recently naturalised Brandon Goodwin put on in all three matches.
While Saad sat out against Australia following 15 points in each of the first two fixtures, Goodwin registered 24 points, on par with his per-game average of 25.3 points.
The youngsters, injected into the squad to create a balance between experience and youth, managed to show some promise too, with the likes of Zine Eddin Bedri and Alen Hadzibegovic showing up. Al Rayyan’s 31-year-old guard continued on the premise of his clutch performances in the qualifiers.
The intent, as made clear by Demir in the precursor to the tournament, has hence been to field a stronger, more accomplished side by the time the 2027 FIBA World Cup comes at home.
“We have to keep on improving some young guys, new generations until 2027,” he told FIBA on Sunday.
