Muslim Basketball

Did just enough to finish off a pesky Amman team. I was impressed with their ability to play against Omar Mana, they don’t really have a true big, but they were able to put together a team effort to contain him on the offensive glass. The Masri brothers only combined for 15 points, a figure they often score individually. Jeff carried the offensive load for them, adding 12 points on efficient shooting. They have so many weapons on offense, but it will take efforts such as this one to be able to win games against dominant big men. Big matchup against Sana’a to end the regular season, a win should clinch Alexandria the top seed in the tourney.

Huge game from Ameer, who scored 20+ for the second time in his MB career. They still do not look like the Dhaka of the playoffs last season, but they hit their stride in the postseason. Last spring, they won two straight to end the regular season, then ripped off four in the playoffs to get the crown. Would not be surprised if history repeats itself…

Yes, they dominated a pretty weak team team, but they did so short a man – they played the entire game with just four. Mahmoud Hamdan had a terrific game, dropping a much needed 32 for his squad. If he can play like this when the whole team is there and playing in the playoffs, this team has it all. They are as well rounded as they come, have legitimate scorers in Mahmoud and Adam, and play terrific physical team defense.

In a game where both teams matched up very well, Mombasa showed it still had the champion’s mentality to eek out a close win. They too have an extremely well balanced team – terrific backcourt duo of Sadat and Raza, very strong frontcourt of Weiss and G, and difference making wing players in John and Shawn. They can compete in any sort of gameplay and the experience is there. Raza hit three very clutch 3s to end Sana’a runs and eventually bring Mombasa over the hump. Look for the potential MVP to take a stronghold of this offense and force defenses to really respect his lightning speed and his potent deep shot.

 I hate knocking teams down after winning games, but this game was far too close for too long. Lahore should be good enough to end games against 60% of this league in the first half. Damascus was up by I believe 7 with 11 minutes left to play. If it wasn’t for an untimely cold streak for Damascus, they probably would have won this game. Lahore needs to tighten things up and find ways to exploit other teams’ deficiencies. Besides Anwar, there needs to be more consistently impactful play.

Besides a solid game from Mo and a nice contribution from Salman, there really wasn’t anyone else that made a strong impact. For some reason, it seems like Raied disappears at times. He needs to be more aggressive since he is the primary ball handler and penetrator on this squad. If he plays behind the three point line, it makes it much more difficult for his teammates to get easy buckets, most of which come off of offensive rebounds and dishes when the defense is forced to help. They have a chance to make a loud statement against the top squad next week.

If it wasn’t for a terrific second half, the script may have ended differently. Anas struggled a bit, but his brother was able to give Mecca just enough to beat Tehran. They’ll need a much better game from everyone next week if they want to beat Lahore and clinch a top 7 seed.

At this point, we should just flip a coin to predict how Granada will play. They came out with a purpose and looked like the better team for all forty minutes. Shadi is on a different level, and if he isn’t getting any love out of the MVP Ladder, he is definitely Granada’s most valuable. Good statistical game from Omar Qasem, but the stats don’t show the full picture. Even though Mark finished with 21, he had to work extremely hard to score. Omar did a terrific job denying him and keeping him away from the rim. In the postseason though, Omar Singer will have to step up and match the play of Shadi if Granada has any hopes of making a run. They did themselves no favors by losing some winnable games earlier in the year – they need a win against Jakarta to solidify their playoff positioning.

Offensively, they weren’t as bad as 35% shooting would lead one to believe. They just struggled to defend for the entirety of the game. They should not stop Granada’s transition game, they could not keep Shadi off the boards, and had their pockets picked a few times too much. Their six-game winning streak was snapped, but they can start a fresh one and make a run for the title. They’ll be challenged by a Dhaka squad that does not know how to lose as this time of the year.

They held Dhaka to their third lowest point total of the season, but the lack of offense really killed them. Another game with no double-digit scorer and poor shooting. They gave up 20 points to a solid player in Ameer, but that is entirely too much for a team that prides itself in defending the frontcourt with physicality and strength. They need to find ways to put the ball in the basket or their season may end much earlier than they expected it to.

Hard to beat an offensive powerhouse without your best perimeters defender. Had Jawad been able to play the majority of the game, the outcome may have been different. Moayad had another solid game, albeit less efficiently than he would like. They need to find ways to get Omar Mana more involved offensively, he is far too difficult to defend to be only getting nine shots. I’m taking Amman as my sleeper team in the tourney – Moayad and Jawad are two terrific scorers who are having less than great seasons, but if they can turn it around and get Omar Mana a little more involved, they have a shot to compete against anyone.

Gave Mecca everything it could handle, but came up a hair short. Said and Tayeb had outstanding games and pushed Mecca to the brink. That is what differentiates the contenders from the rest – they find ways to win the games they have a chance of winning. Tehran had a chance and could not capitalize.

Younglings had a chance to upset a very good team, but got cold when it mattered most. Should be taken as a confidence booster and a lesson learned. They can compete against many top teams for short periods of times – when they can sustain that level of play they’ll be viewed much more favorably.

Was not pretty, but a win is a win.

Against four guys? Lucky they had Jason “Brett Favre” Weiss or else this would’ve been much worse.

They’ve been shorthanded, unfortunately. They were competitive earlier in the year, but it has faded.