Muslim Basketball

A season that started with some defensive promise, ended in Alexandria like fashion - 88 points given up. In this league, 60 points has to get you a win - when you average 63 but give up 61, you’re playing with fire. New comers Bernie and Ahmad provided more balance to a team that heavily relied on 3 point shooting, making them much harder to defend - they have a handful of guys averaging double digits. Very interesting looking at some of their game scores: losses when scoring 61 and a season high of 75, losing a game 46-47, and another loss putting up 63. They need to play more complementary basketball if they want to win games this postseason - it cannot be all offense or just defense.

Big game from Bernie, but overall, they didn’t look like they were flowing too well. There was a lot of individual basketball and if it wasn’t for a weaker opponent, this may not have ended in their favor. They look like they have not yet meshed, even after some terrific games earlier in the year - this may just be an anomaly, but this win was not confidence building.

Tough, tough loss. Straight up heartbreaking. Mahdi had the chance to ice it with an open layup or just dribble the clock out, instead he blows the layup. The rest of the story can be seen further down the rankings. Bright spot though, they were very balanced scoring the ball, but wow they are really turning into Alexandria of the past - chuck up shots and don’t play defense. Hasn’t worked before, no chance it will work now.

Bernie looks like he’s back to his early season form, but Alexandria could do enough to stop the combination of Raza and Yousef. I though that this should be a winnable game for them as Mombasa was playing without Weiss. Alexandria is a solid team, but in their two losses, they could not stop their opponents without fouling. Against Granada and Mombasa, their opponents shot 18 and 16 free throws, respectively. They seem to struggle guarding players who can both shoot from anywhere on the court and get to the rim without fouling - see Yousef, Anwar, and Omar Qasem’s FT attempts. Even in games they have won, they give up big performances to great players and win by outscoring them - I am not too sure how sustainable that is.

Besides a hiccup two weeks ago against Granada, they’ve been cruising. These dudes can score, they find ways to defend, their guards rebound well, and Mohammad Masri strokes the three ball. Huge game against Mombasa lurking, that will show exactly what this team is about. They’ll need to be successful on both ends of the court, they’ll need to keep Mombasa’s bigs off the boards, and on top of that, they’ll need to contain Raza in transition - Should be a heck of a game!

After taking the league by storm, the Bernie for MVP chatter has been silenced. After a less than spectacular game against Granada, he was held to a goose egg in their matchup with Riyadh, a team that ranks in the bottom quarter of defensive efficiency. The Masri brothers both had it clicking, combining for 33. Add to Ahmed Odah's 21 and you have a pretty solid scoring combination. Not sure how sustainable their style of play is though, early on they were playing very well on the glass and playing larger than they were, but now, it seems like they resorted back to their three pointer oriented offense. It's great when the ball is passed well and the shots fall, but when they don't, that's when this team is very vulnerable.

Take Ahmad Odeh off the floor and you have an 11-38 shooting day, scoring 26 points. They got after it defensively and Bernie showed off his extreme grit and hustle, but they were plagued with fouling a more aggressive Granada team. Mohammad Masri/Ahmad Odeh almost salvaged it for them, but another foul with less than a second left sealed it. I’d like to see them be more aggressive getting to the hole when shots don’t fall. Mo Masri only shot 3s – even though he can be automatic from within half court, it’s much easier to defend a shooter when he doesn’t even look to drive.

This is the most complete Alexandria team we have seen in the last couple seasons. They score, but they are controlling the glass (maybe not always winning the rebounding battle, but they are in the battle). They move the ball, they move without the ball, they keep possession of the ball, and they go take the ball. They’re a very good team and one that is built to take on bigger and more physical teams. Bernie is an MVP candidate, they’re taking and hitting a lot of 3s, and they aren’t getting utterly dominated by size. Giving up 18 and 17 to a big is not a good look, all those rebounds did not translate to succumbed points. They need to continue to play more physical and get accustomed to winning down low, because the top teams will challenge they there.

For a team with very little emphasis on front court play, Alexandria seems to be at their best when they can keep the opposition off the boards. That starts with making shots – 44% from the field, almost 42% from beyond the arc – very little chance of running on them. Then have your guards rebound the ball effectively – 22 rebounds from the backcourt combination of Ahmad and the Masri brothers. Alexandria will be challenged when they face bigger and more front-court oriented style of play, but if their guards crash the boards and help their ‘big’ out, this may be the season Alexandria gets over the hump. Oh, and getting 22 from Bernie will help open up Mohammad Masri from deep – lethal.