Muslim Basketball's back for another exciting season! Last year we saw amazing talent week by week as the top players in the division played their hearts out trying to lead their teams to glory. These players went the extra mile for their team and without them on the court their teams would fall in shambles. The effect they have on the court can be seen through both what does and does not show up on the stat sheets; it's the little things they do that help fuel the fire of their teams. Through their leadership and great play, week in and week out, they hope to do everything in their power to elevate their teams to the next level. These aren't any ordinary players, these are MVP caliber type of players. Welcome to this week's edition of the KP MVP Ladder.
1. Omar Abbassi, Islamabad
Another week, another win for big O and co blowing out a much weaker Kabul squad. Islamabad's had the majority of their games at 8am this season so not many people have been able to see them in action, but as a fan of great team ball I advise you all to take some time and come a little earlier to the gym to see them in action. If on the other hand you'd rather not wake up that early, you can take a look at their numbers this season as a team and big O's as a player as well. 2nd in assists per game, and 2nd in points allowed per game, it comes down to having a balance of both a defensive and offensive attack. Big O does a little of it all and had himself another solid game finishing with 13 points on close to 50% shooting, 16 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. Islamabad gets a nice test next week against a tough Jakarta team that's on the rise, should be interesting to see if their swift offense gets them past that gritty defense.
Last Week's Ranking: 1
2. Raza Nassim, Mombasa
Not the best game of the season for Raza but nonetheless had himself an okay game and tried to push himself towards a triple double. It's one thing to score but when your shots not falling, the smaller things you do on the court help your team to victory. No one's going to shoot an amazing field goal percentage every game, and the realization of that and doing whatever you can to help your team be successful is just as important. He finished with 9 points, 6 boards, 7 assists, and 2 steals this week, not horrible but he'll get back to scoring double digits next week. In the meantime he has a young stud Yousef who's making a case for himself as offensive player of the year.
Last Week's Ranking: 3
3. Mohamed Amin, Sana'a
Not going to talk about what happened in this game, I'll leave that for the power rankings writer to discuss but man this game should've been a gimmy. Credit to Cairo for playing with heart and giving Sana'a all they got. Mo was outplayed by big man Zain Abdeen this week finishing with 10 points and 8 boards. These types of games happen though and no one is immune to them, it's just a matter of the team as a whole limiting their turnovers more and learning to take advantage of the proper matchups. He'll bounce back and I'm absolutely sure Sana'a will look fiercer than ever using this "win" as motivation moving forward.
Last Week's Ranking: 2
4. Rameez Khizer, Sarajevo
What a thriller this game was, down 3 one moment and then somehow winning the game on a 3 point buzzer beater at the horn. Crazy sequence of events and a 6 point swing that lead to a Sarajevo win in dramatic fashion! Rameez finished this game with 32 points on 56% shooting from the field, 11 boards, 5 assists, and 2 steals. Leonard Lee and himself have been balling out this season and this team should have way more than 3 wins at this point in the season. It took them some time to figure things out but they're riding a 3 game win streak now and getting hot at the right time. Rameez, Leonard, and co have a huge test in front of them this Saturday as they take on the two time defending champs. I'd love to see how they perform against Dhaka's defense that's coming off a terrible performance.
Last Week's Ranking: N/A
5. Jawad Tamimi, Jakarta
This one might seem out of left field knowing Mujtaba has been "the guy" on this team but boy has Jawad stepped up big time this season. Mujtaba's obviously an MVP candidate himself but Jawad has been fantastic for Jakarta this season. He finished this week with 19 points on close to 50% shooting, 8 boards, and 9 steals. Yes, you read that right, he almost had a triple double with steals being one of the categories. He's averaging a career high in poiints rebounds, and steals through 7 games. Absolutely a top 3 defensive player in the league Jawad plays every minute of the game like it's his last putting it all out there. Jakarta looks like they've figured things out and with Mujtaba and Jawad leading the front they're in great hands as we inch closer to the playoffs.
Last Week's Ranking: N/A
Next Five Up?
Leonard Lee, Sarajevo; Yousef Shahsamand, Mombasa; Omar Qasem, Granada; Joe Pipitone, Tehran; Edriss Froogh, Fez
Next Up:
Jaber Jaber, Mecca: Prayers out to Anas Zubi for a speedy recovery!! With the alpha out in Mecca it's time for someone to step up; big bro Malik has been doing a lot of the scoring for Mecca but they'll need someone to facilitate and draw defenses off their shooters if they have any shot of making it back to the finals. Jaber seems to have been playing the role of facilitator pretty well averaging close to 6 assists a game (career high) thus far through 7 games. Taking away that 20+ ppg average without Anas means the scoring slack needs to be picked up and Jaber did just that going off for 34 poitns on 50% shooting, 8 boards, 5 assists, 4 steals, and 2 blocks. Can Jaber and Malik salvage this Mecca season with newcomer Marwan tagging along? Only time will tell.
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