istanbul/fez - tied game at half .. ammar saymeh gets fouled with like a second left behind the 3 at which the game was tied .. hit 1 of 3 free throws .. fez no time for a good shot

bukhara/jeddah - a good game throughout .. bukhara made a bunch of comebacks .. but isaiah held it down at the end along with the rest of jeddah

jerusalem/alexandria -

granada/cordoba - no ahmad hassan for the first 5 minutes .. granada is up 10 points .. ahmad hassan comes in and as usually shoots lights out .. BUTTTTTTTTTTT huge props to the rest of cordoba squad .. ahmad dished the ball left and right and cordoba was hitting every single shot .. farhad came up big at the end to give granada a chance
*** side note .. PARTICIPATION POINTS people !!! granada started the game down 3 .. lost by 2

cairo/kabul - kabul had this game locked up .. chris diaz was hitting his shots .. cairo was down big time .. but they chipped away and at the end, tied up the game .. kabul players fouled out leaving them playing 4 on 5 in OT

baghdad/medina -

Points were big in each game:
1. Alexandria started down 0-3 because of a shirt violation. Down 5-7 late instead of 2-4 made a huge difference.
2. Fez had a shirt violation and started down 0-3. Lost 49-48.
3. Granafa started down 0-3 for participation points, lost 81-79.
4. Kabul started down 0-3 for participation points, lost in OT.
5. Bukhara started down 0-6 for participation points, only lost by 9.

Alexandria/Jerusalem: Alexandria only had 5 players show up (pg wasn't feeling good should be banned from the league imo, Karim got married - Congrats buddy) and were down early 19-10. Used their timeouts early and often because expended a lot of energy keeping pace. Alexandria slowed down the game and it was a gritty game, with Jeruslam leading by like 5-6 points most of the way. Andre had a nice game, pulling up short of the basket several times and making little 5 foot jumpers. Jerusalem was never really threatened in the last 2 minutes. Again, alexandria wasnt patient on the offensive end, with guys trying to dribble penetrate through the zone instead of pass around and through it for the open shot. More patience/discipline and smarter offense coudlve led to a different outcome.

Also, Jerusalem cant rebound. Jerusalem sucks, Alexandria just sucks worse When does winterball start?

Fez/Istanbul: Aymen had a huge game for Istanbul. Whenever they needed a big basket he seemed to get it. It was a back and forth game, nailbiting. Laraib had a bunch of 3s, but Fez consistently ignored Alat in a game where he was being guarded in the zone by someone 7 inches shorter than him. He was begging for the ball, he would get looked at and next thing you know another 3-pointer was in the air. If Fez got him involved the outcome of this game wouldve been different. Fez was up late, with a couple of chances to seal it at the line, but missed several free throws. Istanbul tied it late at 48. Fez came up with nothing on the other end and Istanbul had one more chance late. Missed shot, with the ball heading out of bounds aymen saved it, Ammar was bear-hugged in a hectic few seconds, the ref had no choice but to call a foul. Made 1 of 3. Fez didnt get a shot off with the final 1.2 seconds. Istanbul out-hustled Fez in the last minute for the victory. Conclusion: Istanbul sucks, Fez just sucks worse.

Edited by user Monday, July 26, 2010 7:29:46 AM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

All year Cordoba has been criticized for not being able to finish off games and blowing it in the final minutes, but when it mattered most so far they came up big against Granada. Everyone for Cordoba who was on the court in those final minutes stepped up and did what they needed to win that game. Three very memorable moments for those who missed it "The Steal" Akbar got a huge steal at midcourt took it to the basket for an easy lay in, "The Shot" Adam got the ball downlow and hit a big shot over the bigger granda bigs off the glass, and "The Dance" Ahmad Hassan showed off his moves at center court after the big win to cap off a huge upset.

Much respect to Cordoba. All their players stepped up for the big upset. You guys wanted it more than we did. Good luck the rest of the way.

JAK, thanks a lot bro. It really could have gone either way. You were really clutch at the free throw line, too, I don't even know if you missed one.