Muslim Basketball

The defending champs took care of business, in what was a much less competitive game than anticipated. Fahad led them with 20 points, Ameer added 15 points and 11 boards, while Salman continued to do his thing down low, grabbing 19 rebounds. Quiet game for Farzad, but when he gets hot and if he can get this kind of offensive help going forward…yikes. They will take on a Tehran squad next week – this one could get ugly in a hurry. Let the league be warned yet again, Dhaka is still the team to beat and they are distancing themselves from the rest of the herd. 

Found a way to survive an ugly game against Jakarta. In what was a poor display of offense (okay, we’ll call it a defensive slugfest), Lahore struggled to get any rhythm on offense. Anwar, Waqas, and Bilal want to run, but they found it challenging against Jakarta’s stingy defense. Lahore should walk away from this game with some added confidence – taking down the Omar brothers in a scrappy game is no easy feat.

They beat a team they’re supposed to beat, but did so emphatically. Newcomer Mohammad Amin poured in 17 and had an impressive double-double. Abdul-Rahman joined the double-double party with 10 and 14 of his own and Raied added a less-than-efficient 12 points. We only saw a glimpse of this team’s full potential on display today, yet they disposed of Fez in less than a half of play. Led by Mo Amin, Sana’a will be a handful for any team to play.

Tough to play 4 on 5, very tough to do so against a good team, impossible to do so against the defending champs. Despite a resilient effort from Raza, Mombasa literally did not have enough to challenge Dhaka. Cannot knock them too much, hopefully their attendance and shooting percentage increase moving forward.

Balanced offensive performance for the young guns, they were held in check by Tehran, but did enough to get the win. Jawad will average much more than 11 and Omar Mana seems to be establishing himself as one of the better big men in the league. They’ll be in for a challenge next week as they take on Mo Amin and Sana’a, look for Jawad to establish his defensive presence against one of the best offensive players – should be a fun one.

Difficult loss to a solid Istanbul team, but an understandable one without their horse Anas Zubi. Malik tried to overcome his brother’s absence, dropping 17, but their inability to put the game away in double OT left the door open for Istanbul and they were able to make Mecca pay. They play a tough Alexandria squad next week and will likely need to tighten up their defense.

If you told me that Lahore was only going to score 34, I would’ve put everything and the kitchen sink on Jakarta winning this game. The Omar brothers combined for 20 points, but that was all she wrote for their offense. Islam and Ramzy struggled to get anything going, but their defensive intensity gave Lahore fits. They’ll have a chance next week against Damascus to get their first win, but 26 points will not cut it in this league.

Took every second for Granada to sneak out a win against a team they should have been able to put away early. We’ll give them a pass to start, as they have a couple new faces and were missing Shadi. Rough game for Omar Singer, who struggled for most of the first 35 minutes, but had two cold blooded buckets with under a minute left. Omar Qasem was able to win it on two clutch free throws with just a few ticks remaining. The bigs will have to do more if Granada as any hopes of going to the promise land – the return of Shadi should help them significantly. They’ll be tested by a solid Baghdad team next

Sneaked out of a close game with a win. Not much was clicking offensively, they struggled from 3, but a solid performance from their captain got the job done. A team that often relies on their offense to win games, but were able to overcome poor shooting with exceptional defense. They will need to maintain that defensive intensity to have a chance against Mecca next week and they will also need to hit some more shots.

Terrific game from Istanbul, they found a way to beat Mecca not only by slowing them down, but by outshooting them. Did not think they would be able to score after the departure of Ammar, but Adam picked up the slack and poured in 18. Muhammad Turan brought the toughness he always does, grabbing 11 rebounds and adding 7 points. They beat a Mecca team minus Anas Zubi, nonetheless, Mecca is a respectable squad sans Anas. They have a favorable matchup against Suba next week, a solid win could strengthen the optimism surrounding this team.

Outside of Muhannad and Zak, they struggled to string together points. Going forward they will need much more from their big man Omar Khalef – 5 rebounds will not cut it. It was clear that both Muhannad and Zak can turn up and get hot in any game, but they will need at least one more guy to step up and contribute. Solid defensive play in the loss to Alexandria, keeping the Mahdi brothers in check with only 11 points combined and just a single made 3 pointer.

Saw a lot of good things from Suba in their matchup against Granada. If it wasn’t for an unfortunate final minute, they would have pulled off an early season upset. Anand Parikh challenged Granada’s perimeter defense while their frontcourt gave Granada’s big men all they could handle. Out rebounded and out shot Granada, but their ultimate demise was their inability to end the game without fouling.

Okay young fellas...Damascus put the league on notice, warning their opponents that they will not be a cakewalk. Muhannad Darwish dominated the paint and Hosam Karkis showed off some of his scoring and dishing ability. They have a very difficult game next week against an experienced and disciplined Jakarta team, who will be motivated to get their first win of the season.

Unfortunate loss in a close game. Mark Oliver displayed his scoring prowess, leading Kazan with 20 points. Got out rebounded and could not capitalize on a +10 turnover margin. Frank Ozoria shot a low percentage, as did the rest of the team. If they can find a way to score some more points off of the turnovers they force, they can become more dangerous. For now, they are a bottom third team. Fortunately for them, they have a chance to quickly rise with a matchup against Lahore lurking.

Offense was poor and sloppy. Not much to say other than that they need to find a way to score and hold on to the ball. It’s tough to beat any team while committing almost 20 turnovers. Extremely tough matchup against Dhaka next week, if they struggle to click for a second straight week, they will get steamrolled.

Captain Ed was not able to attend, but I doubt he would have been able cover up his teams faults. They struggled to get anything going on offense as they were held to the second lowest point total of any team in week 1. Ed’s squad will take on Mombasa in a battle of brothers. Ed might have a bigger impact than his brother Weiss in this matchup, but he will need plenty of help to take down a hungry Mombasa team.