Muslim Basketball

Man did the top of the standings fall on its head this week. Gotta give Islamabad the top spot. Undefeated and have wins against a couple solid squads. They have a couple good opponents coming up, they’ll have a chance to prove themselves worthy of the top spot.

Have one of the most quality wins of the season thus far. Made the three time champs Dhaka look pedestrian. The Abdelhadis been terrific thus far, Mo has dominated the paint and offensive glass while Hamza has added two solid games. The rest of the crew also solid and produce. A big matchup looms with Mombasa.

Really really wish they played that game against Kazan. That week one win against Cordoba was impressive. Even though they haven’t played good teams after, they’ve remained dominant and showed that they have the explosiveness to cause serious problems.

Wasn’t a pretty second half. They’ve moved on. Hopefully we get the real Kazan back because that is a fun basketball team to watch.

Very un-Dhaka like performance. I don’t expect them to look frazzled like that again any time soon. They never got a chance to reset and take a breath against Kabul. Credit to Kabul for constantly applying pressure and keeping Dhaka on their toes. Dhaka will get back to being the aggressors and forcing their opponents to be on their knees.

A full Mombasa team may not lose another one this season. Hopefully they bless the fans and bring a full squad to take on Kabul. Should be a great one.

Four wins against four of the bottom five. Nevertheless, they’ve done it with emphasis. Still need to see them consistently beat good competition. Might not see that until week 7.

When Mo and Yaqob both score, they can beat anyone. Their defense can evidently stifle any offense. They got Kazan on a bad day, but they still deserve a ton of credit for keeping Pat to just 20. 

When the three ball balls, they’re dangerous. Need to see some better defense out of this group though. They played big in this one, Luke did his thing under the rim, Kenny played both inside and out, and Jaber continues to orchestrate one of the best offenses in the league. Looking forward to that week 7 matchup with Kazan!

Man when Dan and Abdul play together, it’s a thing of beauty. They did however give up 72 to a Mingo-less Beirut group. I think they would’ve played some tougher defense if Jon was there, but still, cannot be giving up 70+ and consistently win - but when you have Abdul, anything is possible. Dude dropped the easiest 43 I have ever seen. He does it with so little effort and was extremely efficient. He puts so much pressure on defenses by either getting the ball in the basket or getting fouled and capitalizing from the line. 

They gave Islamabad everything they could handle, doing so without Muj and Shafic. If they have Muj, this team is good enough to beat anyone. Without him, they are still a load to handle if Khalied is playing at that high a level.

Not going to hit them too hard, a full Cairo squad is a square sight and to play them without your top guy isn’t easy. Nick did everything he could to keep them within reach, but ultimately they just didn’t have enough. I would really like to see this rematch sometime in the playoffs - I think Jon would have a great impact on the defensive side and on the glass.

Not trying to penalize them after a great showing against Delhi. They moved down to make up for teams who should be ahead of them. If we get that kind of effort week in and week out from Granada, they have as good a chance as any to make a run. An Anwar at full health is a scary sight, he just keeps on getting better and better. Shabazz has been a tremendous acquisition, Sehwail has visibly impacted games through effort and hustle, Waqas does what he does in the midrange. They need some more our of Odah though, he’s been somewhat disappointing and way too inconsistent. He’s the guy defenses will be forced to help off, his shot making ability will be the key for Granada’s ultimate success.

A thriller against Mecca! Kareem was terrific in the last minute, Omar Hussein hit his only three when the game mattered the most, and Ammar knocked down two free throws to take it. Kareem’s quickness puts a lot of pressure on defenses, forcing them to rotate. It may not be evident now, but they’ll force teams to play off Omar Hussein and rotate off Ammar to help on Kareem - look for him to start distributing the ball, getting his teammates great looks, and playing a more fluid offense. Defensively, they held Anas to just 15 points on 14 shots, but also were fortunate that Qasem missed a couple easy ones under the rim. Kareem knows that Qasem was able to back him down but failed to find the basket on a couple occasions *winks*.

These dudes learned how to win, that’s one more team that nobody should look at and scoff. Amir is no joke and Tim has been great in his first season.

No chance against Mombasa without their best player. Mana didn’t look eager to go at Pete on the offensive end. They have some good players, but don’t step onto the court with the necessary attitude to dominate. It has to start with Mana asserting himself as the best player on the court and earning the defenses attention. Once that happens, Moayad will get to the basket with ease, Ahmed Saleh and Hosam will get open looks. Until then, they’ll remain a below average team that’s wasting a ton of potential.

2/16 from Qasem is not going to cut it. He was dominant on the low block, but couldn’t find the bottom of the basket. Also, it’s okay to pass out of the post, not too sure why he insists on putting up a shot instead of getting others involved. He and Anas take turns playing ISO ball, Malik gets a shot here or there and cannot get into a rhythm, and the bigs combination of Ammar and Obada don’t touch the ball enough. They need to start passing the ball and putting pressure on defenses. Anas is good enough to beat teams one on three, but doing so consistently isn’t possible. If they don’t find a way to play better team basketball, they’re going to be disappointed with the outcome. 

This team is way too good to be in the bottom third of the league. Never thought a team with Himey on it could be bottom 3 in defense. They’ll need to fix it quickly because they have some powerhouse offenses looming.

Gave Granada a fight early, but seemed more interested in talking than playing ball. Muhanad’s too good to get into it with the other team - speak with your basketball ability. Granada talked but eventually shut up, went on a run, and ended the game three quarters into it. Focus on playing basketball and the wins will follow.

Need some more play that resembled the last minute of their game against Alexandria. Great drive and kick to get the eventual winner, but before that, Hamza Karkis got to the rim, made the bucket, and drew the foul. There’s flashes of good play, but we need that for 40 minutes now.

Back to making teams look much better than they are.

Looked good for a half, but then Sarajevo opened the flood gates.

The win eluded them. 

Still can’t seem to find it.