Muslim Basketball

*Celebrity PR Segment By Contributor Idris Abdul Salam*

Most valuable team. I love my team; anyone can step up any given week. Unselfish, position-less basketball. Play a tough Riyadh team this week. (disclaimer: Ed made me rank Islamabad #1 lol)

Defeated a 4-man Riyadh team handily. They are firing on all cylinders. Great balance to their team, nice blend of big men, shooters and slashers (don’t get me wrong). Watch out for them.

I love their team, and I put them at 3rd only because of strength of schedule, which hasn’t been tough for them. Let’s see how they finish off the season. Touch, aggressive, gritty bunch that plays together.

Abdelhadi rightfully gets all the love but he’s got a very underrated supporting cast. Young buck Hamza Ahmed is solid and Visar attacks the baseline like a pit-bull. With a full squad, they’re dangerous and a threat to win it all.

Defeated some very good teams. This team will always be there, you can’t ever question the heart of a champion, and they’re 3x champions. Salman is an ideal big in this league, grabs boards, plays defense, gets put backs, sets screens.

This team is quietly flying under the radar. They’re only loss came against a full Kabul team and that was a close game. Amir is Most Improved Player in my book.

I love their aggressive style of defense. It can quickly take you out of a game. They’re a team on the rise and look for them to finish the season strong and be there at the end.

Upset of the year in my opinion was a full Sarajevo team losing to Jakarta, no one expected it. But teams have bad days and Sarajevo had theirs. This team is loaded offensively and as the season progresses I expect them to get better as their chemistry grows.

Man, I love this team. They’re like a family, a bunch of brothers, with Mingo as the big brother. They bring their families and kids with them to the games. That’s what this is all about. Salute. And they got game also.

Which team will show up? With Muj or without Muj? They’re 3-0 with and 0-3 without him. With a full squad this is a dangerous team. Shafic is rookie of the year. He’s got my vote. Muj+Khalied+Shafic are a top trio in this league.

Played us tough last week even without their star, Anwar. Odeh balled out. Singer is the best shot blocking pg in this league. I want to see more production from Ahmed Sehwail. He’s got the athletic ability.

This is a BIG team and that can be a good or bad thing. I noticed they struggle against faster teams. Rookie Ali Hassan is solid. My man Yaqob is having a good season and Mo Amin is doing his thing. Will be a tough out in playoffs.

Lost to an upstart Mecca team. They desperately needed more bodies. Have a very tough schedule coming up. But they’ll hold their own. With a full squad, they’re very strong.

Nice win vs. Sarajevo! Steve and Frank are great players. Ed is injured, get well soon brother! Once he’s back Jakarta will be more dangerous. Let’s hope Ed qualifies for the playoffs.

A team with Anas/Qasem/Malik should be higher on these rankings. Now they balled out last week, and Malik had his breakout game. I’d like to see them string a couple of wins together, they have the talent.

This team is much better than their record.

Their big 3 are very good. But they need to realize they also have some other solid players on their team. You can’t win games with 3 guys getting touches on offense. But nevertheless, you can’t count out a team with AMP and Goldberg.

2 wins in a row and the Imran bros and Hamza Yusuf doing work. Let’s make it 3 in a row! Oh no, it’s Dhaka. But you got this.

Need to figure things out. They have the personnel. They need to pick each other up. They’re too good to be in this spot. 

Abdel-Ghani with the sophomore slump? Let’s see how he finishes the season off. He’s too shifty and quick to be playing the way he has. Look for him to improve. I like this team’s roster.

I haven’t watched them play but they seem like a fun team.

Need to figure things out. They’re young, they will.

Omar Abbasi please take more shots. I commend these guys, they play hard and they go up against guys half their age! Keep it up!

This young team are fighters. They arrive full force each week despite their record. Keep your heads high brothers and keep fighting. I smell a win!