Muslim Basketball

They keep rolling.

Very rare performance from this group as they struggled to get much offense going. Patrick with a very pedestrian 22 (for his standards). Regardless, they got it done on the other side of the ball.

Did not get a chance to watch this game, but wow Paul Sullivan had a day. Would’ve really liked to see how this game went down. They beat a really solid Baghdad group, short Moe Rayyan. Mombasa takes on Suba in what should be a terrific game - find a way to watch this one.

This team is very good. Tremendously deep. Talent everywhere around the floor. They shot 2/19 from 3 and if you were watching the game, I don’t think you’d believe that was true. Biggz and Anas will be good for 25-40 points per game, add a handful more from Big O, Jawad has shown he can be a first option, and a couple putbacks from Samna - you got a legit squad.

7 steals from Fahad along with double digit scoring performances from Ameer, Michael, and Farzad is certainly a good sign for this group. Knowing that Michaels been a great substitute this season suggests that the champs might be back. Look for a casual blowout in their next game against Kashgar.

No Moe Rayyan and they only lost by 1 to a deep Mombasa team? Though they didn’t have Raza, I could’ve seen this game going down to the wire in any scenario. Take me seriously when I suggest that you come prepared when facing this group, they’ve really established themselves as legitimate contenders in this league. Also, did I not warn you of the scoring bursts from Amir?? They’ve begun, look out.

Demolished Granada early and just kept pouring it on. Their ability to play fast offensively, while also being a pretty long and big team, will challenge a lot of opponents. Like I’ve said each week, consistency is key for this team to take the next step.

Any of a handful of players on this roster can really light it up on a given day. Last sunday, you can say it was Muntasir’s turn. With him, Anas, and Khalied leading the offense, it’s going to be difficult for opposing teams to find a way to stop the ball- or even hope they miss for that matter. As impressive as it is to take down Islamabad, I wouldn’t go as far as to say that it was unexpected. Safe to say we’ve found ourselves another powerhouse.

Their performance last week testifies more so to how good of a roster they’ve put together- no Islam, an early exit from Luke and only losing to a great Jeddah team by two possessions? That’s a good sign to me, especially being that we’re only two weeks in. They have one of the easier schedules this season, so don’t be surprised by the coming of a long winning streak from the Abbassi bro’s & co.

Unexpectedly poor performance from this group against a Lahore team that’s still trying to completely figure themselves out. 9 points in a half isn’t going to get you anywhere against any team in this league, but sure speaks to the difficulty that they endured when losing Jaber in the second half, especially with the absence of Luke. Don’t underestimate this squad; look for a serious comeback performance from them on Sunday when they take on a Beirut team with momentum.

A much needed win for this group. This Lahore team with Moayad, now Jeremy and Kyle alongside him, has assembled a pretty solid group. Bottom line though, Omar Mana absolutely needs to start asserting himself in this league. Just way too good to be this passive. Yes he has 20+ rebound games, but he has to be an offensive force for this team. It will become MUCH easier for Moayad and the rest of the perimeter players to get good looks if teams need to pay serious attention to Mana. In his defense though, Moayad often pushes the ball way to aggressively in poor situations, leading to bad rhythm and continuity getting any set offense going. I like this group

Biggest shock of week 2. There’s no reason that this group should be getting blown out by 35 points by any team in this league, especially being that they had a full roster. 1-11 and 3-12 from Singer and Anwar, respectively, isn’t going to cut it by any means when going up against such a deep group in Tehran. They’re going to have to learn how to start off games strong and keep their momentum going from there. Hopefully it builds off of, what should be, a week 3 win against a young Damascus squad.

Unexpected loss from this group. Despite missing a couple of key players, I still thought there was more depth in their present team than there is in a full Sana’a squad. They’re going to have to find a way to keep up with the younger legs throughout the league, but otherwise I don’t see any potential issues they might face as we progress through the season. Let’s just see how long they can remain 1st in points and assists per game. I give it another 2 weeks.

Yet another balanced, complementary performance from all three of Mingo, Kenny, and Nick. When this team gets going, they’re insanely difficult to contain. Despite not shooting so well from the field all together at 33%, they were able to get past a gritty Damascus team that tested their ability to keep up with quick-paced offensive play. Should be a great game against Cordoba next week.

Any team with Muj will be efficient, but do they have enough fire-power to compete with the top of this league? We’ll find out when they take on Tehran.

They’re going to need to play at this level week in and week out to win games. I’m not saying they won’t, but that’s a difficult ask.

Played a tremendous game against Tehran to start the season off with a win, but then proceeded to fall on their faces against the defending champs. Suba is a tremendous team, but they can be contained. Giving up 60 against the best defensive team in the league is not a recipe for success.

28 point loss after just a 4 point deficit going into the second half? Medina must’ve decided to wake up late last week, or in Jerusalem’s case, fall asleep late. Whatever the case, shooting 24% from the field won’t cut it for this group. Despite good signs continuing from Kenny and Jhonathan, there’s going to need to be some support from the rest of the group, especially these next two weeks against a couple of powerhouses.

Really expected to see some more offense out of this group. No AMP, but for Yaqoob and Bilal to only combine for 18, that’s a bit underwhelming. I thought that without Abdul, they’d be able to share the ball, get good looks, and not rely on Abdul’s individual scoring ability. No shame in losing to a Mujtaba lead team, but I’m uncomfortable with how much they struggled to get anything going.

23 points from Omar Hussein is a promising sign, especially coming off of a smooth 26 in his season debut. 3-13 from Omar Qasem in their second outing, however, speaks volumes as to why this team is currently 0-2. Even though we’re only 2 weeks in, I can’t stress enough for this team that these two will have to work together in order to tally up some wins this season. Or else, the lopsided offense will result in, potentially, 8 more losses. The supporting cast will have to raise that field goal percentage too if they hope to make some noise

Very balanced distribution of points throughout their week 2 showcase, which is slightly impressive considering that all 9 of their players were present. That might just be the only good takeaway I have from this squad, outside of the fact that they’ve possibly found a solidified scorer in Ty-Lynn Johnson. Otherwise, 17 turnovers won’t cut it in this league; especially not against the multiple-time champs.

Held an explosive Kazan to just 44 and Patrick to just 22 on 25 shots. Unfortunately they couldn’t get any of their own offense to compliment a pretty solid performance of the defensive side of the ball.