Muslim Basketball

New number one! Not only did they demolish Riyadh, But Pete and either Raza or Mo had more points than the entire Riyadh team. Just two players. Going into the last week of the regular season, I think the true best team in the league is finally in the spot they deserved for a long time.

Dhaka survived a scare from Cairo while playing without Ameer. The rest of the crew was there to take care of business. They going against a very competitive Tehran squad to end the season, and they need not only a win, but a decisive one to try and lock up a top 4 seed and get a bye week.

Triple double alert! Farhad ended with an insane stat line of 27 points, 18 boards, 10 assists, 6 steals, and 1 block. This is probably the most impressive stat line this season. Leonard Lee and Hassert combined for an additional 40 points, and they put Lagos away by almost 40. They are another team fighting for a bye week, and with Medina in their sights, they have a good chance of having another 25+ point win.

An overall team effort in the win against Palermo, but I am sure their eyes are set on the playoffs. With what should be an easy win against Kashgar in sight, they need a huge victory and possibly some help to grab a bye week. I don’t see that happening, so look for Timbuktu to be one of the top seeded teams who have to actually play a game first week of playoffs. That should mean they go up against one of the bottom 4 teams in the league. 

Wow! Who would’ve thought the team that upset the undefeated Sarajevo would be Delhi! Delhi has a point differential of -19.6! Justin dropped 35, but everyone else on the team shot an atrocious 8-48 (16.7%)! With a win next week they are still guaranteed a bye week and the 1st overall seed, since they are still the only one loss team in the league, but this isn’t the type of game they want with the playoffs around the corner.

Even with 5, Kabul took care of business. Their attendance issue needs to be fixed before playoff time. 5 may be enough to beat a struggling Sana’a team, but deep in the playoffs they don’t want to be in a position where they are playing defense gingerly because they don’t want to foul out and play with 4.

Along with Timbuktu, they are sitting at 7-2 with a +5.8 point differential. That most likely won’t be enough to get them a bye week, but boy oh boy has this team been playing great. Ed is quietly having one of his best seasons in his MB high TWENTY EIGHT seasons in the league. He is shooting a career high 51.8% from the field, and one make away from shooting 50% from behind the arc. Jakarta is rolling and they don’t look like they can be stopped.

Similar to other teams this season, when this full team shows up, they are really good. They proved that by taking down Bukhara, another one of the top teams in the league. 

Beirut keeps it going winning their 6th game in a row, after losing 2 of their first 3. Looking at their schedule, their toughest games look like Amman, Sarajevo, Mombasa, and Kazan. They played Amman without Farhad (lost), Sarajevo fully loaded (lost), Mombasa without Pete Brown and Raza (won by 6), and Kazan without Pat (won by 7). They obviously cannot control another team’s attendance, but luck has to play a major factor. Nevertheless, they in contention for a bye week and a top seed in the playoffs. Can this team repeat its championship from 4 years ago?

Although Islamabad got the win, I am sure this game was way too close for comfort. They have to figure out what they want to do defensively, because they cannot let a team like Mecca come that close.

Lahore is 1st in points scored in one of the most competitive MB seasons ever, and they are also 1st in rebounding. That is a great combination to have. It is also important to note they are in absolute last in free throw percentage. They actually get to the line a significant amount, so it may be something they want to practice before heading into the playoffs. I am generalizing it with team stats, but Omar, we are talking to you!

Tough game for Bukhara, as they had to face a fully loaded Granada squad. The main reason they lost was because of their inability to hit free throws. They shot a terrible 1-10 (10%) from the line, while Granada shot 11-14 (78.6%). They now rank 24th out of 28 teams in FT shooting, at just 52.7% for the season. 2-15 from 2 doesn’t help either. They’ll bounce back with a win next week against Delhi, unless Delhi has two upsets in a row up their sleeves!

This is the Kazan team we all know. Pat scoring at will, and the rest of the team contributing a little something each. Damascus didn’t have anyone that could guard Pat, and it showed as he scored 32 points at will. They play Sarajevo next week, fresh off of a loss. Sarajevo is playing for the number 1 seed, and Kazan is playing to not be .500.

Muj was a perfect 10-10 from the field, with half of the attempts being 3 pointers. Without big man Jean, they lost the rebounding battle, but they shot so well that it didn’t matter. Tripoli looks to end the season 6-4. It may not sound like much, but if you remember correctly, they ended last season at 6-4 as well. Last season they won the championship. Look out.

I am not sure what happened the first half of the game, but they were down 20 at halftime. That is a very deep hole to come out of. They did their best in the second half, outscoring Tripoli 32-20, but it wasn’t enough for them to get the win. Anas and Mo need to shake it off and end the season strong as they have arguably their toughest game of the schedule next week against Dhaka.

After starting off 0-3, they have now won 5 of their last 6 games. Amir is finally getting help from his team, and the help is coming from everywhere. It also helps that the entire team is shooting 36.5% from 3, good for 2nd in the league.

Playing with 5, Suba just couldn’t get it going. Tac shot 1-11 from 3. Zach was a bright spot scoring 20, and shooting 4-6 from 3. The once scary Suba squad is on the verge of ending the season under .500. I think they win next week against Palermo, though, and end 5-5.

Playing with 5 is tough, but they almost gave Dhaka a run for their money. They really could have used some production from Mo Popal. Losses are losses, but this loss can be taken as a moral victory. If Aly and Osama play like that in the playoffs along with the Popals, they can definitely upset someone in the playoffs.

Sana’a has now lost 4 of the last 5 games, and they have a smoking hot Fez squad next week. Clayton and Colin have to pick it up if they want to be competitive in the playoffs.

Medina was outplayed in nearly every aspect of the game. They lost the rebound, assist, steal, and most importantly, the point battle. Jawad tried to do things on his own, but unfortunately came up short. Very short. 29 points short.

Josh got to the line like he was Harden. He scored 29, which is his season high, and a little short from his career high of 32. Other than Josh, the rest of the team shot 3-22 from 3 (13.6%). They shot more 3s than 2s. That isn’t always a recipe for success. They have a tough game against Timbuktu next week, who is looking to lock up a bye week.

Can you imagine a Lagos game with Kyseem? It is essentially a guaranteed loss. Hosam is a capable scorer, and Omar A. scored his career high with 15, but it wasn’t enough as they were still blown out by 38.

Upset of the year! They have a win! Not only did they get a win, but they got it against the undefeated #1 seed! #28 beats #1! This is worthy of MB headlines. I should also point out that Ahmad, who has been lights out from 3 this season, shot a poor 3-14 from behind the arc. Imagine if he was hitting his shot?!

With or without Tim Brown, this team doesn’t seem to be making much noise. I guess it’s too late to ask Amir to come back.

I really expected a lot more from this team. You can tell by the preseason rankings, having them at 10th. At one point they thought they were being disrespected by being so low on the rankings, but now they are 2-7 and play Lahore next week. I wonder where they think they belong now. Food for thought.

Just by looking at the box score, it looks as if Mecca only showed up with 5 players, and 2 of them fouled out. I assume the game was over once they were down to 3 players on the court. It is very unfortunate because judging by the score, it was actually a close game. They were tied at halftime, and then Islamabad pulled away. 

I am happy they got their one W, as it is the highlight of their otherwise disappointing season.

They are now the sole team with no wins. Barring a miracle, they will end the regular season 0-10. We saw Delhi pull off a miracle, so who’s to say Riyadh can’t?