Muslim Basketball

Although it was only week 1, the fellas looked like they were in midseason form. The full court press was in full effect as they forced 13 TO’s and they could have had more if not for taking their foot off the gas pedal. Pat came one-point shy of matching Delhi’s point total, sheesh. The addition of Craig just makes this team that much more formidable. If I had to nit-pick and point out this team’s one flaw, it’s their composure. No reason to get a technical foul up 25 plus. We’ve learned from previous seasons that point differential can make or break your playoff seeding. Other than that, nice job champs.

Mustafa and A-Fay are looking to end the championship drought and they brought some reinforcements. Newcomers Phil Broomfield poured in 21 all of which came from the great beyond, while Jonathan Foy, chipped in with 13. Matt Cancel had a double-double, A-Fay had 15 and Mustafa flirted with a triple double. Oh, by the way they play defense too, forcing 14 TO’s and keeping a powerhouse Mombasa squad to 33.8% shooting from the field. This team is hungrier than an August afternoon during Ramadan! 

No Ed, No problem. Jakarta hit 9 of 23 from trifecta without their top shooter and looked crisp offensively. This team has a great inside-out game and a lot of length. Kenny, Netti and Jason can beat you up with bully ball or expand their range and hit from 20-25 feet. I think they will greatly miss Joe defensively but what Ed led team has been known for defense anyway? This team will only get better when their captain shows up. 

I applaud you Captain Mustafa for assembling quite a roster. Point forward Zain Abdeen, stretch 4 in Khalied, a snipper in little O, mid-range assassin in the savvy vet Islam, oh yeah and let’s not forget he brought back their best scorer in Anas Najib. Down 18 at half, this team didn’t bat an eye as they outscored Riyadh 39-19 in the second half. Looking at the box score, they outrebounded and shot 18 more FT’s than their opponent and that’s how you win basketball games. I think they will miss Singer as a PG, but I do expect Little O to play the part.

Mingo’s last-minute addition of Mark served to be the difference in this ball game. 11 points and big defensive plays down the stretch gave this team a lot of momentum when they were down going into the half. Kenny Jenkins can ball folks! 15 points 6 rebounds 5 steals and 1 block are stats reminiscent of Shawn “Matrix” Marion. Nick had a very uncharacteristic game but I’m sure he’ll take the win. Mingo and the boys are 1-0. 

Anytime 4 out of your 6 players score in double figures that usually amounts to a W. 21 and 23 from Moayad and Shafic, respectively. Mana with a career low 15 rebounds but added 14 points, so we’ll forgive him for the subpar night on the glass. I love the addition of Elias. Very underrated player, with a high basketball IQ. Not to mention all this came without the effort of their top shooter Ahmad Saleh. We’ve been speaking glowingly of this young bunch for several seasons, I think they are ready to be contenders. 

the outcome of this game surprised me. I expected Dhaka to beat up Tehran after the departure of Anas and Mo Amin. Ironically the latter played his former team. Ali had the last laugh. This team isn’t going to win many basketball games with their scoring but their defense and hustle are matched by few in this league. Interesting matchup coming in week 2. 

Mairaj might be MB’s version of Danny Ainge. Wins 3 in a row with Dhaka, leaves a group of vets and assembles a squad of young bucks. Mazin and Musa a great forward combination. Not sure if they have all the chips to be contenders but interested in seeing if any of their guards can develop into a scorer before season’s end.

Never want to discredit a team for their win, but Mecca had the weakest opponent out of the other victors. Nonetheless, they are 1-0. Yaqob and Ali are a very nice 1-2 punch and newcomer Holland Mack is a former college player?!?!!? Looks like a new big 3 is brewing over in Arabia.

the champs from two seasons ago suffered a very shocking loss. Still too early to worry. I love the aggression from Jean Gomez. I think he’s the best big in this league when he wants to be. Not saying he takes games off, but when playing with Muj and Yo-Shah you may be asked to take a step back, which isn’t a bad thing at all. This team will be more than fine.

This team is not the well fueled engine we know without Raza. I think not having Sadat is going to hurt them a lot! He was easily their most unselfish player and one of the best floor generals in the league. I’m sure Captain Weiss searched long and hard around his local 24-hour gyms for a new PG. I mean adding Farhad was a great move though. This team will only climb up these rankings.

This team would have been higher if it weren’t for a 2^nd half meltdown. They have years of MB experience and chemistry so not quite sure how you give up an 18 point lead. Luckily for them their week 2 opponent did the same exact thing. 

Going up against a defense first team is never fun, especially week 1. The core 4 are down to 3 and although Ali wasn’t a big time scorer, he did all the things that allowed them to win. Absolutely no reason for Farzad to have only attempted 4 shots, too dynamic of a scorer. Mo Amin needs to be the Mo Amin of old! This dude won MVP not too long ago but now shows no interest on either side of the ball.

Himey brought back the core that lost in the finals a few seasons back while sprinkling in some new pieces. Big men Ammar and Yusef to anchor the paint and another scorer in Malik. This team had a very comfortable lead early in the game but turnovers and a few defensive errors late in the game proved to be the difference. Overall, I see them being contenders with their offensive weapons. Anas and/or Billal will be weekly names in the MVP conversation. 

Kept the game close in the first half but chasing Moayad and Elias deemed to be too much for Choukeir’s bunch. Silver lining, Omar Al-Khalaf with a career high 22 and 7-11 from 3. Perhaps early front runner for Most Improved Player.

A lot of familiar names, familiar result. Why are people getting T’ed up in the first week of the season? Did y’all forget about your New Year’s Resolution?!?!?!

Suba went from 2018 champs to bottom of the totem pole. 

New season, same Delhi squad. Taking a quick glance at their schedule, I see some wins, some losses and some straight up beatdowns. I hope I’m wrong. Shots need to be more distributed among this group. Here’s a tip, teams know who is going to shoot on this team, so maybe working the ball around would help.