Muslim Basketball

Some last minute player swaps before week 1, Quran Hodge puts together a solid roster for the inaugural game. Led by debut players Ghaos Chaudry and Jovan Ferreira who scored 15 and 16 respectively, Tarim also put down a respectable 33% of their 3s. Though competition may have been weak, Tarim showed up in a big way winning by 17 points, and will get to test their true talent week 2 when they face Jerusalem who are coming off a week 1 win.

A team who didn’t play taking 2nd on power rankings? A quick look at Mecca's roster will ease your worries on that, (unless you have to play them this season). Saad Kurshid put together a respectable squad with strong rebounding, scoring and defense. Oh yeah and did I mention Ibrahim Jaaber? This former Euro-League and NBA Summer League player will do much to bolster this already talented squad. 

A hard fought 4 point victory in week 1 over Al Andalus sets Jerusalem up in 3rd on this week's power rankings. Contributions from the Ahmad Brothers who combined for 26 on the night, more than half their team's points. They sit at only 3 because of their 10% 3PM-A combined with a rough night of rebounding. But with contributions from other players, and continued success at the free throw line this team may find themselves higher on the list come week 2.

Al-Andalus suffered a crushing loss at the hands of Jerusalem week 1 after a late game tech, and some botched possessions, they weren’t able to put the pieces together to pull off the comeback win. Missing 2 players week 1 may have hurt them, but they’ll need contributions from all players to improve if they want to make a run at the championship this year. The team's perimeter defense and interior rebounding keeps them from falling to the last spot.

Sitting in last after a blowout loss week 1 to Tarim, Medina has some work to do. It’s not hopeless though, a couple missed layups and a tough matchup overall hurt this team badly, not to mention Akbar Rafiuddin’s injury after only attempting 2 shots. Medina will need to pick up the pieces quickly as they face #2 ranked Mecca in week 2.