Muslim Basketball

I guess even a headbutt can’t stop the GOAT. The MVP race was over back in week 1 and now the race for the number 1 seed seems to be clinched as well. They are the prohibited favorites to win the title. Abdelhadi led the surge with 32 points, 12 rebounds, 2 steals along with 2 blocks and Kareem has been on a tear the past 3 weeks averaging 17ppg. Oh, and that Biggz fellow is back. 

PTOW? 31 points, 12 rebounds after missing the previous game with an injury. Nobody else was in double figures so perhaps this is the week that Zain gets his props. Quiet games from Amir and Splash, this team will need their sharp shooters to be ready Week 7 against the very talented Jerusalem squad. Winner takes sole possession of 2^nd place.

Were without Farhad and shot extremely poorly from deep and yet still lost by 7. Took the best team in the league to overtime and just came up short. Hassan was up to his usual tricks and Captain Ahmad Saleh had the touch from deep. This team needs more from Lil O as the 2^nd round pick has not been playing up to his standard. Aadil needs to step up in big games as 7 and 8 isn’t enough. They’ll be fine moving forward; I am just a tough critic.

Man would this game had been different if they had Aymen. Zain got whatever he wanted downlow and let his former teammates know about it. Shahzaib led the way with 27 points and did everything he could to keep his team in the game but a few miscues by the rest of the team hurt them down the stretch. When the game is on the line, the basketball should be in Singer’s hands as he will the right play. Too often they were forcing things and the ball wasn’t in the floor general’s hands. 

Ali Omari put on his batman suit last night and took over this game. He led the way with 20 points on 70% from the field and was clamps on the defensive side of the ball. Despite not getting much from their guards, they came out on top after starting the game miserably. Still waiting on that infamous Shafic performance that everyone keeps raving about. 

Two wins a row? Their first half total nearly matched Kashgar’s game total. Ed and Towfeek looked the best they have all season combining to go 7-10 from three. Prior to that Towfeek was 0-13 from distance. Mana had his usual double-double serving and they got nice contributions from Koyas and Zeeshan. Who would have that they would’ve looked this good a few weeks back? 

Such an odd team. One week they look liked absolute contenders playing great team basketball on both ends, and then we get the Yaqob show and its everyone get out of the way. In honor of 8/23 being Kobe Bryant’s birthday, Yaqob hoisted 24 shots to honor the late great. Unfortunately for Damascus (and fortunately for Kabul) he only connected on six of those attempts. Sal and Yo shah need to be more involved if this team wants to even sniff the chance of advancing in the playoffs. 

Abysmal, Pathetic, Sorry? This team has too much talent to be in the spot that they are currently in and yet I find myself reiterating the same thing on a weekly basis. I don’t trust that they will win their Week 7 game, nor do I believe that they will match up well in the 1^st round of the playoffs. Had 17 rebounds as a team, while Mana had 15……. The effort is absent, lack cohesion as a team and far too many isolations on offense. Blow it up.