Muslim Basketball

WHAT. A. GAME! First lets start with the offseason acquisitions. Kareem Ahmed known for his handle and scoring capability, put his GM hat on and brought in some firepower. If you can’t beat em, join em, right? Kareem brought in the fan favorite MVP, and arguably one of the best players in the league in Hassan Chaabane. Oh, and for good measure let me bring in a walking double-double and absolute sniper in Zain and Idris, respectively. They looked very poised throughout the game and hit some clutch FT’s down the stretch to send the game into overtime, and ultimately winning the game. Kudos to

Captain Ahmad Saleh, replaced Hassan with Billal (which honestly is equivalent to Stefon Diggs for Justin Jefferson), brought back the Triple Champ in Lil O and back comes the walking skyscraper Omar Mana. This game was never really in question, as Jerusalem will most likely be a top two team in terms of defense. They can guard 1-5, shoot, and rebound the basketball. Very, very, very quiet game from Biggz and Islam, like I mean whispers can’t even be heard. But before you know it, I’ll be here next week writing about how Billal barely missed a triple double. 

      Welcome back Ali Hassan! What a better way to reacquaint yourself with the league than scoring 20 points in a win. Yo Shah, Sal and Jean round out the rest of the fantastic four and they have Raied and Sufian crashing the boards. Tripoli can very easily finish the season as the number one seed, and their guard play could very much be among the best in the league. Their team success will be contingent on Jean’s dominance downlow. If he can score anywhere from 10-14 consistently, while controlling the boards, Tripoli playing for the chip.

You would think Weiss was recruiting for Division 1 Powerhouse the way he continues to recycle talent for Mombasa. Pete Brown looked like Julius Randle with post moves last night and he wasn’t even trying 0_o! Raza, Sadat and Masri are back together, and they added Ali Omari to help clean up the dirty work. I did not expect this game to come down to the wire but props to Alexandria. Honest question, is Elias the most underrated player on the league? Dude just gets buckets, is super athletic and I have never heard him speak. Reminds me of an Afghan Kawhi Leonard. 

       Farhad is in the Goat conversation and perhaps he’s the most underrated of all the MB Goats. We show love to Muj, Abdelhadi and Ed but Farhad doesn’t get enough, B. See what I did there? No? Okay lets move on. Led his squad with 21 and 10 and did so in very efficient fashion. Tom R is back folks and he did not waste much time getting back into the scorers column. I wouldn’t stress this game very much as they played against another formidable foe.

Captain Ammar never ceases to disappoint. He replaced his star PG and Granada legend in Omar Singer, with Winter ‘22 Champ Joey Capone. And why not bring in former Granada player, Malik Zubi just in time for a revenge game. Zubi led the way with a game high 19 while Joey flirted with a triple double. Its early but Muhammad Mustafa looks like a solid third option for this squad as he had 17 points on 70% from field. They outrebounded Medina, forced them to take tough shots and as all Ammar Mustafa led teams do, they passed the basketball. Sleepers?

Darn it Yaqob, Week 1 and you already have a technical foul?!?!?!! He did make up for it with game high 23 points and his counterpart Ameer Koyas did not disappoint, with 18 and 18. Rookie Mike Johnson added 19 of his own and looked good doing so. This team has some serious firepower. 

First and foremost, I owe these guys an apology. I was not aware of your game (insert Shaq meme here). They were without their #1 option in Musa Yanes and had this game within reach. Jay Wiggins and Wajdi look good, as they combined for 30 put of the team’s 53 points. Bring in Musa, and you have a squad that has 3 legit scorers

What do you get when you team up a walking bucket with a super energetic hyper bunny? Shahzaib and Aadil, DUH. Aadil decided two is better than one and recruited his more talented younger brother, Affan, who did not disappoint. Lahore kept this game close and had the lead until Zain went to the FT line, but I think very few expected Lahore to keep this game close, let alone extend it into overtime. Warning to the league, do not let the 7-22 from Shahzaib fool you, because he will go 11-13 before you know it. I am a huge fan of Aadil’s game, and I think the sky is the limit for him.

Will the real Shafic please stand up? I repeat will the real Shafic please stand up? Shafic were you been man? One of the most dynamic and shiftiest players in the league, just doesn’t look right. Perhaps I am being a bit harsh because he played against the best defensive backcourt in the league, but I expect more. Amir Hassan is the clear number two on this squad and has to be more assertive. I know they don’t have all star combo guard Towfeek but cmon guys. 

Wasn’t the prettiest win but they got it done. Mo Amin, Jehad and Tabty bring size that not many teams cant matchup against and Sohaib is a very crafty guard. I think as the season progresses we will see a better version of this team but for now, number 11 seems about right.

This team is huge, as their shortest player could play PF on most teams, but size isn’t everything folks. Ed and Kenny are two of the better shooters in this league but man this team can’t afford for them to go 5-23 from the great beyond. I am very surprised to see that they were outrebounded by a much smaller Granada squad, very uncharacteristic of an Ibrahim Omar led squad. Nonetheless, they were without their Center, Gurjinder. I wouldn’t be too concerned about Medina, as their veteran experience alone will win them some games. 

Won by forfeit, thank you, you saved me a lot of time writing this. 

Lost by forfeit, thank you, you saved me a lot of time writing this. 

Ammar Idelbi is going to have to show these young pups how its done in MB. Most certainly the youngest and most inexperience team in the league, aside from Ammar and they did not look that bad. Mohamed Gaballa looks like the real deal as he scored a game high 20 in his debut. Too soon to judge the rest of the rooks but glad to see some fresh new faces in the best league around. 

       Just like everything else in Saudi Arabia, this team looks out of whack as well. Welcome back Jaber Jaber! He was once MB’s version of Russell Westbrook with his scoring and playmaking ability. We saw flashes of that last night but he needs some help. Nonetheless, happy to see you boys back in the league.