Muslim Basketball

It wasn’t pretty, but they got it done. Omar Mana with what seems to be his 100^th career double-double. Ahmad Saleh had 12 points on 4-9 from the field and the Abbassi brothers all had a relatively quiet night for their standards. I repeat to do not get accustomed to this, because if it’s not Omar, its Billal and if it’s not Billal, its Islam and you get the point.

Kareem Ahmed for President! The Yemeni sensation is on fire and is playing like a league MVP right now. Islamabad’s superstar PG Hassan Chaabane was on load management last night and his team looked great without him. Zain, Idris and Kareem are a scary trio, and all were very efficient last night. You add the best defensive guard in the league, and you have the favorite to win it all.

The Afghan Kawhi was at it again. After winning a very controversial POTW award, he showed his haters that he’s that guy. 35 points on 13-23 from the field with 9 rebounds and 4 assists. Wow. He is playing so well, that we haven’t even mentioned Pete Brown or Raza “Sonic” Nassim. Mombasa is back folks, and honestly, I hate it.

WHO? Mike Johnson, that’s who. The MB newcomer has been a revelation for this Mecca squad who was without their top gun in Jake. Mr. Johnson is averaging 22 ppg on 70% from the field. Yes, you ready that correctly. Ameer followed up his POTW snub with a solid 10, 4 and 3 while MB vet Hafiz added 12 of his own. They forced 15 TOs out of Granada and that was the deciding factor in this ball game. This team is sneaky good. 

I think with Yo shah in attendance this game would have a different outcome, which is why I am still ranking them in my top 5. Ali and Sal did all they could, but they need more help from the rest of the squad in order to win a game like this. Need more production out of Jean, especially if this team was to compete with the likes of Mombasa, Islamabad and Jerusalem.

Mr. Bucket Khan is back at it again and boy oh boy does he look smooth. The Yousuf brothers are MB’s version of the Morris twins, without all the tats, violence and sharing of bank accounts. Aadil had 17, 6 and 3, while Affan added 15, 8 and 2. Oh and that Khan guy, 24 points on 44% from deep. Watch out for the young bulls because they are coming.

Big Moose made his debut and made sure an instant replay review would not be needed for this game. Jay Wiggins led the way with a game high 20 while Omar and Wajdi played the role of robin with 14 and 13 of their own. I’d be scared for the rest of the league if Moose can have this quiet of a game and still find a way to win ball games against top notch competition.

Shafic is BACCCCCKKKKKKK! Not only his he back, but he flirted with a triple double. 16 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists. Joseph C led Palermo in scoring with 17 points and Jason Gomes had 11 of his own. All that is left for Coach Towfeek Popovich to do is unlock Amir Hassan. We have seen Amir’s potential, but we need to see it on a more consistent basis.

For starters, very pedestrian night out of Malik Zubi. 1-10 from the field and committed 4 turnovers. With the number of bad passes I saw, poor guy thought he still played for Mecca.  On the bright side, Joseph Capone did his best to keep his guys in the game with a team high 25. They have the guard play to compete, but they need more consistency out of their big 3. 

The Oldtimers had perhaps the biggest upset of the week. I guess those 8am Pilates classes at the YMCA did their 40-year-old bodies some good. Jokes aside, Ed and Kenny turned back the clock and combined for 41 out of the team’s 64. Gurjinder was a force on the boards, bringing down 11 and forced Farhad into some contested shots. Maybe there’s some hope for these guys after all. 

The game was within reach, but their emotions got the best of them. Luis and Ian led the way with 13 and 18, respectively. No need for this group to be pressing and I know Splash and Muhanad Deeb have better games ahead of them. Next game against Jeddah is looking even more enticing now. 

After just getting by Cairo Week 1, they had a more formidable foe. Lahore made timely bucket after timely bucket and Jeddah found themselves in too large of a deficit early on. Still, I do see promising things from this squad, and they do have some winnable games on their schedule.

I did not expect this team to be 0-2 but here we are. I thought they would match up well with Medina, but their opponents simply made more shots than they did. S/o to Farhad for still getting buckets and doing all he can to keep his squad in the game. Look for Tom and Chris to certainly step-up Week 3 and get back in the win column.

After anointing himself the best player in the league (which btw is very questionable) Omar H did play well this game. 21 points on 6-9 from the field is nothing to laugh at and is certainly one of the most efficient games he’s had. Youngin’ Omar Sehwail had 11 points while no one else scored more than 8. This team will always play hard defensively, their kryptonite is their lack of offense outside of Mr. Hussein. 

Mohamed Gaballa and Adil seem to be the best offensive options for this team, and they are both MB rookies. Ammar Idelbi has to gather the rugrats and calm them down. Too soon to count anyone out, but they need to start winning some games, to avoid facing a top seed come playoff time. 

They were without Jaber but I don’t think it would have mattered. They lost by fitty. But shoutout to Abdul Kareem.