Muslim Basketball

“No Wajdi, no Problem”, but no one mentioned anything about Farhad joining the fold. One of MB’s goats came by and had a cool 26 and 8 on 7-15 and helped Lagos remain undefeated. Ameer Koyas added 17, with both Omar’s having 12 of their own. This team is just plug and play and everyone seems to be clicking.

Coach Towfeekivich is the clear-cut choice for coach of the year at this point in the season. Aside from being the only coach, he had a great game plan for limiting Amman on offense. Big Moose and Shafic clocked in another day at the offense, with Shafic flirting with a triple double! Idris and Ahmed had solid games and played great team defense on Joe Squared. Unfortunately, they may have lost Ali Omari for the season, Insha’Allah a speedy recovery brother.

Oh no Mr. Shiesty. 7-14 is 50% yet, Joey has spoiled us over the years, and we have come to expect 20 ppg on a weekly basis. Nonetheless Capone had his hands full with Riyadh’s team defense and pressure. The big three of Capone, Jojo and Fursan shot 17-41, and with them being the primary scorers, I am sure they would like that percentage a little over 50%. Again, they went up against a great squad and one that will be competing for the chip. Amman is still a contender, and this is just a small bump.

They are 3-1 despite Singer missing two games and not playing to his standards. Mahrooz has been the steal of the draft and Elias is in the running for most improved player. Ammar and Kareem are not new to building contenders and have the formula for success. Once this team finds a consistent third option, few teams will be able to match up with them. 

Another team that improved immediately after the trade deadline. Adding Muhanad Deeb is a major difference maker, as he is almost guaranteed a double-double every week (last night being an exception). Shazaib with an efficient 14 points, Ahmad with 12 and Amir Hassan with 10. Not to mention, getting 8 and 5 from Khaled and Humza, respectively is icing on the cake. They have taken down both Jeddah and Medina thus far, so can’t say they will be sneaking up on teams anymore.

Was that 2017 Farzad? 16 points and 5-6 from the FT is the guy I recall playing for Dhaka. Props to you Ali Hassan. Speaking of the superstar PG, he led the way for Tehran with 17 points. Rookie Ali Suiafan had 15 and MB vet Hafiz also scored 15 points on 5-10 shooting from deep. I think this team benefited from adding another combo guard and now Ali can play off the ball, as opposed to being the primary ball handler.

Wow only 16 and 14 from Mana? That’s underwhelming. All jokes aside, Mana needs help, and it has to come from their guards. Their shooters have shown a propensity to be inconsistent this season, and without anyone being a threat, teams will just continue to double and triple team Mana. Nice to see Raza back in the mix, but 0-1 is not very “Raza like”. 

Without a doubt their most efficient game of the season, as a whole but they just ran into a bad man at the end. Aside from the loss, only 4 guys scored for this team. With a roster of 8, it would be nice to see more guys contribute and perhaps seem less predictable. Hassan flirted with another triple double, Lil O had it going from 3, as did Hamza and Jehad continues to score 15 plus. Did not expect this team to be 1-3 but they are built for the playoffs.

Medina went from a defensive juggernaut to a 24-hour fitness team in a matter of weeks. With additions like Moe Masri and Amir C. I don’t expect this team to shoot 3-16 from deep ever again. In their defense, Timbuktu got solid contributions from everyone on the roster and make it difficult for Medina to matchup defensively. Can’t question Billal’s approach to making these moves as it is still early but we can certainly revisit it down the stretch. 

Talk about a young star in the making! Recently acquired Affan had a career high 27 points while shooting 7-9 from 3, to help secure Kashgar’s first win of the season. Front runner for ROY, Mahdy went from 3-11 from the field but still managed to score 19 points on great efficiency from the FT line. GM Hasnan decided to go with the younger route with his trades and it seems that the early returns are paying off. Would like to see more out of Yahya, Ryan and Glendi as the season progresses and teams focus more on Affan and Mahdy.

After a nail-biting victory last game, Captain Mohammed Abdelghani decided to make some moves, despite things moving in a positive direction. Big Bro Aadil was motivated from watching his brother scored 27 and decided to match it himself. The tandem of Aadil and Jawad combined for 42 of the team’s 67 and Sohaib’s production was a nice addition. Again, they struggled from the charity stripe, as they went 2-10 as a team. Going to be difficult to close out games if they cannot make their FT’s.

After weeks of hearing his team lacked shooting, Zain traded Sohaib and Hosam Karkis for both Zubi’s. Despite only making a three each last night, Malik and Mohammed can now help take the pressure of Zain and allow him to dominate down low. No more excuses for Suba, as they now have 4 legit guys who can score double-digits every night, but the x-factor is Yo shah as he is not playing to his standards.