Muslim Basketball

Three things are guaranteed in life—death, taxes, and Yazur blowing their opponents out. It was tied 16-16 at one point, but Yazur leads a well-oiled machine at pouncing at every pass and capitalizing on the other teams turnovers. Moumtaz led the way with 21 points while Salihoune got his first double-double of the season, going for 20 points and 10 rebounds. Mountaka added on 15 and Alhassana gave the team 14. This Yazur squad still looks like the leagues best. 

Iyaad isn’t just making his case for ROY, but also MVP, having 22 points on 7-13 shooting. The cast is absolutely stacked, Joe Capone having 15 and I need to give some love to Yazan. He isn’t on the stat sheet yet but he’s a force down low. The passing game will also give issues to anyone they verse. I’m hoping to see more assists by Towfeek, that’s his bread and butter, and I’m sure he’ll get to them. 

The Summer semi finals matchup went exactly the way we expected it to go, with Shafic having 14 points. Mohamed Eladl also pitched in with 8 points. He’s improved a lot this season from last, and I’m looking forward to how much better the kid can get. Mana playing in running shoes was a sight to see, but his recent struggles should have them worried going forward, especially since it’s Yazur week. Let’s hope he can find his groove again. 

The Omar Singer MVP campaign is officially underway. 18 points and 9 assists? I’m sure the whole gym heard him counting out loud. Mahrooz held it down defensively against Gagan, and still had 22 points and 9 boards. Have to give some love to Ameer Koyas, who jump started the game right from tip-off, and finished with 16 points. The podcast hosts said this is a contending team, and I didn’t see the vision until they blew Qibya out. 

A nice game from Anas who had 11 points and Mohamed Albana who had 17 points and 8 rebounds. Aymen had an uncharacteristic off-day, while Ammar continues to struggle to start the season, but helped by getting 9 boards. What makes this team great is that other players step up when their teammates struggle. That and contributing where they can. I still consider them one of the best teams, and I’m confident they’ll find their rhythm. Also, am I reading this right? 28 free throws as a team? Insanity.

In the beginning of the season I questioned them for getting rid of their bigs. While I do think it was still the wrong move, they showed this week that they’re capable of going up against anyone. Ali Sufian had a nice defensive game against Mana, finishing with 11 points. Lil O did Lil O things, having 14 points on 5-10 shooting. They’ll have the rest of the season to show that they’re a legit contender. I believe they are. 

The debut of Daishon wasn’t disappointing whatsoever, 19 points on 7-12 shooting is the definition of efficient. Not to mention Mo Amin having yet another double-double, going for 24 points and 12 rebounds and getting POTW. You have to give props to everyone else on this squad, they’re playing their roles perfectly. They’re a scrappy team that’ll give opponents issues on both ends of the court. I can legitimately see them competing for a top 6 seed.

A rough game after a spectacular showing in Week 1. Gagan finished with 18 points and 8 rebounds while Bilal Mughal added on 17 points on 6-12 shooting. Not a bad day, kid. Muhammad Popal was nowhere to be found in a game they needed him, so let’s hope he locks in. He’s considered one of the best shooters in MB, and he needs to show it. Kasey looks like he also improved this season. I’m excited to see how this team will *hopefully* look in the coming weeks. 

Would you believe me if I said the game was tied 16-16 at one point? Going from that to being outscored 50-26 in the first half, you just gotta pack it up and get ready for next week. Also having 22 turnovers as a team? Woof. The bright side: at least they lost by one in the second half. They also had a pretty okay shooting day overall. Bruno looks like a solid pickup alongside Shahrukh, who missed this game. I have to give it up to Ahmed Kouar, 14 rebounds is nuts, and him being healthy makes this team sneaky.&a

Super impressed by what I saw from this game, specifically Ahmed Ismael having 23 points on 9-17 shooting. David Stang also looks like a pillar down low, and I can see why Tulkarem had difficulties scoring against him when he stood in the paint. I do think Ahmed needs to get the rest of the team involved. Only one other teammate having over 5 shots isn’t going to win you games against better teams. 

In what the website dubbed “The Game of the Week”, Al-Wehdat dropped a whopping 9 points in the second half, and were blown out by 26. Sami Butt led the team with 13 points and 10 boards, but lord, 4-28 (14%) from the field is an ugly stat-line. Granted, they were short handed. No Waheed, Yusuf, or Faisal will do that. Sami’s a great player, but he needs more help around him when he finds himself in shooting slumps. When everyone is there, I think they won’t have that issue.

Last week I said the only way they can save their season is if they added someone, and they listened. Omar Khan joined the team, leading them with 23 points and a dub. Matthew Baker with 12 points and 10 rebounds, and can’t forget Malik throwing in his own 10 rebounds. Also, 46 rebounds as a team?? Certified board cleaners. I hope they shock the other teams they verse. 

Rough, rough, rough showing from the veteran team. Tied at the half you thought it could’ve been their game. Danesh going 1-15, 0-9 from 3 is really uncharacteristic, and I expect him to bounce back. The two Mahmouds had 12 a piece. Overall, a week to forget for the guys, going a combined 22% from the field.

They came out flat and caught off guard. They made it close, but there’s only so much you can do when you let the lead pile on early. Usama is really coming into his own this season, having a team-high 22 points. 

Team crash out needs to reel it in before some of their players get suspended. You also gave them 28 free throws. That single handily lost you the game. Eye-test wise, they look like they have potential, but bad shot selections and losing your cool will always lose you games. 

You can tell the team has never played together by this performance. It also didn’t help that they played one of the best squads in the league. They’ll have chances to mesh, and hopefully pull out some wins. Again, I don’t think they belong here, especially with how Abdul, Sami, Kareem, and Husan played this week.