Muslim Basketball

Once again, Nazareth are the blueprint for success in Central, led by a Shafic-less squad this week. Hussein Barahma led the team with 21 points while Omar Mana helped out with 18pts and 15 boards. As a team, they’re as smart as they come, and adjust as much as they can to their opponents. Now they’re showing how much depth they really have. 

Four players in double-digits, not to mention blowing Qibya out the water is a great way to start your day. Musa Yanes (14pts, 13reb) led the way while Sheff put in 14 points. Also, the defense looked really nice, holding a team to 14 points in dominance. 

Once again, Ahmad Ismaeil for GM of the year with the roster he created this season. He also had himself a game, going for 22 points and 9 rebounds. Arjun Petgrave had 15pts, 7reb, and 5ast, but the 0-8 from 3, not to mention being 15% from 3 on the year doesn’t look too great. I think they’ll clean up their act once Abdelrahman comes back. And hey, 3-0 sounds real good. 

This Ramla team is really playing out of its mind lately. Mattias (30pts, 7stl) is borderline unstoppable this season, averaging 32ppg in 3 games played. No ones had a single answer for him, and no one probably will. Deuce had 18 points and Sami had 12. If Sami ever decides to open up his 3 point bag up, I’m sure this team will be more unstoppable. 

Araiz Spall (27pts, 10reb, 5ast) yelled, "There you go!" Ibraheem Sharaf (16pts) gave a look of pleasant surprise. Usman Khan (12pts, 12ast) belted, "We got a squad now." And before Omar Abbassi (38pts! 12reb, 13-22) hit the locker room door, current assist leader Tarek Hamid (8ast!!) hugged him & said, "We look so different." Boys, Akka is on the come up. 

Just when I thought Elton and Co were changing the narrative, they run into a charging Ramla, and proceed to get steamrolled. Elton led the team with 10 points while Desar had 15 points and 10 boards. Watching this game, nothing was falling for them when they needed it to. 7-36 from three isn’t exactly a game winning formula, and I know they aren’t usually shooting like that. I’m confident they’ll play better next week. 

Missing their best player, but somehow got a win from an up-and-coming Baysan team. Omar Singer (35pts, 14-28 shooting) led the squad while Salman Ilyas cleaned the boards with 15 of them. This was a scare for Tubas, and I’m sure they would’ve lost if Baysan didn’t get into foul trouble late. This week showed how much weaker they are without Mahrooz as a scoring option. 

Abdurahmen missing again and yet another Beit Jala win. Coincidence? Probably not. Cool it happened twice? You bet. Led by Subhan (34pts, 14-18), who had a massive game. Ronny Sawwan also had his own 26 points on 11-16 shooting. This was a good game, even if half of it was played against four players. With Nazareth coming up, lets see if they’re legit contenders. 

Back to back games where they’ve had the final shot at a chance to win, and back to back weeks where they’ve missed the final shot. I don’t hate the shot choice, though. Abdul Popal (16pts) is a great player and makes those. Mohammad Popal finished with 12 points while Bilal Mughal added 11 rebounds. This team shows that they have fight, and I’m sure down the stretch, it’ll translate to quality wins.  

A really tough outing when half the starters are missing. Mohamed Albana (28pts, 10reb) and Omar Abuattieh (23pts) can only do so much. This is a good team, and I’m waiting on Ammar to make his season debut. 

A really close first win of the season, led by Adam Spengler (24pts), who continues to impress every week. Pairing him up with Aadil Yousuf (18pts, 15reb, 7ast, 5stl), who is a constant menace on the boards and a legit scoring option. Mustafa Brown (13pts, 4-9 shooting) had a nice game for himself. I’m interested to see how they’ll look when they get their team back. 

Not having Messiah again for the second straight week is crippling to this squad. Minhaj (18pts, 10reb) and Waheed (18pts) scored the most for this team, but its clear they were out played, out matched, and letting Akka run around them all day. Let’s hope the rest of the squad starts showing up. 

Like I said last week, players on this team don’t know their strength or weakness’. I get shooting the ball is fun and all, but 5-23? Shooting practice is during the week, not game day. Looks like they’re reverting back to their Winter MB ways, a season they went 0-7. If this team wants to get serious, they’ll need to start using their big man more effectively. 

This was a tough game to watch, only because they were so, so close. If it wasn’t for Dawud fouling out, I think they could’ve gotten their first win here. Kasey (27pts, 14reb) looks really impressive over the last two weeks. I’m interested to see how they’ll look going forward. 

It’s odd seeing a Mairaj led team be winless three games into the season. Mike Johnson (26pts, 7reb, 4stl) is a bright spot on this team. I’m sure once their attendance issues stop being, well, an issue, that they’ll be alright. 

The loss was a given, but it’s good to see Malik Soliman (12pts, 5-8 shooting) have a good game. I expect better from Shabazz (0-6) and Mahmoud (0-3), though.