Muslim Basketball

How can you possibly top a 40 piece? Well just ask the man himself, 15 points, 11 rebounds, 13 assists and 5 steals. That my friends is what we call a triple dub. Shafic Itani is making a late push for MVP this season and if he could put together a few more of these types of games, who’s going to argue? Big Musa Yanes led Riyadh in scoring in this one, with 21 points and 14 rebounds, Zubair and Ahmed E had 12 and 10, respectively and MPJ added 9 of his own. The newly anointed number 1 team and rightfully so.

Down goes Frazier! The lone undefeated team no more. Despite the loss, I wanted to give a s/o to Omar Hussein, you are hoopin’ my brotha. The often erratic and shot happy SG has really found a new home with this squad and is putting on a show night in and night out. Ameer Koyas with 18 points and 7 rebounds and the man who continues to defeat father time (Barak Allah) Farhad B with 15, 11 and 6! Now they were without OQ, which is a big piece but why not spice things up and drop them down a spot. 

Winners of three in a row, this team is clicking on all cylinders and at the right time. Kabul is believed by many to be a serious contender and Jeddah took care of business down the stretch with some timely made baskets and suffocating defense. Lil O led all scorers with 24 points and has evolved into a certified bucket and is now averaging 18.9 ppg on the season. Hassan Chaabane with another night at the office with 14 points, 14 rebounds and 8 assists and S/O to Hamza Abdelghani going 4-6 from three-point land. I don’t think Jeddah loses another regular season game. 

Tough loss against a talented bunch, especially since they shot 5-18 from three and got outrebounded by 15. Aside from a few miscues this team can easily be 6-1 at the moment, but 5-2 is nothing to sneeze about. Mahrooz continues his stellar play with 19 and 8, while Omar Singer added his 16, 4 and 2. Nice to see Moe Dirt back in the fold with 11 points on 5-8 shooting. He hasn’t been his usual self this season, but if he can be a consistent 3^rd option, with the Elias maintaining his improvement thus far, Kabul will make a deep playoff push.

If Omar Mana was in a video game, I wonder how many broken controllers would exist? Just when you think you placed great defense against Sarajevo and contest their shooters, here comes this mammoth grabbing the offensive rebound, playing taps with the backboard until he decides to finally lay it up. The MVP candidate had 19 points 20 rebounds 5 assists 3 steals and 4 blocks. Moe Rayyan followed up last week’s performance with 15 points and Ahmad Saleh chipped in 12 of his own. This team has shooting, size and Omar Mana, so yeah, they will compete.

100% from the free throw line!!! That is what wins basketball games man! It really is a toss-up for who can win ROTY at this point. Mahdy with 24 points 10 boards 5 assists 3 steals and 2 blocks! This team had a night overall, as they had contributions from everyone! Affan with 10, Ismael with 11 and Layth with 14. Overall great performance from the rugrats and they just continue to win games post trade deadline. 

Yes, I know they are 4-3, how could I possibly drop them to number 7. Well let us take a deep dive now, shall we. Losers of 3 of their last 4, they are essentially ahead of everyone they have beaten, other than a scorching hot Jeddah team and they lost to Kashgar, who are now ranked 6^th. Pretty fair if you ask me. Mr. Shiesty with an uncharacteristic 5-16 shooting. Props to Kashgar for limiting JoJo and I am not taking away anything from them, but I believe he is too skilled to not be a presence in a matchup like this. Nonetheless Amman has the pieces of a contender.

“Medina will get right” – Amir Charrkas….. And that they did. 52 points in the second half is quite the accomplishment. Scoring 29 points on 8-15 from the field with 9 rebounds and 6 assists gets you in the conversation for POTW. MB vet Mustafa Abbassi added 25 of his own and Mo Masri had 17 points on 4-11 from the field. They nearly quadrupled Suba’s free throw total and that proved to be the deciding factor. Medina got right. 

Were they missing players? Yes. But when you have the best player on the court and arguably one of the better scorers in the league, this is a game you simply can’t lose. 19 points is great and dandy but in order for Timbuktu to be a tough outcome the postseason, Shahzaib needs to be that 25 ppg scorer. Muhanad Deeb needs to be the second option and assert himself down low but that’s easier said than done with Istanbul. 

Down 11 at the half, this team showed some fight and found a way to get the win. Aadil Yousef with 23 points and 14 rebounds and carried the load, despite the remainder of the cast struggled. The rest of the team shot 12-41 and to be honest, but this team prides themselves on rebounding the basketball and playing defense all 40 minutes. Solid win against a team that was heading in the right direction. 

Losers of three in row, and unfortunately that forces me to slide them down to the 11^th spot. Ali Hassan, Ali Suiafan and Farzad combined for 40 points, but the rest of the team could only muster 10. The game was within reach up until the final moments, where Sarajevo forced Tehran into tough shots and made their FTs down the stretch. I expect them to dominate in their next game against Suba.

Don’t worry Suba, at least you’ll make the playoffs. Jokes aside, this team is just running into some bad luck. Another single digit loss, despite shooting 57% from the field, outrebounding their opponent and having five guys in double digits. Sometimes you just got to tip your hat and move on.