Muslim Basketball

What we know: Defensive Juggernaut. What we think we saw: Fursan Abbassi finally catch fire. What this means: When both sides click, they may not be beatable. They were a .500 team for a reason – some weeks it clicked against great competition (see wins against Sana’a and Granada) and some weeks it didn’t even flicker (see loss to Fez). They will need to push every button on the remote to hope it clicks on both sides against a potentially potent Lahore squad.

They held Dhaka to their third lowest point total of the season, but the lack of offense really killed them. Another game with no double-digit scorer and poor shooting. They gave up 20 points to a solid player in Ameer, but that is entirely too much for a team that prides itself in defending the frontcourt with physicality and strength. They need to find ways to put the ball in the basket or their season may end much earlier than they expected it to.

Just to reiterate a few points, it’s very difficult to win when you give up 15 more rebounds than you reel in and shoot under 20%. With that sort of dismal offense, giving up a league leading ~37 points per game is still too much. In this case, it was 9 points too many. It won’t get easier, they have Dhaka followed by a finale against Granada.

Last week I said they were a defensive powerhouse and boy did they prove me right. Another game where they kept their opponents under 40 points, add to that a very solid game from Shareef, and you have a team poised to compete. They find a way to get timely offense when they need it most – it isn’t pretty, but it gets the job done. I doubt that they will continue to shoot such low percentages, as they have three guys in Ramzy, Fursan, and Islam who can get hot in the blink of an eye. If they can get some more consistent offense, their defense will not be under such heavy pressure. Knowing Ibrahim though, he has no issue winning games 10-9. They also have a tough three game stretch to end the season, nothing better than some competitive games before they really start to matter.

They are a defensive powerhouse – nothing more, nothing less. We all know what great defenses win. They have played tremendous defense all season long, but are starting to get some offensive production. They are not ranked fifth because of what they have done so far – Jakarta is a .500 team who has a terrible loss to Fez under their belt, but they are improving at an exponential rate. This team can beat anyone in this league because they have become very, very sound defensively AND have gotten the necessary offensive production to complement a terrific defense. There was one extremely impressive stretch in the second half where the Abbassi brothers both hit 3s, Shareef hit an 18-footer, and they got one more basket (cannot recall who it was) – and that was all she wrote for Amman. They held Jawad and Moayad to 15 points combined, a number both of which can put up individually in just a half of basketball. They succumbed 14 rebounds to Omar Mana, but did a terrific

They’ve struggled this season, but their defense found a way to get them a second win. They scored enough points against the league’s top ranked defense (PPG), but Jakarta’s defense won them this one. They made Sana’a look and play tired, a testament to each of the seven guys on this team. They hustle, box out, run when they have the chance, and just outwork their opponents. They struggle to score though, and shooting under 35% does not help. Fortunately for them, their defense will give them plenty of opportunities to win games as the season goes on. They’ll need to have their best defensive performance for them to have a shot at beating some familiar faces when they take on Amman.

We knew that offense was not their forte, but they are not playing the level of defense we have seen in the past. They could not stop Anas Zubi when they needed to, a guy who Ramzy was able to contain a season ago. Offensively, an extremely inefficient 11 for Fursan did more harm than good, Ramzy is still cold from behind the arc, and Islam could not get anything to fall. Bright spot was Shareef Omar, who gave Ammar Idelbi all he could handle, in duel of experienced bigs. They’ll need to fix the defense or find ways to score effectively if they want to make a run. They have a very tough schedule going forward, so they may very well need to fix the defense AND find ways to score if they have any hopes of finishing this season with a winning record.

They put up 30 to start the game – with their defense, they shouldn’t need much more to beat a static team like Fez. Take out their 3 point attempts and they shot 18-35 from the field (50%+). Cannot really put my finger on why they lost…shooting 10% from deep isn’t optimal, but again, 46 points could be a 20 point win for this group. In some sense this could be a positive takeaway for Jakarta as they were able to put up a season high of 46 while Ramzy went 0-9 from 3. They surrendered a good game to Jason Weiss, but still, it wasn’t a tremendous game. Ed added an extremely inefficient 15, but again, that shouldn’t be enough to beat Jakarta. Scratching my head at this one, not really sure how to feel. If they can score like this regardless of the shooting percentage, they should win plenty of games because their defense is just that stingy. They’ll need everything to click to compete against Mecca next week.

7.Jakarta – Another tough game for Jakarta, but they forced a whopping 18 turnovers to prevent an 0-2 start. Really no offense to speak of in week 1, they hoped Fursan Abbassi would be able to change that. He struggled in his season debut and the rest of the offense followed. He needs to be their offensive horse – 6 points will not be enough. Ramzy Saleh had a game high of (please swallow the beverage you are sipping on before I make you spit it out) 7 points. This was an ugly, ugly and defensive game, but we have come to love and expect that from the Omar Bros. They were outrebounded and outshot, but experience finds ways to win. I think Jakarta would like to increase their offensive production, but it seems like these kinds of game will be the norm. They will turn their opponents over and find a way to narrowly take care of business. They have Fez next week and if you like seeing more than 40 total points, do not head over to Court B at 8:00. 

If you told me that Lahore was only going to score 34, I would’ve put everything and the kitchen sink on Jakarta winning this game. The Omar brothers combined for 20 points, but that was all she wrote for their offense. Islam and Ramzy struggled to get anything going, but their defensive intensity gave Lahore fits. They’ll have a chance next week against Damascus to get their first win, but 26 points will not cut it in this league.

 A scrappy and crafty bunch, Jakarta will not be blowing many teams out, but they will give the league fits. The Omar brothers are a tough two to play against – they do all the little things to the tee. Ramzy has proven that he can defend any team’s best perimeter player and the addition of two of the Abbassi brothers will add to their offense. Both Fursan and Islam Abbassi have the ability to get hot at any moment, combine that with their defensive capabilities, and you have a squad that will lose very few games. Jakarta will not be the prettiest team and their games will be some of the ugliest you will see this season, but they will find a way to stockpile wins.