Muslim Basketball

They were by far the most disappointing team this season. A team with Omar Mana, Jawad, and Moayad should not be under .500, let alone not in the top half of the rankings. They have all the necessary pieces to be the start of a young dynasty – no disrespect to Weiss, but this big 3, potential and skill wise, rivals the squads he built in the past. They played a tough schedule and went through a gauntlet to end the season, but that is no excuse to lose 5 straight games by an average of 15.6 points against teams they should be able to compete with, if not beat. I hope these kids go in with a refreshed attitude and put their struggled behind them. If they do, they may possibly extend their season, but Mombasa doesn’t give opportunities away, Amman will have to go take it.

Hard to beat an offensive powerhouse without your best perimeters defender. Had Jawad been able to play the majority of the game, the outcome may have been different. Moayad had another solid game, albeit less efficiently than he would like. They need to find ways to get Omar Mana more involved offensively, he is far too difficult to defend to be only getting nine shots. I’m taking Amman as my sleeper team in the tourney – Moayad and Jawad are two terrific scorers who are having less than great seasons, but if they can turn it around and get Omar Mana a little more involved, they have a shot to compete against anyone.

Really disappointing season (so far) from this bunch. Expecting much bigger things from Jawad. Lone bright spot has been Omar Mana, who has just been flat-out dominant. They have two challenging games to end out the regular season. If they can somehow figure things out going into the playoffs, Jawad and Moayad are two potent offensive players who can light it up in an instance. Add that to Omar Mana’s presence down low, and any top seed would have a handful to deal with.

After a terrific first half, they just did not have any gas left in the tank to play with Granada’s pace. I heard Shadi yell “speed kills” as he streaked a couple times down the court for easy transition buckets. Amman shouldn’t be a team that gets run on. Between Moayad and Jawad, they have a very athletic team that should be able to prevent transition baskets, they should be the ones killing with speed. At this point, it just doesn’t seem like they want it. Moayad had 21 points, but I think all of those points came in the first 20 minutes. As a team, you just cannot be held to 8 points in a half when you have as many weapons as Amman does. Omar Mana was outworked and out hustled by a more mature and hungrier player – he is not a 2 point 9 rebound player, he is a 10pt/15rb guy who can be 20/20 when he decides to play with a chip on his shoulder. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t seem like they have the leadership necessary to turn this season

The more I watch the team, the less I understand why they struggle. They have premier offensive talent, arguably the best big man in the league, and some support off the bench. After his breakout performance last week, I had high hopes for Jawad to match the performance and exploit Jakarta’s defense. Unfortunately for Amman, they did not exploit any facet of Jakarta’s game and they themselves were exploited. They have very poor ball movement, Moayad insists on attacking one on three, and overall, they just have very poor body language. They had many chances to win this game, but they let it slip away and never fought back for it. They have a young team, so inconsistency may be expected, but they’ll need to play a solid game if they hope to get back in the win column next week.

They changed things up a bit and brought Jawad off the bench – that decision paid dividends. By far his best performance of the season, complemented by a solid game from Moayad and another double digit rebound game from Omar Mana. They did not shoot efficiently, but they were able to dominate the glass, hold onto the ball, and steal the ball 10 times. If Jawad continues this level of play, Omar Mana remains a beast under the rim, and Moayad continues to force action towards the basket, Amman will be in a terrific position to compete at the end of the season. The three-headed monster that they have built will be a handful for every team they face – next up is a date with their former captain, Ibrahim Omar, and his Jakarta squad, a game Amman is definitely looking forward to.

It was tough seeing this group fall apart a bit near the end of the game. Unfortunately two players had to be escorted off, while a third fouled out. Dhaka will do that to good teams – they find ways to frustrate you, irritate you, and get you out of the proper mindset. Jawad had an alright game, his fifth foul ended his morning a little earlier than he would have liked. Omar Mana showed us again why he deserves to be considered one of the best bigmen in this league. He held Salman in check, outscoring him and outrebounding him. Unfortunately for Ammar, their emotions got the best of them. They will have a chance to bounce back next week against Baghdad – I’m sure Moayad and co. want to get this bad taste out of their mouths. The only piece they lack is an emotional leader – they play far too lethargic, uninspired, and laid back at times. Someone needs to step up and take control sooner rather than later. If they find that leader, they’ll climb the rank

For the second straight week (can even say third), Omar Mana has been an absolute menace on the boards. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to win when only 1 guy shows up. Jawad and Moayad combined for a whopping 8 points on 29 field goal attempts – that will not get it done. If it wasn’t for Muhammad Mustafa, this game would’ve been significantly uglier for Amman than it already was. They’re young, so this performance will not be taken as seriously as it probably should be taken. Games like this happen, now let’s see if Jawad decides to make his season debut.

Absolutely monster game from Omar Mana, who was almost outplayed by his teammate Moayad Abul-Huda. Moayad added 16 points and 5 boards, albeit he had a sloppy 6 turnoves, he found a way to get the job done against a solid Sana’a team. Jawad Tamimi will need to match the level of play his teammates brought to keep Amman in the top 3. Good contribution from Marwan Tamimi who added two 3s. They’ll have a chance to further exhibit their talent against a very good Mecca team next week.

Balanced offensive performance for the young guns, they were held in check by Tehran, but did enough to get the win. Jawad will average much more than 11 and Omar Mana seems to be establishing himself as one of the better big men in the league. They’ll be in for a challenge next week as they take on Mo Amin and Sana’a, look for Jawad to establish his defensive presence against one of the best offensive players – should be a fun one.

 A dark-horse MVP candidate, Jawad Tamimi is one of the best all-around players in this league and has continued to make great strides in expanding his game - he is a load to defend and a pesky defender himself. Moayad can be a top point guard and Omar Mana is a very solid big. If the younglings can maintain a positive attitude and play with composure, they can move their way up the rankings very quickly.