Muslim Basketball

Injuries really plagued a potentially solid season. These guys forced a lot of young, fast teams to slow the pace and squeezed out a couple wins in the process. I don’t think Zak can outscore Mecca on his own (the only way Baghdad has a shot), but you never know. Sometimes if you play terrific defense, your shots find a way through the hoop.

They’ve been shorthanded, unfortunately. They were competitive earlier in the year, but it has faded.

They would be a solid team if Muhannad and Zak had the chance to play most of their games together. Unfortunately, that has not been the case and that is why they score a league worst 36.7ppg. They have two winnable games left, if Muhannad and Zak both play they should win both and challenge a middle of the pack team in the first round.

They played a very good first half, but then struggled to defend Jakarta as they were outscored by 20 in the second half. They have been giving good teams issues all season long. Between Zak and Muhannad, they always have a premier offensive threat. Unfortunately, their entire team never shows up – that’s not a recipe for success.

Lost due to forfeit. They take on Jakarta this week, in one of the more underrated games of the week. They matchup well against Jakarta – Baghdad likes to play slow and execute in the half court, while Jakarta likes turning fast teams into slow teams. Maybe the slowed pace of play will play into Baghdad’s hands.

Got very little from everyone except Zak, who didn’t have Muhannad running the show alongside him. There really wasn’t any offense to speak of and defensively, they just gave up too much. Before and even after Omar Khalaf showed up, they could not keep Omar Mana off the boards. Baghdad shot far too poorly to have a chance against a top 5 caliber team. They have two quality wins, but they cannot get any consistent play. They take on Fez next week in a game that they should be able to handle.

Ahmed Farag must’ve been watching some James Harden this week, putting up a double double and competing on the facial hair front with the soon-to-be NBA MVP. Terrible shooting by both teams in this one, combining for 21% from the field and 14% from deep. Some terrific rebounding numbers for both squads, but it helps when there are 93 missed shots in a game. Baghdad takes on what should be a hungry Amman team – they’ll need to shoot a better percentage to have a shot in this one.

Gave this veteran squad a lot of love for their display of experience against Granada. They followed a statement win with a flop – they came out flat and just could not get themselves back in the game. They’ll be looking for redemption with the upcoming matchup against Tehran. Winner of that game could leapfrog into becoming a middle of the pack team depending on the outcome of some other games in the league.

Not many teams can overcome the absence of any reserves, let alone a team of this age (we’ll call it ‘experience’ so they don’t get offended). They played very solid defense and frustrated Grenada in all facets of the game. They kept the game extremely slow paced, limiting their opponent’s possessions and capitalizing on their own. They shot a solid 45% from the field while holding Grenada to 27.5%. Baghdad was able to pick its spots and score when they needed to without making many mistakes. They did turn it over 14 times, but they were able to make up for that with terrific defense. They were able to get this win without arguably their best offensive player and with a major contribution from Ahmed ‘James Harden’ Farag. 

Outside of Muhannad and Zak, they struggled to string together points. Going forward they will need much more from their big man Omar Khalef – 5 rebounds will not cut it. It was clear that both Muhannad and Zak can turn up and get hot in any game, but they will need at least one more guy to step up and contribute. Solid defensive play in the loss to Alexandria, keeping the Mahdi brothers in check with only 11 points combined and just a single made 3 pointer.

 Another team taking its talent down to D2. Seems like Zak will be the primary scorer and Omar Khalef is a big dude who will challenge any front line. Maybe one of the older teams in the league, so the intangibles will be there. If they can find scoring they will be another team that can move up in the rankings.