Muslim Basketball

It was very, very hard moving them up to 3 after a loss, but the rest of the top 5 gave them a hand. Another team with a great season, knocking off 3 of the top 6 teams. Joe Z is a menace under the rim, Joe P plays with an unmatched level of hustle and mosquito-ness on defense. They are another team that can go the distance after a tremendous regular season.

Took a punch early but then did not stop delivering the blows. They capitalized from the free throw line, knocking down 28 of their 40 attempts. All Omari knocked down 14 of his 17 attempts, most of which coming in crunch time, putting the game away. They find ways to win games in many different ways - they are battle tested and will prove that in the playoffs. 

The space between them and the top four is getting extremely narrow. A shorthanded Delhi team threw their best punch and Tehran took it with poise. Joe, Ali, and Tayeb lead the offense to their second 60+ game of the season. What concerns me though, is that they are very inconsistent on offense. They are though, very balanced when it comes to winning games by scoring and by playing defense - they can beat you either way and that is a great threat.

Getting real crowded at the top here. Five teams all with very, very worthy arguments for being at the top. No disrespect coming in at 5, none at all. That was an impressive, impressive win.

Not sure why there seems to be a feeling of disrespect towards the PR and other MB forum outlets, but we’ve been on board with this team. They can play - Islamabad was short their horse, but nevertheless, Islamabad is a very respectable team without Big O. Joe has been extremely consistent for them scoring the ball, Tayeb had his breakout game but rebounds very well, and as a unit, they are pretty coherent. They may not necessarily rack up the assists to justify that notion, but they have guys who create for themselves off the dribble and distribute efficiently. Another team that can prove A LOT if they get a win this week. On paper, they can challenge Sana’a if they can prevent Raied from getting cheap layups and keep Sana’a off the offensive glass - much easier said than done, though.

Whatever Tayeb is on, give me it. Now. Will not disrespect or dilute his performance by talking about anything else. He deserves this moment to shine. That a boy.

Bad second half against a very solid team. Struggled to contain Raza but he’s the type of player that needs to be guarded by pair of fresh legs. Tehran struggled mightily offensively, but their two quality wins to start the season keeps them in the top 10.

Not really sure how I feel about their win. You’ll see how I really feel about Mecca sans Anas later, but I would’ve liked to see Tehran be a little more dominant against a vulnerable team. Especially after Tehran knocked off Jakarta week 1.

Very, very impressive win from this group. Last season’s core returns with some talented newcomers who proved against arguably the best defensive team in Jakarta that they indeed are a force to be reckoned with. Their individual stats may not pop out at you, but if you watched their opener in its entirety, you should have noticed that they really challenged an All-World offensive player in Mujtaba, they find ways to execute and get baskets, and they have a handful of players who have no issue taking the shot or making a play when it matters most.