Muslim Basketball

When you have two guys that can combine for 67, you should be winning a ton of games. When you give up 67 points, you probably going to lose more than you win. Sana’a is on the end of both those spectrums. They’ve 4-5 because they can score and because they get scored on. They average what they give up, so games will be tight and come down to a couple points. They inexcusably gave up 67 points to (no disrespect intended towards Baghdad) a below average offense that has no business scoring in the mid 50s, let alone 60+. They’ll give a high seed some problems, but if they don’t defend, there really isn’t enough offense they can score.

What started as a very promising season has quickly gone downhill. Even when they play efficiently, the “Abdul or Steve” dynamic doesn’t seem to be working. They could be a pretty scary duo, but the unwillingness to share the ball allows the defense to focus in on the ball handler.

Hung in there, made a run, but just couldn’t find the 2-3 successful possessions to take the game. Everyone knows Abdul or Steve going to try to make the play. Neither of them look for someone else to make a play, making it pretty straightforward for defenses to stop. Both are tremendous offensive players, but the fact that neither of them pass off the initial attack weakens this group.

Defense is scaring me a bit now. They can score the ball, but that bottom 6 ranked defense is not good. They score as much as they give up, but they have only played in 2 close games. The inconsistency on both sides of the ball is concerning. What keeps them a top 10 team is that Abdul and Netti can go off in a blink.

The combo of Steve Netti and Abdul might be the start of something really nice for Sana’a. Teams tend to not let Abdul beat them, but once Steve starts beating them, they’ll be forced to focus on both - not an easy (or even possible) task.

That’s what happens when Abdul is the center of attention and doesn’t get going. They held Tehran to 47, but didn’t have anywhere near enough offense to get it done. I don’t know what adjustment they can make. Their DNA is Abdul on offense, anything extra is that.

We’re so used to seeing video game numbers from Abdul that we often forget 23 in a game isn’t too shabby. Think is though, he takes half of his team’s shots, so they better be going in - they did and didn’t in this matchup against a win-deprived Dhaka team that wasn’t going to go 0-3. I like this team and I think they, just like Lahore, have a terrific engine and a solid supporting parts, but when that engine doesn’t operate at peak performance, the supporting parts often become irrelevant. Pressure and attention will be on Abdul all season long, it’s up to him to beat it or put guys in positions to beat it. His team will keep games close all season long, but he’s got the keys.

The recipe is simple: play defense hard enough so Abdul can almost outscore the other team alone. Baskets from the rest of the team here or there will get them enough to win.

Some gritty players then add scoring leader Abdul and Steve and you have a really well balanced team. They should be able to score and defend. What I would keep my eye on though, is the efficiency. Abdul takes and misses (and also makes) a ton of shots. As long as the rest of the team remains engaged, they can be a force.