Muslim Basketball

Huge second half to erase both a five point deficit and Beirut as a whole. Four guys in double digits, OQ looked more like Jon Mingo than Jon Mingo - BEAST.

Not a good performance at all, if it wasn’t for Moayad, the true story of this game would be me evident. Amman got worked on the glass, but no Mana. In hindsight, he probably would’ve been the difference. 

Nail-biter against Granada. Just got enough done to eek out a win. This was a tough week for some teams that should’ve won in much easier fashion than they did. It should not have taken a borderline no call on a backcourt violation followed by another clutch Omar Qasem shot to have knocked off a struggling Omar Singer-less Granada. Defensive efforts like this one could really keep this team from going as far as they should be able to.

Needed to find a way to seal it, couldn't.

Showed an unbelievable amount of resilience to get this win. They really struggling in the first half, Moayad was visibly frustrated, Qasem struggled, but then in the second half, the script was flipped. Moayad led his team back and ultimately set the stage for Qasem’s game winning three. Full team effort across the board - Marwan hit two momentum changing threes in the midst of the comeback and Mana with a pedestrian 20 rebounds. Really big time win for this group in what seems to be a huge next step.

I didn’t like their loss to Cordoba last week, but they bounced back extremely well and Cordoba also got another solid win, so maybe that loss isn’t as bad as I believed. Kazan is not an easy team to play, especially on the small court. Amman found a way to overcome 22 turnovers and giving up 27 more shots than they took. Ultimately, their ability to finish shots made the difference in shot quantity negligible. Moayad’s ability to hit shots and capitalize in transition makes him one of the most difficult players to defend in this league. He’s added a permitter shot to his arsenal, when that falls, good luck. Add Mana under the rim and you have a loaded roasted with intelligent and potent players.

After a decent debut with his new team, Omar Qasem doesn’t seem to be contributing the way he normally does. The ball doesn’t seem to be in his hands as much as he’d like, he doesn’t have the opportunity to work down low, and he finds himself caught up between a crowded backcourt and a solid front court. He’s a better player with the ball in his hands, but so is Moayad. He needs to be the guy that gets Amman going or else it’s just too much one on one from Moayad and forced shots from Mana.

They needed overtime twice to eek out a win against a pesky Baghdad squad who threw their best punch. They found just enough offense to whether the pour of Baghdad 3s. Their ability to get to the line was ultimately the difference in this one. It was only right that Moayad would get them the win in double OT by hitting 2 free throws to end it. Qasem is probably the best shooter on this team, but if they want to keep defenses from collapsing on the dribble drive, they’ll need to find a way to get Marwan in and shooting. As good as Moayad, Qasem, and Mana are, they need a catch and shoot option to spread it out.

Didn’t go up against terrific competition like some of the other top teams, but wow this team looks good. Abdul, Moayad, and Qasem combined for 51, Marwan will get his, and then add Mana…LOADED.