Muslim Basketball

Welcome back Idris. 10/14 from 3. Wow. This is the support Zain has needed to make this team extremely competitive. Obviously he isn’t going to shoot 71% from 3 every game, but as long as he stays somewhat hot, and Luke and Omar contribute the way they know they can, this team can surprise some people in the playoffs.

Zain is having a dominant year and solidifying himself as one of the best players in this league. They play great defense, and if they win the game against Lagos like they’re supposed to, you would probably see them ranked higher on this list.

Their first two losses of the season were understandable, and the upset pulled off last week by their opponent in Lagos was only decided by 4 points. Either way, would never have expected such a deep group to be 2-3 at this point of the season. 2-11 and 1-11 from Luke and Idris is something that isn’t going to cut it for this group especially since they rely on their contribution, but also isn’t something to expect again. Look for the whole team to add on to Zain’s monster performance next week in their blowout against Kashgar.

Their performance last week testifies more so to how good of a roster they’ve put together- no Islam, an early exit from Luke and only losing to a great Jeddah team by two possessions? That’s a good sign to me, especially being that we’re only two weeks in. They have one of the easier schedules this season, so don’t be surprised by the coming of a long winning streak from the Abbassi bro’s & co.

Solid win for this powerhouse against an intimidating Beirut team. I’d usually expect a larger margin of deficit, but they have yet to fully figure out how to incorporate Luke into their offense. When he, Zain, and the Abbassi bro’s are better synchronized, you’d better hope for an off game from Idriss. If thats not the case and he’s knocking down 40% from deep like he did in Week 1, it’s almost definitely an L at that point.

The only category that this team didn’t finish in the top 5 in last season other free throw percentage was rebounding. They’ve since added Ammar Idelbi and Luke Mullaney… problem solved! Despite dropping arguably the top Abbassi brother, The other 3 should be more than comfortable adding the other acquisitions to their league-leading chemistry. & if Idris decides to shoot 43% from three point range again, then I’d think twice about playing zone.