Muslim Basketball

Beirut is quietly on a 3 game losing streak, after starting the season 5-1. Luckily, they play Alexandria next week, which should be another free win. Beirut should be used to those wins, as 4 of their soon to be 6 wins (assuming they win next week) could have a combined record of 7-33.

The addition of Kenny has brought this team to a top contender in MB’s most competitive season. They missed Nick’s scoring last week, as Tripoli just got their number. Their record against over .500 teams is 2-3. Similar to Jeddah, they have to win the tough games.

Some very respectable wins from this group, but unarguably the most coming from their week 5 performance. Though it was a low-scoring game, they were able to contain the offensive threat that was one of the last undefeated teams standing. Huge double double from Mingo shooting 60%, and despite a minor setback from Kenny this game, their big three with Nick posed too much of a difficulty to a team filled with scorers in Jeddah. I said before that Kenny was their ticket to making what might be another run to the finals… Let’s see if I was right.

Yet another balanced, complementary performance from all three of Mingo, Kenny, and Nick. When this team gets going, they’re insanely difficult to contain. Despite not shooting so well from the field all together at 33%, they were able to get past a gritty Damascus team that tested their ability to keep up with quick-paced offensive play. Should be a great game against Cordoba next week.

Looks to me like they did add that single piece that would take them back to finals contention- and his name is Kenny Jenkins. With his complements to Mingo’s all around game and Nick’s automatic shooting, look for Beirut to make serious runs throughout this season. Despite falling short to a deep Islamabad squad late down the stretch, they were able to hold them to below 40% from the field. Work from there.

When you take a look at Jon Mingo’s stat line, it’s understandable to think he’s doing a great job padding them. But if you’ve watched Beirut’s games over the past couple of seasons, you’d realize that he does do a little bit of everything (and efficiently), but also that he needs to. Mingo and Nick will make or break this team depending on consistency, but let’s see if some new additions take them back to the finals in MB’s most competitive season.