Muslim Basketball

Another not so impressive win by Jeddah, beating Lagos by 6. With yet another easy game coming up next week, I fully expect this team to end 8-2. In order to make it far in the playoffs, they eventually will have to beat someone good. I just don’t see that happening.

Jeddah will most likely end the regular season at 8-2, taking advantage of the ease of schedule they had. If they end at 8-2, only 3 of those wins will be against teams above .500 (Dhaka, Tripoli, Islamabad). If they cannot compete against the top teams in the league, they are going to have a rough time late in the playoffs.

Khalied and Muntasir each shooting 1-9 from the field ultimately decided the outcome of this game considering that it was a back and forth, especially with the rest of the scoring cast in Anas, Raied and Rocco contributing well. A minor setback for this group against a tough Beirut team that breaks defenses well, but I still see this team being a top threat come playoff time. Too big and versatile for most teams to handle; I think they’ll have the same mid-season record to end it.

Any of a handful of players on this roster can really light it up on a given day. Last sunday, you can say it was Muntasir’s turn. With him, Anas, and Khalied leading the offense, it’s going to be difficult for opposing teams to find a way to stop the ball- or even hope they miss for that matter. As impressive as it is to take down Islamabad, I wouldn’t go as far as to say that it was unexpected. Safe to say we’ve found ourselves another powerhouse.

A couple of takeaways from their Week 1 performance. First, like I mentioned last week, this is an incredibly talented group on both ends of the floor. Second, this was not a proper display of the groups potential at all. To start off, newcomer Rocco was killing it, getting bucket after bucket. His foot was then lifted off the pedal. That being the case, along with a simple 15 from Anas and relatively quiet performances from Raied and Muntasir, it’s safe to assume that this is already a top squad

Only ONE potential factor can deprive this team of the championship run its more than capable of making. Sha-ring-the-ball. Offensively, any Anas Najib-lead squad can take you passed teams in close games. Add Muntasir, Raied, and Khalied and your looking at an unstoppable scoring threat of a combination. Any successes this team has are contingent upon their unselfishness. Hamza will pay his dues on the defensive end. Just worry about passing.