Muslim Basketball

Ended their regular season with a win, and because they finished with a solid 7-3 record, they have a cupcake matchup round 1 of the playoffs against Palermo. Beating Damascus by 4 won’t move you up in the power rankings, though. They moved down solely because other teams had more impressive wins than them.

Lahore is 1st in points scored in one of the most competitive MB seasons ever, and they are also 1st in rebounding. That is a great combination to have. It is also important to note they are in absolute last in free throw percentage. They actually get to the line a significant amount, so it may be something they want to practice before heading into the playoffs. I am generalizing it with team stats, but Omar, we are talking to you!

Shafic with the game winner! What a game from him, beating his previous career high of 30 (which he had his last game) and scoring 34 points. Jason continues to shoot at an insanely efficient level, this time shooting 7-8. With Omar always doing what he does, this team is picking up steam at the right time. Granada is a very good team, so it has to feel good to not only score 85 points, but also beat an actual competitor and not one of the lower ranked teams.

As expected, they blew out Riyadh. Some new top scorers though, with Jason and Shafic both dropping 30 points. Jason was a wild 15-17 from the field. What?! Is that real? Also grabbed 10 boards in the process, and almost got a triple double with steals snatching 8. He has to be a contender for player of the week. Unfortunately, as stated in week 6, they can’t move up too many spots from a win against one of the worst teams in the league.

Every time I look at a Lahore box score, I go straight to the rebounds to see how many boards Omar grabbed. I did a double take this time. Not only did he drop 30 points, but 34 rebounds?! Is this real life? BOX THAT MAN OUT. I know, easier said than done. A win by 25 definitely warrants some spots on the power rankings, but I am waiting for that statement victory to bring them back towards the top. It won’t happen next game, as they look towards another 25+ point victory against the struggling Riyadh squad.

Lahore needs to stop shooting 3s. They shot 13% from behind the arc, and are currently 25th in the league in 3 point percentage. When they play down low with Omar being the focal point, they are great. Omar was 12-23 inside the arc, and had 24 points and 20 rebounds. Jason was 6-10 inside the arc. Shafic 4-6 inside the arc. They need to stick to what is working if they want to end the season with a winning record. Luckily 4 of the next 5 games for them are very winnable. The tough part of their schedule is over.

Omar got to battle Mohamed down low all game for the boards. That has to get tiring, but he still managed to grab 16. This was a big win for Lahore. They didn’t want to see themselves end up in the dungeon of the power rankings. Bilal was very efficient, but young man Ahmad has got to get more efficient from behind the arc if he wants to keep chucking them up. He is shooting 5-31 from 3 in the last 3 games. That is 16.1%.

They have to string together some tough wins before they start plummeting down the rankings.

Just when we thought Ahmed was ready to carry some of the weight on his shoulders, he drops a donut shooting 0-9 from 3 and 0-2 from the stripe. Maybe his camera was still in his hand? Omar couldn’t get to double digits in rebounding, and this team lives and dies with Omar’s performance.

Big man Omar Mana was able to pick up the scoring they lost with Moayad heading to Damascus. He had some help from youngster Ahmad, scoring 14 more than his career average. If Omar can continue to play at this high level, they should be able to compete with the better teams in the league.

Similar Lahore team without their main scorer.