Muslim Basketball

After blowing a 19 point lead last week, we expected them to be hungry against the Anwar-less Nazareth. They started off slow and we're never able to recover from Waqas scoring at will. Missing Wasay also did not help as they could have used his body to keep Nazareth off the boards. Last week I had a message for Wasay, play inside. He went the opposite way and didn't even make it in to the gym. There is some good news however...the trade for Haseeb gives them another scoring threat. If they are able to find a spot for him in the rotation, they might have just filled out their offense to compete. Week 7 against Ramallah is for playoff positioning and confidence heading in to the playoffs.

Hear me out here. Yes - their wins have come against shorthanded teams and a forfeit, but if you watch these guys play recently they have what it takes to be competitive. Case in point - they were up 19 points vs a full LOD roster. This could have been their signature game of the season, but resulted in a loss due to mismanagement of offensive possessions in the second half. Their biggest issue is figuring out what they want to do as a team. After the draft, Ahmad Kanan said their biggest weakness will be their ego. It seems to be pretty accurate so far. They have multiple guys that can score, but require a ton of shots to get there. They also have a guy in Usman that can straight beast in the paint. He has averaged a double double in past seasons, but is really struggling to get good looks. This team loves to shoot but cant see how successful Sheik Jarrah is because of thei

So first of all, credit to Saad Q who exploded for 26 in this weeks game. Missing Usman totally hurt them, so did a bunch of jersey penalties. I just haven't been convinced yet that this team is one to be reckoned with. They battled hard against a great team and kept it close, maybe if you drop those penalty points, they win this one, but that's not how it works, and unfortunately they lost in a really important game. 

I know everyone will continue giving me flack for this one but I don't really care. Tell me what Deir Yassin has proven? And it's not even their fault, this week they got a forfeit win. Last week they beat Ramallah without Drew and AR, and in week 1, they weren't able to really show much in a loss to Lod, although I recognize their guys were not at 100%. I don't think this team is bad, in fact, I think they're good, but I need to see something first. In week 4 they face the #1 team in Sheikh Jarrah, so, let's see it boys, come out and get a W so I can finally give you guys some real props. Besides that, congrats on 2-1 through 3 weeks. 

Controversy continues with Dier Yassin at 6 but hear me out here. Faced a Drewlees and ARless Ramallah and I guess they just didn't do anything crazy. They won, that's good, but I'm still wondering how this team will do against the stronger rosters in the league. Next week against Tiberias will be a huge test. If they can pull off the win, I'm willing to shoot them up the rankings a few spots. So let this be a motivator to you Deir Yassin, go get another win. Key contributions from Saad Q and Yasin.

Deir Yassin drops to 6 in this week after a defeat in week 1. Deir Yassin looked incredibly flat this week, there was really no pep in their step and it was just a weak performance. They faced a strong team in Lod, but, they definitely underperformed. Saad Q going 1-12 was incredibly uncharacteristic, so was Usman Shaw's 1-1 FGs this week. This team has a lot of progress to make during the season, and we think they can make that progress. But its going to take a strong voice stepping up and guiding the team if they want to find their way to any wins this season. Key contributions from Wasay R who had 16 PTs and Kieara Yasin.

I love the team Usman built, veteran players, with an injection of youth. Shooting, defense, and rebounding are all at a premium on this team. They're gonna score a lot, and they're gonna be tough to score against. For that reason, I've got them at 4 going into week 1. I'm interested to see how Saad Q blends into this new team, he can sometimes get overzealous and shoot his team out of games, but, he's deadly when he plays his game. The core of this team is strong, Usman, Yasin, Wasay, David F just to mention a few. I'm excited to watch this team, and they could definitely be one of the big movers going into week 2 or 3 depending on performance.