Muslim Basketball's back for another exciting season! Last year we saw amazing talent week by week as the top players in the division played their hearts out trying to lead their teams to glory. These players went the extra mile for their team and without them on the court their teams would fall in shambles. The effect they have on the court can be seen through both what does and does not show up on the stat sheets; it's the little things they do that help fuel the fire of their teams. Through their leadership and great play, week in and week out, they hope to do everything in their power to elevate their teams to the next level. These aren't any ordinary players, these are MVP caliber type of players. Welcome to this week's edition of the KP MVP Ladder.
1. Omar Abbassi, Islamabad
One week he’s gone and his team looks very disoriented shooting their lowest field goal percentage of the season at under 30%, the next week he’s back and his team’s back to their old ways shooting over 40% like they have in every other game this season he’s played in. It’s difficult to see the direct effect one player has on an entire team but when you see the chemistry between these guys on Islamabad (besides the face that they’re almost all family) is insane. The glue that keeps it all together? Omar Abbassi. This team is definitely my favorite to win it all at this point in the season; everything is just extremely coherent between this group. Oh by the way not that it matters but my man finished with 25 points on over 60% shooting, 27 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, a block, and one turnover. Yup. There’s no O in Islamabad but there definitely should be.
Last Week’s Ranking: 3
2. Mohamed Amin, Sana’a
I’m going to be completely honest, I was not impressed by Mo’s performance this week nor his team’s. He had an overall solid game but he’s definitely capable of better finishing with 10 points on 50% shooting and 14 boards, and 5 assists. Solid stat line but the overall team performance wasn’t that great, I’m sure they’ll bounce right back though. I managed to catch the majority of the game and there were a lot of missed opportunities and Tehran had Sana’s number down low which led to that super ugly first half. If not for some late 3s by sharpshooter Salman, Tehran would’ve been able to establish more of a lead late in the second half. Credit to Sana’a though they did turn things around in the second half and had the lead for the majority of it but Tehran’s late field goal gave them the lead and they never gave it back. Regardless this post is about the MVP race and I think Big O just outplayed everyone this week and is making a much more solid case for himself 6 weeks in.
Last Week’s Ranking: 1
3. Raza Nassim, Mombasa
This was an interesting game as Mombasa was able to keep on rolling with a win this week without big man stud mastaweiss. Raza finished with 21 points on over 50% shooting, 4 boards, and 3 assists. It was a solid game overall for himself and Mombasa. He and Yousef S are really balling out this season and definitely make each other and the team better. I didn’t want to drop Raza and I’d say him and Mo are respectively tied for 2 at this point in the season but we can’t have two people in the same ranking so.
Last Week’s Ranking: 2
4. Ameer Koyas, Dhaka
Dhaka has so many great players on their team as we’ve mentioned again and again in this post. It’s really tough to single out one player as the best on the team but if we’re talking numbers man has Ameer taken a step up this season. He finished with 22 points on 66% shooting 9 boards and 3 steals. He’s having his best season of his career shooting over 50% from the field and averaging 17.5 points more than halfway through the season, 5 more points than he averaged last season. I think his name should definitely be in the drawing for most improved, you can just see how much more comfortable he looks on the court.
Last Week’s Ranking: N/A
5. Moayad Abulhuda, Amman
Came out on the losing end to Ameer and co this week but still had himself a great game. He finished with 21 points on 57% shooting, 5 boards, 2 assists, and 4 steals. Moayad’s on a roll this season and Amman will need him to stay on top of his game coming down the home stretch of these last few games this season. Not a pretty game for Amman overall and they’ll need big man Omar Mana back to put themselves back into serious championship contention.
Last Week’s Ranking: 4
Next Five Up:
Omar Qasem, Granada (it’s coming, just a little more patience); Leonard Lee, Sarajevo; Joe Pipitone, Tehran; Mujtaba John S, Islamabad; Nick Marquez, Beirut
Next Up?
Yousef Shahsamand, Mombasa: Aside from one bad game week 3 against Tehran, mini Mujtaba has been a stud this season complementing Raza very well. This was an amazing offseason pickup for Mombasa and they’re definitely right up there with the likes of Islamabad and Dhaka. Yousef’s averaging 17.3 on the season shooting about 45% from the field. These type of offseason additions are what can make or break a team; Mombasa is a force to be reckoned with and Yousef running alongside Raza is a sight to see.
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