Muslim Basketball

Shafic/itachi I really hope that tennis match was worth it. This team should be higher but back to back losses is not a good look. While missing their 2 best players musa and itachi, they had a sub LECOACH. And this man coming off an injury almost had a triple double 19-17-8. And I can’t forget about Ahmed 20-9, please stop the MPJ disrespect. I think this team would’ve won if they had a sub for musa but instead shiekh was running the big and putting in the work. However, I think for back to back losses this team looks really good. They’re getting players more involved and comfortable without out their star players, which is exactly what makes their team so good with musa and itachi as there power houses. 

To be fair they were without MVP candidate Big Moose, a disappointing let down for a a show off we’ve always wanted to see him play against ROTY candidate Mahdy. Nice to see Mufti Idris showing up again for the team on offense but we would’ve expected to see more from Shafic with his Co-star out. I think this squad is still a strong contender for #1 but I’m worried they may be too reliant on Big Moose.

Doesn’t it seem like Shafic and Big Moose are playing with our emotions at this point. Shafic had 40 points a few weeks back, followed that up with a triple double and then Musa decided to go bunkers and go for 36 points 20 board and 6 assists! Thank you for making the POTW committee’s job easy this week buddy. The MVP race is getting thinner as we are coming down to the wire and Riyadh may have two of the three candidates.

How can you possibly top a 40 piece? Well just ask the man himself, 15 points, 11 rebounds, 13 assists and 5 steals. That my friends is what we call a triple dub. Shafic Itani is making a late push for MVP this season and if he could put together a few more of these types of games, who’s going to argue? Big Musa Yanes led Riyadh in scoring in this one, with 21 points and 14 rebounds, Zubair and Ahmed E had 12 and 10, respectively and MPJ added 9 of his own. The newly anointed number 1 team and rightfully so.

Ummmmm 40? On 14-17????? That is absolutely BUNKERS! Those guys have a family Mr. Itani! All jokes aside, Shafic balled out and his team needed every piece of that. Second highest scorer for Riyadh was Big Moose with 15 points, and they got 8 points apiece from MPJ (Ahmed Ismaeil) and Zubiar. But back to Shafic, boyyyy was straight cooking and was hotter than fish grease! 40 points 9 rebounds and 7 assists and your Week 6 Player of The Week! Can’t wait to see another meme by Idris…..

Coach Phil Towfeek Jackson was at again, as the league’s favorite coach may need to get a real coaching gig in the near future. Big Moose was up to his usual shenanigans with 22 and 13. Shafic had 10,8 and 5 and although he wasn’t all that efficient, controlled the pace of the game and did a great job getting his guys involved. Idris and Zubair hit 3 and 2 3’s, respectively, and if they can continue to shoot efficiently and confidently this team will remain among the top contenders.

Coach Towfeekivich is the clear-cut choice for coach of the year at this point in the season. Aside from being the only coach, he had a great game plan for limiting Amman on offense. Big Moose and Shafic clocked in another day at the offense, with Shafic flirting with a triple double! Idris and Ahmed had solid games and played great team defense on Joe Squared. Unfortunately, they may have lost Ali Omari for the season, Insha’Allah a speedy recovery brother.

Tough loss in OT, but it’s not one they should be too down on. Big Moose came up big putting up 21-20 on 50% as expected, and Shafic was right there with him putting up 15 on 5-9 and a huge go-ahead at the end of the game. Idris put up a dud, which is very very uncharacteristic of a top 5 shooter, but other pieces on the team stepped up, namely Zubair P and Ali O, which goes to show that this team has some serious depth. A well-fought game and their loss won’t blind the rest of the league to the threat they present.

Shafic and Big Moose remind me a lot of Stephon Marbury and KG in their Timberwolves days (Look em’ up). You have a super athletic big who can stretch the floor and a combo guard who can leave defenders touching earth, whenever who chooses. In effort to save me time, I think I am going to save the “Idris added 3 3PT’s of his own” to my computer and paste it in every week. Dude is a snipaaaaaa. Riyadh is looking good folks.

GAME OF THE WEEK WINNER! Shafic and Big Moose got their season off on the right start and forced Suba to commit 14 TO’s. We know their dynamic duo are going to prove the scoring week in and week out, but they can’t afford to shoot 7-30 as a team from the 3point line. But nonetheless, I don’t want to nit pick after one week. 

Speaking of another champion, Musa Yanes and Shafic have reunited to form one of the deadliest 1-2 punches in the league. Can you imagine the business decisions that are going to be made by defenses when you have a pick n roll between these two? Oh, and then you’ll have to worry about Idris hiding in a corner ready to knock down 4 3’s on a nightly basis.