Muslim Basketball

Best win: Nailbiter vs Areeha. This was arguably the best win of the season and highlighted Bethlehem’s situational execution against a top team in crunch time. They proved that their strengths can cover up their weaknesses. When they play fast, teams simply can’t outscore them. Jay and Trey have been talked about a lot but Nader has been a dynamic 4th option and Omar Hussein has been the go to scorer vs tight defenses.

Best win: 2OT vs Tulkarem. The Mahrooz-Singer-Sal core has always been dependable defensively. This game early on against a good defense set the tone offensively for the rest of the season. With Jay at the helm, he can let Mahrooz and Singer overpower teams like they used to or find Ali who has been a great addition vs teams that camp out down low. The loss vs Bethlehem only sharpened them for playoffs.

Best win: Comeback vs Nazareth.  Haifa went up against a frontcourt in Luis and Larry who really took advantage of Haifa’s weaknesses. They still pulled out the win and have shown they can either pick you apart when they’re leading or turn up the heat if they need to come back. Shahzaib is playing like an MVP and when they’re creating that many open shots, the scoring runs are inevitable. Unfortunately, we never saw the full team vs another top 6 opponent.

Best win: Passing the test vs Al-Bireh. When these two struggling preseason contenders matched up, it felt like a must win game to build momentum before playoffs. Tulkarem rose to the top, in part due to Hassan Farhat’s best game. Mana stamps his impact on both ends every game but Hassan’s spacing could be the key to getting the best of Elias and Moayad. This is a tricky team because 2 losses were missing many players and the last was in OT vs Areeha. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt.

Best win: OT vs Safad. Al-Khalil showed lots of toughness and had to claw their way back in this game. This team is built on the back of its defense, with members of the core that won the chip last year still remaining in Baraa, Heemy, Omar and Mahdy. The offense is retooled with Swish and Elhindi, and Moatze has had a great season as well. They’ve dropped because the defense has shown some cracks in recent weeks and I don’t think there’s room for that with how this team is built.

Best win: Suffocating Al-Bireh. Safad went up against the most talented 6-man rotation in the league and kept them under 20 in the second half. They play with the type of desperation and accountability on defense that allows small hustle plays to accumulate over a game and really impact the outcome. Brandon, Fursan and Islam all have to be in contention for DPOY. The loss to Al-Khalil is really bringing this team down because it’s a defensive team and the plan vs Mahdy was disappointing.

Best win: Opener vs Al-Khalil. Al-Bireh opened the season looking like one of the favorites. They showed they can play great defense against a talented lineup, and Adeeb and Khalid provided a consistent offensive floor. However, the offense and defense have not been complementary. The offense lacks a top gear and that puts pressure on the defense, which has been a letdown recently. Khalid looking to be a playmaker could unlock the offense.

Best win: Shootout vs Tiberias. This game highlighted both Jenin’s biggest strength and X-factor. They went up big early behind a flurry of 3s from Zubair, a candidate for most improved after hitting 4-5 threes every game. Together with Akrum, they can put up 3s in a hurry while Wajdi gets attention down low. What won it for them, though, was the second half defense keeping Tiberias under 20 points. The defensive struggles will need to be a key point for Coach Azi heading into the playoffs.

Best win: Explosion vs Areeha. One of the league leaders in 3PM, when Tiberias catches fire from 3, even the top teams in the league can’t stop them. Teams know the scouting report to stop them from shooting but in this game they were still able to get their shots catching defenses in mental lapses, particularly in transition and drop coverage on picks. That’ll need to be a point of emphasis to win games: look to attack early or expose bigs that like to hang in the paint on the pick and pop.

Best win: Statement W vs Bethlehem. Without a clear second option or defensive identity, Nazareth needed a win against a top team to put the league on alert. They found their formula with Luis as an inside and out mismatch and Larry sneakily dominating the glass. The size of the frontcourt frees up space for their dynamic guards. Muhammad Assaf has been streaky but until he can be more efficient, the offense’s ceiling is limited.

Best win: Clinic vs Al-Bireh. Khalid gave them some issues early but Rafah showed that they have firepower of their own as Zain and Anas Zubi went to work on their matchups from all 3 levels. Those 2 together with Anas Najib have been scoring efficiently all year, which makes it difficult to keep them this low. However, Nabil and Joey have not seamlessly rounded out the starting 5 as expected and the bench contributions have been limited.

Best win: Everybody eating vs Gaza. It’s clear defense has been an issue all season long for Jerusalem so their best path to winning has to be to get the offense clicking on all cylinders. Mike has led the league in scoring once again and Mo Masri is on a heater. Nick attempted 0 threes in the win and while he’s a capable shooter, perhaps this is a sign that putting himself in more aggressive scoring positions opens things up for everyone as a playmaker.

Best win: Slugfest vs Yaffa. For a 1-win team, Baysan has one of the league’s best offensive tools at their disposal: they’ve hit double digit 3s in every game since Week 1. Ironically, the 10 threes they hit in the win was one of the lowest this season. Most teams don’t have the discipline across all 5 players on the court to play all of Baysan tight at the 3 point line. I don’t think they need to attack early to generate shots, so slowing down the pace significantly could aid the defense.

Best win: Shootout vs Baysan. Anytime you’re matched up with a 13 seed, the last thing you want is to have to go up against one of the league's best scorers: Ian Felix. He had 41 this game and looked unstoppable getting downhill and around the basket. Muhanad Deeb has been a consistent presence down low but some of their best games have been when Splash is aggressive and hitting from 3. They have some good offensive momentum heading into the playoffs which is dangerous.

Best win: Outlasting Yaffa. Offense has been a grind all season for Yazur and they got a huge boost this game from Ali Mahin hitting 7 threes. They have a long list of players who are capable of attacking the basket but Ali and Abdulrafay are the best shooters on the team. It would greatly benefit the team to keep either both of them or at least one on the court as much as possible to give some diversity to their offensive attacks. Defensively, they’ve looked fine as long as the effort is high.

Best win: Thriller vs Gaza. The percentages for opposing teams have been relatively solid for Yaffa all season but they’ve really struggled on offense. As we saw in this game from Jojo, this roster has some talent that just needs space to operate. Given that their defense has generally held up ok, the best path could be for Yaffa to turn up the pace significantly to get some easier looks for Jojo and Derek.