Muslim Basketball

With the new draft format in place, Biggz came up “BIG” with his first pick. None other than arguably the best to do it in the league, Mohammed Abdelhadi. The man is a walking double double, with career averages of 20 ppg and 12 rebounds. Oh, but wait a minute, Billal was not done. He then scooped up shifty combo guard Kareem Ahmed. But wait there’s more! Billal said to himself, “I need someone to knock down some 3s”. Enter Mo Masri.This team is deep, their back court are pesky little bugs I mean defenders and they will talk that talk.

Regardless of the format, this team name is always associated with winning. GM Mairaj decided to go with Omar Mana over Zain with his first-round selection and based on the outcome of his roster, you cannot be mad at him. Mana, Koyas, Towfeek and Ed??? I mean someone must rebound for Ed’s twenty shot attempts per game, and who better than the best rebounder in the league? Incredibly strong starting lineup and if they decide to start Muhannad Darwish at the 4, then no one is out-rebounding them.

Omar Singer looks to prove his first-round selection with a very decorated collection of guards around him. Ammar decided to pair his longtime point guard with last season’s leading scorer in Shahzaib, who by the way can easily repeat as the scoring champ. And for good measure, lets add two of the best snipers in the league with Moe Rayyan and Sal Rahin. This team will look to play fast as size is not in their advantage and that may work to their benefit.

Farhad falling to number 4 is an absolute steal! Pair that with last season’s phenom in Aadil and you have a very formidable front court. I expect them to go with a 3-guard lineup of Ahmad Saleh, Little O and Hassan as they will provide play making and the ability to knock down shots from the perimeter. This should be a fun bunch to watch.

Zain and Idris are like PB&J, Zain being jelly since he’s more of the finesse player. Idris followed up that selection with Amir who is a walking bucket! This trio can outscore most teams and all are capable defenders. If Idris can turn Ahmad “Splash” Abdelghani into a willing role player, where he is relied on to just score and not be as ball dominant as needed in previous seasons, watch out!

Mujataba passed up on a lot of elite guards to select his guy Aymen but who am I to question the MB legend. Aymen is a one-man fast break and can average 15 and 10 in his sleep. Yaqob will add shooting and size and if Yahya Gordon is anything close to what he was when we last saw him, jeez that’s a title contender. Did I mention that Muj is on the team?

This team is lacking height, but GM Malik is hoping for the scoring prowess of his back court and forwards to make up for that. Pairing Raza and Anas was bold, especially since neither of the two looked like themselves the last time they played. But if they do return to form, boy oh boy will they be tough to stop. Adding Amir and Raied will pay dividends as the latter is easily this team’s best defender and will be tasked with guarding the oppositions star.

Speaking of scary backcourts, Ali and Shafic are without a doubt going to a be a problem! Two guys who can both average 20 points per game and create for their teammates. My only concern is no one else on that team really strikes fear into me if I am game planning for them. I guess Lagos will have the privilege of informing us come Tuesday.