Muslim Basketball

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.

This offense could not hit early and Jenin went down but they came back as Wajdi dominated the inside of the zone and Zubair hit a few 3s. Akrum did his thing as usual, finding gaps to attack and hitting super deep 3s. This team will live and die by their defense, which switches into lots of bad matchups and was slow later in the game which squandered their 16 point lead. They’ll be scary to face in the playoffs.

Jenin is building momentum at a good time. Winning on an inefficient shooting night from Akrum is a good sign. Wajdi is a force and his combination of strength and burst will foul out many more players. Another 3pt flurry for Zubair with 5 threes, which will be huge in making defenses pay for overhelping. They have a winnable next couple games but only if they continue to play at this level.

Just when they started to show some signs of life last week, the vibes are back down for Jenin. Starting with 4 players and down their top guys, Jenin had an uphill battle from the beginning. Not much to take away from on the court but this team needs a big statement next time out to generate some momentum.

Wajdi returned this week but the struggles continued for Jenin. The offense, while it was hurt by a poor shooting night from 3 for Akrum, was manageable and looked better with Wajdi in the fold. The defense, on the other hand, gave up over 50% shooting for the third straight week. They need to make some sort of change defensively. Very soon.

For the second straight week, the game was out of reach for Jenin by halftime. Overall, the offense was not bad. Akrum had 28 and the team hit 14 threes total, with 4 from Zubair. The transition defense and rebounding killed them and Nazareth was getting everywhere first. It’s a good opportunity to improve the rest of the team until Wajdi is back.

Too many different factors between their two games to properly evaluate Jenin. While they missed Wajdi, you still hoped for a closer game, even against much better opposition than last week. Akrum showed out again and Raied showed the type of impact he can have but 0-8 from Zubair and no defense was the difference.

Fresh out the gates and provided an explosive offensive behind Akrum Ahemed’s monster 33-point, 11-rebound, 10-assist triple-double, along with 8 made threes that set the tone early. Zubair Piperdi and Wajdi Ahemed added 17 points each, helping Jenin shoot an impressive 41% from deep and dominate the scoreboard. With a 43–33 rebounding edge and efficient scoring across the board, Jenin controlled the game from start to finish.