Muslim Basketball

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.

Another loss in a rough year for Yaffa. Shoutout Derek McKnight with a season best 26 on 10-17 shooting. It’s frustrating to see this team lose the rebounding battle 42-22 given the size and rebounding ability on the roster. They’ll look to end the regular season on a higher note.

Good effort by Yaffa, leading early on and keeping it close for a long time against a very solid Al-Bireh team. Although they picked up a lot of fouls, it’s great to see the team play with such high intensity no matter what. Building off last game, they got good contributions from Jojo, Hossam and Malik plus another 9 from Derek. They’re getting close to finding the winning formula but it will continue to be an uphill battle this season.

Another week with only 5 players available is rubbing salt in the wound for Yaffa as they need as many potential edges as they can get, including depth. Great game for Hosam with a season high 13 points. Next time out, they’ll need to be creative to get Jojo, Malik and Hossam all clicking at the same time. This is an opportunity for Yaffa to experiment offensively.

It has to feel great for Yaffa to win, given the start of the season. Shoutout Jojo with a MB career high 36 points on 22 shots. They were also able to lean more on Malik who had a season high 17 points. Strong team defense to limit Ian enough to squeeze out the W. They’ll need to continue to fight on that end to compete the rest of the way.

Despite the stats, Yaffa had a solid performance offensively this week. Derek was second on the team in attempts but the rest of the team shot relatively efficiently. Jojo led the way with 16 on 6-14 shooting. Derek is not going to shoot that poorly again so they may be more successful in the future if they can shore things up on defense. It was expected that they’d need time to gel and better weeks are ahead.

Not a good start to the season for Yaffa and it will continue to be an uphill battle as they look to form an identity. Something has to change but the season is young and they have time to prove everyone wrong.

Yaffa fought hard on the glass with 33 rebounds, led by Ahmad S.’s double-digit board effort, but offensive inefficiency held them back as they shot just 30% from the field and 25% from three. Joseph Ciringione put up 15 points on high volume, while Malik Zubi added 11, yet the team couldn’t find a consistent scoring rhythm. Missed free throws (3-for-12) and cold perimeter shooting made it difficult for Yaffa to keep pace with Jenin’s firepower.