Updates/Rumours

3/05/2012 - The Mavericks had already claimed their spot in the MBL Finals, now it was time for the East to crown their champion. The Pistons were without leading scorer and rebounder Mohammed Sayeed, and the Celtics were looking to take advantage. Unfortunately the Pistons had other ideas; their defense was stifling and gave the Celtics, notably Zahir Kholia, all sorts of problems. From the beginning of the game the Pistons came out with intensity and had their mindset on the defensive end, they held Zahir Kholia the Celtics leading scorer to single digit scoring, 9 points, and frustrated him, in fact no one on the Celtics scored in the double digits. On the offensive side of the ball, Ali Al-Khafaji was on fire, scoring 23 points. Ali Jessa stepped up big for the Pistons scoring 11 points while pulling down 8 rebounds and Zuhair Kanji was not only the defensive catalyst, but was also a monster on the boards grabbing 10 rebounds and also assisting on 4 plays. The Pistons had a sizeable lead throughout, but the Celtics went on a run late, but it was too little too late. The Pistons won the game 47-39 and advanced to take on the Mavs in the finals.

Finals Game 1
The Pistons came into the finals with a momentum and a great team victory behind them, but the Mavs had fresh legs and were ready to run. The Pistons not only were tired but were also again without Mohammed Sayeed. The Mavs, unlike the Celtics, took advantage of the fact the Pistons were tired and without Mohammed Sayeed, and controlled this game. In the half court they were lights out hitting 12 3 pointers, and controlling the offensive boards. Their defense led to many turnovers and fast break points, to which the Pistons had no answer. Mohammed Baqer had the game of his life, hitting 5 3’s and finishing with 19points. Mohammed Al-Salem had 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Hadi Haseeb had 7 points and 12 rebounds. Ali Khafaji had 12 points for the Pistons and Ali Jessa chipped in 10. The final score was 62-40, the Mavs up 1-0 in the series.

26/04/2012 - The 2nd seeded Celtics took on the 3rd seeded Pistons in the opening game of their doubleheader in the Eastern Conference Finals. We were all expecting a low scoring, defensive, intense battle. That’s exactly what this game was. Both teams played zone defense in the 1st half, the Celtics had all sorts of struggles with the Pistons defense, failing to score 20 points in the half. The Pistons on the other hand weren’t much better themselves but they went into halftime with a 7 point lead. The Celtics decided to switch up their defense back to a man to man, and Imran Mandozai scored some transition baskets to give the Celts the lead. From that point on the teams exchanged baskets and neither team really took control of the game. The Pistons did a good job of neutralizing league MVP Zahir Kolia holding him to 9 points, but their offensive leader Mohammed Sayeed wasn’t faring that much better finishing with 13 points. The game came down to the last seconds, the Pistons had the ball down 1 point with less than 10 seconds left but turned the ball over and couldn’t get a shot off. The Celtics took the 1-0 series lead with the 38-37 victory.

Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals matched up the surprising Thunder against the league’s top team the Mavericks. Unlike our the Eastern Conference this game was very up tempo filled with fast breaks and quick shots. The Mavs defense frustrated the Thunder into taking tough shots and forced many turnovers. Mohammed Al-Salem controlled the game from the outset, and took upon more of a scoring role, hitting 5 3 pointers en route to a 20pt, 12 assist performance. He had lots of help, Hadi Haseeb had 13 points and 11 rebounds and Ifran Hasham chipped in 15 points and 9 rebounds. Azad Gulam, the Thunder’s catalyst in their upset win last week, only managed 4 points and his brother Milad only scored 10. The Mavs never allowed the Thunder back in this game and took game 1 by a score of 67-48.

The second game of our Eastern Conference match-up was almost identical to the first game these two teams played earlier in the day. This game went back and forth with the lead changing hands quite often. Zahir Kholia who was quite in the 1st game, came to life in this game scoring 24 points. The Celtics had a horrible shooting effort but were great on the offensive boards keeping the ball alive for multiple opportunities, which kept them in this game. Their man defense wasn’t too shabby on the other end either but in the second half the Pistons were able to go on a mini run to take a double digit lead and held that till late in the half when things started to unwind. The Pistons were called for a technical foul and a flagrant foul allowing the Celtics back into game. The Celtics took full advantage of the momentum shift hitting two consecutive 3s to make it a one possession game. After that things got chippy, I won’t go into detail but let me just remind everyone that FIGHTING IS NOT TOLERATED IN THIS LEAGUE. WE PLAY AT A MOSQUE AND THIS IS A MUSLIM LEAGUE. PLEASE HAVE SOME RESPECT AND KEEP THIS IN MIND WHEN THINGS GET HEATED. The Pistons ended up coming away with the victory 44-40 and forcing a deciding 3rd game.

Game 2 of the Western Conference finals was also pretty much the same story as game 1, a very fast paced game with the Mavs defense taking the Thunder out of their rhythm. The Gulam brothers couldn’t figure out the Mavs defense and Ahsan Raza was really the only one putting the ball in the hoop for the Thunder. Mohammed Al-Salem showed off his offensive prowess once again, draining 4 3’s and totaling 20 points. Nabil Jama also poured in 13 points to help the cause. The Mavs had a chokehold on this game from the outset and coasted to 53-38 victory. This game was called off early due to a player threatening and name calling the referee. Please guys we cannot stand for this in our league and it isn’t fun for the commissioner’s to hand out suspensions.

Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals will be played this Saturday along with the 1st game of the finals. Please come out and Support.

18/04/2012 - The 2012 MBL Playoffs commenced with the #1 seeded Celtics taking on the 4th seeded Raptors. There wasn’t much scoring in this game partially attributed to defense and partially attributed to missed shots and poor shot selection. The Raptors had trouble getting good looks against the tenacious Celtics defense, and a lot of shots taken weren’t smart shots. The Raptors also had a lot of opportunities at the free throw line but couldn’t take advantage of the freebies.  Aadil Mateen had 14 points and 8 rebounds and was the only Raptor in double figures. Zahir Kholia had 14 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Celtics to the 43-33 victory.

The first game in the Western Conference had the 4th seeded Suns against the league’s top team, the Mavericks. This game was more or less like the last game a defensive battle and an offensive struggle. The Suns had problems dealing the Mavericks size, Irfaan Hasham led the Mavs scoring 12 points, most of which were in the paint. Mohammed Al-Salem was the only other Maverick scoring in double digits with 10 points along with his 5 assists. The Mavericks hit 6 3 pointers in the game and the Suns only hit one. That along with the amount of second chance opportunities the Mavs had, the Suns were on the uphill battle all game. The Suns kept close for the first 35 minutes of the game, but then they couldn’t find the basket and the Mavs took advantage taking control of the game ending the Suns disappointing season. Kumail Meghani was the lone bright spot for the Suns, scoring 12 points and grabbing 5 boards.

The Mavs move onto to the second round to take on the winner of our next game between the Lakers and Thunder. The Lakers and Thunder met in the last week of the regular season with the Thunder pulling off the upset. The Lakers had their full squad this time but unfortunately it didn’t reverse their fortunes. They couldn’t make stops on the defensive end or grab rebounds, in fact they were outrebounded 31-15. The Gulam brothers were too much for the Lakers to handle, Milad scored 19 points and Azad scored 24 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. Anjum Kaukab did a wonderful job distributing the ball, assisting on 8 of the Thunder buckets, and setting up the Milad brothers with good looks all throughout. Said Samater did most of the scoring for the Lakers, scoring 23 points, but didn’t have much help.  The Thunder will now try to play the role of spoiler against the Mavs next round.

The Bulls and Pistons were the last game of the night. Similar our last match-up, both these teams played each other in the last game of the regular season and the underdog, the Pistons in this case, won. The Pistons came out firing; Mohammed Sayeed hit 2 deep 3s to start the game, on his way to a quiet 17 point performance. The Pistons were gunning on all cylinders all 5 of their players had standout performances, Ali Khafaji had 15 points, Muhammad Al-Amry had 12 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Zuahir Kanji anchored the Pistons defense, which definitely frustrated the Bulls, leading to many turnovers and missed shots in the paint.  Asim Mirza had many good looks, but missed many shots in the paint and only finished with 9 points; he failed to reach double digits in the teams last meeting as well. Jameel Jawando had 16 points hitting 4 3’s, which kept the Pistons zone defense honest, but other than his offense the Bulls didn’t have much till the end of the game. They hit 4 3 pointers late in the game, but it was too little too late. The Pistons now move on to the second round and will battle the Celtics.

12/04/2012 - 2012 MBL ALL-STAR GAME

This year All-Star festivities had a new event, the Shooting Stars Competition. The rules of the event were posted previously, so I will not re-iterate them here; just give you a brief summary of the event and the events of the night.

All eight MBL teams competed in the Shooting Stars contest, and the key to this competition was clear, the half court shot. That was the make or break shot in this contest, as most teams made the first 5 shots in a relatively good time. In the first round there were four teams who hit the half court shot quite quickly, Celtics, Raptors, Lakers, Pistons. The Pistons had the best first round time, finishing in exactly 30 seconds. These four teams advanced to the 2nd round, and all had times within 1 minute in that first round. Only 2 teams, the Raptors and Celtics, were able to keep their time under the minute mark on the second go around. The Celtics hit all their shots in 48 seconds good enough to win the 1st annual MBL Shooting Stars Competition.

The 2012 MBL Three Point Contest featured 8 contestants. Five of them would move onto the 2nd round. The 5 that made it were, Adam Osman, Saeed Farah, Said Samater, Mohammed Al-Salem and Ali-Raza Nasser.  Mohammed Al-Salem, hit 12 3s and Ali Raza Nasser drained 10 to lead all contestants. In the 2nd round it seemed the basket got smaller as only Ali Raza Nasser and Said Samater matched or bettered their 1st round score. Defending champion Mohammed Al-Salem hit 8 3s, but Said and Ali Raza each made 10 3s setting up the final round match between them. In the final Ali-Raza Nasser was on fire draining 14 3s, Said Samater put up a respectable 10 3s but it wasn’t enough as Ali Raza Nasser walked away as the 2012 MBL 3-Point Contest Champion.

The new MBL conference set up allows us to have a classic East vs. West All-Star game. The Western Conference got off to a quick start by turning the East’s turnovers into fast break opportunities, and taking advantage of 2nd chance opportunities. Nabil Jama in particular did a very good job of cleaning up the boards, and finishing putbacks and fast-breaks. Mohammed Al-Salem did his usual thing knocking down 3s and controlling the game. These two dominated the game early for the West and allowed to them to open up almost a 20 point lead going into the 4th quarter. The East decided to wake up for the 4th quarter and applied a press, which the West didn’t handle well, leading to many easy fast break opportunities for the East. They slowly chipped away at the West lead, lead by Rashad Jawando, and capped off by Jameel’s game tying three with about 30 seconds left in the game. This game went to overtime and the West once again jumped out to the lead. The East got the ball off a missed free throw down 2 points but missed a rushed a 3 for the victory. The West won the game 77-75, and Nabil Jama took home MVP honors with 21 points, 10 rebounds and 2 assists.

2012 MBL Playoff Preview
Eastern Conference

#1 Celtics vs. #4 Raptors (Sat. Apr. 14th 7:00 pm)
The Celtics are led by Zahir Kholia, (18 pts, 12.5 rebounds) the league’s MVP, and the Bulls will have their hands full trying to slow him down. The Celtics have a run and gun style; they like to leak out on the break led, in particular Imran Mandozai, and have solid defenders in Zori Ladha and Alla Al-Salem. The Raptors were dealt a big blow towards the end of the season when Amer Malik had a season ending injury. The Raptors picked up Afsar Hassanali, who has the ability to be the same type of impact as Amer. Due to injuries and players not showing up for games, this team doesn’t have a real identity. Adil Mateen plays a huge role on the offensive end and takes majority of the shots, and Mohamed Champsi is a tough hustle player who can cause problems on the boards and on the fast break. The Raps have the talent and capability to upset the Celtics, but question is will they put it all together and get the job done.

#2 Bulls vs. #3 Pistons (Sat. Apr. 14th 10:00 pm)
This matchup sets up to be a tightly, hotly contested game. The Bulls attack is led by Rashad Jawando, (17pts, 5asts, 6rbs), complimented by sharpshooter’s Jameel Jawando and Riaz Champsi in the back court. The Bulls also boast arguably the league’s top big man in Asim Mirza, (14pts, 11.5rbs) who runs the pick and roll with Rashad, making the Bulls a tough team to stop.  The Pistons also have a pretty talented squad themselves, although they were hampered all season with injuries. The Pistons back court include floor general and vet Zuhair Kanji, Rookie of the Year, Ali Al-Khafaji (16pts) and the MBL’s version of Ron Artest in Muhamamd Al-Amry. Their frontcourt features perhaps the most talented player in the league Mohammed Sayeed, (18pts, 8rebounds), the 6’4 forward who can score from anywhere on the court. Both these teams have very talented rosters, and split their regular season meetings. With both teams hopefully at full strength this week, this has the potential to be the best match up of the night.

Western Conference

#1 Mavericks vs. #4 Suns (Sat. Apr. 14th 8:00 pm)
The Mavs and Suns have had completely opposite paths to the post season. The Suns struggled all year and barely won the last game of the season, The Mavs had the best record in L and barely batted an eyebrow. The Suns have a solid backcourt with Kumail Meghani (12pts) and Imran Nasser(13pts) and veterans in the frontcourt, Eldar Curovic, Khalil Cousins and captain Shuabir Muraj. The Mavs are led by captain Mohammed Al-Salem (15pts, 6ast) who doesn’t need to score for his team to win, but late in the game he is as clutch as they come. The offense runs through Al-Salem, but he has a supporting cast that has great chemistry together. They have the biggest frontcourt in the league Hadi Haseeb (8rbs), Nabil Jama (12pts,7rbs) and Irfaan Hasham. The Suns will have their hands full and it will take a valiant effort on their part to advance to the next round.

#2 Lakers vs #3 Thunder (Sat. Apr. 14th 9:00 pm)
The Thunder are the hottest team in the league, after pulling a trade to pair the Gulam brothers, and the Lakers have been a team playing shorthanded all year long, but still finished the year with 9 wins. These two met the last week of the regular season and the Thunder pulled off the win in a tight one. The Lakers are led by Said Samater (16pts, 7 rbs), who is joined by Tyrone Stanley at point and Ziyad Rao (14pts) at the other wing position. Amir Butt (11pts, 10rbs) does the dirty work down low and their latest addition Sameem Mirza is a shut down defender. The Thunder feature four players that average double figures. Azad Gulam, (14pts, 13rbs) this years rebounding champion, his brother Milad Gulam (15pts, 8 rbs), Anjum Kaukab (10pts, 4.4 assists) and captain Ahsan Raza (11pts). The Milad brothers have brought a nice punch to the Thunder's offense and it has led to the Thunder's 4 game win streak. If these two teams last matchup is any indication of what this game will be like, then we'll be in for a good one!

2/04/2012 - ALL STAR WEEK STATS ARE UP. CHECK THEM OUT!

***2012 MBL ALL STAR WEEK***
**MARCH 31st 2012**

26/03/2012 - The final week of the regular season for the 2011-2012 MBL season, matched up the Mavericks (10-3) and Celtics (9-4). Whoever won this game would clinch first place in their respective conference, so there was a lot on the line here. The play of this game definitely reflected the fact that there was a lot on the line. This game was a physical, grind it out sort of game, with both teams only scoring in the 30s. The Mavericks had the lead and controlled the game, until late in the game when Celtics tied it up at 33. The Mavs ended up scoring the last 4 points of the game to take the victory 37-33. With the W, the Mavs locked the #1 seed in the West and best record in the league, and Mohammed Al-Salem re-claimed his crown as three point and assist king. Congratulations to the Mavericks! Congrats also to Zahir Kholia for winning the scoring title this year, for the second year in a row.

The second game of the night had the Lakers taking on the Thunder. This game was a preview of their playoff matchup, as after the Mavs victory these teams were locked into the 2 and 3 seed. The Lakers unfortunately didn’t have their entire squad, but still were able to keep up in this game. The game went back and forth, and the Thunder took control late with about a minute left on an Azad Gulam three pointer, and sealed the deal from the line. Said Samater led all scorers with 22 in the losing cause. The Thunder had three players that finished with triple doubles, Ahsan Raza, Milad and Azad Gulam. The Thunder are going into the playoffs on a hot streak winning their last four. Looks like the trade to bring Azad Gulam, this year’s rebounding champion, to the team is paying off. The first round playoff match- up between these two teams looks to be a good one.

The third game of the night featured the Bulls and Pistons. The Bulls with a victory would clinch 1st place in the Eastern Conference and would avoid a first round matchup with the Pistons. The Pistons were looking to get back on track having lost their last 5 of 6. Both teams played the game without their leading scorers, the Bulls missing Rashad Jawando and Pistons without Mohammed Sayeed. The Bulls shot lights out in the 1st half against the Pistons, hitting 3 after 3, to take a huge lead and forcing the Pistons into a man to man defense. The Bulls struggled with the man to man defense, and the Pistons slowly started creeping into the game. Ali Al-Khajafi was doing most of the scoring for the Pistons but it was Ali Jessa that stepped up late for the Pistons, hitting a jumper to tie the game and then a 3 to take the lead with under a min left. Zuhair Kanji and Al-Khafaji sealed the deal for the Pistons from the line to set up the re-match between these two teams in the first round of the playoffs.

The final game of the MBL regular season had the winless Suns against the struggling Raptors. The Raptors had 4 players this game and the Suns took advantage. This should’ve been an easy victory for the Suns, but as always they made it hard on themselves. They never took full control of this game and allowed the Raptors to stick around. In the closing minutes the Raptors had player foul out, leaving them with 3 bodies on the floor and that was when the Suns finally closed out this game. The win kept the Suns out of the MBL history books as they avoided becoming the first winless team.

16/03/2012 - STATS WILL BE UPDATED SOON. SCHEDULE IS UP TO DATE

22/02/2012 - THERE WILL BE NO GAMES THIS WEEK (Feb 25th 2012) DUE TO THE NBA ALL STAR WEEKEND. REGULAR SEASON WILL RESUME WITH WEEK 12 ON MAR. 3RD 2012.

The first game of the 11th week in the MBL season featured the winless Suns against the struggling Thunder. The Suns were really shorthanded this time playing with only 4 guys!! With the way the game went you couldn’t tell that one team was one man short on the court. The Suns had 3 guys with season high point totals; Kumail Meghani had 27, Farooq Bootwalla and Shubair Muraj had 17 respectively. The Thunder allowed the Suns to stay in the entire game, but were able to close out the game, 68-61, at the free throw line. Ahsan Raza had the best game of the season, his first double double of the year, with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Of note, these teams made a trade following their game exchanging Khalil Cousins and Eldar Curovic for Azad Gulam and Zia Butt.

The Raptors and Lakers were the teams featured in our 2nd game of the night. The Raptors were without Amer Malik, their leading scorer, and Mohamed Champsi, their captain, and the Lakers only had 5 guys. The first 25-30 minutes of this game had both teams trading leads. The last 10-15 minutes of the game was a whole different story as the Lakers, led by Said Samater’s 31 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists, blew the Raptors out of the water, 66-40. Said’s stats were good enough to earn him his first Player of the Week for this season. The Lakers now look forward to their next weeks’ matchup against the Mavs, as they try to take control of 1st place in the Western Conference.

The Pistons took on the Celtics looking to avenge their loss to them earlier in the year. They were still missing their floor leader Zuhair Kanji, and boy would he have helped them out this game. The Pistons offense was just brutal, constantly running isolations, and only scoring 38 points in the game. Zohrain Ladha, however, was on fire drilling 5 3pointers and leading The Celtics with a season high 23 points. Alla Al-Salem steadied the Celtics offense with 9 assists and Zahir Kholia posted his customary double double, with 16 points and 13 rebounds. The Celtics with the win now move into 1st place in the Eastern conference, boasting a record of 8 wins and 3 losses.

The last game of the night was perhaps the most entertaining highlighting the Bulls and Mavericks, two of the league’s elite teams. The Bulls lost Jameel Jawando very early in the contest as he suffered a concussion after a collision. For a third time in the night, a team was now playing with 4 players. With Jameel out the Bulls seem energized and took the lead. Rasahd Jawando, who finished the game with 24 points, and 5 assists kept the Bulls in the game with his offense. The Mavs on the other hand countered with Farhaz Samji’s 17 points, including 5 3 pointers, and Nabil Jama’s 16 points and 12 rebounds. With the game on the line at the end, after a couple of lead changes, Moahmmed Al-Salem went into his normal closer role hitting some clutch shots to close.

For those who may have missed it and for those who want to see it again. Here are the two back to back game winners from the previous two weeks. (Warning: the following contains graphic heart wrenching scenes for Pistons players and fans. Parental guidance is suggested, do not watch if you are on birth control or have asthama)

Feb 4th 2012: Game 2: Pistons vs Mavericks

Feb 11th, 2012: Game 4: Pistons vs Raptors

15/02/2012 - The first game in the 10th week of MBL basketball matched the Lakers and Thunder. This one was no different than most Lakers games, especially ones were they comes out victorious. Lakers start out well, keep a sizable lead throughout but never put the other team away, then in the closing minutes the opposing team makes a late push, but it's too little too late. This game followed that script to a 'T'. The Celtics had their offensive problems, one might attribute that to the suspension of Imran Mandozai, which has really slowed their fast break game. With the loss the Celtics fall back into 2nd place in the East and the Lakers stay in that 2 spot in the West. Said Samater was the leading scorer in the game with 17. Ammar Al-Salem put the rest of the league on notice by recording his first three pointer of the year for the C's. With Ammar hittin 3's watch out for the Celtics, they're in full force now!

Game 2 had the Mavs, coming off a buzzer beater victory, against the Thunder, trying to get their swagger back after a blowout victory. The Mavericks ran the Thunder out of the gym. When I say ran them out of the gym, I mean literally ran them out of the gym. It was constant turnovers leading to easy buckets on the other end for the Mavs. The Thunder couldn't find any offensive rhythm and the 60-44 final score reflected that. Mohammed Al-Salem dropped 19 while Nabil Jama contributed 16 for the Mavs.

The Suns and Bulls were out matchup for the 3rd game of the night. Last time these 2 teams met, the Bulls squeeked out the W by a mere point, so with that in mind the Suns, felt they had a shot to finally get that elusive first win. The first half when well to the Suns liking, Azad Gulam was on fire and the Suns led at the half. Rashad Jawando had other ideas though, as him and Asim Mirza picked apart the Suns zone. Rashad finished the game with 20points along with 6 helpers, Asim had 17 points along with 15 boards. On the other side Azad Gulam finished the game with a season high 27 points. Imran Nasser the Suns leading scorer has struggled to score against the Bulls, combining for 9 points in the two times these teams have met.The Bulls with the lead now own the rights to 1st place in the East and the Suns still stand winless.

The final game of the night was by far the most interesting as seems to be the case with the Pistons. They were playing with 5 guys again this week and once again the managed to take this game down to the wire. Last week against the Mavs and this week against the Raptors, the Pistons have been missing 2 of their starters, namely Zuhair Kanji, had no business being in the game, but somehow the games come down to the last shot. The Pistons were down double digits with around 2 minutes left in the game, and tied the game with under 10 seconds left on a lay-up by Muhammad Al-Amry. Ahmed Osman got the ball off the inbound pass, dribbled up to about 5-6 feet past half court and flung up the running three which somehow caught nothing but net! The Raptors with the 65-62 win moved to third place in the East, and the Pistons now dropped into the basement of the conference. Amer Malik and Adil Maten had 27and 18 points respectively for the Bulls, and Mohammed Sayeed and Ali Al-Khafaji had 19 and 17 respectively for the Pistons and Muhammad Al-Amry contributed 15.

9/02/2012 - Week 9 started off with the Suns facing the Lakers. The Lakers were up most of this game but the Suns did not let up and stuck around. The Suns made a late push for the W, but the Lakers defense made sure that this didn’t happen. Azad Gulam pulled down 22 boards to go along with his 15 points, and Imran Nasser looked like he regained old form dropping 18. Said Samater led the charge with 18 for the Lakers, Amir Butt had 16 points and 12 rebounds. The Lakers with the W, now are above the .500 mark, with the 5 wins and 4 losses and are in the hunt for the top spot in the Western Conference. The Suns are still winless, they’ve been close many times let’s hope they can get it done this week against the Bulls.

The Pistons received some bad news before their match-up against the Suns. Their floor leader Zuhair Kanji tore his hamstring and would be out for some significant time. They also made a mid-week trade acquiring Mohamed Al-Amry in exchange for Haider Tirimizey. Now to the on court business, where the Pistons looked to avenge their 46 point defeat earlier in the year to the Mavs, with both teams with only 5 players. This game was close throughout, and this game came down to the wire. The Mavs were down 3 points with under a minute remaining. Nabil Jama hit a three of an offensive rebound to the tie game with about 50 seconds left on the clock. The Pistons tried to hold the ball for the last shot, Mohammed Sayeed took the ball to the bucket but failed to convert, and the Mavs controlled the rebound with 6 ticks left in the game. Two weeks ago the Pistons had a buzzer beater to win the game, this week they were on the other side of a buzzer beater as Mohammed Al-Salem hit a fading three from the corner for the victory. We will try and have a video of this fantastic finish posted on our website.

The third game of the night was a battle for the top spot in Eastern Conference. The Bulls were taking on the Celtics. Early on in this game the Bulls couldn't get anything going, and the Celtics opened up a big lead. Asim Mirza, who finished the contest with 17 points and 11 boards, was really the only one who get the ball in the bucket for Bulls. On the other end Zohrain Ladha was on fire, and the Celtics were coasting behind his hot hand. His 20 points were really crucial because the C's were missing Imran Mendozai, due to suspension, which really slowed down the C's fast break, usually their main source of buckets. The Bulls did not take advantage of this till the second half where they made it a ballgame. Zahir Kolia who struggled throughout, still managed 15 points and 14 boards, and most importantly came up big at the end helping to close out the game for the Celtics.

The final game of the night had the Thunder against the Raptors. The Thunder were without their captain Ehsan Raza and Eldar Curovic while the Raptors were missing their leader Amer Malik. The Raptors Mohamed Champsi had the game of his life pouring in 21 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 assists, earning Player of the Week honors and leading the Raptors to the easy victory. The Thunder couldn't match Mohamed's output and with Aadil Mateen contributing 28 to the cause, they stood no chance. Khalil Cousins and Anjum Kaukab had 17 points but unfortunately the didn't get much help from their teammates in the losing effort.

3/02/2012 - There have been trades. Please check the Trades section to the right on this page for details.

2/02/2012 - Our first week of the second half of the season featured the winless Suns and the struggling Bulls. This was a close game and went down to the wire. The Suns were down 5 with under 30 seconds left in the game. Imran Nasser scored a bucket and drew the foul but missed the free throw, the Suns though controlled the rebound. Kumail Meghani hit a 3 on the same possession to tie the game with less than 10 secs on the clock. Shubair Muraj then foolishly fouled Amer Malik with 7 ticks left. Amer stepped to the line but missed the front end of the 1 n 1, but somehow ended up with his own rebound. Amer then tried to claim victory on a fadeaway but was hit on the shot and once again went to the line with a chance to win the game. Amer couldn’t redeem himself and missed BOTH free throws! We went to overtime and Amer with vengeance in his eyes made sure that the Raptors did secure the victory outscoring the Suns by 5 in OT to claim victory 67-62. This game featured some big stat lines including Amer Malik’s, 30 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists, earning him his first Player of the Week honor. Amer was helped by Aadil Mateen and Mohamed Champsi scoring 16 and 15 respectively to along with their 11 rebounds. The Suns had Azad Gulam putting up 23 points and 16 rebounds and Kumail Meghani contributed 18 points and 7 assists, in the losing effort.

The second game of the night matched up Ammar Al-Salem’s Celtics against his brother Mohammed Al-Salem’s Mavericks. The Celtics held the lead throughout the game and were making a comeback when things got ugly. I will not get into details, but this game was called off because a fight broke out with approximately two minutes remaining in regulation. I am going to take this time to remind all of us that FIGHTING WILL NOT BE TOLERATED IN THE MUSLIM BASKETBALL LEAGUE. IT IS NOT ACCEPTABLE TO MAKE PHYSICAL CONTACT WITH ANOTHER PLAYER ON THE OPPOSING TEAM THAT IS NOT PART OF GAMEPLAY IN A BASKETBALL GAME. Hefty suspension will be levied and hopefully this will serve a reminder to each and every one of us that FIGHTING IS NOT PART OF BASKETBALL, IT IS NOT PART OF THE MBL, AND IT IS NOT SOMETHING THAT SHOULD OCCUR IN A MOSQUE. So please my brothers, as the season continues keep this in mind. No matter what someone says to you or does to you, you should not hit them or fight with them. Hopefully this is the last time we have to discuss this topic.

The third game of the night was a battle for the top of the Eastern Conference involving the Pistons and Bulls. The Bulls were without their big man Asim Mirza, and against the Pistons, a team without a true big man, this was a big loss for the Bulls.  The Bulls did not let this deter them, and jumped out to an early first half lead of 12 points. The Pistons made a comeback and were only down one at halftime. The Bulls did a very good job defensively and increased their lead to start the second half which they kept throughout the half and then pulled away in the waning minutes of the game. The Bulls held the Pistons top scorer Mohammed Sayeed to 11 points and the only other Piston in double digits was Zuhair Kanji with 12. The Bulls backcourt provided a huge scoring spark, with Riaz Champsi pouring in 21, marking the second straight game he’s scored 20 or more, after failing to hit double digits in their previous games. Rashad Jawando scored 15 and the rest of The Bulls chipped in nicely to put them atop the Eastern Conference with the Celtics.

The final game of the night had the Thunder trying to win their second game of the year against the Lakers. The Thunder came out gunning on all cylinders. They fed their hot hand in Milad Gulam, who poured in a season high 27 points, whilst the rest of the team pitched in nicely. The Lakers who trailed the whole game really couldn’t stop the Thunder defensively, granted they only had five players. A lot the Lakers offense came later in the game, but at that point it was too little to late as the Thunder coasted to the victory 55-46.

19/01/2012 - ANNOUNCEMENT: THERE WILL BE NO BASKETBALL THIS SATURDAY (Jan 21st 2012) DUE TO THE WAFAAT OF THE PROPHET.

This week, week 7, marked the midway point of the 2011-2012 MBL season. The first matchup of week 7 featured the Lakers and Pistons both teams boasting a record of 4 wins and 2 losses.  This was a tightly contested matchup, and it wasn’t the usual suspects lighting up the score sheet. Ziyad Rao and Tyrone Stanley scored 14 and 13 respectively for the Lakers, whilst Ali Al-Khafaji had 15 to accompany Mohammed Sayeed’s 12 and Sayeed Farah’s 11. This game came down to the last 10 seconds or so. With the game tied, the Lakers called for a lob pass to Ziyad Rao out of the time out.  Zuhair Kanji was able to pick off the pass, passed it off to a teammate, ran the break, got the ball back and found Ali Al-Khafaji wide open under the bucket for the win. Here is the video of how it happened.

Game 2 had the Raptors taking on the Celtics. The Celtics were without Imran Mendozai this week, without him leaking on the fast break Zahir Kholia only had a meager 4 assists. That was about the only thing that was meager on Kholia’s stat line as he posted a league high 30 points and 18 boards! Alla Al-Salem broke double digits for the 1st time this year posting 11 and Ammar Al-Salem recorded his 1st field goal of the year!! The Raptors couldn’t match his dominating performance, but did stick around all game. Amer Malik did his best posting 18 points and Mohammed Champsi contributed 11 points.

 The 3rd game of the week, had the Suns looking for their first win against the conference leading Mavs. The 1st half of the game was competitive albeit low scoring. The second half of the game was probably the most lopsided half in the history of the league. The Mavs recorded 34 points whilst the Suns could only muster 6 points. The final score of the game was the Mavericks 54 and the Suns 18. Mohammed Al-Salem alone scored more than the entire Suns team!!!

The last game of the night, unfortunately was a blow out also. Granted it wasn’t as lopsided of a game, but it wasn’t close either. The Bulls blew out the Thunder, 67 to 38. The Bulls who were without their big man Asim Mirza, had two players score 20 points or more in Jameel Jawando and Riaz Champsi. 

12/01/2012 - Congratulations to the Week 6 Player of the Week of the MBL 2011-2012 season, Zahir Kholia. This is the third time Zahir has earned the distinction, this time with his 2nd triple double season!!

Zahir’s team, the Celtics, challenged the new look Suns in our first game of the night. The Suns couldn’t handle Zahir’s 17 points 13 boards and 10 dimes, albeit a couple of those assists came late in the game when the C’s applied defensive pressure, so Zahir could accomplish the feat. The afore mentioned move by Captain Ammar Al-Salem to press the Suns whilst up double digits, will not be forgotten by the Suns, which should lead to an interesting re-match later down the road. Azad Gulam impressed in his debut with the Suns scoring 16 points to go along with his 12 rebounds, unfortunately he was the lone bright spot for the Suns. Celtics also had impressive efforts by Imran Mendozai, 16 points, and Zohrain Ladha, 13 points.

Game 2 of the night featured the Mavericks and Raptors. This was a tightly contested matchup, and the Raps stayed in the game even with their leading scoring, Amer Malik only contributing 5 points. Raptors had 4 guys who scored over 7 points, which kept them neck and neck with the Mavs throughout the contest. Mo Baqir, who pulled down 7 rebounds and dished out 4 helpers, scored his first points of the night at the most opportune time; to put the mavs up by 3 with seconds left. Amer Malik got a decent shot up at the buzzer but unfortunately for him and the Raptors, it didn't fall. Mohammed Al-Salem had 20 points to lead the Mavs to their league leading fifth victory.

The third game of the night was by far the most surprising. The score was not indicative of how big of a blowout this was. The Bulls, whom many consider the most dangerous team in the league, were really shown up by the Lakers. Ziyad Rao, who up until this game was having a very quiet season, lit up the Bulls with 31 points, 15 of which came from behind the arc. The Bulls made a push in the second half but it was too little too late as Lakers pulled away with the W, 57-48.

Our final game of the evening put the Thunder against the re-vamped Pistons. Mohammed Sayeed was hot early scoring many of his 25 in the first half. Anjum Kaukab led the Thunder charge with 17 to make this an interesting finish. The Pistons were able to hold off the Thunder’s late surge, and the Pistons new addition Zuhair Kanji had a lot to do with it, filling up the stat sheet with 9 points, 10 boards and 6 helpers.

5/01/2012 - Congrats to Mohammed Sayeed for winning for his second player of the week. He led his team to a victory racking up 29 points and 11 boards.

The 1st game of the last week of play in 2011 was a forfeit, the Thunder took the forfeit after their first win, moving them to 1-4. The Celtics with the forfeit victory moved to 3-2 and a tie for 2nd place in the East.

Our second game of the week, featured a Suns team looking for their first win, against the still short-handed Pistons without their point guard Kumail Meghani. Zuhair Kanji did all he could with 19 points, 11 boards and 4 dimes, while Imran Nasser tried to help the cause with 17 points of his own, but they could not overcome Mohammed Sayeed's 29 and 11. The Suns made a valiant run at the end but Mohammed Sayeed (29) with the help of Ali Al-Kafaji (15) made sure that victory was theirs.

The Bulls and Raptors faced off in our third game of the week. The Bulls were quite short-handed in the backcourt without captain Riaz Champsi and Jameel Jawando, and the Bulls were missing their sparkplug Mohammed Al-Amry. Rashad Jawando put the Bulls on his back and led them to victory with 17, 5 and 5. The Bulls led my Amir Malik's 19, kept it a ballgame but couldn't overcome the Bulls balanced attack.

Our final game of the night featured the Lakers taking on the undefeated Mavericks. The Lakers slowed down the pace and didn't let the Mavs get into their running game, which really hurt them, especially with their leader Mohammed Al-Salem having an injured shooting hand. The Mavs could only muster 34 points, and with Lakers Said Samater and Ahmir Butt combining for 31 points, this wasn't much of a ballgame. Lakers walked away 45-34 victors. The game was cut short though in the middle of a Mavs rally when Ahmir Butt took an elbow to the head. It should be a good re-match when these two teams meet again, let's hope it doesn't end in a bloodbath though next time!

15/12/2011 - Congratulations to Zahir Kolia for being this weeks Player of the Week and for earning the first Triple Double of the year (and first in recent memory) with a stat line of 17 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists. His 17 points along with Imran Mendozai's 22 and Zohrain Ladha's 20 carried the Celtics to a stomping of the Pistons 65 - 40.

In game 2, the Raptors beat up on the under manned Lakers who played the entire game with no subs. The Raptors win 50 - 32. The schedule doesn't get easier for the two teams as they each face off against the top two teams in the league this upcoming week. The Raptors will play the Bulls who are coming off their first loss of the season, while the Lakers take on the undefeated Mavericks.

Game 3 was a battle between the two winless teams of the league, the Suns and the Thunder. The thunder displayed some good ball movement and got every one involved as every player scored at least 2 points and 3 players in double figures. The Suns were not able to contain the well rounded attack nor were they able to match the size of the Thunder inside. The Suns will try to get their first win over the Pistons this week who will still be without their starting point guard and it could be the break the Suns need to get on track.

The Final game of the night was the opposite of game 3 in that it was the 2 undefeated teams of the league going at it. The game was a nail biter all the way through. Bulls' captain Riaz Champsi had to leave the game shortly into the 2nd half after coming down on his neck. The Mavericks caught fire late in the game and Mohammed Al-Salem did what he does at the end of games after being smothered by the deny the ball defense of Aadil Jaffer for most of the game. And again Farhaz Samji knocked down 2 clutch 3 balls late in the game to put the Mavericks ahead. Rashad Jawando's last second attempt to tie the ball game just missed and ending the game with the Mavericks up 42-39.

7/12/2011 - Congratulations to Mohammed Sayeed for earning his first player of the week honours. With a stat line of 20 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists he carried his team past the Raptors. He didn't do it alone, however, with Azad Gulam giving the Pistons the extra rebounding and scoring dropping 12 points and 10 rebounds in only one half of play as he was late for the game. Pistons won 63 - 50 in overtime.

Game 1 had the Mavericks and the Thunder, and after what they did the week before to the Pistons, we thought they were going to run away with the game against the Thunder. This game was a tight one going into overtime and the Mavericks (thanks to the outside game of Mohammed Al-Salem and a unexpected 3 ball from big man Hadi Haseeb) edged out the Thunder by 1 point. Final score was 41 - 40. With the loss, the Thunder remain winless on the season.

Game 2 had the Lakers going up against the Celtics. This was a 3 point shootout with almost 50% of the games scoring coming from beyond the arc. The Lakers displayed a well rounded scoring attack with 3 players scoring in double digits and 2 others chipping in with 8 points each. The Lakers won 54 - 46 in what ended up being the only non-overtime game of the night.

Game 4 was the Suns and the Bulls. The Suns seemed like they had this one wrapped up early. Getting completely unexpected production out of Asad Nasser who scored a game high 15 points in the contest. However, taking it too easy late cost the Suns as the Bulls crept back into the game sending it into overtime. Asim Mirza exposed the Suns around the glass grabbing 10 boards. The Suns let this one slip through their fingers and continue to ride a 3 game losing streak and continue to have the goose egg in the win column.

16/11/2011 - There will be 4 games this week and as far as I know Salaam Cafe will be open so please come and grab a bite after your game and support the mosque...Not to mention the food is amazing!

First off, congratulations to Mohammed Al-Salem for earning his 1st Player of the Week award this week with a stat line of 19 points, 4 rebounds and 9 assists. He helped his team run over (and then proceed to reverse and run over again) the Pistons in a 46 point thrashing. The even more amazing thing about this win was it was without the Mavericks 1st 2 round picks (Hadi Haseeb and Sameem Mirza). The rookies really stepped it up causing all kinds of turnovers from the point-guard lacking Pistons who are still missing Kumail Meghani. Noteable mentions from the game go to Farhaz Samji who was lights out from beyond the arc knocking down a league high 5 three pointers, and Nabil Jama who hit one of his own to get 17 points in the contest. This has to be the biggest margin of victory the league has seen in recent memory. Lets hope that the Pistons can come back this week and put up more of a fight against the Raptors.

Game 1 of the night was the Lakers and the Suns. The Suns still were missing their first 2 picks in Zuhair Kanji and Khalid Butt. Imran Nasser tried to do what he could scoring more than half of the teams points, but he couldnt do it alone as it just wasn't enough against the Lakers with 3 players scoring in double figures as well as Said Samater beyond the arc knocking down 4 from long range (and when we talk about Said, we really mean LONG range). The Lakers win 56-44.

Game 2 was the Raptors and the Thunder. The Raptors played aggressive defense against the Thunder holding them to 40 points while being quite effective from 3-point land hitting 8 as a team. The Raptors ride their 22 point win into the game against the discouraged (or motivated) Pistons this week.

Game 3 put the Bulls up against the Celtics. The game was a close contest until Ammar Al-Salem...I mean Alla Al-Salem (sorry, I'm so used to this being Ammar) was ejected with 2 technical fouls early in the second half. At that point the Bulls took off and never looked back ending with a final score of 48-24. It should be pointed out that the Celtics were missing Zahir Kolia who would no doubt add a scoring bump in the total.

01/11/2011 - What a way to start off the season. All for games were hard fought and every team was could have won. Congratulations to Zahir Kolia. With almost a triple double (19 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists) has earned the first Player of the Week award. He helped his Celtics to a slim 3 point win over the Raptors who had Amer Malik drop 22 points coupled with 5 rebounds and 2 assists.

Game 2 was the undermanned Suns against the high tempo Mavericks. The Suns, missing there top two draft picks (Zuhair Kanji and Khalid Butt) were gasping for air due to the full game full court press applied by the Mavericks. Despite the great long range shooting from the Suns (including 4 3-pointers from league leader Imran Nasser), the hustle from the young energetic squad combined with Moahmmed Al-Salem's scoring 15 points and 9 dimes and rookie big man Hadi Haseeb's 12 points and 11 rebounds, the Suns just couldnt keep up.

Game 3 was the Thunder and the Bulls. Both teams displayed well rounded scoring with 7 players scoring in double digits. Standouts were Rashad Jawando with close to a triple double (15 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists), Jameel Jawando with a league leading 24 points, and Anjum Kaukab with a line of 17 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists. The Thunder were missing their captain in Ahsan Raza who will definately make an impact the next time these two teams meet.

Game 4 was the Lakers against the Pistons. Pistons rookie big man, Mohammed Sayeed, was being watched by all to do something spectacular. He didn't wow too many of the on-lookers, but still dropped a quiet 21 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists. He didn't really need to do too much as the Lakers were missing captain Said Samater and 2nd round draft pick Ziyad Rao. Once he gets his starting PG, Kumail Meghani, I'm sure he'll show exactly why he was picked up #2 overall.

NOTE: There will be NO GAMES THIS WEEK due to an event at the Mosque this saturday. The following week we will return to our regularly scheduled games.

IMPORTANT: FOr those players in the league who have yet to pay their FULL AMOUNT for registration, this past week we were leniant and allowed you to play. As of week 2 of the season IF YOU HAVE NOT PAID IN FULL YOU WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO PLAY. There will be no exceptions this week so please bring the rest of your payment with you to your next game. If you have any questions about how much you have remaining to pay email the league at muslimbasketball@gmail.com

23/10/2011 - The draft is over the teams are set and we are ready to commence the 2011/2012 MBL regular season. To see what team you are on and what the other teams look like, click the TEAMS link.

The Schedule for the season is up as well, please note the schedule is tentative and may change as the season progresses. Please check back every week for your game times. To see the full schedule click HERE.

Just a reminder, IF YOU HAVE NOT PAID IN FULL YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PLAY ON SATURDAY

03/10/2011 - We are happy to inform you that Muslim Basketball League is back for another exciting year. The 2011/2012 registration is finally here. If you are interested in playing, please visit www.ymaa.ca to register ASAP. The early bird registration fee for this league is $150 and must be completed by Wednesday, October 12th at 11:59 PM. Registration and payment made after this day will be at the full price of $180. All payment will be made ONLINE!!! There will be no exceptions this year. If you know anyone that wants to play, and has game, please let us know. We want to ensure this year is the most competitive it has ever been.

The first week will be Saturday October 22nd with scrimmage/try out. It will begin at 7:15 PM at 9000 Bathurst. For those of you who do not sign up and show up to the gym, will not be able to play unless you sign up before hand. So save yourself some disappointment, log in right now and just sign up and PAY ONLINE!

Click this link to register http://www.ymaa.ca/programInfo.asp?id=383 You will have to register with ymaa and create an account and then register for MUSLIM BASKETBALL LEAGUE / FALL 2011.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Due to the vast amount of interest and our goal of making this the most competitive year ever, some of you will not make the cut. For anyone that does register, and pay online, you will be reimbursed if you do not make it. But before you even get a shot, you need to register!!!

Some of the features for this year:
1. Teams will be broken down by Eastern Conference and Western Conference
2. New & Improved Jerseys (Dri-fit)
3. All Star Game, Skills competition
4. Dynasty Team (MBL Champions (This season) will have the same year the following year (Next Season))
5. Much More...

Please be part of this years MBL season which we promise will be the best year yet. Also, the website has been updated. Please check out: www.ymaa.ca/mbl for any updates. We look forward to seeing you soon.

16/05/2011 - CONGRATULATIONS TO THE SUNS THE 2010/2011 MBL CHAMPIONS! AND CONGRATULATIONS TO REZA MOHAMMED FOR EARNING THE TITLE OF PLAYOFF MVP AVERAGING 11.75 POINTS, 12.5 REBOUNDS AND 1 ASSIST PER GAME THROUGHOUT THE PLAYOFFS, NOT TO MENTION THE NUMEROUS BLOCKS AND STEALS WHICH WE JUST CAN'T KEEP UP WITH.

The Suns defeated the Lakers twice in a row (their only 2 losses of the entire year) to be crown the 2010/2011 MBL Champions. The Suns carried the lead for majority of the contest, when late in the 2nd half Said Samater hit a 3 ball to bring it within 4 points, but the Suns kept their composure (aside from a 2nd half technical against team captain Shubair Muraj) and held on to the lead. Team defense was a large part of the win with the Suns help defending and rotating to cover the open Lakers forced them into difficult, contested shots. Not to mention the rebounding and offense of Reza Mohammed dropping 16 points, 17 rebounds and 2 assists. This stat line combined with his 14 points, 14 rebounds and 2 assists from game 1 of the series has earned him his Playoff MVP award. Noteable mention also goes to Kumail Meghani whom if there was a co-MVP would be the obvious choice averaging 13.2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 4 assists per game in the playoffs.

Thank you to everyone who participated this year and Insha-Allah we will see you all again in the coming season competing as hard as you did this year. If you have any comments or suggestions of ways we can imrove the league we would love to hear them by e-mail muslimbasketball@gmail.com

A Special thank you to all those who helped with score keeping, filling up water, cleaning up the gym and whatever other tasks we asked you to help us out with throughout the season. Enjoy the off season, and use the time to practice and Insha-Allah next season will only get better.

9/05/2011 - The Semi Finals are over and the 2010/2011 MBL Finals have started!

Western Conference Finals Game 2: The Lakers extended their winning streak to 17 games by defeating the Nuggets in game 2 of the Western Conference Finals 53-41. The size factor was against the Nuggets who were without their biggest player and Leading Scorer Afsar Hassanali. Despite hitting 8 3-Pointers, the Nuggets found themselves in a hole they could not shoot their way out of. The Lakers sweep the Nuggets in the series.

Eastern Conference Finals Game 2: The Suns and the Magic had a close game in game 1 of the series, but in Game 2 the Suns got a little more serious and again the size of Reza Mohammed, was too much for the Magic to handle without their big man Zia Butt. The Magic only managed to put up 29 points, and in the MBL, that just wont cut it in the playoffs. The Suns sweep the Magic in the series and head to the finals to play the undefeated Lakers for the 2010/2011 MBL championship.

2010/2011 MBL Finals Game 1: Could it be?! The undefeated Lakers are no longer as the Suns hand them their first loss off the season ending the Lakers' 17 game winning streak and taking a 1-0 lead in the best of 3 series. Kumail Meghani, knocked down 21 points (10 points from the line) while Reza Mohammed chipped in with 14 and 14 boards to boot. The Suns played fantastic defense on the leading scorer for the Lakers, Said Samater, holding him to 0 points in the 1st half and only 9 in the game with no 3 pointers. Now that the Lakers have tasted defeat for the first time this year, we'll have to see how they respond. Will they be like the NBA Lakers and get swept? Will they rememeber how they played the other 17 games of the season and force a game 3? Or will the Suns show the Lakers that at the start of the Playoffs, everybody is at 0 wins and 0 losses and the regular season record means nothing but a better seat at the table? We will have the answers to all these questions and more come Saturday May 14th when the 2010/2011 MBL Champions will be crowned. Good luck to both teams and to all those who are no longer in the playoffs, you had a great season, come out and support the 2 remaining teams in what looks like it will be a great game/games.

KEEP IN MIND THERE WILL BE NO GAMES THIS WEEK (Saturday May 7th 2011) WE WILL RESUME WITH THE FINAL WEEK OF THE 2011 MBL PLAYOFFS AND A CHAMPION WILL BE CROWNED ON SATURDAY MAY 14TH 2011. GOOD LUCK TO BOTH THE SUNS AND THE LAKERS. (Suns lead the series 1-0)

26/04/2011 - The semi finals are underway with two teams jumping out to a 1-0 series lead. During the first game of the semi finals, the Nuggets came out to play in the first half against the undefeated Lakers. Unfortunately, it was only during the first half as the Lakers stepped up there game in the second half. They went on to win by 15 points. The Nuggets showed there frustration as captain Ammar Al-Salem was ejected late in the second half. Let's see if they can keep there composure this week as they try and extend the series to a game 3.

During the second game, the Suns and the Magic squared off which ended up being a close game. They went back and forth in the first half but the Magic couldn't keep up with the Sun in the second. The Suns went on to win the game by 5 points. After the game, captain of the Magic, Riaz Champsi was over heard saying that his team would show up in Game 2 and force a game 3. Let's see this week if this is actually true.

The Semi finals will end this week. Depending of the outcome of the first games, each team will play a potential game 3 this week. In the event that both series are sweeps (ie The Lakers win Game 2 and the Suns win game 2 of their respective series) the first game of the Finals will be played saturday night.

IMPORTANT! There will be absolutely 0 tolerance with yelling at the refs. Do your team a favor and just play ball. Only the captains of each team are allowed to speak with the ref during the game.

12/04/2011 - The quarter finals have come to an end and 4 teams seasons have also come to an end. Game 1 was the (3) Suns aginst the (6) Heat. Both teams were missing their first round picks. Reza Mohammed out with his 1 game suspension and the rookie of the year Rami Malook out with injury. The entire game was close and intense, but the Heat had no response for the Suns captain outside shooting knocking down 4 3 balls in the contest.

Game 2 was the much anticipated battle of the brothers with the (4) Nuggets versus (5) Celtics. In the contest Afsar Hassanali went to work dropping 19 points 5 rebounds and 1 assist. The Celtics had a look at the end of regulation for the winning shot but the basket did not fall their way this time. The Nuggets advance to the Semi Finals to play the still undefeated Lakers.

Game 3 was the (2) Raptors and the (7) Magic. And folks we have our first upset of the MBL playoffs. The Magic's defence was unbelievable in the 1st half of the game. The Raptors were held to 6 points in the first half, all from free throws. They did not score their first field goal until 2 minutes into the 2nd half. The Magic got a little two comfortable with that and let the Raptors make a comeback, but then put the foot on the gas again and pulled away upsetting the Raptors 36-24. The Magic look forward to their semi final opponent, the Suns.

Game 4 was the undefeated (1) Lakers against the (8) Spurs. Despite having both big men back in the line up, the Spurs could not contain Said Samater who went off for 29 points in the contest including 9 points from beyond the arc and 12 points from the charity stripe. The Lakers remain undefeated and the Nuggets look to change that in the semi finals this weekend.

KEEP IN MIND THIS WEEK THERE WILL ONLY BE 2 GAMES DUE TO A PROGRAM AT THE MOSQUE. GAME TIMES ARE 9:15 pm (Lakers vs Nuggets) and 10:15 pm (Suns vs. Magic).

28/03/2011 - Congratulations to the 2010/2011 all stars. They played a great game and kept it competitive until the final whistle. Special congratulations to the All Star game MVP, Zahir Kolia, with a stat line of 21 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. Helping his team, the Eastern All Stars to a 78-71 victory over the West.

The 3-Point Shootout was also a successs as the league leading Mohammed Al-Salem triumphed over Anjum Kaukab in the finals with a score of 18 out of 30. Anjum hit 14 out of 30 in the final round.

All the stats from the 2010/2011 All Star week can be seen here. Enjoy a few highlights from the game, (special thanks to Irfaan Hasham for putting the mixtape together)

And now we are at the playoffs. This is where the regular season does not matter one bit except for who you play in the first round. The matchups are set and the teams are gearing up for the 1 game elimination round of the Playoffs.

20/03/2011 - Congratulations to Riaz Champsi for earning his 1st Player of the Week award with a stat line of 21 points, 2 rebounds and 7 assists in the win against the Raptors this past weekend. In the contest he also knocked down five 3 pointers to tie him with the league leader Mohammed Al-Salem of the Celtics.

In game 2 the Lakers came back from behind to beat the Spurs at the line and complete their regular season undefeated. Congrats to them as the Regular Season Champions for the 2010/2011 season.

The final game of the night was ended with the Heat on top of the Suns as their big man Reza Mohammed recieved two technical fouls and was ejected from the game. As per league rules, two technicles were reviewed by the commisionners and the refs and a 1 game suspension has been given to Reza Mohammed and the Suns will have a rematch in the 1st round against the Heat minus their anchor down low.

***** ALL STAR WEEK *****

THE ALL STAR VOTES ARE IN AND HAVE DECIDED YOUR STARTING 5 FOR THE EASTERN AND WESTERN ALL STARS. ALSO, THE CONTESTANTS FOR THE 3 POINT SHOOTOUT HAVE ALSO BEEN SELECTED. TO SEE WHO WILL BE REPRESENTING THE TEAMS IN THIS YEARS FESTIVITIES CLICK ON THE ALL STAR WEEK LINK!

THE REGULAR SEASON AWARDS PRESENTATION WILL TAKE PLACE IN BETWEEN THE 3-POINT COMPETITION AND THE ALL STAR GAME THIS SATURDAY. ALL LEAGUE MEMBERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND AND SUPPORT YOUR TEAMMATES