Power Rankings

A third of the way through the season let's take an overview of the teams and see how everybody stacks up.

1- Panthers 3-0
Muzz brings back another powerhouse squad. It started with Yusuf being the main engine of the offense then transitioned to Hugo. Whispers are he may be sidelined so finding that primary scorer may pose a problem. Abdullah has been his normal consistent self, putting up points and rebounds in a big way. His cousin Zaid is a pest on defense and is not someone you want to take lightly when he is in the game. Muzz has definitely improved over last season's injured self and leads the league in assists. If Hassib can return to pre-acl tear form this team may go wire to wire.

2- Primetime 3-0
Commissioner Moody had another one of his championship losses last season and no one knew how the squad would respond. Well they are back and maybe even better. The only personnel changes were swapping out AZ for newcomer Mo who is thriving off the bench bringing more three point shooting to the team. The Ladak boys Ali and Imran are continuing to do their thing and Aadil has become a top tier stretch 4 in Retro. What really is impressive is the team chemistry, everyone is playing so well together including veteran Daud who is coming off a 10 assist performance.

3- Legend Killers 2-1
The one loss for Zia’s team is an asterisk as they were missing their star player Talha Hashmi who is a game changer. You need an example just look at last week when he came into a game where his team was trailing by double digits and poured in shot after shot to lead the team to a victory. They run with the same three big lineup with him, Humair, and Fahad who know how to play together and can beat you from all three levels. Like is often the case with this team it will often come down to the other players like Asim, Faizan and Bilal hitting shots to decide the game.

4- Bricklayers 1-1
Hyder has fielded a competitive team in his first season at the helm. He brings back the Bricklayers star duo in Umer and Ferrukh and added a third ball handler in David who shows he is a solid passer and a great chemistry piece. Coming back from a season hiatus is youngster Idrees, a second generation Bricklayer who is the nephew of previous captain Imran. He gives them a height inside along with youth. They might have the biggest age gap in the league with hm and long timer Atif who brings some veteran savvy this team could use in the closing times of games as they almost blew a game they were leading by twenty points last week.

5- A Team 1-1
The next three teams really could all be flip flopped around and I wouldn’t argue with you but we will start with the team that made a huge splash last week with a big acquisition. Amrit gives A Team the new biggest lineup in the league with former MVP Dev and former finals MVP Isa. We have only seen him play one game but that trio should prove to be a formidable front line that will be hard to match. Dev may have slowed down but he can still grab ten to fifteen rebounds a game and is hard to stop down low. The guard play may be tough to overcome in the later stages of the playoffs because there isn’t much floor spacing but they have a pedigree of going far and this season may be no different.

6- Tigers 1-1
Tigers are maybe the best team in the league on paper. The collection of talent may be the best collected in Retro history with Ruhel, Riz, Fardeen and Rahim. Round that out with solid role players like Dawud and Danyel and captain Jibar has got himself a squad. They won a close game and lost one but this seems like a team that needs time to gel and develop chemistry. The big problem seems to be that there is only one ball and too many mouths to feed. With this much talent and lots of Retro experience this team should figure it out.

7- Knights 1-1
The fact that the Knights who are a great team come in at 7 shows just how close all the teams this season are. Jibar is in his first season as captain and went with the formula of bringing back the squad he knows works. The duo of Amged and Ali can flat out shoot, they are in every game because no matter the deficit they can shoot themselves back in it. The difference this season may be the scoring of Mohsin, he has come out gunning and it is giving some balance to the team. Add in the high IQ of Abuzar and the pesky defense of Abdullaha and you see why next week this team could be top 3.

8- Phantoms 0-3
Qasim's team has not come out with a win but the potential for a really good team is there. They can field a lineup of five guys who can all really shoot, and that keeps them in the game at all times. You only have to look to last week when they were down 20 and came within one shot of overtime to see they can hang with anybody. They have a solid star duo of Nafi and Ridwan. Nafi has a smooth lefty shot and Ridwan is like a Zobi clone who is all over the court racking up steals and causing havoc. Qasim stacked up role players who can shoot and gave them a solid center in Uzair and for sure this is a team no one wants to see in a big game.

9- La Familia 1-2
Yusuf’s team is perennially underrated and by the end of the season I may think what an idiot I am for having them this low. The reasoning though is simple, Zaky is a huge loss. He was the fiery competitor, veteran presence, and steady scorer the team is now trying to create in the aggregate. They have gotten a couple of big games by Asif and Yaseen but they have to try and make them happen at the same time. This is going to be a big test for Yusuf to try and get the team going and match the postseason magic they pulled off last season.

10- All Day 0-3
All Day, what can we say? They have not been able to put a tally in the win chart but they are used to that. It is more important to focus on how the team is looking. They have been really solid on defense and newcomer Jishan can really score the ball. They still have the same problem of being undersized compared to all the other teams but when they have their full squad they are going to be an offensive threat. Let’s not forget this team was a famously missed finger roll by Tan from taking down the runner ups Primetime in the first round last year. So do not sleep on All Day.