Power Rankings
Coming down to the end of the season there is a clear front runner but many teams that can make the push to challenge for the top spot.
1- Tigers (4-2) - They are the top tier team in the league right now. Ignore the last loss they took, it was a close game even without Ruhel and Amrit present. That big three are, as expected, amazing. Captain Jibar pulled a masterclass getting his old Astoria buddy Moody to approve this team. They are all averaging more than 14 points and you can try to stop one of them or maybe two of them, but all three good luck. The Phantoms have been the only ones to do it and the Tigers may not be looking forward to that matchup again come playoff time.
2- Bricklayers (4-2) - Hyder does it again. He has built an incredibly deep team that is led by the guard duo of Ferukh and David. Their frontcourt rotates guys like Arvin, Hassan and Salman. Add in the veteran experience of Atif, the league's best leak out player and this is a team that will be heard from come playoff time. The size will be a problem for some of the smaller teams in the league. If there is a weakness here the perimeter shooting leaves a little to be desired but it has not slowed them down yet.
3- La Familia (4-2) - Led by MVP favorite Tosin this squad is not just a one man circus. They love to shoot the three and are good at it. Guys like Ibby, Rahat, and Alif are all snipers from range. Then throw in Labib getting hot and Akif always giving you that spark off the bench and it's another team that can beat you in multiple ways. Combine all that with Yusuf’s impressive ability to guide his team to deep postseason runs and you get a team that can absolutely push for a title appearance if Tosin can keep up this pace driving the offense.
4- Phantoms (3-2) - Qasim pulled one over on Commish Moody big time. Off to a floundering start he reached out for help and boy did he get it in Tayeb. What Moody did not know was that he was falling for a trap that would lead to unlocking a Phantoms team with lots of potential. Tayeb’s impact is felt on the court, his passing may be tops in the league, along with teaming up with his brother to give them a huge frontcourt. But his coaching up the team to play so well even without him on the floor is probably his most impressive tool, helping Hugo and Uzair have career seasons. Bravo Qasim, you got him.
5- Primetime (4-2) - This team’s stock is looking like Cuomo’s after last night, sinking. After a soft 4-0 start they got their doors rocked by giving up EIGHTY points to the Tigers and almost fighting with each other in the process. The following game they were short handed and made a valiant effort against a great La Familia team but a loss is a loss. Can Moody right this ship, who knows. Ali is having a great season but Imran looks like a different player compared to last season. Aadil can’t make a shot anymore and Yahya seems to disappear even when he can get on the floor. For all the talk of their new addition Umer he hasn’t helped in winning them a big game. Fifth here may be generous.
6- Imaan (3-3) - We think Captain Faiq put in a formal height requirement for his team this year (with a Corey exemption of course.) The team of giants looks like they should be unstoppable. Umair coming off an MVP summer, a former MVP in Dev, former finals MVP in Isa. Add in the guy Tayeb calls the best player no one talks about in Owais and absolute spark plus Moe and how could this team be .500. They just haven’t clicked. The offense feels clunky a lot of the time and they lack a go to guy that everyone trusts in to get things going. Did the addition of Riz mid season throw one too many chefs into the kitchen. We know there is a lot of experience here that should be able to figure this out but they are certainly running out of time to do it.
7- Legend Killers (1-4) - It has been a tough season for captain Zia. He will say it’s because the commissioner doesn't like him and he may be right if you just look at their record. Looking deeper though our reigning MVP Umer is only averaging ten points a game. That is not a typo, TEN. Talha is balling as usual putting up 16 points and 8 boards and even Fahad is averaging double digits now fighting through a finger injury. Similar to last year's Bricklayers squad who went from the play-in games to the finals led by Umer, we know that a heroic performance is all it takes to carry a team. Talha and Umer can both provide those kinds of push when it comes down to it. Will they? Time will tell.
8- All Day (2-4) - Taking down a short handed Tigers team by three points was a nice win for Aqib’s squad to try and avoid the play-in game. Tan finally got it going, making it rain from three, something they have been waiting for him to make consistently. Talha has been the do it all guy again but he is going to need others to chip in to really make any noise. Jishan and Syed making those threes on kick outs will be key in close game situations and this team is not equipped to handle teams with a lot of size but they are also known for playoff almost upsets.
9- Knights (1-5) - This is a tough last place rating. The Knights are never out of a game. Even when they are down a ton of points you know they are going to make a huge comeback and make it a competitive game. That is where the problem here lies though. They do the same thing over and over again and have not done anything to fix it. A team with Hassan, Mohsin, Ali and Jibar should not be letting teams run up the score on them early. It takes too much energy to come back and they never (except for a fantastic game winner by Ali) have anything left to finish with the win. If they can straighten out those early game woes this would be my pick of a team from the lower half that could make noise come playoff time.