COMMISH CORNER - WEEK 5

Muqami 1 vs. Brampton West

Game of the week!

This is without a doubt the match up of the week. Muqami 1 has proven themselves to be a powerhouse thus far with no real weakness except when they go on a vacation together and leave the bench to win for them. They lead the league in scoring at 73 PPG and that's including an outlier where the team basically played its bench. They're the only team with two scorers in the top five, while having three scorers in the top ten, and four players averaging double digit points per game. Defensively, the team averages the most steals per game as jazzy has some spider man webbing in his arms, I mean the man is bonafide thief with all the steals he be getting . On the flip side, you have an confusing Western Brampton team, barely beating teams they would have put away in previous seasons. This team is undoubtedly a championship contender with all the team chemistry and experience of playing together for years, but this is the most inconsistent edition of this team we've ever seen. Perhaps the constant roster turnover has caught up to them. I mean How long can Taha, Talha, Soban and Fazal hold the fort?

Nonetheless, Western Brampton will always provide tough competition led by Talha, Taha and Soban and Fazal’s “reverse motor bike kick 3 point shooting”, all of whom are looking to prove they're not past their prime. Ultimately, this game should be decided by depth. Muqami 1 appears to have the deeper team and should win this game by 8.

Halton-Mississauga vs. Muqami 3

This match features the two bottom dwellers of Division 1. Though their games have been competitive, Muqami 3 is winless thus far and Halton-Mississauga has been thrashed with some consistency. In their four losses, Halton-Mississauga has lost by an average margin of 31.5 PPG (should have been in div 2!!!). Muqami 3 will be looking to avenge their loss to Halton-Mississauga from earlier this season and prove that their impressive victory against a top three seed in the playoffs last season was not an absolute fluke. Halton-Mississauga is hoping to see Tahir Mirza again at some point this season, to pair him up with Taha Mubashir who is have a comeback season. A 18.6 PPG, Taha Mubashir is top five in PPG for the first time in quite a few years. If Ahamd Waqar was as fast on court as how he is to respond in ABL group chat, this team would be undefeated right now. All love Ahmed ️!

However Taha Mubashir should be commended for taking on the task of working with an incredibly young core and taking on a mentorship role, something we don't see quite that often in today's ABL. After my short speech, I forecast the absence of Tahir Mirza again this week, and Muqami 3 should win this game by 13 points. But both teams are plummeting to the bottom of the league and could possibly be a tie. You never know for this game 🤷🏽‍♂️

Northern Ontario vs. Muqami 2

Trey Young was in the house last week, oh wait...it was Ibrahim Atif who clocked in last week and was going buzzzzzurk from all over the court. This man was unstoppable, which got him the first POW award of his life. 

Northern Ontario's early performance this season has been a welcome surprise for a league looking for some parity. Believe it or not, Northern Ontario currently ranks third in Division 1, and should ultimately end up in the playoffs. Muqami 2 will look to avenge a loss to Northern Ontario from earlier this season since Salman Mangla took out Adeel’s knees in last play of their previous game together. Word on street is Adeel is coming with multiple knee braces for this game go against “Iron Man Mangla”!

 Muqami 2 is ultimately a championship contender and simply needs to have some consistency with their roster. They also need Adeel Mahmood to be less of a facilitator and give them double digits in terms of scoring. Whether he remains capable of this sort of scoring output remains to be seen. If BILAL makes an appearance from his injury, the scoring could get ugly where Mani gets less attention and can go to work.

Despite the positive outlook on Northern Ontario, this team has quite a few issues worth noting. Ibrahim Atif and Affan Siddiqi are drawing fouls at a high rate both in the top seven of the league. However, Ibrahim is only shooting 25% from the FT line and Affan Siddiqi isn't doing any better at 21% now those stats are worst than Shaq combined!

Teams might as well start hacking the two and putting them at the line. The rest of the team isn't faring much better in this department as the team as a collective is just 22% from the line. Talk about fundamentals, eh? Anyways, I see Muqami 2 winning this game by 15+, replacing Northern Ontario in the top three of the standings in the process. Praying that Adeel’s knees stay safe also 🏽

Division 2

Western Brampton 2 vs. GTA Center

This game features an up and coming team in Western Brampton 2 and a GTA Center team that is still searching for their identity. Last week saw Western Brampton 2 choke away a game they should have won (we’re up by 14). I couldn't conjure a more accurate manner of describing exactly what had occurred. Despite the misstep, Western Brampton 2 should be a top two team in Division 2 this year. Roshaan Ahmed a solid rising star in the making, who should have been playing in Division 1 this year, is leading this team to its best start since the team was created. With a good mix of oldies (Rameez and Jay-Z) and youth, this team could be primed for a deep playoff run this year. GTA Center on the other hand, though talented on paper, can't seem to close games out and seem to adopt a different playing style on a weekly basis. Umar Riaz, who has been on this team since day one, is top three in PPG and has a decent supporting cast with three other players averaging double digits. They just need to figure out what works best for the team and implement it. I don't see them figuring that out this week unless they recruit My man “Jane & Finch” & Moose (week 6 is deadline to enter new members to your team, Rahim make those 2 calls and save your team’s season). But we all know that ain’t happening as Rahim wants to shoot his long bombs away. Western Brampton 2 should win by 9 points.

Jamia vs. Eastern Brampton

Game of the week!

This game features a battle between two physical, imposing big men, and two guys that both could stake a claim towards top player in Division 2. Ayaz Nasir is leading the league in PPG at 27.7 and is doing so with high efficiency. Fateen Riaz is a swiss army knife with his versatility defensively, rebounding, physicality paired with his ability to knock down mid-to-long range jumpers. Ammaz Nasir is another player that is making a name for himself this year. The improvements in his game are obvious and worth noting, getting into the lane with an improved handle and hitting the three-ball at a high clip. 

These two teams played last week and luck of the draw, the schedule out of the hat has them playing again this week. Eastern Brampton was the favourite to win last week also but Nasir Ahmad and Ayaz Warraich dipped into Ayaz Nasir’s shot attempts and we all witnessed what happened...Eastern B took a hard L. However if EB wants to win games, give Ayaz Nasir the ball and move out the way. But if Ayaz Nasir wants to win the chip, he needs to get the team involved. Comes playoffs, it’s a whole new game then. So they gotta start preparing for that if they want to have a deeper run!

Now Jamia was a 1 man show as Fateen had some thing to prove last week as Sagher was missing last week. All burden was placed on his shoulder and he carried his team to the W. He was runner up for the POW.  Another rising star from Jamia is Chaudhry Sahib with his big built frame, who does the dirty work, he’s so big and wide that it’s hard to maintain him within 5 feet from the rim!

Ultimately, I don't see this game being troubling for Jamia. Don’t change nothing from last week and do what you guys did last week. Keep Sagher home and Jamai gets another W...

As a borderline Division 1 team, this team is leading the standings in Division 2 for a reason and should win this game by 12 points.

Muqami 4 vs. Muqami 5

First of All shout out to my main man from M4 “TOOTIE” if y’all don’t know who he is...check out the game winning clip sent in ABL chats. Man is always WET...that’s why he’s called the TOOTIE!!!

Team was down 14, with Adam’s court vision and TOOTIE’s wetness they came back last week and won the game! Side note, Div 2 games are something to watch for the fans as all games are very intense and nail biters!

Both of these teams have a very interesting roster, with the gap between the oldest and youngest players being roughly 3-4 decades. Both of these teams are currently the bottom dwellers or the division, hoping to inch towards higher seeding. Muqami 4 got some hope last week with the return of 16 year old Adam Zahoor. Jokes aside, Adam Zahoor provided the team with a massive boost, leading them to a come-from-behind victory against a surging Western Brampton 2 team. In his second game, Adam Zahoor had a 20/15/23 stat line, assisting on 15 of his team's 20 field goals getting his first POW for the season. On the other side, father-son duo Fatteh and Kashif Malik will look to resuscitate the team's season. SALMAN Ahmad is another rising star with his quiet double double, who’s been helping the Pops & Son Inc. 

There isn't anyone else currently on the roster who can assist the two in carrying the scoring burden, and I see them losing this game by 15+.

Hope y’all enjoyed this week’s commish corner, if you want to write a commish corner please reach out to Adeel Mahmood as your name will stay anonymous! See you guys next week