| It's All About The Heart |
Jan 22, 2008 |
We knew this game would get dirty before the day started. When we learned that Falaq had only 4 players we knew things would get ugly... very ugly. But you can't blame captain Sammy Rifai. His teammates bailed out on him because they couldn't handle losing. Nobody said things were going to be easy but the only way to get better is by playing and by playing against guys better than you. Sammy knows it and regardless of the situation him and a few teammates didn't let that ruin their season. As a policy of the league Falaq was able to pick up a player from the pick-up session to complete their roster.
The game started as expected. From the opening tip Nas was off to the races. They were much faster and taller than the Falaq roster. They easily penetrated the Falaq defense to score some easy baskets. Falaq on the other hand was struggling. Unable to set any plays and unable to penetrate inside, the players were forced to work on their own and attempt to create their own shots. Unfortunately nothing was falling for them but everything was falling for Nas. But then it seemed that luck may be on Falaq's side. Nas' big man Mahmood Qasim took a crushing blow to his ankle which forced him out of the game with just 6 minutes played. It would be up to the rest of Nas to get through the game. To tell you the truth the rest of the bench seemed excited as it meant more playing time for them!
Back to game. It was dreadful. The clock kept ticking and Falaq had yet to score. Fears were setting in of a possible shutout. Could this be possible? Shat up! Of course not but it would still be ugly. Falaq was on pace for setting the lowest score in the opening half. Thankfully their first basket came 9:30 into the game. Meanwhile the rest of the gym was getting quite a display from some of Nas' young guns. Umair Jabbar and Uzair Ansari were lighting things up and showing some serious hops and skills on their drives to the rim. All in all making things worse for Falaq. Thankfully this half came to an end with Nas leading by a whopping 34-6. If you were wondering the answer is no, the 6 points is not an I-Slam low for scoring in a half. Uzair was the star of the first half coming up with 15 points.
The second half was delightfully a different story. Mostaffa Azzam, the ultimate sportsman, decided to join Falaq on their bench and coach them. He tried to give them inspiration and motivation and some helpful tips that they may benefit from. It appeared that it just may have worked. Sammy Rifai and Abdulkareem Tattan suddenly started to find the bottom of the net. Nas, on the other hand, appeared sluggish and lazy to begin the half. With just 5 minutes played Nas was forced to call a timeout as the wheels were definitely coming off the train. Nas was leading but it was now 37-14. Confidence was seeping into the minds of Falaq. Were they going to lose? Most likely and they know it but at least they were going to go down with a battle and make things tougher for Nas. That's just how it turned out. Nas regrouped after the timeout and were able to continue their scoring but this time Falaq was able to drop the shots as well. Nas was able to easily walk away this one 62-35 and mercifully ended Falaq’s season.
Uzair Ansari led all scorers with 23 points while Waqar Khan had a brilliant second half and finished with 15 points and threw in 13 rebounds for good measure. Nas will now have to bring their “A” game as things get tougher when they get ready to tango with Kursi. The results of that match could all come down to the health of Mahmood Qasim. He will be dearly needed but it’s unclear whether he will be ready to return from his ankle injury. |
