March 15th - Week Fourteen - Playoff Round One Previews

March 15th the Playoffs start with some interesting match-ups.

11am: 8th Seed Zilzal vs 9th Seed Kursi
In their only regular season meeting, Zilzal rolled to a 58-49 win but Kursi has been forced to make some roster moves due to injuries and Sherif Shehata has had a resurgence in his game with some spectacular efforts of late as Kursi ended their season on a 4-game winning streak. If you are interested in seeing one of the finer games in Shehata's career check out this video from the 2005 I-Slam Basketball Advanced Finals. Zilzal has generally been inconsistent all season and finishing lower than expected considering the talent on their roster but despite their struggles haven't been blown out in a game so if they can put things together...

12pm: 7th Seed Adiyat vs 10th Seed Asr
Their only regular season meeting ended with Asr winning 50-48, Uzair Danish carried his team in the win that day with 19 points and 8 rebounds and he'll need to have another big game if Asr wants to pull off an upset here. Adiyat has the size advantage with Omar Sabri and Shazie Buttar and outside shooting advantage with Nouraiz Akbar and Saurabh Acharya.

1pm: 6th Seed Falaq vs 11th Seed Kawthar
Falaq won both regular season match-ups but by only 7 and 3 points so it wasn't exactly a domination. Kawthar has struggled all season and a consistently short bench has been their primary issue. After a slow start,Komail Rawjani has been their key player and he'll need to be on his game in this match-up. Falaq struggled to end the season but with their duo of Nathan Campbell and Ahsan Mahmood they always have a chance to win.

2pm: 5th Seed Takathur vs 12th Seed Ma'un
Their only regular season meeting saw Takathur win 57-45 as they dominated the boards with a 41-28 advantage. Things may not be as rosy this time around for Takathur who are reportedly dealing with injury issues with captain Hussain Shivji but as long as Faizal Merali and Alhussein Gillaniare on their game then Takathur is expected to advance. Ma'un does have the leagues leading scorer in Jamal Khan and they will need him to have a big game. Some recent solid contribution from The-Sarim Khan and Moazzam Sheikh have helped this team end the season with some promise but it is the leadership of Ahmed Khalid that will be the key.