Assalamualaykum wa rahmatullah,

Welcome back to this blog for the Week 4 predictions, presented and sponsored by yours truly. As always, please remember those suffering in Palestine. Learn more about the situation, stay up to date, sign petitions, raise awareness, and most of all, remember them in your Dua.

Ok now it’s time for some fun. Before we get into predictions, I’d like to introduce a new aspect to this platform. As I heard in the podcast, the 3 astounding personalities are looking to keep track of their predictions as well.

So here are the standings:

Hassan: 14-4

Crystal Ball: 17-10

Towfeek: 16-11

Omar: 15-12

Moving on to this week:


Gaza - Al-Bireh:

Week 4 begins with one of the two 3-0 teams, Gaza, facing off against an Al-Bireh team on a 2-game win streak. As we approach the middle of the season, Al-Bireh has started to look like what we thought coming into the season. This team has a great starting 5 and they really play positionless basketball. From the looks of it, all of these guys are unselfish and they really want to win. The next level for this team is slowing down set offensive possessions that will tire a defense out, while still running the break when available. This will help their defense a little bit which hasn’t been something to rave about.

On the Gaza side, the newcomer for Joe Capone seems to fill the role well. I’m hearing that Joe is going to be missing the rest of the season, so just want to wish him wishes on his recovery. This team is very well-rounded and if any team were able to withstand an injury to one of their top guys, it’s them. They showed that in Week 3 but this week is definitely a tougher matchup.

This game is hard to predict because both sides have plenty of scoring options. I think it’s going to come down to defense and the sample that I have tells me Gaza is the better option in that department.

Gaza by 4


Nablus - Haifa:

In game 2, we have some guys that have faced off just recently as the Ty Jackson move has him playing Haifa again in the first four weeks. Haifa now understands what they are going up against and they have the ability to game plan a little better this time. With that being said, does it really matter? Ty Jackson hasn’t shown any signs of being contained and he has had his way for the first 120 minutes of the season, ⅓ of those being against this team. They couldn’t figure it out in 40 minutes and I don’t see them figuring it out this time around either.

Let’s say Haifa can contain Ty Jackson. Omar Hussein has to bring more to the table, Omar Qasem has to bring more to the table and this team has to play as one cohesive unit. There are a lot of vocal guys on this squad and that has to be an advantage for them. So far, there have been a few issues with chemistry and I think these guys have been playing for too long for this to be an issue. Lots of potential with Haifa so they just gotta unlock that and they’ll be tough to stop.

Nablus by 4


Ramla - Areeha:

Alright so we have the return of Omar Mana this week. I’m excited to see what he can bring to this Ramla squad that got a much needed win last week and finally got production from their talented role players. Mana will only increase the production of the role players on this team, as his tempo and size creates space for his teammates.

This is the perfect game for his return as Areeha boasts a strong, tough, experienced front court that prides themselves on physicality. This team also has a lot of veteran prowess and they are able to hang around with any team. Although this is just a men’s league, I feel like these guys are playing with a chip on their shoulder. The jokes are obviously playful, but they are using them as fuel and showing us that they still got some juice. I wish the best for this team and I think they are really fun to watch.

Overall, Ramla is now fully loaded and there’s a lot of expectations from this squad now. Areeha fought hard last week and brought themselves back into that game, and I think they’re going to come hungry for a win Wednesday. Areeha will spoil Manas return.

Areeha by 6


Al-Wehdat - Al-Quds:

To many people’s surprise, there is a new team on the rise in the league coming into week 4. Looks like Al-Wehdat was missing a key piece all along and now have their complete roster. Looking at these squads now, it almost feels like they’ve switched places from where they were ranked before week 1. Al-Quds has lost a lot of popularity and continue to struggle, albeit no Amir last week. Regardless, they were essentially blown out and this makes it hard for me to trust them moving forward. Lil O is on an enormous shooting slump and I don’t think this is the week he figures things out. That being said, a lot of pressure falls on Mustafa and Amir to produce big stat lines, which isn’t likely.

Al-Quds does have a true big in Jean but I feel like that only hurts them in this game as Al-Wehdat have versatile bigs that can run the floor and shoot pretty well.

Al-Wehdat by 14


Qibya - Baysan:

Second game in the 8:30 slot is Qibya and Baysan. Qibya is now 0-3 as they have had a tough schedule to start the season, and it doesn’t get any easier this week. Zain is back from load management as he now has 50% gray hair on his head so gotta make sure to take things slow and listen to the body. This team took care of business without him and Sal got back on track in no time. Giving Zain another shooter makes this team a bigger threat than they already were. It can be argued that all 5 guys on the Baysan side win their matchup which tells you a whole lot.

Qibya must continue to play unselfishly and with a lot of intensity to stay in games. They have to be 100% focused and still be energetic and aggressive, fighting for every loose ball and being aggressive on offense. I hope they find a win soon as I think they have talent but I don’t see it happening this week.

Baysan by 16


Bethlehem - Jenin:

After the possibly worst offensive half in MB history, Bethlehem is coming into a game where they can get right back to where they left off in Week 2. When Jake returned, I expected to see more effort on the defensive side of the ball, as he’s an experienced guy who has size and some athleticism. Sadly, it seems like his impact didn’t do much in the first game back. In this week, Jake may have to guard Mahdy and that will be an extremely interesting matchup. Jake is talented but does take things lightly and Mahdy is usually pretty locked in. The same can be said for the rest of these two squads. While Jenin is definitely a talented squad, it seems like they just come out to have fun on Wednesday. Winning is the best way to have fun and it starts on defense.

I also like the Hassan - Ian matchup and I’d like to see if Hassan will be able to contain an Ian that has been very efficient to start the season. I’d give Hassan and Mahdy the slight edge in terms of main guys but I might lean towards the role players of Jenin more. Maybe one of those guys can spark a defensive effort this week. So far, they haven’t

Bethlehem by 10


Shatila - Qalqilya:

Oh boy. Farhad has had a great start to the season, leading his team in essentially every category and being the main contributor on both ends of the floor. Yet, this team is still 1-2. They suffered a tough loss in Week 2 against Haifa and lost what was thought to be a game they’d win by 13 last week. This week, Farhad and Co. face a Qalqilya team that is coming off of their first loss of the year.

Qalqilya has seemed to start the season off slowly, with no scoring outputs over 65 points and no double digit wins. So far, they have had arguably the toughest schedules and this week things get easier. Qalqilya is hungrier than ever and is committed to building chemistry as they continue to mesh with their new addition, Mr. Kande. I am predicting that Qalqilya will get everyone involved this game, and all the guys will have solid stat lines. A previous comparison to the blue eyes ultimate dragon was used for the top 3 guys for this squad. This team is really more like Exodia, with many different cards coming together to make an unstoppable force.

Qalqilya by 20


Safad - Al-Khalil:

Ok, so Al-Khalil came to play last week and there’s finally something to brag about on this squad. Honestly, looking at the stat sheet, no one was outstanding but there were some solid production and enough guys got involved. I think these guys can be a good team if they can stay locked in on defense as they are big and move pretty well in every position. They also have one of the biggest frontcourts in the league and that alone will put pressure on opposing offenses. I think this team is trending in the right direction and they still have not reached their full potential.

On the Safad side, Ali Suiafan proved me wrong and had his breakout game. The challenge will be to reproduce that this week against another big front court as he will have to be the anchor for this team on both sides of the floor. Looking at the stat sheet, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t mentioned this player in detail up until this point. Now is the time. Raed Saleh is severely underrated, and he proves how much passion and hustle can mean in a basketball game. The man works for every basket he makes and his production has been a blessing for this team so far. This Safad team is really solid, and that is the best word I can think of to describe them. All of their players are good basketball players that don’t get talked about enough. They will continue to fight and continue to win tough games.

Safad by 5


Sabra - Yaffa:

Rounding out the matchups for this week, we have the other 3-0 team facing off against Yaffa, who’s 1-2. So far, Sabra has looked unstoppable and they may have the two most dominant players in the league this season. Having that anchor in the back of a 3-2 will give all other offenses fits and they showed that last week, against the defending champs. The role players on this team are overlooked but they are important because when they play well, it really stops teams from being able to draw all of their focus on Austin and Pete.

Yaffa has one path to victory in this game. Shoot the lights out. There is no other team in the league that can answer that request as all their guys can shoot the 3 at a high percentage. The goal is being able to move the ball in the zone to create these opportunities and it is much easier said than done. Ish and Abdul will have to be extremely aggressive to open the door for their teammates to light it up from deep and keep them in this one. We shall see if they can pull off the upset.

Sabra by 10


As always,

This ain’t Lavar Ball, this ain’t Lonzo Ball, this is the Crystal Ball