Alright Alright Alright

Been waiting a long time to give my take on this platform and the day is finally here. I’m not really new to speaking my mind when it comes to predictions, usually it’s just for my team specifically though. Anywho, let’s get into it.


Lagos vs Istanbul

At first glance, this is a no-brainer. One of the top in the rankings vs one of the bottom. Then we look again. Istanbul has continued to develop as time has went on this season. They had a bumpy first half before finally settling into their consistent roster and lineup. A consistent theme with this team is that, on paper, they really do have enough to compete with anyone. Captain and DPOY candidate, Mohammed Abdelghani, has to find a way to mesh all the pieces together effectively. Hint: A lot of ball handlers, maybe have splash run around off-ball and become a sharpshooter. Now on the Lagos side: Losers of the last two straight, they will be looking to bounce right back and take care of business. With Farhad back, the starting lineup for Lagos just seems to tower over Istanbul in my opinion. And let’s not forget about that pesky 3-2 zone that has had even the best teams scratching their heads. At last glance, still a no brainer.

Gimme Lagos by 18


Riyadh vs Kashgar

You can say so much about this Kashgar team. 3-2 since the trade and without Affan last week, they have had plenty of highs and lows this season. When everyone is in sync, they look like an elite squad. And then things go wrong. The key word for this team is consistency. Everyone gotta be locked in and playing to win at all times in the game for this team to be considered more than mediocre. They won’t have Yahya this week, who brings composure and ball movement to their offense. To make it close, they need Mahdy, Affan and Glendi to be more than scorers but rather orchestrators of the offense. Not sure if that will happen in just one week. Then we look at the Riyadh side, who are winners of the last 5 straight. This team has found ways to win in many different ways. Whether its a collective effort with Shafic loading up on assists, Big Moose going bonkers, Idris and Zubair lighting it up from 3, or Shafic just doing it all himself, Lebanon’s finest just continue to improve and take steps in the right direction. A little birdie stopped by my doorstep this morning and let me know there will be a replacement for Big Moose. SEE you Wednesday ;)

Gimme Riyadh by 13


Timbuktu vs Kabul

Timbuktu got a much needed win last week and boy was it nice to see Shahzaib smiling again. Habi jumped right in and impacted the game as his teammates knew he would, bringing energy and a “calming presence” all at the same time. Deeb and Sehwail are a great frontcourt combo that will bring tenacity and defensive prowess every game. Looks like Shahzaib has surrounded himself with dawgs, which explains the barking heard on court 1 last week. Just as things were looking up though, Habi will be gone for the next two weeks. Will be interesting to see if they can find a sub to fill his shoes. If not, only having 3 real threats on the team makes them a hard team to bet on. On the Kabul side, they made things look easy last week and bounced back well from the tough loss taken the week prior. It just seems like this team has been playing together forever. Not to mention, their all-star, MVP candidate Mahrooz only attempted 4 shots last game. Talk about selfless. The firepower that Singer, Mahrooz, Sadat, Elias, Mo dirty present has proven to be too much for many teams in the past few months, and no reason to think that won’t continue this week. Let’s not forget the two headed beast that rounds the #3 team in the league out, Kareem and Ammar. Good luck Timbuktu!

Gimme Kabul by 9


Jeddah vs Suba

Where do I start with this Suba team. Looking at the roster before week 1, I knew they’d struggle a bit figuring things out but man have they been underwhelming. Every week, I hope to see something different but every week it’s the same. I think Zain needs to play more as a traditional big in this system. Catch the ball on the block and work from there instead of the top of the key. The rest of the guys aren’t scrubs either so no reason the sloppiness should be so high. Get it together fellas! On the Jeddah side, they’re coming off a tough loss for sure. People counted them out very early after their self proclaimed undefeated prediction, but they definitely have challenged great teams and even upset the #1 seed. Sadly, they lost a huge piece in Jehad, hopefully he recovers as soon as possible. Not sure if they will bring a replacement on board or a sub for this week but regardless, I think they still have enough to pull it off. Their weakness is size and Zain is staring off the page when looking at these rosters, but Jeddah does a great job in covering their weakness with extended help defense inside. This will force the Suba guards to score consistently, which we haven’t seen yet. We know what Hassan and Omar do on a weekly basis and they’ll do it again.

Gimme Jeddah by 7


Tehran vs Medina

Looking at these rosters, you would be a little surprised to see that Medina has the better record of the two teams. Medina has had a roller coaster season. New roster every week has made things tough, but coach Bilal has found some familiar reinforcements to level things out. Mustafa and Amir could be considered the best guard duo in the league, at least scoring wise. With these two weapons and the IQ the team has defensively, they will be in any game. They also got Mr. Clean, Mo Masri, owner of the cleanest 3 point jumper this league has seen. On the Tehran side, they make every game closer than it has to be and the theme continued last week. These guys know they’re potential and I think that has been slowing them down a little to be honest. Would be nice to see them play with a chip on their shoulder and take the games a little more personally, but there’s always playoffs for that right. Anyways, I’m gonna go with my gut and say that Tehran will be able to get this done, and I’m expecting the two Alis(specifically Sufian) to exploit the Medina defense. Also, Marachelli should have 4 threes this week.

Gimme Tehran by 4


Amman vs Sarajevo

Last and certainly not least, my Game of the Week. Joe Shiesty vs Giannis Akumpo, JoJo vs the Po Po and the Saleh situation, Ramzy vs Ahmad. On the Amman side, they are 1-4 in their last 5 games. Mr. Shiesty has not had a statement game in a while and seems to be taking a real backseat due to the pressure defenses are putting on him. JoJo has shown flashes of stardom but nothing has been consistent enough to say he’s even the second guy on this team. These two need to be what Ramzy thought they would be when he drafted them and that’s a 1-2 punch, similar to what we see from other duos in the league. The two of them are too athletic, tall and skilled to be putting up lackluster performances as they have recently. On the Sarajevo side, there’s the one man freight train in Mana and a bunch of hustlers. Raied Saleh turns back the clock even further every week and keeps improving as he works his way back into shape. Karim Ettayebi has been a huge pickup for this team, taking some slack off of Raza and Moe Rayyann in terms of the ball handling. Lastly, their shooters are now shooting and that has made Manas job extremely easy. Amman must be able to limit the effect of the “others” for lack of a better word, and make Mana beat their bigs. On the Sarajevo side, the job is to limit the two Joes as we all know. Can someone else on Amman step up? Can the Sarajevo guards stop the Amman wings? Has Mana met his match in the twin towers of Amman? Find out 9:30 Wednesday on Court 2 or read my prediction.

Gimme Amman by 2