As always, we start this blog with the remembrance of the Muslims suffering around the world. Remember to keep them in your dua and use their strength as a motivator to stay close to Allah SWT.

Welcome back to another week of predictions with the trusty crystal ball. It seems that people are taking a liking to the predictions so far, so that’s definitely a positive. However, I will try to make this a little bit more concise as it seems that some people do not have the attention span to read through the whole thing.

Ramallah - Nablus:

This is a pretty easy one to predict. I would like to give everyone their fair share when it comes to writing a piece about each team, but there isn’t much to say about this Nablus squad at this point. If or when Ali comes back, they will have a solid core but they aren’t deep enough to be considered seriously in the grand scheme of things as the season rolls on. I don’t want to write them out, but the ship is sinking fast. Ramallah comes into this game after a gut wrenching loss last week against the newly assembled squad. They are looking forward to getting back on the right track in this one and potentially having a player of the week. Mana has to go up against size in this matchup. These are two teams with completely opposite trajectories.

Ramallah by 20

Qalqilya - Safad:

Safad is now one comeback away from being blown out 3 times this season. That is not something you usually see from an Abbassi led team, but this team struggles to find cohesion on the offensive end. Combine that with defensive lapses and you have a 1-3 squad searching for answers. They go up against one of the two undefeated teams this week in Qalqilya, who have all the momentum in the world after playing against a shorthanded Nablus squad. For matchups, we have Islam guarding Shahzaib which I think could be good for Safad in slowing Shahzaib down. Lil O will be guarding Kareem Ahmed which could also be an interesting matchup and a competitive one. Then there are the bigs for Safad who have not been extremely impressive thus far. They will have to deal with Alzubidi who is a strong presence inside with his combination of IQ, strength and size. Malik Zubi will have to guard Deep Patel. Seems like Safad matches up fairly well with Qalqilya but they will need to work harder ine very minute of the game and be consistent offensively to pull off the upset. I think its a possibility and I like to choose one upset per week, or the Crystal Ball does.

Safad by 3

Al-Wehdat - Khan Yunis:

Chemistry is key. I had a feeling Yamin knew what he was doing when pulling off that trade and I think it worked well for both sides. As expected, Raza takes the reigns accompanied by Jake, veteran savvy Ali Omari and then shooters in Splash, Yamin, Moe Rayyaan and Marachli. Seems like a squad that is put together well and doesn’t have too much ego. The problem is, they face a really good Khan Yunis team who was real close to giving Yaffa their first loss of the season. I’m gonna highlight the Raza vs Singer matchup because I think these two matchup very well. Jake and Karkis have to deal with OBD and Yazan who are both solid. Again, for Al-Wehdat, they will need discipline and communication to stay with the splash triplets. That will be the key in this one. One thing I will say, it seems that Singer has taken some of the ball handling/playmaking responsibilities from Amir and I’d like to see Amir have his chance to work with the ball due to his creativeness with the ball in his hands. Should be a good one.

Khan Yunis by 5

Qibya - Bethlehem:

Bethlehem is a strong squad with a lot of talent all around. Qibya comes off of a tough loss which they were expected to win, but I think people were underrating the Al-Wehdat squad a little. Nevertheless, looks like we get to see Farhad vs Mahdy. I think Mahdy is too quick for Farhad to stay in front of him, so I think Qibya should go with a guard and have Farhad stay with Ali Sufian. Oh yea, let’s have Aadil take the challenge as we all know he cherishes. Raj Patel should guard Shafic and Medo will have to stay in front of Ahmad Chaabane. Bethlehem will definitely become a more high-powered offense as the season goes on and that will be the engine for this team. If Qibya can defend well, which has been a bit of an issue thus far, then I think they can do some damage offensively. Then again, Bethlehem seems like the much faster, more athletic squad so Qibya will need to control the pace and not let things get out of hand which could happen. The Crystal Ball sees Bethlehem running away with this one.

Bethlehem by 8

Al-Bireh - Al-Quds:

So, at the start of the season, these were the two teams that everyone was making noise about. Al-Quds has taken some time to mesh and Al-bireh made the right changes at the deadline. Now both these teams are formidable and look like contenders. Mahrooz has started to pick things up and a little birdie tells me its because he has all the time in the world in the Summer. With him back in form and Zain acclimating to his play style, these two can take Al-Quds wherever they want to go. A big part of their win last week was their size advantage but also the fact that there were only two ballhandlers instead of three. I think their best bet is running Omar Hussein off the ball, something he will have to get used to. Al-Bireh is meshing well as expected and credit to Amir Hassan for taking advantage of the situation and knocking down shots. He has been streaky in the past but it seems like he’s found a recipe for consistency. Al-Bireh is the deeper squad, but they will have to play a group defense to stop the main guys of Al-Quds. I trust Towfeek to figure something out.

Al-Bireh by 7

Al-Balah - Yaffa:

Al-Balah comes off their worst loss of the season and they will look to bounce back. As mentioned, Raied will be a big loss for this squad especially because they traded away Yazan. They do have Qasem, but the academy can take a real toll on a person and I don’t see him looking the same for the rest of the season. Elias, Hassan and Idris are good perimeter defenders but this team will need contributions in the paint to take care of Yaffa. Yaffa is the best defensive team up to this point and the best rebounding team, which has led them to a 4-0 start. They come off their toughest win last week, where they had to come back from 12 to pull out the win. It will be nice to see the Hassan vs Habi rematch that has been long awaited. Elias A matches up with Yahya. Overall though, I don’t think Al-Balah has enough firepower to overcome the strong Yaffa team defense.

Yaffa by 11

As always, this ain’t Lavar Ball, this ain’t Lonzo Ball, this is the Crystal Ball