Here we are, the first round of the playoffs. Single-game elimination, win or go home, leave it all out there. Good Luck everyone!

(16) Damascus @ (1) Islamabad:
There's a tall mountain to climb here for Damascus, there’s a lot that has to go right for them, and a lot that has to go wrong for Islamabad for Damascus to win. On one end of the spectrum, Islamabad is undefeated, and though that’s the case, the team has been through its fair share of change. This team officially runs through Hassan, and the rest of the squad has learned to complement him very well. On the other end, Damascus was starting to figure things out mid-way through the season, and then for some reason everything fell apart. I’d like to say there’s much hope, but they just lost to four guys, and it seems there’s been a dynamic trend in performance. At this point in the season you’d expect consistent output in certain areas amongst the players, but for example, Elias A hasn’t done much offensively all season, and in week 8, he has a career type of game, and that is not something that can be relied on (as in relying on someone new to do something weekly). The same has been the case with Omar Sehwail; one week he does really well, and the next it seems his own team removes him from the game. There’s a lot that’s going on with this team, and I still believe they have the guys to compete with anyone, but there’s too much chaos for me to trust they’ll really scare the likes of Islamabad. With all that being said though, Hassan did have one of his worst games against Damascus, and the entirety of the team was limited vs Damascus in week 4, so there is a glimmer of hope for Damascus, but Islamabad is tuned well enough to learn from that and shut whatever Damascus has going for them down.
Islamabad by 24

(9) Riyadh @ Palermo (8):
Something changed in week 8, Palermo came out and showed there’s a ton of potential, though I’ve said that since like week 1. I say this because I look back to last week’s predictions; I was 1 pt off regarding Riyadh’s prediction, and I was around 10 off regarding Palermo’s, and I predicted Palermo’s not based on their potential, but based on their trends, especially defensively. What changed then? Well it’s pretty obvious Palermo really wanted the win, and where did their strategy start? It started where they’re weakest, there was an emphasis on staying firm defensively, and to no surprise, their full effort was spilled into this game and they kept it really close. As noted earlier, trends on the Riyadh end have been consistent; given a good matchup, they’ll do well together and potentially win that matchup. The matchup isn’t too bad given that they have a clear size advantage with Ammar, but Ammar hasn’t necessarily been a high scoring big, so though the advantage is definitely there, it’s not as simple as it sounds. I do think that Riyadh is going to have to be very creative if they want to win; since it’s playoffs, I’m expecting Palermo to ride that defensive heat they brought in week 8, and that’s going to make life a bit hard for Riyadh’s star in Nader. Furthermore, Palermo continues to be an offensive force, Jojo and Shafic are practically impossible to stop, and then there’s still Amir and Jason who can easily get buckets. Riyadh hasn’t been a strong defensive team, so there’s a clear struggle there. Palermo has an obvious overall advantage, but there are some advantages Riyadh can exploit, so by no means am I ruling Riyadh out.
Palermo by 10.

(13) Medina @ (4) Jerusalem:
These two teams were supposed to match up in week 8, but Medina forfeit, and out of fear I presume. Not going to let my predictions from last week go to waste, so I’m just going to copy and paste those predictions here. Not sure who’s out or in this week, so you can ignore that part of the prediction. “Game of the week! Sike! No Billal for Jerusalem, no commissioners for Medina. Medina doesn't have the worst of matchups here; Mana being the consistent focal point for Jerusalem falls directly into the laps of Medina's 2-3 zone. Luckily for Jerusalem, there are other tactics they can resort to, for example, running. Lil O can sometimes forget how to stop running, and Mana is the fastest big in the league. Put that together with the Saleh brothers' knack to get their hand on the ball defensively, the transition game would be a worst-case scenario for Medina. Furthermore, it looks like the vast majority of the scoring will have to be up to old man Ken, and you know Jerusalem doesn't give free buckets. Good luck out there Medina, find a way to keep up, and there's a chance.”
Jerusalem by 18.

(12) Cairo @ (5) Tripoli:
Unintentionally, the theme of these predictions is how teams have progressed, and how that will carry each team throughout the playoffs, so I’ll just continue with that. Let’s start with Cairo, since literally nothing’s changed. Gaballa remains the absolute leader of this team, it was nice to see a couple of the other guys pitch in this week, hence the near upset. My only concern is that Gaballa is seemingly too selfless; the entire world knows he’s by far and away this team's only hope, yet he only takes 10 attempts. Some teams call for a pass-first guard, and some call for a hero, and Cairo is certainly the latter. Enough of that I guess. Tripoli has continued that upward trend, meeting the expectation we had at the start of the season. With just four guys, Ali Hassan and Nesto really got their chance to shine, and each got a boost of confidence just before entering the playoffs. It’s known that this team is one of the better teams, and are true contenders due to the number of weapons they can rely on. There is a decent sample size that shows that when Tripoli is challenged to find buckets, they struggle to hit at an efficient rate. I know this last game looks particularly poor, but it’s hard to blame them when they have 4 guys trying to score against 5. Though prior to that, there has been evidence of a lack of efficiency. It isn’t really a weakness; yeah Ali is their top scorer and you’d expect that if you limited him the team would be in shambles, but that’s precisely what makes Tripoli so dangerous. If it isn’t Ali, there’s Yo Shah, and if not Yo, there’s Sal, and not Sal, Nesto and, and, and…Nonetheless, there has been a struggle to be efficient, and it’s up to Cairo to expose that. We’ve yet to see Gaballa struggle, so I’m going to assume he’ll shine as usual, but the rest of the team is going to have to step up on defense. If I’m being honest though, this is a really poor matchup for Cairo, and it’s hard to see much light at the end of the game for Cairo.
Tripoli by 26.

(15) Granada @ (2) Mombasa:
These two teams played against each other only a few weeks ago, and Mombasa won by 36 points. Quite frankly, the matchup is a horrible one for Granada, and their lack of offensive weapons is the last thing they needed against a team like Mombasa. Pete towers over every Granada player by a mile, so immediately Mr. Joe Capone will have a tough time scoring in the lane, and Granada won’t have any impact on the boards. On the other end of the court, get Pete in the post and you might as well scribble in two points. I really hoped players outside of Mr. Capone and Malik Zubi would provide some serious impact throughout the season, but even defensively, the team is lacking the right personnel. I’m not Mr. PR, so I’ll let Granada off the hook, there’s a lot more I could say about them and their season, but I wrote what I wrote to make it clear how slim their chances are. All I thought about in terms of the matchup was Pete Brown, and it already felt like the outcome of this game was a done deal. Mombasa is so much beyond Pete, and Granada’s struggling defense won’t be able to keep up at all. Granada managed to put up almost 60 points vs Mombasa, so there’s life on offense, but I’m sorry, the defense is really going to have to deal with way more than it can chew. The only sliver of hope they can rely on is a Mr. Capone banger; if he comes out hot, and I mean HOT, do they have a chance. He’d have to go for the single-game scoring record type of hot.
Mombasa by 36.

(10) Delhi @ (7) Mecca:
Usually I like to assume all players would be present, but Delhi is an exception, Luis is sellinggg. Delhi is 2-6, but in the past two weeks, they’ve given two 7-1 teams a run for their money. They’ve been able to put points on the board, but have also been unable to limit the opposing teams from doing so at a higher rate. That becomes especially tough to do against a team like Mecca who have two very prolific scorers in Yaqob and MJ. MJ in particular is currently averaging 20 ppg on almost 62% shooting, so Delhi really can’t bank on Mecca’s scorers having a bad shooting night. Mecca has also done relatively well defensively, since their schedule was definitely on the tougher side, and that presents an overall tough matchup for Delhi. To summarize Mecca’s game; offensively they roll through MJ and Yaqob for the most part, and they’ve been shooting at a very high clip. Their defense is also a bit underrated, and though they might not be the tallest of teams, they have size across the board. Now compare that to Delhi; they’re offense is a bit unpredictable, but Ian is certainly their main guy, and the support can come from a number of guys, depending on who’s hot or not. Their defense has definitely been on the poorer side, and they can definitely be exposed in some matchups in terms of height. Compare the two, and Mecca has the advantage, but Delhi’s issues can be easily overcome with the right gameplan, and attitude. Delhi will make this competitive as usual, but it’ll be interesting to see if they fill the holes they currently have and pull off the upset. So yes, I certainly believe there can be an upset if Delhi takes advantage of personnel mismatches, and continues their hot offensive streak. I’m going to play on the side of caution though, it’s a little difficult not to put my trust in the likes of someone with the nickname MJ.
Mecca by 4.

(14) Jeddah @ (3) Alexandria:
I have to start this one by mentioning what we’ve learned from last week. Alexandria is officially beatable. Right when we thought this team was unstoppable, the team they played came out and showed that there are signs of vulnerability within this Alexandria team. As far as I can tell, the vulnerability is playing against a well-coordinated, prepared, and capable team. Obviously Alexandria’s the team to beat here, and assuming they continue to play to their tendencies, they’ll continue to be a top contender. So let me take my focus to Jeddah, and as they stand, they certainly lose this game, and by a lot. They have two hurdles to overcome. It’s become known that Jeddah is a first-half team, and during the first half, they’re elite, and they then proceed to fall apart in the second. The first step is obviously to pace themselves through both halves and to have the offensive output remain consistent. The second hurdle is to take advantage of said vulnerabilities. Alexandria is not the type of team you beat in a 5v5 pickup game, they’re far too big, athletic, and talented to beat on the fly. There has to be a coordinated strategy that’s executed to absolute perfection to have a real chance vs Alexandria. Even then, Alexandria is more than capable to adjust and shut anything that’s thrown at them down. I have to admit, Wajdi, Musa, and Jay are too tough to control when they’re in the paint, so there’s a lot that has to go right for Jeddah to have a chance. I do have to mention that Jeddah has the personnel to match up well vs Alexandria, so given that they overcome any and all hurdles, there’s a chance. Knowing Alexandria though, the dog in them won’t allow them to waver.
Alexandria by 18.

(11) Kabul @ (6) Lahore:
This is our game of the week in round 1. I know Lahore is the 6 seed and Kabul is the 11 seed, but Kabul’s record doesn’t do justice to their circumstance. They’re only at the 11 seed due to missing players, forfeits, and strength of schedule, so do not be surprised when they put up a real fight. It’s great to see Lahore finally coming together for the playoffs. The Yousuf brothers seem to have found the formula in getting a balanced offensive output, and their captain Shahzaib is really growing into this role that allows him to be a facilitator and high-volume scorer. Kabul has Farhad, he has the stature of an NBA player; he’s big, he could move, and he can shoot, and quite frankly, no one on Lahore is guarding him. Kabul also has a fundamental and deadly shooter in Tom, and Allen who’s been quite surprising, to compliment Farhad very nicely. It’s quite clear that both offenses will have their way, so it comes down to defense and rebounding. By no means am I saying Lahore has bad defense, but the matchup is just a poor one. They don’t have enough guys to match the size that the likes of Farhad, Tom, Chris, and Allen present. What I’m saying is that Kabul has the size advantage, and surprisingly without major detriments to their speed. This means two things: Kabul should win on the boards, and they should have an easier time finding their way to the cup. Luckily for our entertainment, it ain’t that simple. Lahore has a some energizer bunnies, so though I did say Kabul’s size doesn’t detriment their speed much, Lahore has a lot of speed and quickness. Lahore is going to get the ball loose in open space and dominate the transition. Furthermore, Shahzaib Khan can be an absolute bucket; like Farhad, no one player on Kabul is containing the likes of Shahzaib if he puts it in his head that he’s going to score. Well, this game is going to be a fun one, and when it comes down to it, something is going to have to give. At the end of the game, halfcourt offense, and the easier buckets will be the difference. Who wins that battle?
Kabul by 1.

LOLLL we'll call it a genuine typo. The '2' and the '3' are right next to each other on the keyboard.

Great upset @Granada, ya'll showed me why I should never count a team out; in the words and actions of Mr. Capone, "Playoffs baby, anything is possible"