The standings are starting to take shape as we've officially entered the stretch where teams are building their identity.

If they haven’t by now… time is running out.

Welcome to Week 5 — the official halfway mark of our Summer Ball season.

As we do every week, before jumping into the matchups, let’s keep our hearts and duas with the people of Palestine and all those across the Ummah facing hardship. May Allah grant them strength, victory, and relief.

Let’s get into some predictions!!

JENIN vs JERUSALEM
Have the Baqai brothers conquered the Massaki brothers? The Baqai brothers dominated their last matchup, beating them by 20+ points in the playoffs. I can see this game being very close, especially with the addition of Smitty, who is still waiting for his breakout game.

Jenin’s 6'6" big man, Walter Williams, still hasn’t played a game — and I’m curious to see how he’ll fit in with the rest of the team once he does.

That said, I have Jerusalem getting the W here — depending on if Ouday decides to take over the game or not.

Prediction: Jerusalem by 6

HAIFA vs TULKAREM
KAIRI!! KAIRI!! KAIRI!! The MVP is here — and it’s not even a close race right now. Kairi’s success is rubbing off on his teammates, with everyone stepping up and playing their roles perfectly. Big O is grabbing all the rebounds, Shazad is hitting threes at a high clip, Amr is thriving as Kairi’s co-star, and most importantly, Sami is supporting the guys from the bench.

Yusef has been on cruise control through the first four weeks of the season, letting his teammates play and getting to know everyone’s game. But let’s not forget — he can go for 30 and a W on any given night. If Tulkarem wants to pull off a win this week, their shooters have to knock down some threes.

Prediction: Haifa by 4

LOD vs NABLUS
Luckily for them, one team will finally get in the win column this week.

Nablus surprised a lot of people last week, keeping up with Tulkarem — but as has been the story all season, they just couldn’t keep up in the end. New addition Abbas is a solid point guard who does a bit of everything, and he needs to take control of this team if they want to win a game.

The Turkish star has been desperately fighting on his own to keep this team alive and has had an amazing season. But the team needs to make adjustments if they want to start winning games — and players need to show up. This could be a scary team to face in the playoffs if they start playing together.

I’ve got Nablus pulling off the upset, with Abbas leading the charge to secure the team's first W of the season.

Prediction: Nablus by 2