NNJ FallBall 2025 Week 3 Predictions

Prediction Record Tracker: 7-9

Dipped under 0.500 after Week 2 but could have been worse. The last 3 games salvaged the night after the first 5 were all wrong. Time to lock in now that teams have shown a bit of who they are. Bounce back week incoming…

Nazareth vs Jenin

It’s still very early in the season but something has to change for this Nazareth team on offense to stay competitive. Yamin and Sameh can hit open shots if they can get space working off Luis as a playmaker. Maybe an aggressive zone on defense can give Khaled and Muhammad more opportunities in transition if they can force turnovers. Jenin will focus on stopping Luis, and they should have Wajdi back to give him problems.

Akrum will continue to have his way and get wherever he wants on the floor. When the ball is forced out of his hands, Jenin needs to be more direct and get the ball to their better downhill players in Raied and Mohamed. Against the zone, I think they could have gotten some better shots if passes were placed with more accuracy and didn’t need the shooter to reset. Teams have zoned Jenin in consecutive weeks with mixed results, but there might be no other choice for Nazareth.

Jenin by 10

Rafah vs Tulkarem

Having known shooters throughout the lineup has opened up tons of space for Rafah to pick their spots in the paint. They’ve been bullying teams in the paint, a style that works well for Anas x2 and Zain. We haven’t seen Zain vs Mana in years but it’s still a box office matchup. If I’m Tulkarem, I’d focus on limiting their movement in the paint with help, and worrying about 3s after, but Rafah is more than capable of getting hot if you leave them open.

They have the ball handling to move freely in the halfcourt but Tulkarem has struggled to finish off a lot of nice moves. This team struggled for different stretches against a zone last week. Moayad looked really good shooting from 3 but they’ll need a lot better from Hassan Farhat to be threatening from deep. Rafah can start with a zone with Zain patrolling the middle and force Tulkarem to prove they’ve figured it out.

Rafah by 4

Tiberias vs Jerusalem

Despite trailing the whole game, Tiberias kept it close last week. They’ve been competitive but they’re not pressing the right buttons so far. During last year’s streak, they were hitting 15 threes in a game regularly. Aside from Yazan going 7-8, the team shot 20% from 2. With Ali, Andrew and Sal, they’ve got to get back to pressing their advantage from deep and pushing the pace to get some easier looks. Defensively, Jerusalem will look to do the opposite and slow it down.

Missing players is killer for Jerusalem, as they need the reps to work through their mistakes and figure out how to play together. Offensively, they need more production outside of Mike but they’re giving up 75 ppg. The way the team is built, they need Nick to carry a load on both ends which will allow players like Big O and Afay to play their game. Tiberias played an effective zone last year and bringing it back for stretches could give them an edge in these close games.

Tiberias by 4

Baysan vs Yaffa

After last week, I feel more confident about Baysan’s offense with their full lineup. There seems to be enough shotmaking, especially between Glendi, Shahaan and Omar Marachli, to avoid long offensive droughts. They have a good foundation and the next step is to keep doing it again and also against better teams. Yaffa has some good defenders and if they can slow down the initial drive, it could stop a lot of the kick out threes that Baysan thrives on.

Although it got away from them in the end, Yaffa was competitive for a lot of the game last week. Given how the season has been so far, the focus right now is finding a winning formula. On offense, Derek McKnight is averaging an elite 4.5 3PM on 45% from three, despite being 0-9 from 2 on the season. Looking to set him up from deep looks like a good starting point. Baysan struggled defensively last week but they’ll have success if they can stop Derek.

Baysan by 6

Al-Bireh vs Bethlehem

It was a mixed bag offensively for Al-Bireh, looking dominant at times and disjointed at others. Khalid’s work in the post has been effective and his length helps him finish strongly around the rim. On the perimeter, I want to monitor how Shafic and Towfeek play together in the halfcourt, as I see them both being better on the ball rather than off. Against defenses like Bethlehem’s, however, there’s usually enough space for both of them to thrive.

This week will be very different for Bethlehem. A strength of this team is that they’re strong from 1 to 5 and last week they were able to exploit softer spots in the defense. Al-Bireh won’t be the same as they have a strong starting 5 of their own. Someone will need to step up to make the initial wave of attack and I think Jay will be up to the task. If Al-Bireh needs to shift away from someone to help, Omar Hussein continues to be inconsistent from three.

Bethlehem by 1

Al-Khalil vs Safad

After an early season retooling of the roster, Al-Khalil is playing faster and Mahdy has the ball in his hands a lot more. With his high volume, others will have to be efficient with their opportunities. Elhindi gave them 13 and they’ll look to add another piece to chip in as well. Safad has a lot of defensive tools including Brandon’s presence at the rim and Aadil’s energy to cover ground. It will come down to how they put it together in a plan to slow Al-Khalil down.

The defense for Safad looks good but the offense still has lots of room for improvement. They have quickness on the perimeter but too often they’re shooting off the first opening they get. Aadil is more than a glue guy and the team would benefit from him being more aggressive, even without more shot attempts. If Al-Khalil can stay glued to Omar, the rest of the team has not been consistent enough from deep to prevent teams from clogging the paint.

Safad by 2

Yazur vs Areeha

With a win under their belt, Yazur now has a blueprint to follow. They only put up 40 shots, fewest in the league this week. For a team that plays good defense and can go cold sometimes, slowing the pace plays in their favor. They also had more FTs, a source of easy scoring opportunities. Alaa and Hicham are capable of more, too, so they can do even better. Areeha has the defenders to guard Yazur straight up and give them problems.

There are too many options on Areeha to slow this team down by relying on individual matchups. I expected more resistance last week but they were able to take the shots they like and kept the three point attempts to a minimum. Ali Suiafan was able to get switches off bigger defenders onto smaller ones and Singer was getting to the rim with momentum. Yazur’s zone could test their shooting from three but they’ll also have to slow down Areeha’s size advantage down low.

Areeha by 8

Haifa vs Gaza

In their first game with the full lineup, Haifa is already putting up the big numbers we knew they were capable of. It seems like Raj and Deep are reading defenses in PnR and transition a step ahead of everyone else. Once they get a beat on the game, Shahzaib and Amir can score freely. Defensively, Gaza needs strong individual performances and a plan to force Deep off rhythm and into a scorer instead of playmaker.

Ian Felix was scoring from every level last week for Gaza, hitting a handful of tough runners as part of his 41 point POTW performance. He has tons of space to work with, as Hamza, Jehad and Splash space the floor. They don’t need to change up the formula but they should have a backup plan ready since defenses know what’s coming. You can expect Haifa to use Deep to shade help towards Ian and the shooters will have to live up to their reputation to make Haifa pay.

Haifa by 6