Week 4 Lines/Predictions
Last week Against the spread (4-2). Overall (6-3) --> There were no week 1 spreads.
Bukhara (-9.5) at Fez: Bukhara has been allowing a lead leading 42.7 ppg, and his been able to stretch leads early in the 2nd half with Diaz and Mus. Fez is a scrappy team, but will have trouble with the depth of Bukhara. I see the bigs of Bukhara controlling the defensive boards not allowing any 2nd chance points for Fez. Haroon played a good game last week, which should take some of the pressure off of Shamir this week. Addition of Zeeshan and word Bukhara may be undermanned has the line creeping to single digits. In the end, Bukhara is too much and will cover late.
Jerusalem at
Cairo (+9.5): Cairo big man Ali Omar is going to have to come up big on the defensive end in this game. Jerusalems guard are great penetrators and take it relentlessly to the basket. Ali needs to rack up those blocks, or else it could be a long day for the Egyptian squad. They played tough last week, and definitely have the advantage down low if they can pass around the zone and feed the big man. The shooters need to play well to cover, I think they will. Jerusalem will win, but Cairo will keep the pace slow and cover.
Islamabad (-2) at Damascus: The game of the week, this will be dominated by guard play. Damascus is loading with streaky shooters who can catch fire and put up points in quick spirts. Muj made his debut last week wih a splash, earning co-player of the week honors. This will be a one posession game in the final minutes, as Damascus never seems togo away in any of these games. I see ISlamabad buckling down late, and winning by 2 - with Damascus missing a 3 late that wouldve won it. This games a push.
Istanbul (-1.5) at Baghdad: The biggest mystery of Winterball 11 is the Baghdad squad. They had 2 blowout wins against arguably the 2 worst teams in the league, and were blown out in the game against Mecca. This game will shed some light on how good they really are. After a week 1 stunner, Istanbul is struggling from the field shooting 29% and 34% in their last 2 games. I'll give the edge to Istanbul as they have shown some grit, but this is a tricky game to figure. I feel like Baghdad will win this game, but im picking Istanbul anyway to win and cover.
Mecca (-21.5) at Kabul: Unless Kabul gets a player or 2 fast to get Ali some help, this could get ugly quick. After losses of 24 and 23 points, dont expect Mecca to call off the dogs till late in the 2nd half in this one. Its a crazy line, as Kabul can easily cover with some late buckets - but the addition of a new player (rumor is he's really good) has the line coming down to the teens. But Im a homer so i'll still take Mecca and the points.
Cordoba (+0.5) at Medina: The 3rd of the tough matchups to figure, may be the toughest. Cordoba had a good effort last week without Hassan, so with Hassan back its hard not to lean their way. Medina has 2 good penetrators in Alex and Amre, who can still get to the basket - with not much of an inside presence on Cordoba to alter their shots. Anwar has been playing better, and I expect a bounce back game from Waseem who has yet to put a game together. Like I said before, I'm a homer so i'll take my cousins to win.
Edited by user Friday, February 4, 2011 8:32:23 AM(UTC)
| Reason: Not specified
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