Disclaimer: These are not personal jabs to anyone; in the end, this is all for fun. The goal is to bring a little spice to the season, and we will do so through a mix of these “Power Rankings” articles. Be on the lookout!

Damascus D4 Power Rankings:

1. Khandaan (1-0) :  The top spot after Week #1 goes to the defending champs, who are on a mission to repeat as D4 Champions this season.  Khandaan got an impressive win over a short-handed ICH squad in Week #1.  They lost their finals MVP Carl Skinner from last season but are getting back their dominant big man Eric DeAngelis and have added other role players to complement their core of Mubin Khan, Asif Rahman, Farhad Zhowandai and team captain and ultimate trash talker, Shad Ali. Khandaan has a tough matchup against a deep Halallywood team in Week #2 which will be their first test of the season.
2. Panthers (1-0):  The Panthers have re-tooled this season and added big man David Williams to their roster, adding significant scoring and size to an already strong roster led by Haris Kabir, Farid Ayobi and Wasil Aqil.  The Panthers beat last season’s 2nd place team Five Pillars in a close 2-point victory in Week #1.  This team has depth, scoring and size and is a team to watch this season in D4 as they look to get back to the top after their 2021 D4 Championship.  The Panthers take on the #3 ranked team, TLD, in Week 2 which will be an early test against a strong team trying to make a statement.
3. The Last Dabke (1-0):  TLD is new to D4 this season and has assembled an impressive roster.  They started the season off with a statement 37 point victory over OBB, putting D4 on notice that they have arrived on the scene.  They have a sharp shooter in Saif Liswi, dominant big man Talal Traboulsi and strong supporting cast led by Belal Abdelfattah and Abdullah Ahmad who can score and play strong defense.  It will be interesting to watch this team as they build chemistry together as the season progresses and are definitely a force to be reckoned with.  Their Week #2 game against Panthers will be an exciting game to watch.
4. Halallywood (1-0):  Halallywood could be this year's surprise team and started off the season with an impressive 6 point victory over Salam Jam.  This team is loaded with outside shooters led by Week 1 D4 player of the week Ali Qureshi to complement versatile big men Ashraf Yasin and Rani El-Djoundi.  The loss of team captain Sharif ElBayoumi to an ankle injury is a big loss for this team and key players Samer Nahas and Mostafa Eletreby will need to step up their games to compensate.  They have a tough test against #1 ranked and defending champs Khandaan in Week 2.
5. Five Pillars (0-1):  Five Pillars lost a nailbiter to Panthers in Week #1 but are returning the core of their roster for a shot at redemption after a D4 finals loss last season.  The team has replaced the loss of starting center David Williams with big man Amin Edderbbarh and have added backcourt depth to an already strong roster led by Suheel Shaikh, Saif Siddiqui and Aref Afsari.  Expecting a turn-around performance in Week #2 by Five Pillars against a scrappy ICH team.
6. Salam Jam (0-1):  Salam Jam lost their floor general and 2022 D4 regular season league scoring leader in Nazeeh Basheer but have made key additions to the roster in sharp shooter Salman Alam, who led the team in scoring in Week 1 against with 21 points and Dannesh Kassamali who dropped 17 points in their Week 1 loss to Halallywood.  They will need consistent contributions from their new additions in order to move up the standings this season.  
7. ICH (0-1):  ICH lost their Week 1 game to the defending champs Khandaan by 13 points and will desperately need consistent contribution from their all-star Himala Kashmiri in order to compete this season.  Raja Itani is a great addition to the ICH team and will bring effort and great defense to the roster.  They will play a hungry Five Pillars team in Week 2 and will need to play well to avoid going 0-2.
8. OBB (0-1):  OBB opened their season with a difficult 37 point drubbing at the hands of TLD, with a severely short-handed roster missing team captain Ali Ahmed and newly acquired forward Nick Young (not the Swaggy P version).  It is too early to predict how this OBB team will fair this season until we see their full roster and the contributions of their new additions.  They have an opportunity against Salam Jam in Week 2 to get their season off the ground.