Revisit: NBA Predictions

OK, I have slacked again with the postings - yet another job has been due here at work, plus I have been in the middle of getting everything completed for summer/grad school.

No excuse, I know, but I have a handful of ideas for blogs over the next few days. Here is the first and if I have time another will follow today.

Back in October at the beginning of the NBA season I, like I do in most sports, selected my playoff and award predictions for the season.

So here were my predictions:

Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division: Boston Celtics
Central Division: Cleveland Cavaliers
Southeast Division: Orlando Magic
Other Playoff Teams: Detroit Pistons, Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors, New Jersey Nets.
Champion: Orlando Magic
Western Conference
Northwest Conference: Utah Jazz
Pacific Conference: L.A. Lakers
Southwest Conference: New Orleans Hornets
Other Playoff Teams: Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs, Portland Trail Blazers.
Champion: New Orleans Hornets
NBA Champion: New Orleans Hornets

Individual Awards
MVP: LeBron James
6th Man: Rodney Stuckey
Rookie: Michael Beasley
Coach: Byron Scott
Defensive Player: Ron Artest
All NBA
First Team
Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Amare Stoudemire, Chris Paul
Second Team
Tim Duncan, Deron Williams, Dwight Howard, Dirk Nowitzki, Brandon Roy
Third Team
Paul Pierce, Yao Ming, Chris Bosh, Tony Parker, Kevin Martin

The playoffs began this weekend and out of my selections, I didn't do half bad.

For the East, I was exactly correct in my division winners with Boston, Cleveland and Orlando. As for my playoff teams, I was off by two - Chicago, Detroit and Miami all made the playoffs, but so did Philadelphia and Atlanta. My selections of New Jersey (finished 12th) and Toronto (finished 13th) were a bit off.

As for the West, I was only able to correctly select the Lakers as a divisional winner. However, both New Orleans and Utah made the playoffs. My lone miss for the West was Denver, who actually captured the Northwest division, while Phoenix just missed the playoffs in finishing ninth.

As of now, the only individual award handed out was Coach of the Year and that was given to Mike Brown of Cleveland - who definitely deserved it. The way the Hornets fell into the bottom half of the Western conference bracket, my selection of Scott was a bit off.

I believe I will get my MVP selection correct with LeBron James. My Rookie pick is going to be wrong, as Derrick Rose of Chicago will most likely win. Rodney Stuckey for 6th man blew up in my face as he ended up starting, so Jason Terry of Dallas will be the winner this year. I am not sure about my defensive selection - it could be him or it could be Orlando's Dwight Howard.

Playoff predictions:

WEST
LA vs. Utah - LA
Denver vs. New Orleans - New Orleans
San Antonio vs. Dallas - Dallas
Houston vs. Portland - Portland

EAST
Cleveland vs. Detroit - Cleveland
Boston vs. Chicago - Chicago
Orlando vs. Philadelphia - Orlando
Atlanta vs. Miami - Miami