Honky >>> Hollinger
Not a great year for my predictions, I had Tim Duncan as MVP and a rookie of the year choice who probably won't even end up as a first team All-Rookie (at least, he shouldn't be). And with Manu out, my Spurs in the NBA Finals prediction doesn't look too good.
Still, I'd like to see how my season ranking predictions held up to Math Man aka John Hollinger.
In the Eastern Conference:
SoulHonky had: Boston, Detroit, Orlando, Cleveland, Miami, Philly, Toronto, Atlanta.
Hollinger had it: Boston, Detroit, Philly, Orlando, Cleveland/Toronto (tied), Indiana, Charlotte
Both of us underestimated Lebron and neither of us foresaw the Canadien collapse but Hollinger missed more picks than I did, picking Indiana and Charlotte to make the second season. You may recall, Hollinger went batshit insane when the Hawks lost Josh Childress and pegged the Hawks for a collapse, falling to the 13th spot in the Eastern Conference. He had Miami tied for 9th but did say that they were the hardest team to peg. Still, I have three of the top four right (albeit in the wrong order) while he only has two and in the bottom of the bracket three of his teams aren't even in the playoffs.
He should get points for picking the Bobcats resurgance (I had them near the bottom of the East) but it's still a worse job than yours truly.
In the Western Conference:
SoulHonky had: Los Angeles, New Orleans, Houston, San Antonio, Utah, Phoenix, Dallas, Denver
Hollingers had: Utah, Los Angeles, Houston, New Orleans, San Antonio, Phoenix/Dallas, Portland
Pretty even as we both had Phoenix making the second season and underestimated our 8th seeds. I really want to say that I get the nod on this because Hollinger said the #2 team in the West wasn't going to make the playoffs but I'll call it even. The one glaring difference is Hollinger's faith in Utah, a team that is the 8th seed. He thought the Jazz would be unbeatable at home but he apparently didn't think that they would be so awful on the road.
In the end, I think I get to claim victory over Math Man this season.
