Some time ago, I reviewed SI’s NFL Preview edition they put out last fall before the season started. After seeing some of their predictions, I came to the realization that they may not necessarily be more of an “expert” than I am when forecasting the playoffs and Super Bowl champion. The other night, I picked up the NBA preview edition, dated 10/29, and looked at their predictions for this NBA season. Care to remember, or know, what they picked? I got a pretty good chuckle out of it, that’s for sure. SI’s rankings 1-15 for each conference are in ( ) and each team is listed in order of predicted finish for their respective division.

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division
Boston Celtics (1)
New York Knicks (6)
Toronto Raptors (8)
New Jersey Nets (9)
Philadelphia 76ers (15)

Central Division
Detroit Pistons (2)
Chicago Bulls (3)
Cleveland Cavaliers (5)
Milwaukee Bucks (11)
Indiana Pacers (12)

Southeast Division
Miami Heat (4)
Washington Wizards (7)
Orlando Magic (10)
Atlanta Hawks (13)
Charlotte Bobcats (14)

Eastern Conference Finals
Pistons over Celtics


Western Conference

Northwest Division
Denver Nuggets (4)
Utah Jazz (6)
Portland Trailblazers (13)
Seattle Supersonics (14)
Minnesota Timberwolves (15)

Pacific Division
Phoenix Suns (3)
Golden State Warriors (7)
Los Angeles Lakers (9)
Los Angeles Clippers (10)
Sacramento Kings (12)

Southwest Division
Dallas Mavericks (1)
San Antonio Spurs (2)
Houston Rockets (5)
New Orleans Hornets (8)
Memphis Grizzlies (11)

Western Conference Finals
Mavericks over Spurs

NBA Finals
Mavericks over Pistons

So, if you weren’t taking SI’s preview editions with a grain of salt, I think you will now. Obviously the biggest chuckle came with regard to the Mavs. Not only does SI have them ranked #1 in the West but they had them winning the championship (they also had the Mavs winning the title in their midseason report as well, but I didn’t save that issue). What a joke. Other notable misses:

For the Eastern conference, SI had the Bulls, Heat, and Knicks ranked #3, #4 and #6 respectively. Miami ended up #15 (and the worst team in the league this year), Knicks ended up #14 and the Bulls ended up #11…all three missing the playoffs. SI also had Orlando #10 but at the end of the season was #3 in the East.

For the Western conference (other that the major miss on the Mavs), they had the Lakers missing the playoffs altogether (being #9) and New Orleans #8 when in reality the Lakers and Hornets finished #1 and #2 in the West respectively. The Suns and the Nuggets were also ranked #3 and #4 and each, just like the Mavs, ended their playoff runs with very little resistance as the Lakers swept the Nuggets 4-0 and the Spurs put away the Suns, in short order, 3-1.

Reading through the Mavs preseason scouting report (allegedly from an “opposing team’s scout), here are a few humorous nuggets:

“I see Josh Howard as a true star in the league that is going to keep improving”. Well, he was a star in the league until he regressed in his play and made some incredibly bad decisions in voluntarily calling up a local radio station to talk about his off season, recreational Mary Jane use AND organizing a birthday party for himself during the playoffs. Star no longer.

“Jerry Stackhouse has at least one more really good year in him.” Unfortunately not. His knees were too bad and his play rapidly declined as the year droned on.

“If Devean George is healthy this year, that could be another area of improvement.” Um, what? Devean George should not be associated with the phrase “area of improvement for the team.” Total waste of space and roster spot this year…as was Eddie Jones.

I’m not saying that SI is all wrong about their predictions as they usually hit on several of them. But as I said when looking at their NFL predictions, take them with a grain of salt and don’t get too pumped if they predict tremendous success for your team or too low if they predict minimal success.