Breaking out the report card

I’m an opinionated dude when it comes to sports.

I like to talk trash, take sharp, pointed stances about topics, then brag about being right when the dust settles and the result is known.

But I also don’t shy away from the plate of crow when I’m wrong, which is the reason for this column.

In late October, Casey’s Corner was NBA-heavy – a column filled with predictions for the NBA season.

In honor of the NBA Playoffs, I decided this week to look back, and break out the old grading pen to show the audience how I did.

Some picks were good, while others were bad.

But all in all, I think I held my own, even though a lot of these were low-hanging fruit.

PICK 1: The Warriors will not win 70 or more games

Result: Fact

The Warriors didn’t win 70 games, and they never really ever flirted with it, either. I know some literal Lloyd out there will flash his sirens right now and say that the Warriors did win 67 games, so I was almost wrong. But nah, literal Lloyd, the Warriors weren’t close to 70 wins. That goose was cooked in February. They got hot in the final 15 games and padded an amazing regular season, yes. But everyone in the sports world knew for pretty much the entire season that all of the record books were safe and sound. Some of it was because of an injury to Kevin Durant, and a little bit was a chemistry adjustment the team had to make, as well. But we nailed this one. There was no way they were going to push 73 wins again – even with a more talented roster.

PICK 2: The Thunder won’t make the playoffs in the Western Conference

Result: Fiction

I got this one wrong. In the original column, I said the Thunder didn’t have enough firepower to support Westbrook, who would have a Kobe-Bryant-like season to keep the team competitive. I probably underestimated Westbrook a little bit. After one of the best statistical regular seasons in the history of the NBA, the Thunder did indeed make the playoffs, winning 47 games in their 82 tries. Some mid-season trades helped along the way, too, though. Getting Taj Gibson and a few others at the deadline helped OKC, though I can’t blame those moves on my inaccurate pick, because the Thunder were comfortably in the top eight even before the moves were made.

PICK 3: No ‘super team’ besides Golden State will pan out

Result: Fact … sort of

Derrick Rose said the New York Knicks were a ‘super team’, and he predicted that they’d compete for the NBA Title. Much like I’d expect a Derrick Rose-led team to do, the Knicks easily missed the playoffs and were one of the NBA’s biggest circus acts – a colossal disappointment. Likewise, many speculated that a marriage between Rajon Rondo, Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler would net the Bulls some big-time loot, though that still remains to be seen. The Bulls stunk for most of the season and were the No. 8 seed in the playoffs. But at press-time, they are very much alive in their playoff fight with No. 1 Boston, so I can’t claim a full victory just yet.

PICK 4: James Harden will thrive as an NBA point guard

Result: Fact

Folks in the national media have a secret that I will expose right now for the entire local audience to read. They don’t actually watch games. They just sort of watch clips, look at box scores, then form opinions based on numbers, but also based on what their other colleagues think, as well. Because of that, James Harden will be jobbed out of the NBA’s Most Valuable Player Award in 2016-17 for the second time in his career. Harden has been unbelievable this past season, both with his play but also with his leadership in Houston’s locker room. Late in the season, the Pro-Westbrook army turned out in droves to discredit Harden’s MVP candidacy – pointing at how much better Harden’s weaponry is than that of OKC. But if those same soldiers within the army actually watched the games, they’d see that Harden’s guys have that confidence, because Harden feeds them the ball in spots where they literally can’t consistently fail. The notion that the Rockets have a superstar roster is bogus. Harden’s help is Patrick Beverley, Trevor Ariza, two guys the Pelicans quit on, Lou Williams and a couple centers who can dunk the basketball. None of those guys have ever been all-stars. If Harden had Steven Adams, Kanter, Taj Gibson, Oladipo, and shooters like Doug McDermott and others, OKC would win more than 47 games. To me, that’s value.

PICK 5: The Pelicans will miss the playoffs

Result: Fact

This was low-hanging fruit. The Pelicans remain a lost cause, even after a mid-season splash to get DeMarcus Cousins. Boogie did make the team better, but not nearly enough to move the needle significantly in any direction. So now we head toward an offseason where the team has virtually no options because of Dell Demps’ errors of the past, which had guys like Omer Asik, Solomon Hill and others on the books for big money. The team shouldn’t re-sign Jrue Holiday to a $100 million deal, but likely will try to, because it knows that no one similarly priced will be interested in going to New Orleans. So the end result will be another patch-up job, followed by another bad season, then Cousins’ departure to another team after next season. I’m sure I’ll get some hate mail for saying all that, but not much. I watch the games. I see the empty seats. You all don’t REALLY care. It’s just fun to pretend sometimes.

James HardenCOURTESY

Follow Casey on Twitter for more. 

https://twitter.com/casey_gisclair