Stop the presses! Charles Barkley, TNT’s loud-mouthed NBA studio analyst, has admitted he is wrong. Barkley was among several NBA experts who snubbed the New Orleans Hornets and their second-best Western Conference record, predicting the seventh-seeded Dallas Mavericks would upset them in the first round of the playoffs. Wrong!

The Hornets handled the hapless Mavs in easy fashion, winning the series 4-1.

Give Barkley credit. Tuesday night on the network’s “NBA Tip-Off” pregame show, he admitted he was wrong.

“The New Orleans Hornets, I underrated them. Of all the series going into the playoffs I said the only thing that I’m pretty sure about is that the Mavericks will beat the Hornets and I was 100% wrong …I was wrong about on Denver, too, I thought they would have at least put on a fight, but they just quit like dogs. The reality is if you watch (the New Orleans/Dallas) series, the New Orleans Hornets have a better team.”

Later in the evening, Barkley picked the Hornets to beat the San Antonio Spurs in their Western Conference semifinal series.

“I’m not sleeping on the New Orleans Hornets (any) more. Chris Paul, David West, (Tyson) Chandler and Coach (Byron) Scott have made a believer out of me. The series is going to be a long series…my gut pick is the New Orleans Hornets.”

Other Barkley comments on the Hornets:

Center Tyson Chandler: “(He) is so active. To me, he is the best offensive rebounder in the NBA. … Every time Tyson Chandler gets a paycheck, he should take Chris Paul out to dinner.”

Guard Chris Paul: “A lot of guys try to make an impact on the game by scoring, (Chris Paul) is doing what a great leader should do. (He’s saying), ‘I can get mine, let me get these other guys going.’”

Coach Byron Scott: “For some reason we never talk about Byron Scott being one of the best coaches in the league. He won the coach of the year tonight, he took New Jersey to the NBA Finals twice and he has done a hell of a job in New Orleans.”