Nene Hilario

It’s All-Star Weekend in Orlando, the halfway point of the NBA season. It seems like not so long ago I was sitting in front of the TV set on Christmas afternoon watching the Celtics-Knicks from MSG and then enjoying Bulls-Lakers with some relatives from Chicago. Most voices I hear on the mainstream media bemoan this shortened, compressed schedule, but I’m all for it. There’s good games each night and a regular season that’s used strictly for seeding and to eliminate only the worst teams is cut back.

There are very few surprises in the NBA, so even though my Oklahoma City-Chicago pick for the NBA Finals is holding up nicely, that’s just evidence that the league can be so predictable even I can get in the ballpark of being right. Here’s a general overview of how the landscape looks as the stars come out in Orlando…