Super Bowl XLIII is over and Opening Day is two months away, so instead of Willie Parker or Ryan Howard we have Tony Parker and Dwight Howard.

The NBA season is hitting its stride now and the All-Star Game is less than a week away. In September, I made my All-Star predictions here. The real NBA All-Stars were revealed last week, so I will take a look at my slam-dunk predictions (along with a few air balls), and see how NBA 2K is gauging the talent level of some players at this point in the season.

I nailed seven of the 12 players for both conferences, including coach Mike Brown for the East. In both cases, I had four of the five starters correct. I did not choose Allen Iverson to play guard in the East, because he was still on the Denver Nuggets. I also put in Carmelo Anthony to start at forward, but Tim Duncan got the nod.

The reserves were not so easy. I picked Devin Harris, who started the season with an 83 rating in NBA 2K9, and now he is a 92 and an All-Star for the mediocre Nets. Paul Pierce (92) and Ray Allen (88) will be All-Stars too.

Another reserve I got right was Joe Johnson. His Hawks currently sit fourth in the Eastern Conference. The Pistons, on the other hand, have missed Chauncey Billups and it looks like their days of dominance are over. Billups has turned the Nuggets into a legitimate contender, and they did not miss a beat with Carmelo Anthony out with an injury.

One guy I did not pick was Jameer Nelson, who began with an 80 rating, and now is an 87. It is a shame to hear about Nelson’s torn labrum as that will essentially cost him the season. The Magic are a nice surprise, but they will definitely need help at point guard with Nelson indeed gone for the year.

Raptor fans have something to smile about: Chris Bosh is an All-Star; though, I omitted him from my list. Jose Calderon and Jermaine O’Neal, both 84 ratings, missed a ton of games, which could cost the team its season. The Raptors are next-to-last in the Eastern Conference, but not even Agent Zero can rescue the bottom-feeding, injury-riddled Wizards.

I also picked Eddy Curry to be an All-Star this year. I originally thought his 74 rating was too low, but it turns out it was too high. He has two more NBA points than I do this year and has appeared in only one game. The Knicks have been a nice surprise though, quietly winning six of seven before getting lit up by Kobe and LeBron, and then losing a tough game to the Celtics during dream week. They are only two games behind the Nets for the 8th spot in the East.

The West team has all the names you have seen before, but I doubt anybody expected some of them to be on the team this year. Shaq is a teammate of Kobe’s again, post-YouTube freestyle fiasco. I am sure the fans of Phoenix love Shaq’s production, but I bet that they would trade it away for a few more wins. Steve Nash’s production has dropped significantly, and his rating has dipped from a 95 to an 88 rating. The Suns are currently a half-game behind the injury-riddled Jazz for the eighth spot in the West.

Chris Paul and David West are both All-Stars this year, but the Hornets are not quite as good as they were last year. However, their overall ratings have not changed much during this year, so maybe the Visual Concepts folks were onto something when they shipped the game. Tyson Chandler may have something to do with the team's success level too, having played in only 32 games and not being as effective when he has been on the court.

The San Antonio Spurs might be able to make up some ground in the West because Andrew Bynum is going to be out for the next three months. They bring back the same championship core from 2006-2007, now with Roger Mason playing the Robert Horry role. Tim Duncan carried the team when Manu and Tony Parker were out with injuries, and has upped his rating from 92 to 98.

My big miss in the West was Greg Oden. He is having a solid year, but you expect a little more from the number one pick in 2007. Oden has actually gone down from an 83 rating to an 80 in the newest roster update. Kevin Durant, now a 90, is having a terrific year, which certainly does not help Oden’s case. Portland is much better than Oklahoma City, which should keep Portland proud of its big man.

The West itself is almost as tightly packed as it was last year. In the Eastern Conference, there is an eight-team race for the last two playoff spots; though, there certainly is a huge gap between Boston, Cleveland, Orlando and everybody else. The only team completely out of it in the East is Washington. In other words, it should be an interesting rest of the season for any NBA fan not in Washington or the Clippers' side of Los Angeles.

But first things first, it is time to get prepped for some looming NBA All-Star action.


How did your All-Star predictions go? Who got snubbed? Who would make the NBA 2K All-Star team, but probably not make it in real life?