In her cyber chat after the WNBA All-Star Game, MVP Nikki Teasley of Los Angeles was explaining her passing prowess, and said it was sort of like she had "eyes on the side of my neck or something.''

	Nikki Teasley's MVP performance included 10 points, six rebounds, six assists and five steals.

That's a new twist on "eyes in the back of your head,'' a medical phenomenon that typically manifests itself in mothers, as children who've shoved smart-aleck siblings or seek extra chocolate can attest.

This eyes-on-the-neck stuff is kind of weird. Like a 1950s movie, the type that are 1 percent science/99 percent fiction.

Shaken boy to grumpy police officer: "I ... started to put my arm around her, and then ... the EYE ON HER NECK WINKED AT ME!''

Officer: "All right, I've had enough of you kids! I guess you're gonna tell me she's come from one of those flying saucers, eh? Get out of here!''

Boy: "But officer ... ''

Then in the next scene, the alien girl vaporizes the police station. Nobody ever believes the kids. Just like in "The Blob'' -- it looks to some like Jell-O but to me like jelly-doughnut filling -- which had to get big enough to cover an entire diner before the authorities got concerned.

(Incidentally, the mysterious "Chilean beach blob'' that recently washed ashore was identified as the carcass of a sperm whale, ruining the fantasy that it might be a mythical giant octopus that plucked people out of boats.)

But if you want some real science fiction, how about dreaming up a plot in which the East beats the West in the WNBA All-Star Game or the playoffs. Maybe next year, it will move into the realm of possibility. But for now the West maintains its superiority.

And it's interesting how the West did it again: despite L.A.'s Lisa Leslie getting hurt, Houston's Sheryl Swoopes nursing a sore ankle, the Comets' Tina Thompson on the sidelines with her sore ankle, Houston's Cynthia Cooper out for the season with a rotator-cuff injury, L.A.'s Tamecka Dixon not scoring a point.

Leslie scored 17 before having to leave about 6 minutes into the second half with what, thank goodness, turned out to be a bruised knee. West/Sparks coach Michael Cooper, who probably felt as if he'd eaten some rancid Chilean beach blob after seeing Leslie go down, said afterward that perhaps the game was allowed to be too physical.

Understandably, that's a worried coach talking. But the play that Leslie got hurt on was really just an unfortunate bumper-car thing; Seattle's Lauren Jackson blocked Swin Cash's shot and inadvertently sent the Detroit star into Leslie's right knee.

The preliminary reports seem to indicate Leslie will be OK. Had she not been hurt, she might well have added another All-Star MVP award to the three she already has. But her teammate, Teasley, took the West on her shoulders, keeping her focus despite her worries about Leslie.

		Nikki Teasley has arrived. You will be seeing bigger and greater things from her.
		— Michael Cooper, coach of the West All-Stars and L.A. Sparks

Yes, it's "just'' an All-Star Game, but Teasley's performance -- 10 points, six assists, six rebounds, five steals -- was really something. Those showtime passes, where it seems as if she's almost doing an optical illusion on us, were great fun to watch and perfect for an exhibition game. But just as impressive were the passes she made that would happen in a real game.

She has the vision and the touch, in transition or halfcourt. How'd you like to see her with Leslie, Jackson and Sacramento's Yolanda Griffith all the time? (Just a rhetorical question; don't panic Storm and Monarchs fans.)

Jackson and Griffith certainly did their job, as did Phoenix's Adrian Williams and Seattle's Sue Bird. The West, without some of its biggest guns, was still strong.

It's not as if the East didn't have its moments; it did lead at halftime. But the East shot just 36.1 percent from the field for the game and defensively seemed overmatched at times. Washington's Chamique Holdsclaw, who has a sore hamstring, is obviously not her usual self. And New York guard Becky Hammon, who was lighting up everybody before she recently tore her ACL, could only watch.

Nothing we saw would suggest an East team is going to pull an upset and win the WNBA title this season. Then again, considering Hilary Lunke won the U.S. Women's Open golf championship last week, maybe we can believe anything is possible.

Except ... that eyes-in-the-neck business. Obviously, Teasley's only got two, but she thinks she sees things other people don't. The great passers always say that, and there's no doubt a lot of truth to it. But it's not just about seeing.

It's having that instant trigger: see it/do it. It takes creativity and confidence, and it's a small group of people at every level of basketball who are real artists in that regard.

"Nikki Teasley has arrived,'' Michael Cooper said. "You will be seeing bigger and greater things from her.''

Mechelle Voepel of the Kansas City Star is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. She can be reached at mvoepel@kcstar.com.