A great sportswriter, when asked why he was retiring from what is a great job, replied "February". It has traditionally been the dullest month, football is over, baseball has yet to come, and basketball is in the dull period between the NBA All-Star Game and the NCAA tournament. This year, thanks to the NBA lockout disaster, the NBA season is just getting started, so it's indeed interesting. Attendance seems good, TV ratings are up, I guess fans still love that game -- or at least have nothing else to do.

The Lakers look serious, but would look a lot better if they had a point guard and had a cohesive defense. Utah exploited them unmercifully in their first visit, and that really shook things up out here in LA. On the plus side, Kobe Bryant has looked terrific, everything he was over-hyped for last year at the All-Star Game. He's actually averaging double figures in rebounds, along with taking all the big shots. There seems little question he's going to be great and should form a dynamite combination with Shaq for quite a while. Much of the talk has been centered around the Lakers getting Dennis Rodman, which Shaq has been plugging for. Frankly, he's the least of their needs, given the two Dereks at point guard and a lack of consistent shooting. One more thing, Shaq is an awesome force, but he has developed a nasty habit of not being healthy. We're four games into this compact season and he's got a "tweak" in his groin -- nothing serious, but this team must play their best players the whole year so they can get a coordinated defense for the top teams when it matters.

Nick Van Exel demonstrated exactly why he wasn't the point guard solution last night, throwing in a 3-19 shooting performance. Point guards can score and win, but they can't have those kinds of shooting nights.

The key to the West may be having the point guard. Utah, Seattle, Phoenix, and Portland do, the Lakers, Houston, San Antonio don't. You can win without a quality point guard. The question is, can you win without a quality point guard and Michael Jordan?

NJW (Next Jordan Watch): Kobe is off to a tremendous start, averaging over 20 points and 10 boards, with a domination of Scottie Pippen thrown in. Grant Hill has been equally spectacular, carrying the Pistons to good start, with a 46 point effort in their tight win over the Wizards, then, on their third game in three nights, came back with 32 in the road loss at Philadelphia.

WWW…no, not the web, the big three on the Sacramento Kings -- Chris Webber, Corliss Williamson, and rookie point guard Jason Williams. They're not going to win anything, but they may make the playoffs and are no longer moribund. That 17 point win at Phoenix, a place they had lost 24 consecutive games was impressive indeed, as was Williams' line: 22 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, only 1 turnover, and 5-9 three-point shooting. In the long run, the lack of a bench will take its toll. But beyond this season, this may be a team to be reckoned with.

It's hard to be a Met fan. Along with long periods of on-field helplessness, they have an amazing knack for screwing up off-field. Could any other team hire back a fan favorite to be an announcer and help with the pitchers and take nothing but heat for it? The Mets brought back Tom Seaver, a wonderful link to their gloried past, and a pretty decent announcer. They fired Tim McCarver, another fine announcer, whose regular absences for FOX broadcasts had started to bother them. At least, that was their story. The press saw it differently. They saw it as the Mets, at the behest of Bobby Valentine, getting rid of an announcer who was at times very critical of managerial decisions and the team's performance. Yes, the Mets brought back Seaver for various purposes, public relations and coaching included. The press and fans wondered if a man whose job it was to promote the team and work with the pitchers could be, or more importantly would be, critical when criticism is necessary. Valentine was held responsible for the move, and when he appeared on the dais of a local charity event, he was the only one booed. The pressure seems to be on Seaver to demonstrate a willingness to criticize when it's necessary -- he's always responded well to pressure in the past, I suspect he will again.