Pinky and the Brain

There's a great post over at The Association talking about Tim Duncan's in game leadership abilities. Its really just a series of photos from the telecast sometime late in Game 1 on Saturday. I actually remember noting the moment myself. Anyways, he looks up at the scoreboard, and calls the entire team over and they intently listen to his thoughts. He has always been a cerebral player and Popovich has made multiple comments claiming that one day Duncan will make an excellent coach. And he's absolutely right. Few players garner the amount of respect from their teammates (as well as other team's players) that Duncan does, and are as productive with that respect. The only guy who I feel like has a comparable level of respect/smarts is Garnett, whose value to his teammates does not just manifest itself in "intangibles" but also in his very strong knowledge of the game. Just watch KG when he's on the sidelines or when he's talking with Rajon Rondo (whose high level of play this season can, in my opinion, be largely attributed to KG's mentoring). He clearly understands the game on a deep level and has a unique capacity to communicate that understanding. Oh, ya, and supposedly he's kind of intense.