HOW BAD DO YOU WANT IT?

DRAFTING A PLAYER WITH HEART

In basketball, the difference between winning or losing can often come down to a single centimeter. That’s what Kawhi Leonard’s college coach always told him.

It could be a loose ball, a coin-flip rebound, a tip-in, a charge taken, a shot denied.

“You can’t take any play off,” said Leonard, the Spurs’ soon-to-be rookie forward. “Getting that loose ball could be the play that helps us win the game.”

The every-possession-counts approach that coach Steve Fisher preached at San Diego State helped transform Leonard from under-recruited high school prospect from Riverside, Calif., into one of the country’s best college players in two short years.

It helped Leonard transform SDSU from college basketball wasteland into a top-five NCAA program.

Thursday, it helped make Leonard the 15th pick in the NBA draft.

(Thanks Jeff McDonald)

SUPERSTITIOUS?

Jason Terry has never been the most popular opponent.  

And his mouthy style has never endeared him to many opponents, either. 

But the superstitious Terry claims the Spurs tried to trick him in one of his best known beliefs. 

Terry prepares for an opponent by wearing the shorts of the next day’s opposing team. This compulsion has left “The Jet” desperately tracking down the right trunks after a bad night. But a network of rival equipment managers and fellow NBA players usually take care of Terry. 

But after Terry’s groin shot to Michael Finley during the 2006 playoffs, he doesn’t have many friends with the Spurs. And the team tried to trick him by giving him a pair of practice shorts rather than a game-worn pair several years ago. 

“It’s gotta be the real thing,” Terry told ESPN.com. “Now, San Antonio tricked me about three years ago when they gave me some practice shorts, and I tried them. And they ended up beating us. So that doesn’t work.” 

Terry told ESPN that his worst shorts he has worn were a pair once worn by former Utah point guard John Stockton. 

“Stockton didn’t give them to me, but I got them from the actual ball kid in the arena,” Terry said. ” When I looked at them, I knew they were his, because they were the shortest thing out there, and then they had his No. 12 on the inside.” 

Terry’s wife, Johnyika, isn’t a fan of this compulsive practice. But her husband doesn’t care. 

“Nah, she doesn’t like it,” Terry said. “But hey, it works for me. Got a lot of wins.”

(Thanks Tim Griffin & LM Otero)

STYLE INSTEAD OF SUBSTANCE?

Championship-caliber teams don't get worse as the biggest series of their season progresses. They don't fumble, stumble and crumble under the sort of spotlight that requires them to be committed, aggressive and accountable.

I've used boxing metaphors before, because no sport better blends the human condition with the spectrum of sports. So in many ways for the Heat, they were Mike Tyson in Tokyo. They were intoxicated with the paparazzi following. They were the life of the Finals party. They were the popular pick to win it all, even after some flaws were exposed early in the series.

And then they got popped in the mouth, and started scrambling around the ring searching for a mouthpiece instead of getting up to answer the count.

And as a result, the Mavericks -- those takers -- snatched a championship from the Heat's waste. But here's where the Tyson-in-Tokyo analogy ends. What the Mavericks accomplished was no upset.

Team won out over top-heavy talent. Determination beat out distraction. Substance overcame style.

(Thanks Michael Wallace - ESPN)