Not WAC-related but...

The late, great sportswriter Damon Runyon is credited with saying many things, among them: "The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but that's the way to bet."

Well, neither Tim Duncan nor Brandon Roy would be anyone's choices to win many Olympic track and field events. But they are basketball players -- very successful ones -- who combine the cerebral with their athletic abilities and beat many more 'talented' players in doing so.

Here are a couple of articles featuring Duncan and Roy and how they go about succeeding on the court. By the way, did anyone see the rise of Roy? Not us.

"...The hard part from where we sit is trying to come up with something new to write about Duncan, who shows far softer edges to the public than elbows to opponents. It's like figuring out something new to say about the Grand Canyon, the Mississippi River or the Sphinx (at least when the great stone critter isn't whining over a referee's whistle). As in: It's, uh, still there. And, y'know, still great.

"He, as a 'big' right now, is by far the best," Timberwolves coach Kevin McHale said. "He's smart. He doesn't run around. No wasted energy. Things I'm trying to get our guys to do -- basketball's a game of read-and-react. Especially with young guys, they want to 'run' the offense. But the offense doesn't score -- the read inside the offense does. Things happen, Tim just stands there and goes [McHale very slowly looks left, very slowly looks right]. Then he moves into the open spot.

"Believe it or not, that's how everybody played. You didn't run on top of each other. You gave everybody space. He's different because, right now, for whatever reason -- either how the game is taught or how the young guys play in AAU or whatever -- it's, 'We're going to go as fast as we can, run around as fast as we possibly can.' He just takes his time. Let the defense make mistakes."

Said Duncan: "I'm not a quick guy. If I can slow it down, take my time and go to my own strengths, I can neutralize a lot of what people are able to do against me. You try to make people react to you more than you react to people. When you can do that, you're the one in control. You know what's going on and everyone else has to figure it out on the fly. I try to base my game around that. That's how I've always played..."

Go here for more and

Blazers' Roy a thinking man's star
Ian Thomsen
Sports Illustrated
December 4, 2008

WASHINGTON -- Brandon Roy arrives not in a hurry but on his own time. At 24, he is already one of the bosses in the NBA.

He had 22 points, eight rebounds and four assists to help Portland beat the Wizards 98-92 on Wednesday without ever appearing to run hard. Yet he played hard, which is a trick the great players learn in their 30s when athleticism fades. Roy is fulfilling this balance in his third NBA season. This is why the league's second-youngest team is 14-6 and carries six consecutive victories into Friday's game against the champions in Boston. The Trail Blazers are rising fast because Roy is slowing them down.

"He has a pace about him that is a calming pace for me and the players,'' Portland coach Nate McMillan said. "It's like he doesn't show emotions or being rattled.''

Of the league's young wing players, the 6-6 Roy is among the least impressive athletically. But it's a loser's daydream to imagine how good Roy might have been if blessed with the hops of Kobe Bryant or Dwyane Wade. Superior athleticism might have turned into his crutch. Roy is the most valuable piece of the league's most promising young team not because of his athletic instincts, but because he has spent his short career taking the time to think things through.

Roy watches his peers not with envy but rather in search of ideas he can steal.

"I'm always trying to analyze things," said Roy, who is averaging 21.1 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.3 assists. "I try to see what may work for another player, and see what may work for me. I've always played that way, even in high school. I always thought the game..."

Go here for the remainder.