Last weekend while at a local gathering, I approached a young female. While you may think I had R. Kelly-like intentions, my motives were of a different sort.

I asked a harmless question, “Can you name the four teams left in the NBA playoffs?” The look on her face was priceless; it was as if I asked her to recall the Congress person from the 37th district in California. This reaction is typical among many across the state of Iowa; most choose not to care about me or the NBA. Conversely, I have found the 2005 NBA Playoffs simply fantastic. This is in large part because of one man who goes by the name of Manu.

Emanuel “Manu” Ginobili, the slithery sixth man for the San Antonio Spurs, is quickly becoming the most entertaining player in all of basketball. I am being dead serious. If I were to list the most important qualities of an entertaining athlete, they would go in this order: talent, surroundings, likeability or hateability and appearance. Manu excels in all these areas. His game has little weakness. He drives to the rim recklessly and buries every big shot, shooting nearly 50 percent from downtown. Although he put up a respectable 16 points and four rebounds during the regular season, he has increased his output to 21 and six respectively, in the playoffs.

It isn’t all about the numbers. Ginobili brings so much more to the table. He fits in perfectly on a Spurs team full of compelling characters. They of course have the perennial all-star in Tim Duncan, the French point guard Tony Parker whose biggest accomplishment in life is clearly his girlfriend Eva Longoria, and they also start the reliable tandem of Brent Barry and Bruce Bowen. Random fact alert: Barry won the 1996 dunk contest, defeating two-time defending champ Harold Miner in a thriller. To round out the cast they start Nazr Mohammed.All have their niche, but none of these fine gentlemen comes near the mystique of Manu.

Not since Bill Laimbeerdo I remember a player so disliked by other players in the league. The Nuggets had a hit out for Ginobli’s head every time he entered the lane. Danny Fortson and the Sonics virtually assaulted Ginobli every game of their six-game series. My eyes were fixated, waiting for Fortson to whip out a crowbar.

It didn’t quite reach that level, but it was extremely appealing. Ginobili has just enough quirkiness that makes him either irritating or likable. Add to the fact that he is left-handed and from Argentina and you create one riveting basketball player.

In a league lacking Kobe Bryant, LeBron James or Allen Iversonin the playoffs, leave it to the best hoopster born south of the equator to bring back the fans. Who knows, maybe some kid on a farm in northwest Iowa is shooting left-handed jumpers, thinking, “I wanna be like Emanuel.”