SAN ANTONIO — He is the new "It Guy." The future of the league. The next big thing.

He is charismatic like Magic Johnson. He is creative like Michael Jordan. He is fearless like Allen Iverson. And he is as unique as any guard to come into the league since Gary Payton.

Manu Ginobili is something different.

"They should be talking about Ginobili the way people have been talking about [Miami guard] Dwyane Wade," Detroit coach Larry Brown said this week. "He just willed himself to be great. His will [in Game 1 of the NBA Finals] was much greater than ours."

He is a cyclone in shorts, as unpredictable as a flash flood. And in this league that is always looking, from coast to coast, for the next Magic, or Bird, or Michael, or Kobe, the next "Next" might be an unorthodox, left-handed guard from Argentina who was the 57th player taken in the 1999 draft and didn't sign with the Spurs until the summer of 2002.

"There's been so much talk over the past year with the U.S. losing in the Olympics and not bringing home the gold medal. Why not have kids look toward a guy like Manu Ginobili?" Spurs guard Brent Barry said. "Why not shift the focus where kids are starting to watch a foreign player, who plays team basketball and has all these skills that basketball requires? I don't think that's a bad thing for basketball."

In the first game of these NBA Finals, Ginobili instinctively knew what he had to do for the San Antonio Spurs.

He had to take over the game. He had to push the ball into the nasty middle of Detroit's defense, into the chests of shot-swallowers like Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace and Tayshaun Prince. He had to outrun Rip Hamilton.

In the second half of a sloppy Game 1, Ginobili took over, scoring 22 points, converting on 9 of his 10 field-goal attempts. He changed the momentum and supercharged the SBC Center with a remarkable drive, where he switched hands in the air, took a hit and scored on a twisting, right-handed flip.

"It's like he has an inner clock in there," Barry said. "And when the alarm goes off, and he knows we need a basket, he's going to get the ball and get it done. He has a great sense of timing."

Ginobili gets into defenders' heads. Early in the fourth quarter he drove into Ben Wallace, who fell to the floor and the block-or-charge call went for Ginobili. Wallace was so frustrated he drew a technical foul.

"He's relentless going to the basket," Hamilton said. "He's willing to take contact. He's willing to take the hits. He puts the onus on the refs to make a call."

For the purists in this game, he's an acquired taste. After wild rushes to the basket, both successful and unsuccessful, Ginobili has had to endure the wrath of his coach, Gregg Popovich.

But when Popovich screams in his face, something like, "What were you thinking?" Ginobili answers, "It is what I do. It is who I am."

Despite the ugliness of the first game, this Finals has a chance to be memorable. These are the two best teams. They can play entertaining basketball. They contest every possession. They play the game right.

This can be a purist's dream series, but it still needs a lift to raise TV ratings and convince casual fans this is something worth watching. This Finals needs that something extra that Ginobili brings.

"When he gets into a rhythm and he starts going, it's like you want to sit there and watch him play," Spurs leader and power forward Tim Duncan said. "You can get caught up in what he does. You get mesmerized by what he's doing."

In his third NBA season, he has become the new wild bull of the pampas. Ginobili sees spaces where no openings exist. He takes the ball into the lane, into the forest of fists and elbows and hips, takes the bumps and still finds a way to get to the rim.

He's as close to Iverson as the NBA has found. Maybe he isn't as quick, but he is as tough and as indefatigable and as hard to comprehend.

"Sometimes everybody in the gym thinks he's out of control besides him," Barry said. "But he kind of knows what he's doing. It might look, at times, crazy and loony, but that's just the way he is. He's fearless when attacking the basket and plays the game like a born winner. He has an unbelievable drive inside of him.

"He sneaks up on guys with his athleticism. He does things so awkwardly. I think being left-handed is a huge advantage. He has a great inside-outside game. He has a knack for getting to the rim, drawing contact and making big plays."

Ginobili is the perfect blend of flair and substance. He is the splash that can draw the casual fan to this series. And he can be the next "Next."

Steve Kelley: 206-464-2176 or skelley@seattletimes.com.