"Terry Porter's NBA career lasted 17 seasons, 1,274 games and 35,354 minutes played. He's seen a lot.

He knows what it takes to play point guard. The leadership and unselfishness that's required, the ability to control the flow of a game, the pressure of being a coach on the floor. Sometimes look to score too, if that's what the team needs.

Point guard is a position — the "1" in basketball parlance — but really it's an identity.

"You have to be a leader," said Porter, a two-time NBA All-Star and current Timberwolves assistant coach. "You can't worry about yourself. You've got to have a pretty good feel for your personnel. Then, you have to be vocal at times. You've got to be willing to take some grief. I got yelled at by guys on my team for not passing it to them and things of that nature. You just have to say, 'Hey, I didn't want it to be a turnover.' That falls on your shoulders because if you make a turnover, coach is yelling at you. He's not yelling at the other player."

That's part of the job description, too. Like a quarterback in football, the lion's share of responsibility rests on the point guard's shoulders."