NEW YORK, June 25, 2008 -- Off the basketball court, one Lopez twin can be found writing in a notebook, while the other will be sketching new creations. But Stanford's sophomore centers, Brook and Robin, both agree that when it comes to basketball, Tim Duncan's game is the closest thing to poetry.

"Everybody knows how great of a player he is, but he's very quiet about it," Robin Lopez said. "He'll have a triple-double, but be quiet about it."

And Brook: "He just does everything so well, has great footwork and anchors the defense in San Antonio: stops penetration, blocks shots, all that stuff."

That Robin cited Duncan's offense, and Brook, Duncan's defense, is something of a role reversal. While playing for Stanford, Brook utilized an adept face-up game and soft J to earn recognition for his scoring ability (19.3 points per game as a soph), while Robin's energy and athleticism hounded opposing big men -- his 156 blocks in two seasons are good for second all-time on the Cardinal's career leaderboard.

"I always take that analysis as a compliment, because that means a part of my game really jumps out at them," Robin Lopez said. "But I don't understand, really, how some people will say, 'Oh, he doesn't average as many rebounds as that prospect.' Brook and I, we were both the center/power forward on our team, we were both getting good minutes.

"There was no other pair like that in the top 25 prospects in the draft, no two players that were competing on their own college teams for minutes, for stats."

Robin makes a fair point. Both brothers earned spots on the Pac-10 All-Defensive team, and each averaged more than two blocks per game. Brook has spent his career trying to emulate Robin on defense, which has given him great motivation to improve. He believes his intensity will benefit him more than anything else on the next level.

And though Robin's jumper admittedly lacks the range of Brook's, his offense improved as the season went on. He reached double-digits in 11 of Stanford's last 15 games. Overall, his shooting percentage jumped to .534, from .480 as a freshman, and he boosted his performance at the free-throw line as well, raising his percentage to .652 from .545.

The workout season has benefited Robin more than Brook, who was projected as high as No. 3 and seems to be a lock for the top 10. Robin was initially slotted somewhere around No. 20, but has seen his stock climb high enough that he earned an invitation to sit in the Green Room at Madison Square Garden during the NBA Draft, an honor reserved only for likely lottery picks. A slide past Phoenix (No. 15) or Toronto (No. 17) seems unlikely.

One nagging draft question that has pitted the twins' interest in basketball versus their artistic pursuits. Robin cited Baron Davis (Verso Entertainment) as an example of one player able to balance a non-basketball passion with a successful NBA career. And Brook has fielded the question enough times to have a response ready:

"I just say, 'You can write anywhere.' There's a lot of free time on the road, and I just need a pen and a notebook. It's not anything really time-consuming that I need to be at one specific place to do.

"Basketball's always been my first love," he continued. "I've done it for 20 years, for as long as I can remember. I taught myself to dribble, taught myself to shoot at age two, just watching my brothers play. I've been around gyms my whole life. My brother and I are gym rats. I don't see how that can be a question."