Standing at 6'11, 232 pounds, Tiago Splitter is hard to miss. But to the casual sports fan, Splitter is either a nobody or someone to dismiss simply because he's a threat to any team he faces. Any way you look at it, fans better be prepared—Splitter is an underrated center who can play shutdown defense.

By no means is Splitter the next Hakeem Olajuwon or Shaquille O'Neal, but he still can't be ignored by coaches.

Splitter is no novice when it comes to the game of basketball. Now 29 years old, Splitter has been playing basketball since he was a kid in Brazil. Over the course of Splitter's teenage and young adult years, he would play on various professional basketball teams in Brazil and Spain. There, Splitter would win three gold medals with the Brazilian National Team and would later be drafted No. 28 overall by the Spurs in the 2007 NBA draft.

Even though Splitter had great success for the Brazilian team, he went a little unnoticed because of his early aspirations to play overseas. Also, NBA general managers have never seen Brazil as much of a "basketball country."

The Spurs saw a great opportunity and took it, as usual. The Spurs are loaded with talented players born outside the continental United States. Players such as Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker have dedicated years to the franchise and now so will Splitter. Splitter has been with the Spurs for four full seasons providing a big body and an anchoring teammate for Duncan. He's not the offensive weapon that will put the Spurs over the top -- he only averages 8.3 points per game -- but his defense has helped an aging and injured Spurs team repeat as the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.

With Duncan hobbling off the court in what now seems like an every game occurence, Ginobili struggling, and Tony Parker's limited defensive capabilities, Splitter is going to have to step it up.

It would be good to see Splitter average more playoff minutes. This season, he averaged just over 20 minutes played per game in the regular season. There's no doubt head coach Gregg Popovich will give Splitter significantly more playing time during these playoffs. It would also be very beneficial for the Spurs if Splitter could be a little more two dimensional and develop a more offensive threat against opponents. Splitter is a fantastic free throw shooter (for a center), but his post game and interior offense can improve.

With high powered offenses in the West such as the Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Clippers, and even the Warriors, Splitter is in for a big test.