Category: In the News

Spurs bracing for loud, hostile crowd in Utah

The Utah Jazz traditionally have one of the loudest, most vociferous crowds in the NBA. It’s been that way since John Stockton and his short basketball shorts were wreaking havoc across the NBA in the late 1980s.

Even as the old Delta Center has changed its name to the EnergySolutions Arena, the crowd still are loud and hostile when the Jazz are at home.

Tony Parker said Thursday he would rank the Utah crowd as one of the five loudest in the NBA.

“Since I’ve been here back with Karl Malone and John Stockton, suddenly there are no more calls, it’s like super physical and it’s almost like no referees,” Parker said, chuckling. “It’s great over there. I like the atmosphere, the fans they are great and it’s going to be fun.”

Parker said the Utah crowds remind him a little of the crowds he sees in Europe because of their historic passion for their team and their insults for rival teams.

“Especially back in the day when they had John Stockton and Karl Malone, it was just like that,” Parker said. “When the fans were scremaing and cursing at you … it was just like Europe except they didn’t throw coins or stuff  at you.” 

But Manu Ginobili, a veteran of many European seasons, says the Jazz fans aren’t nearly as obnoxious as those across the pond.

“Believe me, it’s not like Europe,” Ginobili said. “I’ve been scared. They’ve thrown rocks at me. Batteries. Coins. Luckily, it’s not like that here.

“It gets loud, of course. It gets fun. But you never feel threatened. I did feel threatened over there.”

Spurs work through extensive practice Wednesday

The gap between series awaiting a second-round opponent is providing the Spurs to have a chance to get back to the basics as they prepare for either Memphis or the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Spurs worked for more than 90 minutes Wednesday afternoon in a practice that Manu Ginobili called as extensive as the team has had since training camp.

“I’m sure Pop doesn’t want us to sit for a week so we got on the floor today,” Ginobili said. “It was a good scrimmage. We went at it and it was good. It felt great … we haven’t done this all season.”

Most of the work was in scrimmaging with split squads. Ginobili said that Coach Gregg Popovich split the squad up rather than playing the starting unit against the emerging second team.

“We scrimmaged today, played hard, contact, the whole deal,” Popovich said.

The Spurs coach said he didn’t install additional material into the playbook as his team prepares for the second round.

“Not much,” Popovich said. “At this point in the season you are pretty much what you’ve done most of the year and the last thing you want to do is confuse the issue or try to get smart. So we just want to keep our rhythm and keep our conditioning as best we can.”

The Spurs are scheduled to rest on Thursday before returning to practice again on Friday.

Spurs vs. Clippers schedule, rosters, season series

SERIES AT A GLANCE
Western Conference semifinals

Game 1 Today: Clippers @Spurs, 8:30 p.m.
TV: TNT Radio: WOAI-AM 1200; KCOR-AM 1350

Game 2 Thursday: Clippers @Spurs, 8:30 p.m.
TV: ESPN Radio: WOAI-AM 1200; KCOR-AM 1350

Game 3 Saturday: Spurs @Clippers, 2:30 p.m.
TV: ABC Radio: WOAI-AM 1200; KCOR-AM 1350

Game 4 Sunday: Spurs @Clippers, 9:30 p.m.
TV: TNT Radio: WOAI-AM 1200; KCOR-AM 1350

*Game 5 May 22: Clippers @Spurs, TBD
TV: TNT Radio: WOAI-AM 1200; KCOR-AM 1350

*Game 6 May 25: Spurs @Clippers, TBD
TV: ESPN Radio: WOAI-AM 1200; KCOR-AM 1350

*Game 7 May 27: Clippers @Spurs, TBD
TV: TNT Radio: WOAI-AM 1200; KCOR-AM 1350

* — As needed in best-of-7 series

SPURS ROSTER (50-16)

No. — Player — Pos. — Ht. — Wt. — DOB — From — Yrs.
25 — James Anderson — G — 6-6 — 215 — 3/25/89 — Oklahoma St. — 2nd
45 — DeJuan Blair — C — 6-7 — 270 — 4/22/89 — Pittsburgh — 3rd
15 — Matt Bonner — F-C — 6-10 — 235 — 4/5/80 — Florida — 8th
34 — Derrick Byars — G-F — 6-7 — 220 — 4/25/84 — Vanderbilt — 1st
33 — Boris Diaw — G-C — 6-8 — 235 — 4/16/82 — France — 9th
21 — Tim Duncan — F — 6-11 — 255 — 4/25/76 — Wake Forest — 15th
20 — Manu Ginobili — G — 6-6 — 205 — 7/28/77 — Argentina — 10th
4 — Danny Green — G-F — 6-6 — 210 — 6/22/87 — North Carolina — 3rd
3 — Stephen Jackson — F-G — 6-8 — 220 — 4/5/78 — Oak Hill Acad. (Va.) — 12th
5 — Cory Joseph — G — 6-3 — 185 — 8/20/91 — Texas — 1st
2 — Kawhi Leonard — F — 6-7 — 225 — 6/29/91 — San Diego St. — 1st
8 — Patty Mills — G — 6-0 — 185 — 8/11/88 — St. Mary’s (Calif.) — 3rd
14 — Gary Neal — G — 6-4 — 210 — 10/3/84 — Towson — 2nd
9 — Tony Parker — G — 6-2 — 185 — 5/17/82 — France — 11th
22 — Tiago Splitter — F — 6-11 — 240 — 1/1/85 — Brazil — 2nd

Head coach: Gregg Popovich
Assistant coaches: Mike Budenholzer, Don Newman, Brett Brown, Chip Engelland, Chad Forcier, Jacque Vaughn
Strength and conditioning: Matt Herring
Athletic trainer: Will Sevening

Clippers ROSTER (40-26)

No. — Player — Pos. — Ht. — Wt. — DOB — From — Yrs.
1 — Chauncey Billups — G — 6-3 — 210 — 9/25/76 — Colorado — 15th
12 — Eric Bledsoe — G — 6-1 — 195 — 12/9/89 — Kentucky — 2nd
5 — Caron Butler — F — 6-7 — 228 — 3/13/80 — Connecticut — 10th
30 — Reggie Evans — F — 6-8 — 245 — 5/18/80 — Iowa — 10th
4 — Randy Foye — G — 6-4 — 213 — 9/24/83 — Villanova — 6th
15 — Ryan Gomes — F — 6-7 — 245 — 9/1/82 — Providence — 7th
32 — Blake Griffin — F — 6-10 — 251 — 3/16/89 — Oklahoma — 2nd
6 — DeAndre Jordan — C — 6-11 — 265 — 7/21/88 — Texas AM — 4th
23 — Travis Leslie — G — 6-4 — 205 — 3/29/90 — Georgia — 1st
2 — Kenyon Martin — F — 6-9 — 240 — 12/30/77 — Cincinnati — 12th
3 — Chris Paul — G — 6-0 — 175 — 5/6/85 — Wake Forest — 7th
21 — Bobby Simmons — F — 6-6 — 235 — 6/2/80 — DePaul — 9th
33 — Trey Thompkins — F — 6-10 — 245 — 5/29/90 — Georgia — 1st
25 — Mo Williams — G — 6-1 — 195 — 12/19/82 — Alabama — 9th
11 — Nick Young — G — 6-7 — 210 — 6/1/85 — USC — 5th

Head coach: Vinny Del Negro
Assistant coaches: Marc Iavaroni, Dean Demopoulos, Robert Pack, Dave Severns, Howard Eisley
Strength and conditioning: Richard Williams
Athletic trainer: Jasen Powell

SEASON SERIES (SPURS WON 2-1)

Spurs 115, Clippers 90
Dec. 28, 2011 @ATT Center: In the second game of the season, Manu Ginobili scored 24, DeJuan Blair had 20, and now-former Spur Richard Jefferson had 19 in the team’s 17th straight home win over the Clippers. The Spurs only led 58-54 at half but pulled away with a 38-17 advantage in the third quarter. Blake Griffin had 28 points for L.A., but Chris Paul was held to 10 points on 3-of-10 shooting.

Spurs 103, Clippers 100
Feb. 18, 2012 @Staples Center: Reserve Spurs guard Gary Neal went from goat to hero in a matter of seconds. He turned the ball over with 9.5 seconds left, got a gift steal from Paul on the inbounds pass and hit a game-tying 3-pointer with 5.7 seconds to go. Then, he hit a three late in overtime, finishing with 17 points as six Spurs scored in double figures.

Clippers 120, Spurs 108
March 9, 2012 @ATT Center: A sore thigh kept Tony Parker from suiting up, and the Clippers won in San Antonio for the first time since Jan. 21, 2002. It was one of five home losses for the Spurs this season. Paul took advantage of Parker’s absence with 36 points and 11 assists, while Mo Williams hit 7 of 9 on 3-pointers and scored 33 points.