Kori Ellis
11-21-2004, 03:21 AM
Spurs call big brawl embarrassing
Web Posted: 11/21/2004 12:00 AM CST
Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA112104.1C.BKNspurs.reaction.783eb23e.html
TORONTO — Recognized as one of the NBA's most tenacious defenders, Spurs forward Bruce Bowen has had his share of altercations. He has exchanged words with Jalen Rose and Ray Allen. He has traded elbows with Michael Finley.
On Tuesday, New York Knicks guard Jamal Crawford pushed Bowen in the back. As Crawford continued to yap at him, Bowen did what he usually has tried to do when faced with similar circumstances.
He turned and walked away.
"It becomes more or a less a pride thing, but you still have to take a step back," Bowen said. "Sometimes it's hard to eat crow in difficult situations. But you have to know that, ultimately, we have to control ourselves or we're only going to make the situation worse."
The NBA saw just how much worse when an end-of-the-game tête-à-tête between Indiana forward Ron Artest and Detroit center Ben Wallace on Friday night at the Palace of Auburn Hills escalated into a wild brawl that had Pacers players trading punches with Pistons fans in the stands and on the court. Artest, Wallace and Indiana's Stephen Jackson and Jermaine O'Neal were suspended indefinitely Saturday, pending an investigation.
"There are players that obviously behaved poorly and there are fans that obviously behaved poorly — there's enough blame to go around for all," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "It's embarrassing for the league, it's embarrassing for the fans and, in a social sense, it's an indictment on society that our priorities are such that it could escalate into something like this.
"It's usually something you hear about in Europe with soccer games. But this just shows we're no better than anyone else. We can be fools, too."
The Spurs, who will play the Raptors in Toronto today, already had left Boston's Fleet Center following Friday's victory over the Celtics when they learned of the fight. Jackson, the Spurs' starting shooting guard during the 2003 championship season, played a prominent role in the incident when he climbed into the stands after Artest did and exchanged blows with a group of fans. Former Spurs assistant coach Mike Brown, now Indiana's associate head coach, also went into the stands to try to restrain the players.
"I feel really bad for him," Bowen said of Jackson. "At least, Ron can say he was provoked. What can Jack say?
"Sometimes loyalty comes with a price."
Jackson was an emotional player during his two seasons with the Spurs, but he also was friendly and generally well-liked by his teammates. He once memorably taunted Karl Malone from the sidelines and later earned a one-game suspension for a flagrant foul against Loren Woods. That edge, as well as his fearlessness late in games, won over the fans.
"I know him as a kind-hearted person," Popovich said. "There is a toughness about him, but I just hated seeing him out there in the stands swinging. I wish he could have done like Mike Brown, who was up there trying to hold guys back.
"I know you're never supposed to go into the stands, but in a melee like that you do what you can to break it up. I just hated seeing Jack like that."
Detroit fans doused the Pacers with beer and pelted them with plastic bottles and debris, but many of the Spurs' foreign-born players have seen worse. Tony Parker said he once played in a game in which fans threw cell phones on the court.
At a 1999 playoff game in Minneapolis, a middle-aged Timberwolves fan head-butted the 11-year-old son of Spurs chairman Peter Holt. Yet aside from the occasional banter with hecklers, the team's players have avoided any significant conflict with opposing fans.
That, Popovich said, isn't always easy for NBA players to do.
"In general, I think the players do a fantastic job of enduring the foolishness of a small percentage of fans," Popovich said. "By that, I'm talking about the personal comments, the racial comments, the comments made about their families. I think they do a great job of just acting like that's not happening.
"But when something becomes physical it's a whole new ballgame. It becomes much harder to show restraint when people are throwing things at you. I think some players are able to step back and others aren't. I don't think that's any different from the rest of the population: Some people would show restraint and others wouldn't."
Players are advised on how to deal with fans at the league-mandated rookie orientation seminar and again each season. Even if fans become unruly — "When you start throwing things," Bowen said, "you've crossed the line." — players are told explicitly to remain on the court or go to the locker room.
"Had Ron Artest not gone into the stands," Bowen said, "maybe the worst we'd be talking about is some fan getting fined for throwing stuff."
Web Posted: 11/21/2004 12:00 AM CST
Johnny Ludden
Express-News Staff Writer
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA112104.1C.BKNspurs.reaction.783eb23e.html
TORONTO — Recognized as one of the NBA's most tenacious defenders, Spurs forward Bruce Bowen has had his share of altercations. He has exchanged words with Jalen Rose and Ray Allen. He has traded elbows with Michael Finley.
On Tuesday, New York Knicks guard Jamal Crawford pushed Bowen in the back. As Crawford continued to yap at him, Bowen did what he usually has tried to do when faced with similar circumstances.
He turned and walked away.
"It becomes more or a less a pride thing, but you still have to take a step back," Bowen said. "Sometimes it's hard to eat crow in difficult situations. But you have to know that, ultimately, we have to control ourselves or we're only going to make the situation worse."
The NBA saw just how much worse when an end-of-the-game tête-à-tête between Indiana forward Ron Artest and Detroit center Ben Wallace on Friday night at the Palace of Auburn Hills escalated into a wild brawl that had Pacers players trading punches with Pistons fans in the stands and on the court. Artest, Wallace and Indiana's Stephen Jackson and Jermaine O'Neal were suspended indefinitely Saturday, pending an investigation.
"There are players that obviously behaved poorly and there are fans that obviously behaved poorly — there's enough blame to go around for all," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "It's embarrassing for the league, it's embarrassing for the fans and, in a social sense, it's an indictment on society that our priorities are such that it could escalate into something like this.
"It's usually something you hear about in Europe with soccer games. But this just shows we're no better than anyone else. We can be fools, too."
The Spurs, who will play the Raptors in Toronto today, already had left Boston's Fleet Center following Friday's victory over the Celtics when they learned of the fight. Jackson, the Spurs' starting shooting guard during the 2003 championship season, played a prominent role in the incident when he climbed into the stands after Artest did and exchanged blows with a group of fans. Former Spurs assistant coach Mike Brown, now Indiana's associate head coach, also went into the stands to try to restrain the players.
"I feel really bad for him," Bowen said of Jackson. "At least, Ron can say he was provoked. What can Jack say?
"Sometimes loyalty comes with a price."
Jackson was an emotional player during his two seasons with the Spurs, but he also was friendly and generally well-liked by his teammates. He once memorably taunted Karl Malone from the sidelines and later earned a one-game suspension for a flagrant foul against Loren Woods. That edge, as well as his fearlessness late in games, won over the fans.
"I know him as a kind-hearted person," Popovich said. "There is a toughness about him, but I just hated seeing him out there in the stands swinging. I wish he could have done like Mike Brown, who was up there trying to hold guys back.
"I know you're never supposed to go into the stands, but in a melee like that you do what you can to break it up. I just hated seeing Jack like that."
Detroit fans doused the Pacers with beer and pelted them with plastic bottles and debris, but many of the Spurs' foreign-born players have seen worse. Tony Parker said he once played in a game in which fans threw cell phones on the court.
At a 1999 playoff game in Minneapolis, a middle-aged Timberwolves fan head-butted the 11-year-old son of Spurs chairman Peter Holt. Yet aside from the occasional banter with hecklers, the team's players have avoided any significant conflict with opposing fans.
That, Popovich said, isn't always easy for NBA players to do.
"In general, I think the players do a fantastic job of enduring the foolishness of a small percentage of fans," Popovich said. "By that, I'm talking about the personal comments, the racial comments, the comments made about their families. I think they do a great job of just acting like that's not happening.
"But when something becomes physical it's a whole new ballgame. It becomes much harder to show restraint when people are throwing things at you. I think some players are able to step back and others aren't. I don't think that's any different from the rest of the population: Some people would show restraint and others wouldn't."
Players are advised on how to deal with fans at the league-mandated rookie orientation seminar and again each season. Even if fans become unruly — "When you start throwing things," Bowen said, "you've crossed the line." — players are told explicitly to remain on the court or go to the locker room.
"Had Ron Artest not gone into the stands," Bowen said, "maybe the worst we'd be talking about is some fan getting fined for throwing stuff."