Grizzlies coach David Fizdale provided Memphis fans a couple of new catchphrases from his rant at the referees after Game 2, which cost him US$30,000 in a fine by the NBA.
The fans unleashed their support for the coach on Thursday night through T-shirts and cheers, along with a thorough booing of the game’s officiating crew.
The city and its team had a new swagger, despite facing a 2-0 deficit in the Western Conference first-round series against the San Antonio Spurs. The change in attitude blossomed from Fizdale’s attitude in criticizing calls in the Grizzlies’ 96-82 loss on Monday night.
Photo: AP
Suddenly, the city is rallying around its coach and the Grizzlies, and they waved the Growl Towels featuring the “Believe Memphis” motto waiting for them on every seat in the venue for the first home game of this best-of-seven series.
The rallying cries and new attitude helped the Grizzlies beat the Spurs 105-94 and make the series 2-1 on Thursday night. Fizdale stayed far away from commenting on the officiating after his first playoff victory.
I’m not “going down that road, man,” Fizdale said to laughter. “I’m begging from my players to pay fines for me.”
The fired-up fans did not even wait for Fizdale’s introduction to show their appreciation. When he came onto the floor, he received a standing ovation from the towel-waving fans.
“It’s cool that our fans got behind it. I appreciate it,” Fizdale said before the game. “Obviously, that’s good for us at home.”
The Grizzlies coach called the crew of Danny Crawford, Rodney Mott and Bill Spooner “unprofessional” and “unacceptable,” then cited the number of times Spurs star Kawhi Leonard went to the free-throw line — more than the entire Grizzlies team.
He closed the news conference with “take that for the data,” punctuated by slamming his hand on the table as he left the dais.
The criticism cost Fizdale’s pocketbook, but reinvigorated a Memphis fan base who seemed resolved to another sweep of the Grizzlies at the hands of the Spurs.
“Honestly, I did what I did and said what I did. I did not do it to try to create this,” Fizdale said. “I was trying to fight for my guys, and this is Memphis. Memphis gets behind you when you stand up for your brother, for your city, and that’s all I was doing.”
Taiwanese world No. 1 women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei on Saturday overcame a first-set loss to win her opening match at the Madrid Open. Top seeds Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium, with whom she last month won her fourth Indian Wells women’s doubles title, bounced back from a rocky first set to beat Asia Muhammad of the US and Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia 2-6, 6-4, 10-2. Hsieh and Mertens were next to face Heather Watson of the UK and Xu Yifan of China in the round of 16. Thirty-eight-year-old Hsieh last month reclaimed her world No. 1 spot after her Indian
EYES ON THE PRIZE: Armed with three solid men’s singles shuttlers and doubles Olympic champions, Taiwan aim to make their first Thomas Cup semi-final, Chou Tien-chen said Taiwanese badminton star Tai Tzu-ying yesterday quickly dispatched Malaysia’s Goh Jin Wei in straight sets, while her male counterpart Chou Tien-chen beat Germany’s Kai Schaefer, as Taiwan’s women’s and men’s teams won their Group B opening rounds of the TotalEnergies BWF Thomas and Uber Cup Finals in Chengdu, China. World No. 5 Tai beat Goh 21-19, 22-20 in a speedy 33 minutes, her fourth straight victory over the world No. 24 shuttler since they first faced each other in the quarter-finals of the 2018 Malaysia Open, where Tai went on to win the women’s singles title. Malaysia followed up Tai’s opening victory
Chen Yi-tung (陳奕通) secured a historic Olympic berth on Sunday by winning the senior men’s foil event at the 2024 Asia Oceania Zonal Olympic Fencing Qualifiers in United Arab Emirates. Chen defeated Samuel Elijah of Singapore 15-4 in the final in Dubai to secure the only wild card in the event, making him the first male Olympian fencer from Taiwan in 36 years and only the sixth Taiwanese fencer to ever qualify for the quadrennial event. The last appearance by a Taiwanese male fencer at the Olympics was in 1988, when Wang San-tsai (王三財) and Cheng Ming-hsiang (鄭明祥) competed in Seoul. The
Rafael Nadal on Tuesday lost in straight sets to 31st-ranked Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round at the Madrid Open, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced to the semi-finals in the women’s doubles. Nadal said that he was feeling good about his progress following his latest injury layoff. Nadal called it a “positive week” in every way and said his body held up well. “I was able to play four matches, a couple of tough matches,” Nadal said. “So very positive, winning three matches, playing four matches at the high level of tennis. I enjoyed a lot playing at home. I leave here with