OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — If there was an injury report for such things, the San Antonio Spurs would be listing the voice of coach Mitch Johnson as questionable these days. It's a bit scratchy right now, almost as if he's been gargling with gravel.
And it won't get better anytime soon. He's going to do a lot of screaming on Wednesday night in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals, win or lose. It's inevitable, provided that he wants his team to have a chance
of hearing anything that he says.
It's not five-on-five when teams come to play at Paycom Center, the home of the Oklahoma City Thunder. It's like 18,005-on-five. It's loud in there. No, really. It's LOUD in there — with decibel levels routinely somewhere around 110, which is roughly the equivalent of a jackhammer. The T-shirts handed out for Game 1 read “Oklahoma City Loud," and no, it's not just a saying. It's who Thunder fans are.
“I would say anytime you play a team that is having or has had the level of recent success as the Thunder have, the fans follow," Johnson said. "There's people that get enthusiastic and bring energy to support. I would say that this would be probably one of the higher-end fan bases and arenas in terms of what the environment is like.”
Crowd noise is a major part of Thunder games. The fans know exactly what to do and when to do it, and in those moments they clearly aren't afraid to take a deep breath and make as much noise as humanly possible.
Starting lineups get announced? Noise. Thunder score? Noise. They even have signs to coax a certain volume from fans during some timeouts — the levels being loud, louder and loudest, and the difference is more than a little bit noticeable.
Obviously, the home team has to exist in that environment as well.
There was a moment in Game 1 on Monday night when Thunder coach Mark Daigneault had something to say to one of the referees, so he started shouting and got no response. He took a few steps down the sideline; again, no response. A few more steps; still nothing. Finally, one of the referees noticed him — but it took until Daigneault was two or three steps over midcourt, maybe a bit closer to the Spurs' bench than his own.
“It's the loudest basketball arena I've ever been in. ... I think it's just a testament to how much the community cares, how much this city cares about basketball and this team,” Thunder guard Alex Caruso said during last season's playoff run.
How loud does it get? “Deafening,” Caruso said.
Every NBA building is loud on some level, particularly when things are going well. The four left in these playoffs — Paycom in Oklahoma City, the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Rocket Arena in Cleveland and Madison Square Garden in New York — all can get quite raucous.
“Some of these arenas, the timeout and the music’s playing and you’re like, ‘I’m not even going to say anything until the music (is over).’ It’s crazy,'" Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said.
The Cavs had MSG quiet on Tuesday night, until they didn't. The Knicks rallied from 22 points down in the fourth quarter and won Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals in overtime. The Garden was not quiet in any way, as would be expected.
Paycom was quiet at the end Monday night, when the Spurs were finishing off their double-overtime victory in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals. That is the remedy: If visiting teams don't want to hear it, they simply have to win.
“It really puts emphasis on the players to echo calls and communicate with each other because there’s no way anyone on the sideline, let alone myself or whoever’s coaching, is going to be able to get all five guys’ attention at times," Johnson said of the challenge of coaching on the road in very loud places. "And with that being said, I hope there’s also a level of competitiveness and enjoyment of being in an environment like that.”
Spurs forward Julian Champagnie gave Thunder fans quite the compliment Tuesday when he described their volume level.
“I was trying to talk on defense,” Champagnie said, “and I couldn't hear myself.”
That's what made the quiet at the end even sweeter. The silence was proof of a job well done.
“That means you're doing something right," Champagnie said.
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AP Basketball Writer Brian Mahoney and AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno in New York contributed.
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