SAN ANTONIO — Zach Collins was called for two quick fouls in the second period of Monday's San Antonio Spurs match against the Warriors.
Collins vehemently disagreed, and teammate Jeremy Sochan quickly prevented him from arguing with the refs, pushing him away from possibly picking up a technical foul or getting ejected from the game.
It's a bit ironic, considering Sochan usually has to be pulled away from confrontations on the court.
"I think he's pretty good at keeping us in check," Julian Champagnie said. "He does a really good job of keeping his all together and honing and locked into the game."
It was not long ago Sochan had to be pulled back from an altercation.
Against Houston on March 5, he and Amem Thompson got into a dust-up when the Spurs visited the Rockets.
After falling to the floor, Sochan's legs got tangled with Thompson, which did not sit well with the Houston rookie, and they got into each other's face.
But keeping a cool head in a tense moment was a role reversal for the team's forward.
"He pulls us together," said Champagnie.
Fortunately for the Spurs, a review of Collins' second foul was overturned, much to the team's delight, and Champagnie understood why his teammate got heated.
"It was a rough call," he said. "Rightfully so, he was upset. He got three fouls back-to-back-to-back. So it's frustrating. Obviously, it's extra emotion."
Sochan's peskiness on the court shows that he knows how to irritate the opposition while remaining on the floor to make an impact.
He has not been ejected from a game this season and has only four technical fouls. That's not bad for the team's irritating calming force.
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