San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle on facing former teammate Donovan Clingan in summer league

“It’s great practice to go against a guy like that,” said Castle.

Donovan Clingan knows from personal experience how hard it can be to keep new San Antonio Spurs combo guard Stephon Castle in front of him. They won an NCAA title together at the University of Connecticut together this spring, after all.

And when the former Huskies faced off as opponents in the NBA for the first time in Las Vegas Summer League this past Saturday (July 13), Castle went off, helping push the Spurs to a win with his play on both ends. “I know what kind of player Stephon is,” said Clingan via the San Antonio Express-News’ Tom Orsborne. “I was not surprised.”

And while Clingan did not have a similarly efficient night on offense, he did make Castle’s night a hard one around the cup. “That’s what he does,” said Castle of his former UConn teammate’s performance with the Portland Trail Blazers. “He protects the rim, so I don’t expect anything less from him.”

“It’s great practice to go against a guy like that,” added the San Antonio rookie. “He’s a high-level shot blocker.”

“I know I am going to see a lot of that this upcoming season. To have that trial and error, it was a good experience for me.”

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