Interesting and potentially huge news from NBA VP of basketball ops, Stu Jackson ... the NBA is considering making flops a foulable offense. "They're really difficult to determine in real time. They're meant to fool an official," Jackson told reporters today. "Are we going to be wrong more times than not? It's tough, but we're looking at it."You know, my first reaction when I read this was, "Thank God." But then I started thinking ... this would bring about a myriad of issues. We're not talking about changing one rule, we're talking about changing the entire way that a game is officiated. In terms of the amount of change it would bring to the NBA landscape, this would make the microfiber ball seem as significant Scot Pollard changing his facial hair configuration.
Flopping is dishonest, and it does cheapen the game, I'm not arguing that it doesn't ... but flopping has become something of an art, too. It's an acquired skill, and even though it's inherently dishonest, it can end up adding honesty to the game.
Fact: There are a lot of times when a legitimate offensive foul wouldn't get called if the defender didn't exaggerate it. And this is what I'm talking about when I say that it would change entirely the way a game is called. If you're going to assess a technical for flopping, then you damn sure better get the offensive foul calls right. If Shaun Livingston runs into Ben Wallace, and Ben Wallace doesn't move, it's still an offensive foul ... just as much as it would be if Shaq barrelled into Rip Hamilton and sent Rip to a premature death.
The problem with this is that the Livingston/Wallace example never gets called. Right or wrong, NBA officials won't call the foul unless someone goes flying. If you're going to try to body up Shaq, and not just flail when he backs into you ... you're not going to the the call as often, even if you should.
And you'd have to get that right, every single time. They'd have to fundamentally change what they're looking for. Again in the Livingston/Wallace example, it's only natural for Wallace to flop ... really, he's helping the right call get made. If Wallace exaggerated it a bit, and he ended up taking a technical foul ... I don't know if that would be right.
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Jordan's game winner against Utah would have been a 5 point play if they not only allowed him the push-off, but penalized Bryon Russell for falling to the floor afterwards.
I used to go to Red Auerbach's basketball camp. He discussed floppers at length. Here's how he said floppers should be handled.
"Step on his crotch and drive to the hoop."
You'll pick up a foul or two,yes... but you'll also send a message. The guy with the smashed genitals is not going to continue stepping in front of you if you keep stomping his nuts. It's simply Pavlov meets Freud.
Common sense + castration anxiety = change in behavior.
So... get your Ray Allen a little bench time, and get the hungriest guy on your bench to foul out in about 5 straight minutes of stomping on Bruce's lil' Bowen. Even if Bruce wants to take charges after that, he won't be in any physical condition to put himself in position for the charge.
It's win-win, and you don't leave your fate in the handsof some incompetent (and perhaps even crooked) ref. Seize the day- stomp the testicles.
MIAMI - AP Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade will plan on announcing his retirement in a impromptu press conference due to the new rule banning flopping
I think Shaq points per game will double with the new flopping rule. Everybody that bounces off him is an actor.
I agree entirely with the article. I hate flopping, I think some players over do it and get the calls they are looking for. But you can't just go and change the face of basketball completely. The example used about Ben Wallace and Shaun Livingston illustrates the point exactly. Of course in real life there is no way Livingston would knock Wallace over. But many times smaller guys will go into the lane and use their off arm or something else that would constitute an offensive foul, but they will get away with that because it wasn't so noticeable to the referee. So the bigger guy falls to make it more noticeable.
I also think, as with all new rules put in, the referees will go crazy and use it as an excuse to hand out technicals. Who is to say it isn't a legitimate fall. And besides that I think the new technical would be putting some players out of job. I agree with the other post about Dwayne Wade. His entire career is made out of flopping. Not to mention European players who I've heard actually practice flopping. As with all things, if this change goes through, there will be alot of complaining from players, fans and media alike.
That is rich. Just what the NBA needs...ANOTHER subjective call that gives NBA officials even more control of the game. Flopping sucks but if the officiating were not so terrible then they would not need to punish the "flopper". Just don't call the foul!
Plus, until the NBA decides to call moving picks there should be a moratorium on new rules...let's actually invoice some of Naismith's original ones.
Vlade..the poster boy of the flop...lmfao
Hey, why not? Basketball is a motherf%#$@g joke anyway. It's not a sport any more than the WWF is. The refs control the game and usually the outcome. if this weren't so it wouldn't be a (Near) felony, with fines and other punishments resulting from even criticizing the crooked BS calls that go on. Don't get me wrong, the players are great atheletes, no question but the league itself is ten lbs of horse$#@t in a five lb bag. The only way many players can even get a righteous call against a "star" is a good flop. Look at the constant charges by that 300 lb no talent bum Shaq that never get called.
So, yeah, go ahead and punish those guys, and while you're at it you can publish the results of the weekend match-ups - on Friday!
If NBA officiating weren't absolutely terrible and offensive fouls were called according to the rules of the game, then penalizing "floppers" might be almost legitimate. You can see how bad it is when guys start getting fouls for daring to stand on the floor when the "overdog" team is losing and attempting to score, qv, some of the fouls called on the Bulls last night when the Mavs were trying to catch up. Ben Wallace got called for one foul while watching Josh Howard put in an offensive board. It's shameful. It's almost as if His Majesty David Stern has told his
pets (yes, his pets--the refs) to never, ever, ever, ever call an offensive foul if it can be at all ignored. Officiating is why the NBA game mostly sucks
and NCAA hoops, homers and all, is a much superior game.
If they're really worried about flopping and how it effects the game, the refs should just stop calling the foul. There's no reason to punish the offender, but they shouldn't be rewarded either. Seems like making this a T-able offense is extreme.
every kid must do something to get attention!!!!
This is all the NBA(No Basketball Allowed)needs. Another opportunity for the REF's (Ridiculous Examples
of Futility) to exercise their nonsensical ambiance
upon an idiotic atmosphere of beer-soaked animalistic
FANS(Fools And Nuts Society).
Anybody in their right mind knows the gams of professional basketball(?) is controlled by these guys (and unwitting gals)for the benefit of corporate CEOS,
who could care less about the purity of the game!
Some to these striped-shirt idiots wouldn't know a real game of basketball if it dribbled down their
throats.
This travesty is all professional basketball needs:
another way for the Ridiculous Examples of Futility
(REFs)to exercise their stupidity upon the Fools And
Nuts (FANs) who continue to expand the pocketbooks of
gigantic members of the greed society, both on the court and in the boardrooms.
If they want to do something to improve the game, and
restore it to something that vaguely resembles what Dr.
Naismith began, let them return it to a NON-VIOLENT, NON-CONTACT sport!
This way, there is no doubt what is a FOUL and what is a FLOP, because right now, the whole league is
flopping around like a bunch of 90-year-old boobs!!
Oh, the days of Bill Lambeer. I remember the series w/Detroit VS Portland '92. Every time Kevin got up on Lambeer, he would the flop. What was stupid about, Lambeer was a rock. But the ref's called it, and I belive it cost portland a shot at the title. I really don't know if they would have won it, as Vinne Johnson was unstoppabale. But it changed the whole complexity of the game, talent and skill sufferd. Moveng picks, and palmming the ball should be addresed. By the way, having watched Rasheed wallace get tossed the night they retired Clyde Drexlers' number from the rafters of the rose garden was a travesty. They played Vancouver that night, and I think Raw-weed's tech. was # 35. Gimme a break. It took 6 years before they did something about that. Nope, I will watch the NBA on Classic TV, when men played the sport. Like Walton stuffing it down Abdul-Jabbar's throat. HA HA
I think they should tweak the whole offensive foul system. It should either be a no call or a defensive foul unless the defensive guy is there for at least two seconds before the offensive player runs into him or the offensive player clearly initiates the contact to get an advantage(ie using the off hand to clear out). I hate all these guys sliding into position holding their balls. If you're not going to block the shot, get out of the way! Defenders "sliding into position" just makes driving to the rack more dangerous and on top of that you get the foul called on you too. And people wonder why all these players are just settling for jumpers.
This would be the best rule ever!!! Iverson and his ilk would be out of the game on fouls halfway thru the 1st quarter-and maybe the game will go back to basketball instead of gimme ball!
I think some of you do not understand the history of basketball. People down on the blocks are supposed to bang or be a little rough. Flopping takes a lot away from the game. If Bird and Jordan were in there prime playing now they would score a lot more due to the foul calls also. Players in those days got beat up for going down low. Also just because shaq is bigger does not mean he isn't entitled to the same moves other big men get. A lot of the time he isn't killing the opponent like it looks like, he is just making a post move. Hakeen dominated shaq and never flopped! Some in the leage need to just man up! Dennis rodman was nowhere near Shaq's size but was always able to guard him without help.
Aint no flopping in a street game. Eliminate it as a foul and it'll stop. Or it will make the game a lot more interesting than it already is. KOS
Make the floor out of concrete, naw that wouldent work, we'd have a bunch of players running around dressed up like hockey players. Wake up guys ( players ) the guys in charge are sending you a message, stop it or were gonna ruin the game for you.
Kinda neutral on the flopping. I agree that most of it is BULLSH_T. But like said before, it's the only way to get the refs to pay attention. The REAL problem is the REFS. They are terrible! They play by different rules every period. They pass out Tech's like candy because they are.. "IN CHARGE". They are not accountable for anything. I'd LOVE to hear an explanation for EVERY Tech called. You'd hear how fragile those refs really are!" He said I was wrong, so I teched him." David Stern has ruined the game! He cares more about the LOOK of the players than the honesty of the refs. This is my last year for season tickets. Way to go, Stern! You related to Bush the Idiot?