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Flopping (Again!)
Posted by: Jazzaholic on December 4th, 2012
The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of the Utah Jazz.Sorry, to be forced on my soapbox again.
This is a sore subject.
http://youtu.be/40Qr84z4OwY
Pretty obvious, even watching live at the game, that Chauncey threw his leg out to catch Mo, but the replay shows him extending and pushing off with his left arm too. It really documents it nicely.
Too bad season ticket holders can’t watch a decent replay in the arena! I guess there might be a riot and a referee lynching.
There is still flopping. Why are the refs continuing to be fooled, where it’s obvious to everyone else?
The selling of a foul, by an illegal play, just kills the game.
When are we going to get refs, who call blocks correctly, stop the star treatment and are not sold a foul?
Flailing, windmilling, falling down, when the AC comes on, doing snow angels and the worm, will only be slightly slowed down by the “warning.”
Does anyone really think it wasn’t worth it for Chauncey to sell the foul and get 3 free throws? “Now, Chauncey, you’ve been a bad boy. Shame on you. If it happens again, we might fine you $5,000, from your $3,000,000.00 allowance.”
This one, if by some slight chance, he gets a warning, will cost him nothing. Not a bad deal to get a win.
Even if he gets a warning and is fined the next time. $5k is 1.6% of his pay. That’s like a $29 fine, based on my annual Social Security. Geeeeeze, I can get parking tickets, which cost more than that!
Players are still jumping in front of a player already in motion, still moving, when “hit”, and being rewarded with a charge, instead of being called for a block. If the refs would start calling the block correctly, the game would run smoother, and the fans would be rewarded with some spectacular dunks. Also, we might just see a return to some good old defense at the rim, instead of salesmanship.
If the refs would call the game correctly, in the first place, this would all take care of itself.
When you reward bad behavior, you perpetuate it.
Jazzaholic
Replies: 15
Views: 900
15 Responses
I love the new flopping rule except for two things. 1) It wont change the fact that games like this can be won or lost before it takes effect and 2) the punishment needs to be larger.
I would say the “warning” should have been the announcement of the rule change. These are adults. They don’t need warning after warning. They know what a flop is. Also, if a flop costs a team the win, that player should be fined $50,000.00 and they should be suspended 2 games. If this happens in the playoffs, I would say a 75,000.00 fine and a suspension of the remainder of the round or the first 4 games of the next round.
This epidemic and plague needs to be cleaned out of the league. You can’t cure a disease with a tiny dose of advil. You gotta dig in and remove the disease and get rid of it entirely. No more wrist slaps in exchange for wins.
If my first parking ticket would just be considered a “warning” each year, I’ll bet I could get some real choice places to park, for quite a while, before my first freeby, errr, “warning.”
The refs can review if it was a 3 point shot attempt, why can’t they start reviewing if it was the correct call in the first place?
Dumb…Really dumb!
An offensive foul should have been called, but the league won’t allow a review of the call.
Jazzaholic
I like your killing ants with a sledge hammer.
The announcement should have been the warning and the fines should be 10x their present level.
Jazzaholic
I look at this situation pretty drastically because flopping is the number one thing I hate more than anything about the current state of the NBA. The second thing I hate after flopping is the disparity between large and small market teams in terms of keeping their star players.
The league obviously can’t/wont fix the LeBron, Dwill, Melo, Dwight problem but they have shown an interest in stopping the flop. So why not go all in and take care of it?
Here’s my beef: Shouldn’t these players have pride in the fact that they are men? Outside of sports, what man would not be absolutely ashamed and horrified to throw themselves on the ground after being gently bumped or untouched? Let alone to be seen. Let alone to be seen by THOUSANDS and even MILLIONS of people? These fools should be trying to prove their strength and that they cannot and will not be pushed around. Win the game by playing it like a man and being the best. Not by throwing yourself to the ground and sacrificing your integrity and dignity. It’s absolutely pathetic that the league has to tell these jokers not to do that.
I don’t even get the point of a flopping rule, or fines for the player who flop……..
If a guy flop, there is not foul, right ?!
If the ref do his job, there is no foul, right ?!
so the answer is so simple, the ref just have to do his job, and flopping just………don’t exist
Well in this league, Stern puts the officials on a pedestal. NOTHING is their fault. Even though they employ tools like Bennett Salvatore, Dick Bavetta, Joey Crawford, and Violet Palmer. Those idiots know nothing. They might know the rules of the game but they are terrible officials. Therefore, Stern has to find a way to shift the blame onto the players. The players only learned how to flop because the officials rewarded them for doing it in the first place.
I agree with French Dude, flopping is learned behavior. You reward flopping with free throws, flopping becomes part of the game. As good as Kobe may be he would have scored far less points during his career had he not been so professional at engineering fouls on a defending player.
Excellent points!
Chauncey got a warning. Naa na naa de naa naa!
That will teach him!
If you want to win … cheat!
Jazzaholic
The NBA has fined Nets forward Gerald Wallace $5,000 for his second violation of the league’s anti-flopping policy on Wednesday. Wallace’s first warning came last week and he clearly didn’t learn his lesson, as both of his flops came on remarkably similar plays. His second violation came during the third quarter of a loss to the Heat in Miami on Saturday. Wallace was defending Heat All-Star forward LeBron James at the free-throw line extended, when James drove hard left towards the hoop. Wallace absorbed minor contact from James’ right arm but launched himself backwards to the ground, throwing his head backwards as he fell. James was whistled for an offensive foul on the play. Video of the second flop is available on NBA.com. SI.com
Chauncey Billups became the latest offender of the league’s policy against flopping on Wednesday, receiving a warning for this kickout of his left leg late in the Clippers win over the Jazz on December 3. It’s a clear flop, but the problem is that it worked to perfection. L.A. was trailing by two, and Billups was awarded three free throws for his actions. He made all three, and it helped the Clippers come away with a 105-104 victory. NBCSports.com
Doesn’t it just make you mad, that wins and losses are so little valued, that King David allows this to happen?
Jazzaholic
My question is this, if a player only gets fined $5000 after two flopping instances, but in the meantime a player helps his team win those two games does his team quietly turn around and pay the fine for him. Even if they don’t $5000 isn’t anywhere near enough to put an end to the behaviour, not with the amount of money they make, and especially not if a place in the playoffs is at stake when perhaps more bonus money kicks in. It has to come down to the refs calling out on players who do not play the sport in the spirit of the game.
I loved watching Deron when he was here but I didn’t like that he learned one aspect of his game from Kobe. I used to cringe everytime he threw up a shot from beyond the arc when on the occasions he was just trying to instigate a touch from the reaching defender just so that he could get 3 free throws as the clock was running down. Kobe has a great game, Deron has a great game, they don’t need to play the game in that manner.
‘Clever’ fouls however they come about spoil the game. Refs have a responsibility to the game to not be conned, after all its not just one official on the court at one time. Then there has to be an added layer of protection for the refs – after the game when it has been reviewed by television a player has to be fined after the first instance, in a manner that is consistent with what they earn – maybe one percentage point of what they earn. Second instance – same again plus a 3 match ban, 3rd instance – same fine and a 6 match ban.
The couple of times we have had the “scab” refs, while the overpaid refs were on strike, was refreshing. They called fouls on stars, seemed to have a better grasp on the block/charge call and left their egos at home.
King David said that he wanted the review at any time, instead of the last 2 minutes, but was vetoed by the owners.
I think they should have a 4th ref, in the video booth, who can overturn any missed call or play, just like the play by play crews already do, before the ball is put back into play. The 3 blind mice would be free to review the overturned call, if they wish, or let it stand and continue play.
There is a vast pool of retired refs, who no longer can run up and down the court, who’d love to get involved again. In fact, they could even set up a direct line to their home, from the control booth, so they don’t even have to go to the arena!
Does the broadcasters replay of the action hold up the game? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Neither would this. Plus, it would eliminate most of those 3 blind mice huddles watching soap operas at mid court.
Think of the joy of correcting most the missed calls in the flow of the game.
Think of the educational value of a bad call reversal for the ref who made the bad call. If you rub your dog’s nose in his wet spot on the rug IMMEDIATELY, he learns correct behavior. Wait until the next day and he has no idea what he’s done wrong. It’s the same way if a ref pees on your carpet…rub his nose in it immediately! He’ll quickly learn.
Jazzaholic
I have to disagree, if the refs were contantly reviewing their decisions for fear of getting something wrong then yes it would result in games lasting considerably longer. Refs need to be man enough to call it straight, whether its a home team or an away team a call effects or wheher its a star player or a rookie it should not matter. Unfortunately too many don’t. I do think that if you gave the refs the power to check their decisions throughout the game some abuse that power to the extent that fans would make their way home later, and teams flying off late at night for a new game in another the next night would have to get to later flights. The reality is some refs just are not confident enough to make a decision. A fourth official there to watch all tv coverage might be a good idea but they would have to be at the venue, even if they were in the tv editors room, and ultimately his involvement would have to be drawn in by the 3 officials on the floor, as is similarly the case in international rugby.
It doesn’t seem to slow the broadcasters up, does it.
Why would it slow the game up?
The 4th ref would have veto power over any call. If a ref violently disagrees, it could be reviewed by all 3 refs on the floor. The 4th ref would NOT overturn a call, unless it was clearly wrong on review. He would be watching real time too, with the advantage of multiple views. Most of the time play would continue, without change. There would ONLY be correction of obvious errors.
Instead of the 3 refs holding a prolonged conference at the scoring table, they could rely on the 4th ref, in the booth, to review the play much quicker, and speed up the game.
It would be no different for remote studio at a distance. The ref would still have the same bank of monitors, ear phones and mic he would have in the booth or truck. He would have the same staff executing his verbal orders, just as if he were there, almost instantaneously.
Jazzaholic