Defending The Flop

I was listening to Mike and Mike on my way to work Tuesday morning and Greenberg went on a rather large tangent about flopping. Apparently, a "flop" by Andrei Kirilenko in the closing minutes of game two helped Utah steal another win in Houston and got the Jazz up 2-0. Mr. Duel was livid about the flailing and that the NBA should step in and do something about it. His proposal: to whistle the play dead once the flop has occurred and assess the flopper with a technical foul. Mike Greenberg, you are an idiot. And anyone that agrees with his idea is also an idiot. Allow me to explain...

Look, I don't like it when people do it either. When you see Manu Ginobili go from single-handedly dominating his opponent for large stretches of games to him getting breathed on and flying into the fourth row, it's embarrassing. A great basketball player shouldn't be doing those things because they lose all credibility. We shouldn't be talking about how he overacts to sell fouls. We should be talking about how he's unstoppable off the dribble. He's only doing what it takes, within the rules of the league, to try and win games. I will agree, it sucks and it should piss you off, but it's legal and any attempt to make it illegal on the court would be injust.

Now, if the NBA decides to start cracking down on the acting, the first thing that we need is a clear definition of the rule for the rule book. I ask you, how do you define a "flop"? Put it into words for me that are clear, concise, and definitive. You can't just hand me a "Best of Varejao" videotape. You have to explain it. The problem is, you can't. A flop can not be defined. Because the eyes can deceive, you can't tell within a split second, a player's intent. It's impossible.

If you haven't noticed, most of the great floppers in the NBA are foreign guys. I don't think I'm being racist here, maybe I am, I don't give a shit though because it's true. Look at the role models they had when they were growing up...soccer players. You may not have heard of this sport since you live in America, but futbol players make Hedo Turkoglu look like John Wayne. So it's not their fault, it's the environment that they grew up in (ending pro-flopper sentiment).



But back to hoops. Yes, they tend to act like they were shot when they were just barely nudged, but most of the time, there is some sort of a push-off. And the great players understand that sometimes you need to sell the call. I think the problem that most of us have with flopping is not the actual dive that they take, but the over-sell that the flopper conveys. Right? If these guys didn't wildly throw their arms in the air and yell "AHHHHH", would it be that big of a deal? If people would just stop doing that, it basically boils down to guys trying to draw a charge. Yet some feel that a T should be given for that...



Back to Greenberg's suggestion though, he wants referees to start making judgment decisions on the fly based on whether or not he/she thinks that a player should not have fallen down and screamed? What if the guy trying to take a charge loses his balance in a game 7? What if he trips over someone's foot? What if, in the heat of the moment, misremembers how to properly fall and it looks awkward? You want a technical foul assessed for that? That's bullshit. Referees have enough to worry about, you know, with the 10 athletic freaks of nature running up and down the court banging for 48 minutes. Judging the "real" intentions of a guy falling on his back shouldn't be added to the equation.

I honestly feel that they've gotten better at not rewarding flopping recently. Hell, Anderson Varejao's "charge" total was quite low this season (I know that he held out and was hurt, it was still low). So let's not get all crazy here. Referees aren't stupid. Yes, they may call charges on a few blatant flops here and there, but it's not like it happens every other possession. And most of these floppers have reputations around the league now and they aren't getting as many calls. So, Mike Greenberg, focus more on keeping your DSL's moist for when you get the chance to blow Chad Pennington and leave NBA rule changes alone. There are many more injustices that need corrected before that. Case in point...



The "Hack-A-Shaq". How is this remotely fair? The last two games, in the 4th quarter, the Suns are walking the ball up the court with Shaq lumbering along and right when he crosses center court, Brent Barry is there to grab him and get a foul called. WTF??? If Shaq isn't in the paint or doesn't have the ball, yet the Spurs wrap him up for a foul, how is that not an intentional foul!!! They aren't making a play on the ball or defending an entry pass or anything! They're just raping him 40 feet from the basket. It's disgusting really and a total bush league move from the champs and Coach PitFace. Every time that they do that, they should get a Flagrant 1 foul for being little bitches. If you're going to be the champs, you should at least act like it. You shouldn't have to resort to rule book loopholes to defend your title.

Now THAT is a rule that needs to be changed to preserve the sanctity of the sport. Because it is a fucking embarrassment that teams can get away with that. Basically, what today's discussion boils down to is that the art of flopping takes all the heat as a true evil in the sport of basketball. In all actuality, it's not that bad and there are bigger issues to fix first.