OT: NBA Officially Cracking Down On Flops

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/8433232/nba-finalizing-procedures-penalize-players-flopping

Amen!

In other news, Chris Paul and Blake Griffin have applied for jobs at Burger King.

 

I thought they said that last year they were going to start calling T's on blatant floppers.

 

Penalize the floppers? OK. How about penalizing the refs for calling obvious flops, while we're at it? Then maybe we can move onto penalizing the refs for blatant star treatment. Yeah, I must be drunk.

 

I think they're going to need to make flopping an infraction to make it stop...maybe make it a technical or something.

 

For those of you who don't know I am a HS Varsity referee (I also do some D3 and am working my way up).

In the rule book Faking being fouled is a technical foul. However, it is one rule that is almost never applied. The easiest way to combat the the flop is by the ref (1st of all) not being fooled by it. 2nd, DON'T CALL ANYTHING.... I've seen people flop all over the floor, Offensively and Defensively, and I tell them "You might get that call if you quit flopping". If a Defensive guy flops and then looks at me for a call, I tell his ass to "get up and stop flopping". As soon as a flop happens I address it with the player who thinks he should be getting a call.

There are 2 questions you ask yourself on almost every foul call and definitely any Block/Charge call.

1. Is the Defender a legal guarding defender (both feet facing the offense while owning your spot on the floor. One's feet can be moving and they do not need to be set.)

If the answer to this is no, the foul is ALWAYS on the Defense. If the answer is yes, you ask a 2nd question:

2. Did the offensive player go TO & THROUGH the Defense.

If the answer is no, you may have a no call (I air on the side of letting the players play) If the answer to this is yes than you have a charge.
BOTH questions need a positive answer before you come up with a charge.

All of this questioning and decision making needs to happen in split seconds. Bottom line:

Refs need to recognize WTF a fucking flop actually is! And when it happens they tell the player to get his/her ass up and stop flopping and that if it continues you will assess a Technical Foul for faking being fouled.

It's really that simple.

 

It's about time!

 

This is what they are doing??

"The procedures likely will involve a postgame review of the play by the league office, rather than an official calling an infraction during the game, Frank said.

Players likely would be fined if the league determined they flopped."

Just leave it to David Stern to find a revenue stream in the guise of "cracking down on flopping"... More like...

 

Sounds pretty weak. Rasheed Wallace was happy paying a ridiculous number of fines just to vent his temper. Similarly, I suspect floppers are going to be happy to pay 5% of their income in fees just to ensure they continue receiving the other 95% of their income stream.

I think dviss1 has a better solution. Ignore the flops. I'd add that I'd hold guys who have a reputation for flopping to a higher standard. If you blow a whistle on a call that might be a 50:50 call, and you look on the floor and realize it's Ginobili, you shrug and say, "My bad, no foul. Inadvertent whistle." If the 50:50 play happens during a shot and the shot goes in, score it. Otherwise, give the offense back the ball and put 14 on the clock. Players will quickly learn that flopping actually hurts the team, because it makes guys like Ginobili less effective defenders.

Refs manage by reputation all the time in the NBA. I mostly hate it. But if the system exists, we might as well use it for good purposes.

 

There is absolutely no way you can call an inadvertent whistle on a foul. You either see a foul or you don't. The bottom line is this:

The players are going to do WHATEVER the refs allow. If the refs don't give a call when a player flops, it puts players out of defensive position.
If you are out of defensive position, the offense scores. The coach gets upset and reiterates what the ref has already told you:

GET YOUR ASS UP AND STOP FLOPPING.

The players will adjust to the reffing and coaching.

SIMPLE.....

 

The only thing that needs to change is the way the game is officiated. Refs need to stop being spectators (Leon Wood)
and actually ref the game. Get in position to get an "open look" at the play (a look between offensive and defensive player
to determine who is creating contact). Referee the defense 1st. This is not happening. If this is done it is easy to see who
creates contact and who is flopping.

I think I'm a ref who can easily see the difference between a flop and actual contact. I'm also the ref who will tell you
"get up and stop flopping".

So if your kid plays in HS in Portland, and He/she's a flopper, I will tell your kid "flopping is soft" or
"you won't get that call flopping like a fish, so get up".

Moral of the story, teach your kids not to flop. It's a lie plain and simple.

 

i think it might end up being techs assessed after the fact, and that would lead to suspensions.

at least they are headed in the right direction, nobody wants to be called out as being a flopper

 

See I think they are doing the exact opposite of what they need to be doing.

The simplest way to stop people from flopping is NOT to penalize it. NOT to fine people retroactively for it.... (shakes head)

It's to STOP rewarding it! If a player knows he/she ain't gonna get anything out of flopping except to get scored on and a seat on the bench, he/she ain't gonna flop!

 

And the year before that.

And the year before that.

And the year before that.

And the year before that.

There's only one way to eliminate flopping. The NBA reviews all games. If a player flops, they miss a game.

 

Easy words to say, but the fact remains it's taught at every level and is the mainstay of Euro basketball.

 

I guess you didn't read this:

"The simplest way to stop people from flopping is NOT to penalize it. NOT to fine people retroactively for it.... (shakes head)

It's to STOP rewarding it! If a player knows he/she ain't gonna get anything out of flopping except to get scored on and a seat on the bench, he/she ain't gonna flop!"

 

I'd be up for that. First time LeBron sits, though, there will be a shitstorm. But sometimes shitstorms can be healthy.

Well, not literally.

 

This will never happen so why advocate it? It's far too radical of an idea when the solution is plain and simple:

Refs need to STOP rewarding the flop. If a player flops let his ass go down and deal with the consequences of his fish flopping. If the ball goes out of bounds blow the whistle. Out of bounds off the guy (chris paul) who just flopped with it. If the offensive player gains an advantage from a defensive flop, there is NO need to even ACKNOWLEDGE the flop. Let his soft ass go down. And when the Offensive guy/gal scores, say NOTHING to the flopper unless he/she asks you a question (which they will). What's the answer to whatever STUPID (because it is stupid. you know you flopped) question they have?

YOU FLOPPED. STOP FLOPPING. (If they keep arguing THAT'S when you T em')

I'll bet, if they don't get a whistle from flopping all over the place that they won't do it anymore. The reason why they are doing it is because the ref isn't doing a good enough job to know the difference between a flop and actual contact that disrupts a players rhythm, balance, speed, or quickness.

So, the fix lies in more training for the refs. The Refs need to simply design a camp (this is done all the time) that simply addresses how best to determine the difference between a flop and real contact. Then they need to police it by ignoring the flopper and NOT rewarding them.

 

The long and short of it is this:

The refs dictate how the game is played. Whether or not the game is free flowing and fluid largely depends on
how tight the refs are calling it. If the ref is blowing his whistle every time there's a flop this also stops the game
from being as fluid as it can be. The refs calling the flops are NOT having a patient whistle. They are guessing
and this needs to stop. Focusing on the difference between a flop and actual contact is no one else's job but the ref's.
And if the referee is constantly rewarding a guy for lying to him that ref is not doing a good job. (The NBA will never tell you this)

 

It will be just like anything else. They won't call it on the stars, it will continue to effect games, and all you'll get after the fact is an apology after the game that the flop happened and maybe a fine for the offending player. If you want to start really stopping that shit, take away wins from teams that are caught flopping multiple times in a game. Five flops and you forfeit. BOOM! That shit will stop.