Flopping has always been around - but I believe it has gotten worse with the introduction of non-US players. Now before you say "What you talkin' bout Willis?!?" stay with me. See, soccer is the most popular sport in the world and these international players all grow up playing it. Well...guess what is perfectly legal move in soccer...flopping! It how they get those yellow and red cards. I think that these players came to the NBA and have taken it to a new level. Prime examples: Nash and Dirk. Nash is always flying all over the court and no way, someone can knock over a 7 ft German on a pivot move. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Ioyt2zzm530" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-wojnarowski_nba_labor_talks_080111 [rquoter] Strange, but the union never has the courage to bring up the mystery surrounding Stern’s salary. Many owners don’t even know what Stern makes. “I’d say three or less know,” one NBA owner told Yahoo! Sports. Several believe it’s somewhere in the range of $20 million to $23 million a year, but no one knows for sure. Maybe it’s more than that, but the fact that some owners don’t know the answer is beyond belief. [/rquoter]
That is beyond belief indeed. These are billionaire businessmen. They don't even care how much they pay the most important man in their business?
As I watch that video, I can't help but think that JVG woulda just had a heart attack had the other commentator said something about Yao and the constant flopping from people defending him. You know JVG REALLY used to hate that lol
Yup. Why doesn't NBA want to stop the flopping? It is not hard to find the obvious flops after the game and then fine and suspend these players.
Don't know if anybody has said this yet but how about not calling anything at all? No fines, techs, or suspensions. Just don't blow the whistle. The NBA nowadays is too soft, once the whistle stops blowing so often players will stop flopping and man up. If the ref didn't get a clear look at the foul then don't call anything, let players play.
Ehh actually No. It is not a perfectly legal move. You get a Yellow card if you flop. That being said it does happen a lot in soccer, since it is difficult to see and there is a high reward for flopping (a penalty-kick).
Because refs are human and as such they make mistakes. So it is perfectly fine to call flops because the refs get fooled. But you come back with fines and suspensions when videos show you are flopping.
The NBA is currently built on promoting stars over teams. The powers that be are not going to let their poster boys get a scratch by purifying the officiating. It's not in their best interest for the officiating to be unbiased. If people accuse me of being a conspiracy nut or sour grapes or whatnot, I cordially invite them to continue enjoying the evolution of the NBA without any resistance.
Mistakes can be limited if they can just not call a foul they they did not CLEARLY see. In my opinion a lot of these calls are made based on assumption and not based on what they clearly saw. They see a guy fly back and hit the floor so they automatically assume it's a foul and blow the whistle. Or they feel like they HAVE to blow the whistle because of such scenario.
I agree and that's where they are wrong. I think the NBA would gain many more fans if they went back to the old rough and tough days. I don't watch basketball nearly as much anymore because of how ticky-tack the game has become. In the good ol' days the players had heart and the stars earned their reputation by the determination they displayed. Now the NBA is full of terrible actors and cry-babies.
Wth... that's really fishy. So who is responsible for Sperm's salary? And since I've heard he has a 1-year contract, who keeps that contract? and who does Sperm answer to?
If someone throws an elbow and the ref cannot clearly see this, but the other player's head snapped back and blood started flying, do you call it a foul? I think it is much easier to use video to determine the flop afterwards. I believe NBA does not want to do this because it want give preferential treatments to certain star players, so if videos are used, it would invite scrutiny on the whole ref issue.
I agree. There is conduct each and every play in basketball, that strictly speaking could be whistled as a foul. Refs only call a subset of those contacts. More discretion by the refs wrt flopping is required. If the contact is incidental (like most contact is), the refs should let them play. If a player get incidental contact and flops, he will hurt his team since the team will have to play 4 on 5 while he is laying on the ground. Thus, his flopping will get punished and he will be taught not to flop.
This already happens. Yao was always bloodied on his arms. Also, Shane Battier in the playoffs with us a few years back when he had to run to the ref to call an injury timeout. If they want to go back to video and punish the floppers then so be it, but an immediate impact would be made DURING the game when the refs' whistles go silent.
The issue is on the officials' end, not the players. As someone pointed out, they give out yellow cards in soccer and it's occurring as much or more than ever. Players are always going to try to get whatever advantage they can. It's up to the officials to do their jobs. Unfortunately, NBA officials face no real consequences for their mistakes, and that's on David Stern. If I made mistakes at my job comparable to what happened in Houston last night, I'd be fired. Most people would. Twice in the last five minutes they weren't in position to tell who a ball went out of bounds off of. That's extremely basic stuff. Or if we go back to Sunday, Dalembert was whistled for a travel on a play where his shot was clearly blocked. These are just a few of many. There are no consequences. Those crews will work their next games, as scheduled. A few years back, Joey Crawford gave Tim Duncan a T for laughing... he worked again the very next night. Officiating basketball games isn't rocket science. There's plenty of people capable of doing it. If you miss easy calls, flops included, give the official real discipline - just as you would players and coaches. Sit him down for a week or two and force him to miss paychecks. I know it can't ever be perfect... but a lot of these mistakes could be cleared up if officials actually faced consequences for their mistakes, just like the rest of the world. Stern doesn't care enough.
It's harder for soccer refs to catch flopping because there is only one referee on the field and he is usually much farther away from the action than basketball refs. And since the clock doesn't stop in soccer, they can't review any calls in game. If soccer attempts to enforce some kind of anti-flopping rules, I don't see why basektball can't. There is really no excuse. It's a matter of whether you put the will to do it. Stern and the NBA clearly don't want to do anything about it.
Exactly. There is no accountability. They should fire the bad refs and hire new blood. If you pay enough money, there will be enough competent people to compete for the job. Heck, take just 10% of Stern's salary and they could hire real rocket scientists to work the game. :grin:
Yup. :grin: It just amazes me - officiating is one of the only professions that seems to escape the basic law of supply and demand, and the commissioners of these leagues are enablers. For example, I come from a journalism background... it absolutely makes me more diligent in my reporting knowing that there were others that can and will replace me if I don't. It's a job a lot of people would like to do and the special training to enter the field isn't extensive (relative to, say, things like medicine, legal practice, etc.). The same logic is true in officiating. People enjoy doing it and the required background knowledge is as simple as reading a rulebook. I know the NBA says it has a "review system" for officials, but there are two problems with it. For starters, you shouldn't have to wait until a year-end review to be held accountable. In any other profession, if you make major mistakes, you generally face immediate consequences. That's part of the fear that spurs you to improve your performance. Second, it's not a transparent process. David Stern has had enough shady things happen under his watch that fans can't take a legitimate review for granted. Consequences need to be shown.
