What a coincidence. I wasn't going to start a thread about it, but as I was watching the game this morning I was thinking the EXACT same thought. I actually like Spain's team and style, but the flopping was so pronounced that I was considering what might be done about it. Luckily there is nothing in the NBA this bad. I consider the Jazz the worst floppers in the league, and Gasol to be the biggest whiner in the league, but the Spanish team was taking it to another level this morning. Apparently they have absolutely no self respect. No level is too low to stoop. That extends from the on court antics to the coaches pathetic tantrum at the end of the game. I don't know if he was actually trying to accomplish something with his behavior or if it was an actual emotional explosion. The worst incidence I saw was when a rebound was pulled out of a Spanish players hands and the player threw his arms in the air, faked a stumble, and almost hit the floor. I think the NBA should act now before this spreads to US basketball. With the influx of international players, I would hate to see this become a widely accepted tactic. It ruins the flow of the game. Excellent thread SamFisher.
A couple other thoughts. I think it should be a technical instead of a personal foul. Since it would be such a difficult call to make, I would hate to see someone pick one of these up and get thrown out of a game when it really wasn't necessary. Also, would you call it on: A faked off-balance stumble? A faked fall? A faked arm-flailing? Very hard to define.
nice find on the rules on Techs Sam, thought faking was in there Doc Rob - impt to remember in international bal Tech fouls count as personal fouls
<blockquote><hr>• Falling down to fake a foul.</hr></blockquote>Fancy that. FIBA does not come close to enforcing a written rule. My take is that to make it a harsh penalty like a technical is too much. It just won't be called that much. A lesser penalty will allow defenders to emphasize the legitimate charging contact (or dislodging), as well as following away on legitimate contact to protect against injury. Near the basket, where it is very difficult to tell what is a flop versus a defender get hit or trying to protect against injury, I would propose allowing the refs to call a personal foul on the offensive player, but allow them to negate the change of possession, making the flop more like a defensive violation rather than a foul or technical. Of course, the best approach near the basket is to just ignore the flop and let play continue. Perimeter and away from the ball flops/fakes could just reset the 24-sec clock.
Well, considering that some of the biggest floppers that come to mind are American born and raised, this should have been raised a long time ago, and i dont feel it is exclusive to international players. Karl malone? John Stockton? Derek Fisher?
I think see the point of making flopping a foul. As others have said, it will go away VERY QUICKLY if refs simply refuse to call it. Flopping places a huge burden on the defense if it's not called, as your team basically plays 4 on 5 for that possession. Many times, it will lead to an easy shot for the opponents. Penalizing flops overly complicates things. Imagine if a player simply stumbles on his own, and gets called for a foul. There's simply no need. The refs just needs to hold their whistles. The reason players flop is because they work. When they no longer work, they'll stop flopping.
