Good. Glad to hear it. I would hate for basketball to become like soccer in this regard. And I always feel that the players get the officiating they deserve. The reason NBA refs sometimes look bad is because players game the system. T'ing flops should improve the overall quality of officiating.
I'm up in the air on this one. Watching an NHL official call a trip and a flop at the same time is painful at best. There's nothing worse than watching 1 of your guys get tripped, thinking a power play is coming, only to find out a flop was called as well. If the player flopped, then they really didn't get tripped, did they? I say, If you believe the player embellished, faked it, or made it seem worse than it appeared, then don't make any call at all on the opposing team. To say someone legitimately got charged and also embellished the fall is crazy. How do you know what I look like when I get ran over? As long as it's one or the other I have no problem with it, but if it's like the NHL (yea you got tripped, but you also added drama to the fall) than it's pointless. I think they are searching for a middle ground to be able to call a block and a charge at the same time.
They should review video and fine them outside the game.
I think they are searching for a middle ground to be able to call a block and a charge at the same time. "I got a blarge on blue, twenty-seven..."
I knew the NBA would find a way to increase Shaq's scoring since he couldn't do it on his own. So now both him and Wade have a clear path to the basket.. Miami will repeat!
it's real easy to tell when a 240 pound power forward goes flying backwards after being touched by a 165 pound guard,he's faking. Not true. I am (a little over) the guard weight you list, and I can knock guys over in the 220-240 range when I go to the basket, and I am nowhere in the vicinity of strength that the NBA guys possess. It is all about balance at the moment of impact, and not an automatic "fake" as you might suggest.
C'mon - no one is really fooled by the flop. No one expects a guy going to the rim is going to send a larger player 20 feet in the opposite direction. The flopping is obvious. To everyone. Does a flop mean there wasn't a charge? No - there absolutely can be a charge and a flop. The practice has just gotten to the point where it looks like the defensive player is showing up the ref. I agree that you should be able to T-up a flop - but I think it would be a bit better for the game if you started to fine players, rather than overly confuse the situation as lilnemo has said.
They should review video and fine them outside the game. I have been arguing for a while now that this should be the approach in soccer. It is very difficult to call diving or flopping during a game. However, a not insignificant portion of the time, you can get pretty good video evidence of whether some sort of reaction is caused by the opponent or faked by a player. Use video to check the flopping, and even adopt some sort of "clear and convincing evidence" standard or something akin to what the NFL uses for in-game replays (conclusive video evidence). In soccer, it could be a retroactive yellow card or simply for every two times you get caught, you have to miss a game. Same with basketball -- any two flops = one game suspension. I don't know that fines are enough -- missing a game and the salary associated with that game seems to send a stronger message and may have more of a deterrent effect. (Although perhaps a hybrid would be to fine the first one and suspend as a result of the second.)
Actually, isn't charging/blocking supposed to be based on the position of the defensive player? If Shaq is planted in the lane, not under that little circle under the basket, and Earl Boykins plows into him, I don't care if Earl bounces off 20 feet, it should be a charge. Let's hold the refs to some accountability.
There goes Pau Gasol's entire defensive strategy. Is it any surprise that the best floppers come from countries where soccer is the predominant sport? Just an observation.
Very good points made from both sides. I just think it's going to be 1 more thing a fan can say the ref didn't call. Ok, blarge was funny.
