The new Ginobili Rule: NBA may finally begin penalizing FLOPPERS…

[se7en]

Not sure how they tell the difference between a foul or flop without instant replay, but I’m glad they’re looking into it. I wonder how International refs can tell the difference?

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2742835

Report: NBA studying floppingESPN.com news services

Flopping is already illegal in international play. Now, it might become illegal in the NBA, as well.

The NBA is studying how often flopping occurs and whether officials can tell the difference between flops and actual fouls, Stu Jackson, the NBA's executive vice president for basketball operations, told Bloomberg News in a story published Thursday.

"They're really difficult to determine in real time. They're meant to fool an official," Jackson said. "Are we going to be wrong more times than not? It's tough, but we're looking at it."

Jackson said the NBA is considering whether to allow its officials to impose technical fouls for flopping, which FIBA, the governing body of international basketball, allows its referees to do. Other sports, such as hockey and soccer, also allow referees to penalize players who flop.

"We have so many more plays than you do in a football or soccer game and in a more intimate environment," he said.

Jackson didn't give a timetable for the league to make a decision.

 

[elindholm]

Like almost anything else, it would come down to the officials' judgment, but it's still a good idea. Just the threat of being T'd up should be enough to get Ginobili to mellow out a bit.

 

[scoutmasterdave]

It's probably a good thing, but it's going to hurt the Suns. Nash, Bell and Thomas all have to be among the top 10 practitioners of the flop in the NBA.

 

[boisesuns]

Is Vlade fighting this?

 

[SactownSunsFan]

I like that they're looking into it, but I think they're going about it wrong. I think the penalty for flopping should not be a judgement call by the refs. Here's something along the lines as to how I'd like to see it handled:

A team's front office files a complaint with the league should they feel a flopping incident occur during the game. Report must be filed in a timely manner. The league reviews the specific incident to determine whether or not the complaint is valid. Player's found guilty of flopping receive a $10,000 fine for each specific incident. Upon a player's 5th violation in a given season, they are suspended for one game, and are suspended for each subsequent violation.

Something like this would probably clean up the league better.

 

[Goldfield]

I dont think our guys "flop" as much as the really bad ones like Ginobolli & Dirk.

Our guys might not be completely set at times but they do a good job of selling it, without flat out floping.

Not sure if there is a diff. But a close call charge doesnt bother me as much as a flat out flop does.

 

[DeAnna]

This is bad news for Raja.

 

[Covert Rain]

Way to go NBA. Why not put in ANOTHER rule that is so objective it makes your Refs look even more like they don't know how to call a game.

 

[Gaddabout]

The punishment should be no foul is called. That way a player takes himself right out of the play. Free path to the basket.

Trying to call flops ... shades of the illegal defense era.

 

[devilfan02]

Something had to done, no matter how hard the foul will be to call.

This also hurts the Suns but I'm in favor of the rule

 

[Mainstreet]

The punishment should be no foul is called. That way a player takes himself right out of the play. Free path to the basket.

Trying to call flops ... shades of the illegal defense era.

Now this is the best take I've heard about flopping and it is accurate because no foul should be called. I think some referees ignore flopping now but not as much as I would like.

 

[mribnik]

Is it a flop when you exaggerate contact? That's what the Suns do the most IMO. Manu pretends there was a lot of contact when there wasn't any at all.

 

[Gaddabout]

Is it a flop when you exaggerate contact? That's what the Suns do the most IMO. Manu pretends there was a lot of contact when there wasn't any at all.

There is an art to it which KT has mastered. But he's always in front of his opponent, so he doesn't have to worry about the interpretation of whether the shooter dropped his shoulder and initiated contact. Nash looks like he has done a lot more homework on the defensive end, and he's starting to draw more charges. Real charges. Bell is definitely more borderline. He flops even when he doesn't have to, but it's rarely overacting.

Ginoboli makes a mockery of the whole thing. He looks like his doing some kind of wire act in a martial arts movie. There is no way Earl Boykins should be able to knock Ginobli 15 feet backwards across the floor, but that's how far he slides regardless who "bumps" him. Ginobli is also a grabber, an old trick that Ainge had perfected, and I think he learned from Dennis Johnson. Basically, you wait for a moment when the ball handler is driving but trying to pivot, then you grab the jersey somewhere around the arm pit and pull him down.

The worst flopper I ever saw was Barkley. He didn't do it a lot because he was so bad at it. But whenever he was tired and didn't like getting beat down in the post, he'd measure up once or twice and then act like he get an elbow. Another Stupid Barkley Defensive Trick was to count how many times, say, Karl Malone would bump a defender before pivoting toward a hoop. Charles would bump once, twice, but back way up on the third time in attempt to cause the defender to fall backwards. This worked in the flotsam of NBA power forwards, but it never worked against the good ones. The sad thing is Barkley was fully capable of being All NBA 1st Team defense if he cared to put in a full game's effort on that end of the floor. It's why I find his current criticism of the Suns so hypocritical.

But I'm way off topic now ...

 

[elindholm]

The sad thing is Barkley was fully capable of being All NBA 1st Team defense if he cared to put in a full game's effort on that end of the floor.

In what universe? His lateral quickness was poor and he was giving up six inches to most players he guarded.

 

[Gaddabout]

The sad thing is Barkley was fully capable of being All NBA 1st Team defense if he cared to put in a full game's effort on that end of the floor.

In what universe? His lateral quickness was poor and he was giving up six inches to most players he guarded.

He was stronger than most, even in the post, and nobody was quicker from floor to ceiling in a vertical jump. What made him such a great rebounder should have made him a better defender.

 

[Errntknght]

I'd like to see the league take a 'mature' approach to this - in other words use the experience of FIBA with flops as a starting point. It may turn out that the FIBA coaches generally believe their method sucks, in which case thats a good reason to do something else or nothing. If they generally think their method is effective and not detrimental to the game then the NBA should seriously consider it. They could use footage of FIBA calls and non-calls of 'flops' to get an idea of what is considered flopping.

My inclination would be to copy FIBA - if the rule was in effect during the last World Championships - because I don't recall seeing many flops nor do I recall the game being interrupted by referees making such calls. The ideal rule is one that is designed so well that the refs almost never have to make a call to enforce it.

 

[Skumbag]

put em in the penalty box for 3 minutes.... lol... I'd love to see some 5 on 4 action hahhaaha

 

[TucsonDevil]

I would like to see the rule be written like this:

"If a play intentionally falls backward and hits into another player, he will be fined $10K the next day after review of the film. If falling into another player causes injury, the player will be suspended the same number of games as the injured player misses and will be fined $50K."

I don't want to see the flow of the game interrupted as officials bebate a flop vs a ligitimate charge. Let the tape speak for itself. This would stop Mano the fish from flayling around like he was shot out of a canon when bumped. That is what needs to be eliminated, not 'flopping'. IMO, flopping is an important strategy at times - not every flopper gets the call he wants.

 

[jbeecham]

Even with replay after the game, it's going to be hard to tell what's a flop and what is legitimate. The only clear cut cases are going to be when there is very little or no contact and the player jumps 10 feet away flailing his body all over the place. I'm not worried about the Suns being penalized very much by rule changes here because there is legitimate contact on the majority of plays. Raja exaggerates contact more than anyone else, but there is contact.

 

[panfolk]

I wonder if this rule will keep the defense from injuring themselves and the ballhandler by "stepping in" to take the charge if they aren't allowed to flop in the process. I've always thought that is a stupid practice. Plus it just slows down the game further. Standing your ground I have no problem with, of course.

 

[ActingWild]

The worst floppers I ever saw were Malone and Vlade.

Fixed.