Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Why players flop

Last night, Lakers-Spurs, game 4. Brent Barry 'bumped' (according to Popovich, Jackson), 'fouled' according to the TNT crew of Reggie, Chuck, Jet, and EJ. But an interesting point Reggie made, was that Barry didn't "sell it." By 'sell it' they meant jump straight into him, in a shooting motion... and force the refs to make a call.

If Barry, when he got 'bumped,' had fallen to the ground, arms flailing, I'm thinking he would've gotten the call. But since he managed to get a call off, he didn't.

I see why everyone says it was a good no-call: end of game, 'light' contact, etc. But the general point that Barry could've decided whether to make it a foul or not (and not the ref), leaves me a little uneasy. That's essentially the whole problem with flops, players deciding when they get fouled, and then falling down to show it to the ref.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Game 3: Hornets-Spurs

Supposedly Celtics-Cavs was flop-tastic. We didn't see that game, we've got some Celtics-Spurs, with video, hopefully in the future (but def not tonight).

1st quarter

5 flops by Ginobili. (We'll have a breakdown after we get hands on video).

3rd quarter

10:30 Parker flops on D, NC (No Call)
10:25 Paul flops foul on Parker
10:10 Parker flops a foul.... call: travel
8:27 handfight foul on Bowen... no real flopping, but plenty of handwaving
6:17 Oberto tries to flop CP3, NC
0:43 Ely tries (mildly) to flop off-ball

Somewhere else in the third, Parker tries to flop a foul, Duncan gets tangled up over Parker, and CP3 zips up court for a 5 on 3.

4th

8:20 Parker hits his head on fall down on made layup. By my look, he didn't have to hit his head as he fell, and he hit his head through an act of embellishment.

Flop Log: Lakers-Jazz, Game 2

Second half only, video to follow.

3rd quarter

- 7:40 Odom falls after missed layup (looking for call? borderline)
- 7:20 Brewer(?) falls in the post after fouling Kobe... note to Brewer, you're supposed to fall if you get fouled, not the other way around
- 6:51 Kirilenko falls, foul on Okur (borderline)
- 5:21 D-Will, charge taken, (just modern defense)
* 3:55 Brewer flops, playing post defense, Walton with easy layup. (embarassing)
- 1:10 Kobe flails his arms while driving thru the lane (s.o.p.)
- 0:30 Walton falls backward playing post defense (mildly embarassing)

4th quarter

* 6:55 Harpring flails (twice) on off-the-ball contact in the lane, No Call
- 3:01 Vuijajic mini-flail, half-fall after Boozer pushes him back working for rebounding position. No Call. (embellishment)

Another item: I forget when it happened, It didn't seem like a flop at the time, so I didn't log it. But D-Will fell down after a driving shot attempt, in the aftermath, he was accidentally kicked (possibly in the man region, no good replays), and was lying hurt for a few seconds. But players will fall down enough on legit contact. With increased flopping, you get all these extra bodies lying in the lane, with high probability of getting kicked, stepped on, or otherwise tangled up with the feet of the still-standing. Once a flopper takes a serious foot to the face, I'm guessing the number of volunteer floppers will go way down. It's all fun and games when refs call non-extant calls, but if players notice the downside to flopping, maybe they'll rethink their choices.

Monday, May 5, 2008

Spurs-Hornets Game 2

Quick comment here, no video yet:

All types of chippiness in the third.

~3:00 left in the third quarter. I think David West flopped that foul on Oberto, and was clapping in his face b/c now Oberto's getting a taste of his own medicine.

The proof of course, may be in the video pudding.

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Different Kinds of Flops: the Manufacture

Here is a clip of Bonzi Wells abusing Manu Ginobili:



Oh, on second viewing, it's just good ole Manu up to his shifty tricks. Thanks, Manu, for showing us all exactly how to manufacture a flop call out of thin air.



What makes it manufactured:

1) There was no call already on the play when he fell.

2) Even after watching it, you can't see the foul.

3) There is usually a body flying through the air and sliding on the hardwood at least 4'-5'.

4) Chances are coaches are sending the clip in to league officials, and league officials are making the refs look at their handiwork.

5) It's a tough game to officiate, but chances are the ref who called it didn't see the 'foul' directly,
but instead only reacted to the flying body in his/her peripheral vision.


The manufactured flop: it's a classic. Chances are, whenever you see a flop, it was simply manufactured.