Tihs is pretty interesting. It has probably the greatest NBA coach ever, Red Auerbach, with legendary official Mendy Rudolph talking about flopping.
They're both right. Flopping should not be part of the game. It's not defense. It's acting. (Cripes, does this mean I actually am backing up Rasheed Wallace?) If a guy gets run over he gets run over and it's an offensive foul. But the flop is a fake, and the NBA is doing the right thing fining players for egregious flops staring next year. It's funny to hear Auerbach's outrage that some coaches are teaching their players to fall down when brushed. What would he say now?
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Good post, Pat. Now, if you'd finally criticize something locally instead of just generally, you'd get two thumbs up instead of just one.
The media portrays flopping as some kind of newer tactic brought to America by those wacky Europeans and some zany goofs from South America. But that segment was filmed over 30 years ago. Where were Wes Unseld and Elvin Hayes raised, Sweden?
Flopping is never going away, it's here to stay, and I wish David Stern would just shove image where the sun don't shine. Yeah, a hefty five-dollar fine is going to make it all disappear, just like that.
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