MVN - Most Valuable Network

More on Flopping

I’m going to explain something to my readers that is important to me.  More important then the Lakers winning a championship, and even more important then anything else you will read today.

A few weeks ago I wrote a piece about Greg Flopovich and the Spurs, and received some bitter responses and some annoying e-mails as well.  The common denominator was, not that the Spurs didn’t flop for calls, but we aren’t the only ones doing it, so therefore its okay.  That’s like saying let’s all cheat and may the best cheater win.

I mentioned in my Flopovich article that this is bad for basketball, and must stop.  I suggested giving technical fouls for floppers, but it didn’t gain much traction.  One of the problems of implementing ideas is that others have to realize and recognize that a problem exists.  After watching the Lakers and Hawks last night, I realized that perhaps I am the only one who recognizes these things, so therefore I should keep my trap shut.  Instead I will make another attempt to clean up the game, while using the Los Angeles Lakers as the villain.

In the Laker game last night, there were two plays that determined the game.

Let’s go to flop one, starring Derek Fisher.  There is about 30 seconds left in the game, and Derek Fisher is driving right and working his way past Josh Smith.  Then next thing you know, D-Fish flops to the ground as if he were shot, the ref blows the whistle, foul two free throws.  In my opinion, D-Fish flopped to the ground to get the call.  I know this, because I have seen it done 1,000 times.  Derek stole a call by flopping, and I totally disagree with that tactic to win a game.  Anyway, Derek went one for two and now its Hawks ball going the other way.

Joe Johnson drives on Fish, and what do you know, D-Fish is again knocked back 10 feet on incidental contact, hoping to draw a foul.  The refs don’t buy it and whistle Fisher for a foul.  Derek argued vehemently but to no avail.  Joe Johnson calmly hits two to seal the game.

The point that I’m getting at is this, it was so obvious what Fish was doing that I can’t believe an official 5 feet from the play could make that call.  Derek Fisher is built like a truck and it would take a lot more to knock him down then incidental contact.  Had the Hawks lost this game, many would have said it was because of the veteran play by Fisher.  When in reality, all he did was steal a call and potentially the game.  In my opinion, wrong message to send to the youth of America.

Games need to be decided by who is the better team, not who is the better flopper.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 7th, 2008 at 6:07 pm and is filed under Pacific, Greece, NBDL, Amare Stoudamire, Andrei Kirilinko, Police, Georgia, Brian Cook, Elton Brown, ed ziti, Charles Oakley, Colorado, Gambling, Chris Mihm, Jerry Buss, Kings, Oden, Portland, Valdosta Daily Times, Rony Turiaf, Vladimir Radmanovic, line, Betting, Don Marbury, Jordan Farmar, Stu Lantz, Aaron Jay Sapiro, Javaris Crittenton, Bets, Willis Reed, Maurice Lucas, Wes Unseld, Rick Mahorn, Lee Riley, The Winner Within, Bob Nightengale, Church, Trevor Ariza, Mitch Kupchak, Larry Bird, Knicks, Smush Parker, Sacramento, Larry Brown, Pau Gasol, New York, NCAA, Leandro Barbosa, Kobe Bryant, Eddy Curry, Isiah Thomas, Rockies, Indiana Pacers, Houston Rockets, Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors, Utah Jazz, Grant Hill, Andrew Bynum, Jackie Butler, St Johns, Derek Fisher, DJ Strawberry, Pat Riley, Lakers, Sasha Vujacic, Rick Adelman, Shawn Marion, Raja Bell, Kwame Brown, Lamar Odom, Luke Walton, Jerry Sloan, Don Nelson, Devean George, Baron Davis, Mike Dunleavy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.