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Flip the floppers
TweetNOBODY admires a flopper. Whether it is a Damon Lowery or a Lebron James, that decision to flop, exaggerate contact and con a foul call is rightly regarded as the very essence of cheating but also is just not very manly.
The genuine greats – Magic, Larry, Oscar Robertson, Kareem, Wilt, Bill Russell - or our home-grown greats such as Werner, Coley, Richo, Lindsay, Bill Palmer ... they never flopped.
It was beneath them, the flop being the fallback of the fallen, the domain of the defeated.
When the NBA legislated to cut it out, a positive step was taken for every player who holds his ground and, dare I suggest it, plays like a man.
And this season, when the NBL too decided it was time to penalise the over-actors, many here also were thrilled.
But despite the occasional warning, few, if any, have been punished for flopping.
Sure, it can be a tough call when there is genuine hard contact. Less so when a player with the ball pivots and some 120kg big-man goes flying 20 metres on his butt.
So the flopping continues, with at least a couple in virtually every game.
Here’s the solution. Don’t worry about it ON THE NIGHT.
BUT! Referees lawman Marshall Mal Cooper and/or his deputies Wild Bill Mildenhall and Renegade Ray Hunt watch and assess the performance of the officials in every game.
They watch EVERY game, either live or on video.
So, when they see a blatant flop, they should send the video evidence to the NBL tribunal and the culprit suspended for one game.
No ifs, buts or maybes.
You flopped? You’re flipped. One game.
Go grow a pair of onions during your week’s break.
No court of appeal, no chance for the squeal. You flopped? You don’t get a chance to flap.
Imagine this during the TV call. “Wow, that looked like a flop from Sam Gridon, didn’t you think Steve? Think the Tribunal might be having a look at that one during the week.”
Yeah, trial by video may not be the most desirable option. But is flagrant flopping a better one?
Trust me. The first player nailed under the new rule would more than likely be the last as well, the league’s serial floppers immediately on notice knowing every game is being filmed in these oh-so-modern high-tech days.
Worth a thought?
WHILE I’m at it, why is it referees seem to think if the foul count in a game ends up 22-20, or 21-21 that they’ve done a good job?
You just know at any/every level, refs check the scoresheet at the quarter breaks and if they see they’ve called five fouls on one team and zero on the other, that will change to balance it up in the next.
It’s ridiculous.
If one team fouls a lot playing crappy defence, then if the count ends up 30-10, so be it. That coach has to teach better defence, NOT shake the scoresheet at the refs saying: “Look at this heinous foul-count disparity.” (Or words to that effect.)
Ah. And thereby hangs the problem, right?
If coaches are going to judge officials’ performances by the foul-count at game’s end then isn’t it actually coaches, NOT UMPIRES, who perpetuate the “even foul count = fair officiating performance” fallacy?
Don’t get me wrong. Referees most definitely do try to balance it out. I’ve seen games where one team has six fouls mid-quarter and the other one. Yet by quarter’s end it is 7-6. So officials are guilty as charged.
But their presumption they need to keep the foul count balanced surely is borne out of coaches post-game scolding them about the disparity, as if that is the basis on which good officiating performance is most judged.
Maybe if coaches wise up first, the officials can follow.
CONGRATULATIONS to Rotnei Clarke and Chris Anstey on their respective Player and Coach of the Month wins for December.
Rotnei is a dynamo and his 37 points in the NYE loss by Wollongong to Anstey’s Tigers was simply outstanding.
He completed the month averaging 24ppg but watching him go 9-of-9 from outside the three-point line against Melbourne before he blotted it with one late miss, was special.
“This is a great league to be a part of and it is full of some wonderful players,” Rotnei told nbl.com.au.
“I feel really blessed to be a part of it.”
Anstey’s men went through December unbeaten to take a firmer grip on third.
“I’ve always said it’s not about me, it’s about getting the players to buy into what we’re doing and I feel like that has started taking shape over the past few weeks,” Anstey said.
But, what he REALLY meant was: “If these guys had just bought into what I’ve been trying to do here sooner, I could have had a heap of these awards by now.
“Coaching can be so frustrating with such slow learners.”
Or something like that.
NOT showing my NBA colors here but was pretty thrilled today to see Andrew Bogut’s Golden State Warriors take out Miami Heat 123-114 in Miami.
Stephen Curry and David Lee played like All-Stars to knock over the dual-defending champions on their home court for the second year in a row.
The Warriors (21-13) won their seventh straight game - their longest streak since March, 2004 - and stayed perfect through the first three games of their East Coast road trip.
Curry had 36 points and 12 assists and was so hot – especially while scoring 22 in the second half – the crowd in Miami generated a buzz every time he set for a 3-pointer.
Lee paired 32 points with 14 rebounds, the Warriors' 38-point first quarter the most the Heat has allowed in a single period this season.
Sticking with the NBA, Pau Gasol today responded to an ESPN.com report of his imminent trade from the LA Lakers to Cleveland for Andrew Bynum by restating his love of Los Angeles.
“I'm not the type of guy that likes to jump ship because everything is not going right, right now,” Gasol said.
“I'm a loyal guy. I'd like to continue to be here and fight with the guys that are here.
“Once we get bodies back, everything will be better. Right now, I'd like to continue to stay here. It's my team, my city.''
Understandably, talks between the Lakers and Cavaliers for the Gasol-Bynum swap have appreciably cooled.
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