Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big storyline. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
“It isn’t enough. It isn’t enough.,” Stern said. “You’re not going to cause somebody to stop it for $5,000 when the average player’s salary is 5.5 million. And anyone who thought that was going to happen was allowing hope to prevail over reason. But you take a step and you begin to see it.”
So will the NBA take the next step?
“Yes, I think we do,” Stern said. “I think we have the data. I don’t know if we have the stomach. And we’ll have to see what happens with the Competition Committee and the Board.”
[…] “We knew that flopping was going to be far from perfect,” Stern said. “And we gather more attention because we were giving it more attention. But the point was to do it gently, look at all the flops, and there have been plenty, penalize the most egregious very gently. We could end that immediately if we decided to suspend players, but that might be a little bit draconian at the moment. And so it’s going to be up to the Board and the Competition Committee to decide how much they want to do.”
Pro Basketball Talk: David Stern admits small flopping fines didn’t work, penalties may increase
Some of the flopping this post season has been egregious. As great as that Heat-Pacers series was, there was a point there where the acting was starting to overshadow the playing.
Let’s get this out of the way now: every team has floppers on it. Every team has guys that will exaggerate contact to draw fouls. Some flops, though, are more egregious.
It’s almost as if a new class of flops needs to be created. Or the word has to be redefined. It’s one thing to get hit and sell the call. It’s quite another to pull the flail-and-fall just trying to trick the ref into a call.
By the way… watch Reggie Evans actually leave his feet in that .gif.
Higher fines and suspension could certainly help fix the problem. But we’ve actually seen something start to happen already in the playoffs.
Refs aren’t calling the flops.
Ever since that little double pirouette by David West and LeBron James, refs are letting the play continue when they see dramatic flopping. It’s like they’ve finally figured out that the big, over the top flails we see today aren’t actually how people react to getting hit. And, quite honestly, I’m surprised it’s taken this long.
Go watch a fight somewhere. I don’t care if it’s MMA, boxing, muy thai… whatever it is…. and watch a guy legitimately get hit in the face or body. Then go ahead and tweet me when you see one of those guys flail like an NBA player does.
They don’t. Because that’s not the natural reaction to getting hit. And if refs are starting to figure that out and letting plays go, then that’ll be the biggest deterrent to flopping.
Players only flop because it works. Refs have a tendency to blow the whistle any time a player hits the floor and guys know that. But if a ref doesn’t call the flops… if flops just stop working… then that’ll end it quicker than any system of fines.
It’s only been a couple of games, but I can already remember at least 3 instances in Game 7 of the ECF and last night’s Game 1 where players flopped, the refs didn’t call it, and the flop actually cost the flopper on the court. If the NBA can figure out how to make that happen consistently, then guys will stop doing it and putting their own team in 5-on-4 situations.
—-
If you care, this sort of non-update about Doc Rivers is floating around:
Miami Heat or San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals?
What’s Up Doc?
I asked that question to Boston Celtics Coach Doc Rivers Thursday morning over breakfast in Winter Park. While Doc is still mulling over his options for next season, he has some very decisive things to say about the Heat and Spurs in the NBA Finals.
Doc could have said he doesn’t know yet… or they might not have even talked about it. I don’t like the constant guessing about a guy who Danny has already said is coming back, and is acting like a head coach in every way…. but it’s out there. So here it is. (h/t Mass Live)
The rest of the links:
Herald: Vets aren’t Danny’s only decisions | WEEI: NBA draft guru Jeff Goodman on Celtics: ‘I’d look at Dennis Schroeder or Shane Larkin at No. 16′ | ESPN Boston: Jason Collins throws out first pitch at Sox game | ESPN: Spurs win Game 1 | Denver fires Karl
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
