An NBA game has 4x more flopping than any soccer game.

[mstateglfr]

I've watched most all the playoff games and every one since the second round. Every year it seems to get more over the top.
More floppin than Romney and Kerry combined! <--- see that? Non-partisan, so not political.

Seriously, how many times a game does the offensive player actually grab and drag the defender into them to draw a foul? At least 3 each game. That's in addition to the flopping. Flops on offense. Flops on defense. Flops on shots. Flops on screens. Flops on rebounds even.

Oh, and that restricted line needs to be pushed out more. Someone sliding in right along the arc when the ball handler is starting to go into the air is not defense. It's junk. What they have is better than what they used to have, but it's not what they need. The rule hasn't kept up with execution and abilities.

 

[Bulldog Bruce]

The NBA decided a long time ago that they will not have their Refs call all the fouls. They let Wilt, Barkley, Shaq, etc. back people down and knock them out of the way. As long as the defender stays up right, no foul. So the player is forced to fall on one of those collisions.

I have seen delayed calls on layups because the ref does not want to give a 3 point play. They wait until the shot is missed to blow the whistle.

They refuse to call anything in the last few minutes. "Let the players decide the game". Well if a ref allows a player to be fouled with no call, then the ref IS deciding the game.

Guys think they are blocking out for a rebound, but they suddenly end up under the basket or out of bounds and the guy in the back gets a clear rebound. No Call.

If they called everything it would be a cleaner game. The players would adjust. There would be less accusations of "fixes". The game would be more beautiful.

 

[seshomoru]

For a while, if they called most fouls, there would be the standard million free throws a game. But the defenses would eventually adjust. Every now and then, you get a game like that, and it's incredible to see what guys like Durant and Kobe can do when given the freedom to operate. Then you have games like Game 7 of the Griz and Clips. It was black top, no blood no foul rules. Sort of cool for a Game 7, but overall the game kind of sucked.

And I still haven't figured out what's a charge and what isn't. Sometimes it seems like whoever is the better actor gets the call.

 

[Seinfeld]

As ridiculous as some of the players look at times flailing around after getting a slight nudge or possibly even no contact at all, the one constant is that the refs call fouls for it over and over again. Guys like Ginobli and Parker don't earn half the free throws they shoot, but they constantly get calls. It's not all about being a superstar like Kobe or LeBron... It's about being a good actor, and it's terrible.

So what do you do? My suggestion would be to call a couple technical fouls on the basis that a player is trying to unethically manipulate the game. Flopping would slow down in a matter of days if that happened. However, I can't get past the fact that if the NBA truly doesn't like it, why don't they just stop calling them fouls? They don't have the benefit of watching things on tv or instant replay for most of the game, but don't tell me that they don't have the capability of noticing a flop when a 245 lb Reggie Evans goes flying to the floor after a bump from OJ Mayo. It's absurd. I guess my whole point in saying all of this is that I think there are several ways to stop it, but I'll believe that the NBA truly wants to stop it when I see it.

 

[missouridawg]

but I'm not sure dishing out tech's is the way to go.

I officiated while I was in college (3rd - 9th graders.... big timing it) and the block/charge is by far the most difficult thing to call. My biggest issue with the block/charge is that a defender can cause a change of possession by not trying to play defense. What I mean by this, is that a defender can simply go to a spot on the court, place his hands over his crotch, absorb contact, and fall down... and win possession. It's almost like you're awarding people to not play real defense.

How you fix it? That's a great question that I'm not sure I've got a good answer for.

 

[mstateglfr]

but I'm not sure dishing out tech's is the way to go.

I officiated while I was in college (3rd - 9th graders.... big timing it) and the block/charge is by far the most difficult thing to call. My biggest issue with the block/charge is that a defender can cause a change of possession by not trying to play defense. What I mean by this, is that a defender can simply go to a spot on the court, place his hands over his crotch, absorb contact, and fall down... and win possession. It's almost like you're awarding people to not play real defense.

How you fix it? That's a great question that I'm not sure I've got a good answer for.

I agree that the block/charge call is the most difficult.

A solution is to extend therestricted circle to the edge of the FT lines on both sides of the basket, which would make it another couple feet further up the paint too.
That would help reduce the number of times wherethe offensive player is in stride ready to jump and some Nick Collison shed slides over from the weakside totake ablock...er, i mean charge.

I also agree fully that simplytaking contact shouldnt be a defensive move.That isnt defense. Keep the player from getting to the rim- thats defense. Once the player gets in the paint, make them adust their shot- thats defense. If, in the posession a defender is in position and the offensive player forces their way into that spot, then sure call a charge. But weakside help needs to actually defend the player and play. And sliding under someone at the last second is not defending the player or play.

 

[Johnson85]

but I'm not sure dishing out tech's is the way to go.

What I mean by this, is that a defender can simply go to a spot on the court, place his hands over his crotch, absorb contact, and fall down... and win possession. It's almost like you're awarding people to not play real defense.

How you fix it? That's a great question that I'm not sure I've got a good answer for.

I also agree fully that simplytaking contact shouldnt be a defensive move.That isnt defense. Keep the player from getting to the rim- thats defense.

You stop somebody from getting to the rim by beating him to the spot. The problem is if you don't flop, between 25% and 50% of the plays where a defender beats an offensive player to the spot will be called a block. Most of the other ones will be no calls, and the only charges will be where the offensive player pushes off with an arm or lowers his shoulder dramatically. If you start calling blocks that way, the game will look dramatically different. Either there will be a lot less contact initiated by offensive players or it will be much more physical.

And I don't like allowing people to slide in after a player has left his feet, but otherwise taking a legitimate charge is either a pretty impressive show of quickness or an instance of the offensive player being out of control and/or not seeing the floor. So I don't consider taking a charge "not playing defense"

 

[Hump4Hoops]

In the NBA, there's at least contact, and the player gets back up afterward.

 

[drt7891]

I've gotten to call a good bit of basketball and this is by far the hardest call. However, Players are taught at an early age to flop on contact to draw calls. The hard part is judging whether the call was justified with the amount and type of contact. Moving screens are also very difficult to call. <div>
</div><div>Also, this is really interesting. There are 4 officials that have called 12 games so far in the NBA Playoffs... a combined 48 games... between four officials. And even better than that, there are 8 referees that have a combined 89 games between them all in the NBA playoffs SO FAR. Pretty unbelievable... think they are playing favorites much? I understand most places will give the bigger games to the more senior officials, but when you get to the professional leagues, I think it should be far more even than this. In the World Series, I believe MLB puts a different crew on the field for every game. </div><div>
</div><div>Source:http://blog.newsok.com/berrytramel/2012/06/06/oklahoma-city-thunder-most-used-refs-in-nba-playoffs/</div>

 

[Incognegro]

I have to agree with everything you said... I look at it more as the way the NBA is currently built, a lot of players have to do whatever it takes to give their team an edge, and honestly I see no issue with that. My main issue with charges is that it has such a wide margin for error and that a lot of times what people would think is a block is called a charge and vice versa. But when it comes down to it, I have just gotten to the point of accepting that that's just a proponent of playing defense despite how it makes the flopper look like they're playingunderhandedly.<div id="LCS_336D0C35_8A85_403a_B9D2_65C292C39087_communicationDiv"></div>

 

[Faustdog]

between what goes in soccer and basketball, and I say that as a fan of both.<div id="isChromeWebToolbarDiv" style="display:none"></div><div>
</div><div>The vast majority of the time you see a defender in basketball hit the floor, it is due to actual contact. The defender absorbs the actual contact and allows it to knock him over, then gets back up and continues play.</div><div>
</div><div>What you have in soccer is something different. Guys often lay out when there is no contact whatsoever and writhe in pain as if they have broken a leg. They do this to the point of having trainers come out, all in hopes of having a card issued.</div><div>
</div><div>It isn't to that level in basketball, but it is an issue. Red Auerbach was worried about it a long time ago:</div><div>
</div><div>http://deadspin.com/5915649/?utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_twitter&utm_source=deadspin_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow
</div><div>
</div><div>Edit: I guess I should read the whole thread, as I said basically the same thing as Hump4Hoops.</div>