Ol’ Red is PO’d too

this makes me like sheed

Too bad Red’s efforts failed. I have nothing against a player taking an honest charge, but those like Manu Ginobli, etc who’ve made flopping an integral part of their game, well, just annoy me. Don’t get me wrong, Manu’s a good player, but all those flops that go his way piss me off.

This vid gets my rec.

Red had identified a growing problem with the game way back then. Unfortunately I don’t think his advice was heeded, nor has the refereeing remained consistent. I agree with the ref in the video in the case of most flopping the key is to get refs to recognize the flopping and simply make no call. Being on your backside is not a good defensive position and if refs simply make no call players will start to flop a whole lot less. The only reason flopping has flourished is players seem to have become more adept at the art of flopping at the same time refs seem to have gotten worse at identifiying it.

This reminded me of a passage from Halberstam’s “The Breaks of the Game”, about Dave Cowens (p. 289):

The one thing he hated in the game and which offended his own sense of purity was the player who faked a foul, who exaggerated the impact of a collison by his own theatrics. At the basketball camp where he taught tough physical basketball, he obstinately refused to teach how to fake fouls. It was, he thought, phony and it was on the increase in the league. Once in a game with Houston he had turned toward the basket and driven on Mike Newlin. There had been light contact and Newlin faked the foul, falling to the floor. The referee gave Newlin the call. Cowens was enraged, he screamed at the ref in disbelief, and then raced down to the other end of the court, where Newlin now stood in the corner. Cowens locked his arms at the elbows and in a moment of almost unparalleled violence, running as hard as he could, he absolutely belted Newlin with all his might, driving him off the court, almost, one feared, out of his career. He then, still raging, turned to the referee and screamed, “Now that’s a f*ing foul. That other thing you called, that was a fake.

This hits on another reason why flopping has flourished. Players can no longer police themselves. If Ginobili had played in the 70’s, a guy like Cowens would have annihilated him. If Cowens had tried to do today what he did to Newlin in the 70’s, he would have been suspended for half the season or longer, and portrayed as a violent thug by the media.

not least because it features two of my favorite players – Wes and Big E.

I actually ended up wasting an hour after watching this…watching the old schoolers…some Red vids, some Pistol Pete, then on to some early Shaq videos….

I blame it all on you.