NBA to implement fines for flopping next season

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MapleLeaf

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From espn.com
The NBA announced to its teams this week at its annual pre-draft camp that fines will be imposed on players starting next season for clear cases of "flopping," ESPN.com has learned.

The league office has yet to determine exact fine amounts for offending flops and how fines might escalate for repeat offenders, but in-game arena observers and video reviewers will be instructed to report instances of theatrical flopping for potential punishment as part of postgame reports on officiating and other matters.

The league's pledge to crack down on flopping was conveyed to team representatives at Tuesday's competition committee meeting in Orlando.

NBA executive vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson confirmed the new policy Wednesday night saying: "What was clearly expressed to the committee is that we would begin imposing fines next season for the most egregious type of flops. When players are taking a dive, for lack of a better term."

Because a precise penalty system has not yet been structured, it is not yet known whether serial floppers will be subject to possible suspensions after a certain number of fines for flopping, as seen with the league's protocol on technical fouls. Players who accrue 16 technicals during the regular season are hit with a one-game suspension when they get to No. 16 -- the limit is seven technicals during the playoffs -- and receive one-game suspensions for every other technical thereafter (No. 18, 20, etc.).

Detroit's Rasheed Wallace, a player who has 15 technicals this season and has been suspended in the past for being over the limit for technicals, gave his opinion of floppers to ESPN after the Pistons' 106-102 loss to the Boston Celtics in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals on Wednesday.

"All that bull[expletive]-ass calls they had out there. With Mike [Callahan] and Kenny [Mauer] -- you've all seen that [expletive]," Wallace said. "You saw them calls. The cats are flopping all over the floor and they're calling that [expletive]. That [expletive] ain't basketball out there. It's all [expletive] entertainment. You all should know that [expletive]. It's all [expletive] entertainment."

In other Orlando business:

• The competition committee considered changes to both the current playoff seeding format as well as the format for the draft lottery but ruled against recommending alterations to either.

Both subjects will be discussed again at the next board of governors meeting in October, but changes typically aren't made by team owners at those meetings without a prior recommendation from the competition committee.

After another season of great imbalance between teams in the West and East, league officials agreed in April to consider changes that could be implemented in time for next season's playoffs. But NBA commissioner David Stern said from the start that "it's unlikely anything will happen."

The current system sends the top eight teams in each conference to the postseason. That excluded No. 9 Golden State in the West in spite of the Warriors' 48-win season and forced two 55-win perennial powers -- San Antonio and Phoenix -- to meet in the first round.

The West's dominance -- and the fact that only three teams in the East (Boston, Detroit and Orlando) had a higher win total than Golden State -- led to a new round of calls for re-seeding after each round of the playoffs, as seen in other major professional team sports, or even sending the teams with the best 16 records to the playoffs irrespective of conference.

But Stern has long maintained that re-seeding is "very difficult when you have the television obligations that we have" because the league's TV partners (ESPN and TNT) would then be required "to wait for every series that can affect the re-seeding to be over." The commissioner has also said that he's comfortable with the idea of a lower seed inheriting the playoff path of a higher seed if it can win a seven-game series.

There is also naturally considerable opposition from teams in the East to sending the clubs with the 16 best records to the playoffs. The current format enabled several sub-.500 teams this season -- such as Indiana, New Jersey and Chicago -- to stay in playoff contention well into April, giving them something to sell to their fan bases in spite of subpar records and constant reminders from the media about the West's superior depth.

Making overall record its primary playoff consideration would also likely force the league to change the format of its entire regular-season schedule. West teams would have a valid complaint if the 16-team playoff field was determined strictly by record and East teams retained the advantage of playing 52 games against other East teams and only 30 against West teams.

There was likewise no consensus reached by committee members on tweaking the draft lottery. Grumblings about the current system have grown louder with Chicago (ninth-worst record in the league) and Portland (sixth-worst record in 2006-07) winning the past two lotteries, but Stern is said to be strongly against any lottery changes.

• As Stern promised earlier this month, changes were considered by the committee to the league's rules regarding intentional fouling away from the ball, which is more commonly known as the Hack-A-Shaq strategy.

Yet it appears that Hack-A-Shaq will be back next season, too.

Stern himself has said he doesn't like "the idea that [players can say], 'Hey, look at me, I'm going to hit this guy as soon as the ball goes into play, even though he's standing under the other basket.'"

San Antonio made extensive use of the Hack-A-Shaq tactic in its first-round series with Phoenix after Spurs coach Gregg Popovich had shunned the strategy for years. The Suns later conceded that the strategy not only took advantage of Shaquille O'Neal's poor foul shooting -- he missed half of his 64 free-throw attempts in the series -- but also frequently interrupted their offensive flow.

Such intentional fouling is legal until the final two minutes of regulation or any overtime, when intentional fouls result in one free throw and the team whose player was fouled retaining possession.

"We had a pretty spirited discussion on the subject and we talked prospectively about how we might change it," Jackson said, declining to elaborate on the potential alterations.

"But in the end, there wasn't enough support to change it. … There was a feeling that by changing the rule you would be essentially rewarding a player for a lack of skill by allowing him to stay in the game."

• The committee had extensive discussions about expanding the use of instant replay for next season and voted to recommend a proposal which calls for the use of replay to assist referees in determining whether a basket or a shot on which a player is fouled is taken from behind the 3-point line.

The committee, as expected, is also backing the league's wish to use instant replay to resolve discrepancies on clock malfunctions, after a major clock issue during the Detroit-Orlando series in the second round.

The league was forced to admit earlier this month that a 3-pointer made by the Pistons' Chauncey Billups at the end of the third quarter of Game 2 against Orlando should not have counted. There were 5.1 seconds remaining in the quarter when the ball was inbounded, but the clock froze at 4.8 seconds as Billups dribbled into the frontcourt. The whole play actually consumed 5.7 seconds, meaning that the buzzer should have sounded before Billups' shot went up, but the play was not reviewable under current rules. Referees are presently allowed to use instant replay only to rule whether a shot goes in before the end-of-quarter clock expires.

"We still need to refine the procedures involved, but it's expected that board of governors will vote on those proposals [in October]," Jackson said.
 

jarrod2323

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I saw this -- gonna be hard to determine the seriousness of a flop. Some of these are very judgemental and will most likely lead to several appeals.

though taking a charge is key to a defense, some of the overexaggerating should be limited (Manu & others)
 

Whisper

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All this means is that Manu is going to go bankrupt next year.
 

.loggie

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i personally think raja is a bigger flopper then ginobili. but this is going to be hards to determine
 

dez

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Varejao is the biggest of them all

But I love this, it seems like many NBA players are starting to replace defense with flopping. It urks me like hell to see players over and over again, try to beat another player, play after play to the spot....JUST PLAY STRAIGHT UP D.
 

AirForceFlash_3

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I for one love this and IMO, much overdue. I hate watching NBA players flop, it takes away from the game and it was the reason Sheed went on a rant yesterday. Hopefully, flopping will be cut WAY down. I would much rather see a flopping foul but I guess this does just as well.
 

playmaker7

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Its about time. Guys flop all the time and get away with it. Its good they're finally doin somethin bout it
 

DJT

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I like this...but 2 problems.

1- Everyone will argue that they weren't flopping...etc.
2- Fining people in the NBA or any other major sport doesn't do jack.
 

-Torres-

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I don't like this move, flopping is part of the game, it's actually a good move, even if people say it's cheap/
 

dez

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I don't like this move, flopping is part of the game, it's actually a good move, even if people say it's cheap/
How can you say its a good move? its just like cheating, and its only apart of the game because players dont like to play defense anymore.
 

-Torres-

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Because you have to do it at the right time to get the call, I don't see it as cheating. Plus everyone flops when they take a charge, coaches teach kids in highschool how to take charges which is showing them how to flop basically because they normally say fall back on your butt and push back with your feet while doing it, and they normally tell you to do it when you get any contact or the other player pushes his arm out.
 

dez

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Because you have to do it at the right time to get the call, I don't see it as cheating. Plus everyone flops when they take a charge, coaches teach kids in highschool how to take charges which is showing them how to flop basically because they normally say fall back on your butt and push back with your feet while doing it, and they normally tell you to do it when you get any contact or the other player pushes his arm out.
Its an easy out of playing defense. It makes the game look bad, thats why the league has decided to implement this rule, and I agree with it 100%. idk about you but my coaches never coached us on how to flop. Taking a charge is something completely different, thats apart of the game, Flopping isnt.
 

-Torres-

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Its an easy out of playing defense. It makes the game look bad, thats why the league has decided to implement this rule, and I agree with it 100%. idk about you but my coaches never coached us on how to flop. Taking a charge is something completely different, thats apart of the game, Flopping isnt.
But when you take a charge, you're supposed to sell it, and by selling it, you're usually flopping. Plus, the league will have a hard time deciding what is what isn't a flop.
 

CameronCrazy06

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Its an easy out of playing defense. It makes the game look bad, thats why the league has decided to implement this rule, and I agree with it 100%. idk about you but my coaches never coached us on how to flop. Taking a charge is something completely different, thats apart of the game, Flopping isnt.
Coaches don't teach how to flop, they tell you when an offensive player is driving down the lane, get in the way, set your feet, and fall down. It's up to the player how much they sell it.

The plays where flopping happen the most is when the player with the ball swings their elbows and the defender falls after minimal contact. You can easily tell if somebody flopped on those or not. I remember in the Duke/NC State game this year, Paulus took an elbow to the eye on a play like that. But players like Varajeo fall once they sense a swing from the offender.

Overall I'm glad they put this in, it'll be tough to see how they determine a flop though...
 

dez

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If theres enough contact it shouldnt be that hard to tell if a players flopping or not.
 

-Torres-

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I see where you guys might like the rule, but I don't. It's cool, just difference in oppinions.

on a side note, you're nate robinson sig is badass dez
 
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