What do you think of this "stop flopping" idea?

[VDusen04]

Re: What do you think of this "stop flopping" idea?

I don't have any original ideas for the hack-a-player. I think it's an interesting strategy that doesn't seem all that effective though. It works against them about as often as it works for them. I don't mind it myself. It extends games, what, 10 minutes? No bid deal. They've changed the rule now to no intentional fouling in the last 2 minutes of every quarter for this season. They could make that in effect the entire quarter, but then we end up falling on the refs for "bad calls" all over again. It might just be a trial and error thing they'll have to figure out year to year until something works.

I feel that. My primary point there was I think minor rule changes can make a difference. After exploding last year—intentional fouls almost tripled between 2015 and 2016—they now appear to be hanging on by a thread. People still use the strategy, but almost as an afterthought now. I think it was a matter of a lot of teams just waiting for an excuse not to abuse that strategy.

I feel similarly about the flopping. If there's no consequences, some players may be willing to give it a shot because there's nothing to lose (aside from one's dignity). By tacking on the tiered penalties (fines and possibly suspension after numerous violations), everyone now had to make a choice when deciding whether to flop, with most figuring it's no longer worth the risk.

In contrast, I think embellishing contact is always going to be there to some degree. I embellished when I played as well; it's a psychological game within a game. If an opponent grabbed and held onto my jersey so I couldn't move off the ball, that's an unfair advantage. So, to level things out, I'd make a move—along with a little flail—that I wouldn't have otherwise, aimed at making his illegal act appear obvious and apparent.