HS/IAABO Rule Change: Techs for flopping!

[ehh]

So I'm a certified IAABO (International Association of Approved Officials) member and we get newsletters, rule changes and areas of focus for each new season. This is the biggest one obviously, though I highly doubt it's going to be enforced.

Quote:

The defensive player or screener faking being fouled ("flopping"). Acting as though he has been charged or pushed by an opponent, when in fact he has not been fouled. Without any doubt, the practice is detrimental to the best interest of a basketball game. The "actor" wants to create the false impression that he has been fouled. While in a guarding and block/charge situation or while he is screening when in either situation there is no contact or it there were contact it has been incidental/legal. The "acting" player falls to the floor as though he were displaced by the force of a charge/push. Through these actions the player makes it appear that the opponent ought to be charged with a foul. It also incites spectators. Faking being fouled (10.3.6f) is unsporting behavior. Unsporting conduct must be penalized with a technical foul. Enforce the rule and eliminate the "act".

Thoughts?

[rockchisler]

Quote: Originally Posted by ehh

So I'm a certified IAABO (International Association of Approved Officials) member and we get newsletters, rule changes and areas of focus for each new season. This is the biggest one obviously, though I highly doubt it's going to be enforced. Thoughts?

No biggy, mostly foreign players flop American Players not so much. I am assuming HS is High school, right?

[shorty12345]

I thought that was the rule anyways, well it is here in AZ, because i play high school ball.

[PrOdIgY_4eVeR]

This has been the case in FIBA basketball for the last few years. I wish they would implement it in the NBA.

[Fiddy]

lol..

this is like the refs calling diving in the NHL. guy gets tripped, nope a dive occured. but guess what, they both go to the box. a trip and a dive on the same play. only in the NHL.

[jb12780]

Well Vlade Divac would have a hard time succeding if this was implemented lol.

[VDusen04]

I think there's a thin line between flopping and not flopping. Further, I believe some may define flopping differently than someone else. While some players may indeed be guilty at pretending to get hit, I also think there's a number of players who simply put themselves in the correct position to draw true, legitimate contact.

Therefore, as an official I believe it'd be more than possible to T-up a player who falls for no discernable reason, but it becomes a little murky when you see a player fall at the result of any sort of contact, whether you feel the force by which they fell equals the force of the displacing blow.

As a player, many of the fouls I would draw had a lot to do with my body's weight shift. If, while being posted up I kept all my weight on my toes/front, a drop step elbow would likely shift me, but limit any real result. However, if I were to defend in the post and slide my weight to the back of my feet in anticipation of a drop-step (note: not falling, just shifting body weight) there's a much higher chance a displacing blow would put me on the ground. I find this to be a fair play as I do not believe players are obligated to match brute strength against brute strength.

There is strategy, and a lot more players in the NBA and otherwise use said strategy than we may think. Many are quick to write everything off as a flop while much of it may involve simply putting oneself in position to be legitimately demolished.

With that said, I would still reserve the right to T up players who truly flop (ie: players pretending they were hit and/or hurt somewhere when they weren't touched at all). In that case I would find that to be a sportsmanship issue. Conversely, I'd have a hard time ever deciding whether Shaq's drop step really did crush Vlade Divac to the ground, or Vlade was just making everything up. Embellishment would be tough to whistle.