# Should flopping be considered "cheating"?



## The_Franchise (Mar 30, 2003)

The question has been at the back of my mind after watching Dirk for 7 games in the last 2 weeks. Should we praise players such as Malone and Divac for taking advantage of the rules and using it to their advantage? Or is it really cheating the way the game should be played? Every sport has it's instances of 'flopping', but it's never as important in basketball when fouls and calls can change the entire direction of a game.

Please do not turn this into a flame thread.


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## DHarris34Phan (Oct 28, 2004)

*How can it be cheating? Is it against the rules?*


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## Adam (Jan 28, 2003)

If you are legitimately struck I think sometimes you have to fall or stop playing in order to get the call because the refs will let it go if you don't stop. But if you insinuate a hit, if you pretend that you've been fouled when you haven't then that is dirty. That's low and cheap and I do consider it cheating. In soccer you are given a yellow card if you fake a foul and I think they need to apply this rule to basketball.


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## Captain Obvious (Jun 15, 2003)

I hate flopping. Play the damn game, and if you can't play without falling over everytime someone brushes up on you you don't belong in the NBA.


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## HKF (Dec 10, 2002)

Flopping should be called blocking fouls. I hate it personally. Ginobili and Bowen do that garbage.


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## The_Franchise (Mar 30, 2003)

HKF said:


> Flopping should be called blocking fouls. I hate it personally. Ginobili and Bowen do that garbage.


Oftentimes, Dirk is falling down before he even gets into the lane. Defensively... I don't even want to talk about it.


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## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

at least in soccer,an obvious flopping will be punished.
plz correct me if i am wrong,i dunno soccer much


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## WhoRocks (Feb 24, 2005)

Kisstherim, you're right. If a player 'dives', the ref can give them a yellow card, two of which means you are sent off/ejected. It's worth noting in soccer it's classified as 'unsportsmanlike conduct' which reflects that whilst its not technically cheating if you get away with it, it's frowned upon as not really what the sport is about or wants to promote. I think this applies equally to the NBA; currently soccer bodies are really cracking down on it, which i hope Chairman Stern will do too.
I believe in Karma, so i think players flop/dive at their own peril.


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## sherwin (Mar 21, 2005)

All you have to do is call technicals for blatant flopping. It's exposing the weakness in officiating. Everytime you see a player intentionally contort his body to manipulate officials = tech.


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## Drewbs (Feb 16, 2004)

Dirk flopped once in this game.


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## Ravnos (Aug 10, 2004)

Drewbs said:


> Dirk flopped once in this game.


That wasn't the question.


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## zhaizor (Apr 27, 2005)

Mr. Roger's Cardigan said:


> The question has been at the back of my mind after watching Dirk for 7 games in the last 2 weeks. Should we praise players such as Malone and Divac for taking advantage of the rules and using it to their advantage? Or is it really cheating the way the game should be played? Every sport has it's instances of 'flopping', but it's never as important in basketball when fouls and calls can change the entire direction of a game.
> 
> *Please do not turn this into a flame thread.*



Read the thread first people who are just responding instantly like MRC said anything about Nowitzki, hes just asking a simple question of peoples opinions.


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## SMDre (Jan 28, 2005)

I hate it, but no. Flopping is just part of the game. It's on the officals to relize who flops alot and look at those players more often.

OT: It's hard to call Dirk a flopper based on this series. His shot was not falling from start to finish and he had to do something to contribute on offense.


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## Yao Mania (Aug 4, 2003)

flopping can really ruin the game of basketball, the league should review it in the off-season. I was a Dirk fan before this series, but seeing him flop so much just completely ruined my image of him. Maybe if he didn't worry so much about drawing fouls he'd actually had played a better series.


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## DHarris34Phan (Oct 28, 2004)

Yao Mania said:


> flopping can really ruin the game of basketball, the league should review it in the off-season. I was a Dirk fan before this series, but seeing him flop so much just completely ruined my image of him. Maybe if he didn't worry so much about drawing fouls he'd actually had played a better series.


*But who is to say what is or isn't a flop? I don't see how you could get an objective ruling when it comes to flopping.*


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## kisstherim (Jul 15, 2004)

DHarris34Phan said:


> *But who is to say what is or isn't a flop? *


the ones who decide it's a blocking foul or a offensive foul and it's a block or a goaltending


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## Dragnsmke1 (Jul 29, 2002)

DHarris34Phan said:


> *But who is to say what is or isn't a flop? I don't see how you could get an objective ruling when it comes to flopping.*


preach, brotha!!!


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## Drewbs (Feb 16, 2004)

I hate when players flop, but there is nothng that can really be done about it. No one likes to watch guys like Dirk have to resort to acting jobs when he can't get himself going, even as a Mavs fan, I cringe when I watch him flop. I don't like when players do it on defense like Dirk did, but I hate it even more when guys like Pierce try to fake getting fouls in order to get to the line. But its part of the game, alot of players do it. Some of Houston's players did it during this series, Mavs players did it during this series, its just a part of the game.


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## Jamez52637 (May 3, 2005)

The NBA is not gonna do anything about it till somebody bring it on as a serious problem, which they are not, when people on TNT or Sportcenter talk about it, it's more like a joke, like "wow Divac got knocked over by Boykins or something" and the truth is that everyone flops, when we play pick up games, how many times do we really fall on the concrete floor, but it happenes all the time in NBA. It's just that some player does it more (a lot more) than others. And i really don't know how the ref can deal with this, we have replays to help us, the refs don't, but i do think they should bring replay reviews in the NBA, if it's true that Human Beings are not perfect, why not use the tech that we have now (which we didn't back in the 50s) to help them out a little. I think the NFL replay rule worked pretty well, use TOs as leverage, or give the other team a FT or two if the challenging team was wrong.


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## Halo (Mar 19, 2005)

Dirk's flops are so ridiculously terrible compared to the likes of Divac. At least Divac gets slight contacts and he goes flying into the stand, but dear gawd Dirk would have no one around him and he'd flinch and do a few backflips into the photographers.

I love watching Dirk, but he has been flopping like no other as of late. 

But flopping really isn't a concern to me, everyone does it. I think some level of accountability needs to be established for terrible officiating. I'll never forget Finley's entire body being out of bounds and stealing the ball from Barry in crunch time. That was terrible.


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## Hakeem (Aug 12, 2004)

A bit off topic, but Divac's flopping looked better. He had more style. Dirk just flails his forearms about and flings his head back, like some prehistoric beast roaring in triumph.


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