What to do about offensive flops

[Ozimoto]

There were kids doing this when my son played in grade school. The defender could be standing still with their arms straight up and the offensive player would drive just slightly to the left or right of the defender and lean into them as they drove. The refs would call a blocking foul on the defender 90% of the time because I guess the defender wasn't "squared up" enough for it to be a charge. Maybe they saw this as the defender "impeding the progress of the offensive player." If that's the way the game is called, I guess you have to respect the coaching or BB IQ of the kids who will take advantage of it.

 

[Skeets]

How many times have posters on the BY said that (pick your player) should drive to the basket more often to pick up a foul? Isn't that teetering on the same thing this post is all about? The difference could be just a matter of degrees of sportsmanship. Before you jump on me, the players intent does mean a lot.

 

[cancontent]

How many times have posters on the BY said that (pick your player) should drive to the basket more often to pick up a foul? Isn't that teetering on the same thing this post is all about? The difference could be just a matter of degrees of sportsmanship. Before you jump on me, the players intent does mean a lot.

Yes it does teeter on a thin line, but your word "intent" is key here. What is their intention? An aggressive offensive play or to draw a foul because they know their decision to drive wasn't a good one and are trying to salvage something out of it.

From my view, attacking the basket isn't a bad thing. Defenders still have to do their job and if they block, reach, etc., it has to be called. However driving to the basket and "acting" as if you got fouled to convince the referee is a different thing all together. You even hear commentators mention when they feel a player sold the call when it doesn't look right to them.

 

[Centerstream]

Yes it does teeter on a thin line, but your word "intent" is key here. What is their intention? An aggressive offensive play or to draw a foul because they know their decision to drive wasn't a good one and are trying to salvage something out of it.

From my view, attacking the basket isn't a bad thing. Defenders still have to do their job and if they block, reach, etc., it has to be called. However driving to the basket and "acting" as if you got fouled to convince the referee is a different thing all together. You even hear commentators mention when they feel a player sold the call when it doesn't look right to them.

Last night during the Michigan v NC game, this flopping tendency was discussed by the announcers, Eric Frede and Deb Antonelli. Guess which (ACC) team they were talking about?

 

[cancontent]

Last night during the Michigan v NC game, this flopping tendency was discussed by the announcers, Eric Frede and Deb Antonelli. Guess which (ACC) team they were talking about?

I'd have to guess that infamous UConn rival from the Bend. Notre Dame.

 

[Centerstream]

I'd have to guess that infamous UConn rival from the Bend. Notre Dame.

I guess I was pretty vague in my post...they were actually discussing one of the teams that was on the court for the game they were broadcasting.

 

[cancontent]

I guess I was pretty vague in my post...they were actually discussing one of the teams that was on the court for the game they were broadcasting.

I was working on something and had the volume on low. Totally missed that.

 

[Stinger92860]

The referees don't know how to handle the offensive flop. I have seen Arkansas guards use it last year and now the FSU guards are using it as one their primary scoring options. Drive to the hoop and throw yourself at the defensive player and throw the ball towards the hoop and then fall downfall down.
1. This is best used against bigs by little guards. The big stands her ground with their hands up and the offensive player knows their shot with probably be blocked but throws themselves at the big and they will get to the foul line for two shots. This is 50 to 75 % of Watson's offensive arsenal. Lots of points from the line.
2. Lou did a fantastic job on Watson by falling backwards as Watson would throw herself at her. She was rewarded by getting two charges on her.
3. The refs can see the contact being created by the offensive player when the defensive player falls but not when the bigs stand straight up with their hands up. They are assuming when the player falls down it must be the defenders fault.

Did anyone else se this and is this a tendency in WBB. I call it Flop and shoot. I think the refs must be shown this and learn to determine who creates the contact is the fouler.

this happens in the mens game too. I saw similar last night in the nba at a critical point in the Knicks-raptor game. Siakam took a jumper and simply went backwards and fell to the floor. A shooting foul was called. And this ifs a game where people are hit hard with no calls.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

Another one is the tie-up when a player is on the floor with the ball. The defensive player can jump on that player and never touch the ball and a tie-up in called every time.

I agree with this. It used to be a foul.

And the rules or at least their interpretation used to favor offense on block/charge which was better.

Coaching to hold a spot defensively is fine but those that Coach to try and force more calls are maki g the game less appealing. At the end, I'd rather see offense than possessions that end without shots.

The women's game is much more likely to whistle the player that didn't hit the floor though. I think it's gotten better about that though. I do t notice it quite as much. But the defense gets too many charges in my view still.

 

[Gamecockfan77]

Everything is geared towards more offense. Fans and players want 90-89 games rather than 42-41 games. It is better for the ego to score at will, so defense is on a back burner both by rules and desire. It's same in most sports

I really think it's the opposite. Game favors defense and it makes the product less attractive.

Personally, I think coaching towards drawing cheap whistles on either end is somewhat unsportsmanlike and is detrimental to the quality of the entertainment.

 

[Bone Dog]

I finally watched a replay of the Michigan-UNC game and saw what happened. Leigha Brown complained about Déjà Kelley flopping on a play in the second half and got a technical for her trouble. Brown is a passionate player who was having a good game and was quite vociferous at that point.

Kelley’s flopping didn’t seem outside of what has become ordinary these days, which is probably why Brown got T’d up for complaining about it. The interesting thing is what happened afterwards. The refs backed off on calling charges — no more flops were even recognized, one charge was called for the rest of the game and it looked like some real contact.

Lots of contact, in fact, on lots of plays, and the refs just ignored almost all of it. I’m not sure what the refs were thinking, but the game itself was much improved by this. Perhaps it takes a few games like this one for things to change.

One last gripe: if the FSU game had been called the way this one was, Latson would have gotten 5pts and we’d have one by 30.