Stop, Flop, and Roll

After watching the flop-fest that has befallen the NBA, I believe it's time for a radical rule change to lessen the number of offensive fouls. If they can cut down on the number of preposterous charges (mostly flopping-induced), they could even allow a little more contact on the shot, and let people play actual defense. Of course, taking a charge is sometimes necessary, especially when someone like Ronny Turiaf is out of control, barreling down the lane. But athletes are now hesitant to drive (i.e. Lebron), since if you step foot in the paint, Manu Ginobili is going to fling himself at the nearest official. So here is my proposal...

If you are on defense, and anything else than your feet or hands touch the floor, it's either an offensive foul or a technical.

Radical? Maybe. But I'm not Skip Bayless-ing you here. I think it would change the game for the better. If you fall to the ground, it had better be obvious that it was a foul. No more 300 pound guys acting like being nudged in the shoulder would send them flying 6 feet in the air. (For instance, look at the above picture. I could run full-speed at Raja Bell with my shoulder lowered, and I wouldn't get him to fly that far backwards). These are players that can keep their balance, but would rather fall down to seduce the official into making a call. If this rule were adopted, you would only see guys hit the floor that were legitimately run-over. Yeah, there might be some unfortunate missteps and goofiness (sorry Mark Madsen) that get punished, but it would drastically reduce a major problem and allow superstars to drive the lane.

It's not enough to just toughen the league's stance on offensive fouls. NBA officials suck. They get caught up in the action, the crowd, and the superstar personas. Make it black and white. Make it harder for people to undercut superstars going up to make a play. Make the person who just pretended to be knocked unconscious have to face his coach, knowing that he just allowed the other team free points.

Basically, just make it stop.

Weekend Wrap-Up

Warriors Come Out to Plaaa-aaay
Yes, I realize that there are about 1,000 blogs with this same headline or a slight variation thereof, but it's Monday morning so get off my back. I was actually contemplating going with "Warriors Drum Mavs", but there are prob only a half dozen people who remember the mid-90's rapper King Just and his song "Warrior's Drum" (including King Just himself) so I went with the more known reference.

So the Warriors are now one win away from joining the rarefied air of the 1994 Nuggets and 1999 Knicks as the only 8-seeds to defeat a 1-seed. This series has been a classic case of the teacher absolutely owning his pupil. In fact if the Warriors pull off the upset, Avery Johnson should serve as Don Nelson's personal pool boy/dog walker this summer. I really like how Nelson is rotating his players. Nelson is running a fluid, versatile lineup out there. He is more concerned with getting the best basketball players out on the court than going with a more traditional defined lineup- a theory that I've been advocating for a while as long as mismatches on the defensive end aren't created.

Baron Davis, always a productive player when healthy, just imposed his will on Mavs. The Dirk did not. Nowitzki put up 23-15 but was invisible for long stretches of the game. We are clearly not seeing the same Dirk that dominated the regular season. After last year's Finals performance, it may not be long until sports pundits' adorn him with the dreaded "choker" label.

Brady Quinn's Panic Room
I know that this has been written about ad naseum (please check out our hilarious live draft blog coverage) but trotting Brady off to his own little secluded room away from the public ire will only stoke the fire of Brady haters. He will be forever linked with his draft day free fall and the way he had to be hid from the taunts and laughter of the NY crowd. As Dan Shanoff pointed out today on danshanoff.com, a good QB is supposed to thrive under pressure, not cower from it. It does not matter if it wasn't his idea to move. When the idea was broached, Brady should have respectfully declined, manned-up and stayed out there. He didn't do much to shed his wussy, pretty boy image. Non sequitor alert- Quinn's girlfriend is not that hot. He should be pulling much better tail than that. Poor poor form.

Hockey Playoff Recap
To steal bit from KKTY's A.C. Slater, this weekend's scores were 2-1, 3-2, 3-2, and 3-2.

Josh Hancock Passes Away
We'd be remissed not to mention to passing away of St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock. Sorry, no jokes here. SYHD offers our condolences to the family.