Kobe talks taking charges and flopping: "...where are your balls at"

[BroadwayJoe12]

Good read and just further echoes the sentiment that flopping definitely needs to be looked at more closely. But truth be told, I only posted it because I liked the where your balls at comment. Kobe's a boss.

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/s...rawing-charges

Quote:

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Los Angeles Lakers only forced four turnovers from the Oklahoma City Thunder in Monday's 119-90 loss in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals.

One way the Lakers could plan to get the Thunder, which had the most turnovers in the league during the regular season with 16.35 per game, to cough it up more would be to try to take charges in Game 2.

Just don't expect Kobe Bryant to be the one taking them.

"We got a couple guys that take charges, but for the most part, the one guy that took a charge is now playing in Oklahoma," Bryant said after practice Tuesday, referring to Derek Fisher. "I don't take charges. Metta (World Peace) don't take charges. Steve (Blake) will take a charge every now and then, but most everybody else just stands up and plays."

The 33-year-old veteran who is playing in his 16th season said part of the reason for his longevity is his aversion to sacrificing his body to draw offensive fouls.

"I learned from my predecessors," Bryant said. "(Scottie) Pippen had a (messed) up back taking charges. (Larry) Bird had a (messed) up back taking charges. I said, 'I'm not taking charges.' I figured that ... out at an early age."

Bryant said that Pippen and Bird didn't share their charge-taking horror stories with him to influence his decision, he merely noticed through observation. He also picked up on other legends who benefited from not taking charges.

"I've seen Michael (Jordan) not take one ... charge and he's healthy his whole career and the same thing with Magic (Johnson)," Bryant said. "I might not be the smartest guy in the room, but I can figure that ... out."

Bryant estimated he's only taken one charge in the last two seasons and it was probably "by accident."

"I couldn't get out of the way," Bryant joked.

Even though taking charges isn't in Bryant's bag of tricks, he credited players who do take them successfully.

"Shane (Battier) does a great job taking charges," Bryant said. "Fish actually does a great job taking charges too ... It's a skill. It's definitely a skill. I know at Duke they teach that, they drill that, how to step in and take charges and sacrifice your body."

Bryant's comments on charge-taking came on the heels of commissioner David Stern decrying the epidemic of flopping going on in today's NBA.

"I think it's time to look at (flopping) in a more serious way," Stern said Sunday, "because it's only designed to fool the referee. It's not a legitimate play in my judgment. I recognize if there's contact (you) move a little bit, but some of this is acting. We should give out Oscars rather than MVP trophies."

Bryant, who made it clear, "

I don't flop

," echoed Stern's remarks.

"There's a difference (between taking a charge and flopping). We all know what flopping is when we see it," Bryant said. "The stuff that you see is where guys aren't really getting hit at all and are just flailing around like a fish out of water. That's kind of like,

where are your balls at?

"

Lakers coach Mike Brown said that it will be difficult for the league to enforce some sort of anti-flopping policy, however.

"It is (a problem)," Brown said. "I don't know how you clean it up though because everything is a judgment call and when it happens, and it happens at the speed that it does, how do you clean that up? Because, it's human error. You see somebody get hit, a lot of times you're told to make a strong call. You're told to be strong with your calls and so you're going to hit that whistle real hard. You hit that whistle real hard and by then, it might be too late. It's like, man, he might not have done that but it's too late."

[Matt39]

I assume this is a shot at the other tenants....but hopefully Bron and Wade get the notice too.

[RutgersJetFan]

He's spot on. Bird was the quintessential anti-flopper. There was one game in the mid-80's where Laimbeer was flopping all over the place and then made the grave mistake of throwing an elbow right to Bird's chin, Bird went off and scored something like 40 points in 3 quarters. Anyways, unless Stern is ready to have officials start checking themselves on replays, it's never going to work from that standpoint. Don't forget they went to the replay on Lebron's flop with Chandler and still called it a flagrant 1.

[BroadwayJoe12]

I assume this is a shot at the other tenants....but hopefully Bron and Wade get the notice too.

Most likely, but regardless of who it's aimed at, it needs to be said over and over until the league fully takes notice. I'm not sure how much faith I put into Stern saying he seriously tried to bring this up at the league meetings, but it's a start I suppose. JVG has been at the forefront of this issue talking about it every game he's covered for years now and maybe he'll soon get his wish.

[RutgersJetFan]

Most likely, but regardless of who it's aimed at, it needs to be said over and over until the league fully takes notice. I'm not sure how much faith I put into Stern saying he seriously tried to bring this up at the league meetings, but it's a start I suppose. JVG has been at the forefront of this issue talking about it every game he's covered for years now and maybe he'll soon get his wish.

Van Gundy has been calling out Spoelstra all postseason. Even said that he's been coaching his players to trick the officials the other night.

[Matt39]

Most likely, but regardless of who it's aimed at, it needs to be said over and over until the league fully takes notice. I'm not sure how much faith I put into Stern saying he seriously tried to bring this up at the league meetings, but it's a start I suppose. JVG has been at the forefront of this issue talking about it every game he's covered for years now and maybe he'll soon get his wish.

at least you get some poetic justice with Wade's superman dive pretty much causing him to miss a fairly easy layup.

[BroadwayJoe12]

He's spot on. Bird was the quintessential anti-flopper. There was one game in the mid-80's where Laimbeer was flopping all over the place and then made the grave mistake of throwing an elbow right to Bird's chin, Bird went off and scored something like 40 points in 3 quarters. Anyways, unless Stern is ready to have officials start checking themselves on replays, it's never going to work from that standpoint. Don't forget they went to the replay on Lebron's flop with Chandler and still called it a flagrant 1.

I think it's going to come down to calling a technical on it and understanding they may blow some calls initially. Similar to how they have been somewhat successful in getting the players to stop complaining to the referees and showing them up as much as they used to with the quick technicals they were instructed to hand out; yea they've made some awful calls, but it seems to have curbed the complaining a bit...not a lot, but it has made a difference. Other than that I'm not sure exactly how they enforce it, but something clearly needs to be done. I want Indiana to beat the Heat, but some part of me wants Durant and LBJ to be spotlighted on national television in order to contrast how one should play the game.

How else can they curb the flopping, besides calling a T on them, I'm really drawing a blank. Any ideas??

[RutgersJetFan]

I think it's going to come down to calling a technical on it and understanding they may blow some calls initially. Similar to how they have been somewhat successful in getting the players to stop complaining to the referees and showing them up as much as they used to with the quick technicals they were instructed to hand out; yea they've made some awful calls, but it seems to have curbed the complaining a bit...not a lot, but it has made a difference. Other than that I'm not sure exactly how they enforce it, but something clearly needs to be done. I want Indiana to beat the Heat, but some part of me wants Durant and LBJ to be spotlighted on national television in order to contrast how one should play the game.

I don't understand how anyone that doesn't live in Indy, LA, or SA wouldn't want this. They're the two best teams in the league, with the two best players squaring straight off against each other. On top of that you have the one team that's better on the top-heavy standpoint (Miami), vs the team that's better from a depth standpoint (OKC). They're evenly matched because even though Lebron's the best player on the court, Westbrook is slightly better than Wade right now and they also have Harden to balance it out. Not to mention the fact that if OKC did win, we'd get to hear Miami fans crying about how Chris Bosh being out was the thing standing between them and a championship. It's the ultimate test of what works in today's NBA. Can you buy a championship or should you still build? Is the best player in the game enough to cover up a few holes on your bench or can the right team still expose them? There are so many things that we still don't know about today's NBA, a Miami vs OKC final answers them immediately. I personally think Lebron is good enough to do anything he wants at any time and this is the year he finds his way, for years the only thing he lacked in Cleveland was another guy. Wade's finally at his side, so there aren't anymore excuses. If they lose this year his legacy is tainted forever, no matter what happens and even if he does eventually win one. It's so cliche but how he's remembered will truly be affected by this particular year. He knows this and so does everyone else.

I like Indy, but they'd get slaughtered going up against OKC. The reason they're able to keep up with Miami is because they're so deep. OKC washes that out in about 3 minutes on the court.

How else can they curb the flopping, besides calling a T on them, I'm really drawing a blank. Any ideas??

Yes, one is outlandish and the other is obvious.

1. Independent arbiters assessing penalties of some sort, though not necessarily money; especially since financial ramifications would tie the union's panties in a wad. But, it's a disease that's never been solved during games, and probably never will be, so it would have to involve some sort of retroactive penalty. Whether that comes in the form of money or a new ranking system...who knows, but it's a way to go.

2. Reinstate hand checking. This easily solves so many problems and it makes the games instantly more enjoyable. The technical foul rules still keep the players in check, and the new suspension and fine rules make sure another Palace incident never happens again. It's a quick fix that helps cut back on a really bad problem. Almost instantly defenders would be given the benefit of the doubt right off the bat.

[SMC]

I think 1 way to curb flopping is to have the refs stop calling it. How do they stop calling it?

Have the NBA start fining refs for the flopping calls they make. Hit the refs in the pocket and he'll be reluctant to react to an over reaction.

Flopping is a problem because the refs allow it. Thus, deal with the refs first.

[rillo]

No way the NBA takes action against the refs, they're untouchable. Hopefully they stop calling it but I seriously doubt it.

[RutgersJetFan]

This was pretty hilarious last night. Blake tries to flop but Duncan catches him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0JEIRUycxE

[BroadwayJoe12]

This was pretty hilarious last night. Blake tries to flop but Duncan catches him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0JEIRUycxE

Priceless. Loved Duncan just rolling his eyes after he pats him on the head, like how an adult responds to an annoying child.