Manu’s Man-Purse Is About to Take a Big Hit

Thing just keep getting worse and worse for the Spurs. First, their latest revitalization plan goes the way of the gold toilet (though eagle-eyed Tom Ziller thinks there’s yet hope in the NBDL). Now, according to the Leader, the league has announced that flops will soon draw fines:↵↵⇥The league office has yet to determine exact fine amounts for offending flops and how fines might escalate for repeat offenders, but in-game arena observers and video reviewers will be instructed to report instances of theatrical flopping for potential punishment as part of postgame reports on officiating and other matters.
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↵⇥The league’s pledge to crack down on flopping was conveyed to team representatives at Tuesday’s competition committee meeting in Orlando.↵↵Still unclear to me: Whether this means flops will still be called at the time, or be reviewed when there’s suspicion. If so, this puts us on the slippery slope toward replay-mania. Depending on who you ask, this could be heaven or hell. With the NBA now saying there should’ve been a non-shooting foul called on Fisher this week, there’s now confusion surrounding that call that, which, in theory, replays could resolve. Then again, reviews are exactly what makes football drag on (sorry, America), something basketball does enough of already.↵
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↵Regardless, it’s hard to not get excited about anything that might cut down on phony fouls, whether on offense or defense. That might be worth sacrificing a few minutes per game, even if these things are harder to get away with down the stretch, when it really matters. Jeff Van Gundy is right: The last few minutes are usually officiated differently, which is how it should be. But flopping shouldn’t just be ignored late in games -- it should be punished, since it really is a scourge unto the game. Worse than the slam dunk.↵