One thing that bothers me about criticism of the current style of play in the NBA is the constant moaning about "flopping." While "flopping" is rightfully labeled as annoying, "taking charges" should not be confused with "flopping." Although he has made himself an outcast to the Cavaliers recently, I commend Anderson Varejao's ability to take charges. Taking a charge consists of beating a driving opponent in their path, standing still, and absorbing the hit from the driving opponent. When players such as Varejao absorb these sudden and powerful hits, they often fall backwards and sometimes hit the floor due to the impact from the hits. Their falls are logical, natural, and legitimate. This is not to be confused with "flopping," where players try to sell fake contact or oversell incidental contact that occurs. A good example of flopping is anyone guarding Shaquille O'Neal. Most of the people that have guarded Shaq at one point or another have pretended to get hit by Shaq while he is posting up or pivoting. In turn, the referees look at the players-turned-actors and refuse to whistle the play dead due to the fake hits.
Part of the problem is that a good amount of the criticism comes from current and former players. It is sad to see that these basketball players cannot tell the difference between good defense and an acting job. Current and former players talk about assessing technical fouls for players falling over on defense but fail to acknowledge a correct charging call when they see one. In a league where the best players supposedly play and the winners of the championship are deemed "World Champions," it disappoints me that several of these players only know part of what good basketball is. It is no wonder that several players and coaches complain when referees correctly make any foul calls at the ends of games, instead expecting referees to become TV viewers by simply watching ends of games instead of doing their jobs by providing consistent, fair, and correct officiating from the start of the game to the finish. I might not be a former NBA player, but I know a good charge when I see one, and I do not want to see good defense being negated by ill-advised technical foul calls.
Part of the problem is that a good amount of the criticism comes from current and former players. It is sad to see that these basketball players cannot tell the difference between good defense and an acting job. Current and former players talk about assessing technical fouls for players falling over on defense but fail to acknowledge a correct charging call when they see one. In a league where the best players supposedly play and the winners of the championship are deemed "World Champions," it disappoints me that several of these players only know part of what good basketball is. It is no wonder that several players and coaches complain when referees correctly make any foul calls at the ends of games, instead expecting referees to become TV viewers by simply watching ends of games instead of doing their jobs by providing consistent, fair, and correct officiating from the start of the game to the finish. I might not be a former NBA player, but I know a good charge when I see one, and I do not want to see good defense being negated by ill-advised technical foul calls.