I respect how well the Spurs play, and they've earned their titles by outplaying their opponents, but the constant flopping and underhanded play really make me dislike them as a team, and it's a "illegitimate child"-ization of the game I love. Ginobili used to be a favorite player of mine, but his constant flailing and tumbling is just embarrassing. A great quote from a guy in the latest Bill Simmons chat on the topic of a potential "flopping foul" says it all:
"It shouldn't be called a "flopping foul". We should have different degrees, such as: 1) A "Bowen Grade 1" if it's obvious to all the refs, every fan, every player, every coach, and every security guard in the arena that you flopped, but yet you still raise hell like there's no tomorrow. 2) A "Ginobili Grade 1" if the movement of the air caused by a defender running along side you makes you fly no less than 8 feet in a direction completely opposite to that which your momentum is carrying you. 3) A "Ginobili Grade 2" if you fall to the ground after no contact, but stay down there for 5-10 seconds while pretending to gather yourself. 4) A "Duncan Grade 1" if if you flop while you are the offensive player taking a shot, then after hearing that you aren't being rewarding for acting your eyes literally increase in size by a factor of 3, and you hold back tears. 5) An "Oberto Grade 1" if you start falling when the player you are guarding is still 3 feet away from you. 6) An "Oberto Grade 2" if you flop on a dead ball. 7) A "Parker Grade 1" if your wife told Vanity Fair that she gets worried when she sees you lying on the ground during a game because she doesn't know if you are really hurt, but then explains to vanity fair that you told her you have to stay on the ground to make it seem as though you were really hit hard so you get the call the next time.
A "Kristen" if the player flops onto their back."
What makes this great is that each player actually consistently does these things - love the bit about Duncan's Bambi eyes in particular.
