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I feel that players flop because they are intimidated by the better players around them. They know that those players next to them are richer than them so they quickly feel intimidated and fall down due to the their sense knowing that this playing is coming close to them. You never see the good players flop because they have too much power and money to fall down next to a player that has no power compared to them. You dont think that Donald Trump would flop in a game against a random player from Ghana right? Another example of this is Kobe not flinching to Matt Barnes in the NBA. It is a sign of power and wealth from the player, the player feeling intimidated by the wealthy athlete next to them will most likely fall down and flop to get away from him.

The worst officiated world cup ever. Every single game the ref has screwed up drastically changing the entire game, absolutely embarrassing.

I haven't written much of anything in a while, and I think that's what most members liked about me was when I put a good load of effort into posts like these. So, here is goes... With the high hopes of grabbing a maximum contract value free agent, the Heat will also have to put a good deal of consideration over which of its 12 expiring contracts should be resigned this summer. With James Jones contract of $4.6M likely to be bought out, that leaves Michael Beasley and Mario Chalmers as its only guaranteed players to return next year (assuming neither of them get traded). Along with their 3 draft picks in Dexter Pittman, DeShaun Butler, and Jarvis Vernado, as well as the possible returning players from the Euroleague in Patrick Beverly and Robert Dozier, that leaves the line up standing at 7 players. So without further ado, with the order being from largest priority to the least, here are the free agents that the Heat should consider resigning: 1. Dwyane Wade 2009/2010 averages: 26.6 points (47% FG, 30% 3PT, 76% FT), 6.5 assists, 5 rebounds, 1.9 steals, and 1.1 blocks in 36 minutes per game. Reasoning: Wade is a superstar, a top 3 player in the league, and the face of the Miami Heat franchise. Needless to say, D-Wade is on the very top of the list of the Heat's priorities this summer before anything else. He has said many times himself how the Heat is his first option this summer, though he is still waiting for Pat Riley to meet him halfway by bringing in what he wants. 2. Udonis Haslem 2009/2010 averages: 10 points (49% FG, 76% FT) and 8 rebounds in 28 minutes per game, as well as leading the league in double-doubles off the bench with 21 total. Reasoning: For Miami, Udonis Haslem goes beyond his abilities on the court, including his work ethic, commitment, loyalty, positive attitude, unselfishness, leadership, and everything else you need for a team with a championship goal. Beyond that, he grew up in Florida, played for the Miami Senior High School, played 4 years for the University of Florida, and played 7 years for the Miami Heat. Loyalty goes both ways in this situation, and Miami would absolutely hate to lose UD. Pat Riley has spoken very highly of Udonis, even going as far as saying that he "loves him like a son". Just to show how much Miami wants him back, the Heat organization threw a big "we want U back" party on his birthday on June 9th in appreciation to his contributions over the years, giving him the best birthday he had "in 30 years". Though the likelihood of resigning him this summer is very slim due to salary reasons, Riley will still do everything he can to bring him back. If Haslem does leave, he will be dearly missed. 3. Dorell Wright 2009/2010 averages: 7.1 points (46% FG, 39% 3PT, 89% FT), 3.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 0.7 steals in 21 minutes per game. Reasoning: Dorell's versatility, athleticism, potential, and all around abilities combined makes him a valuable player on any team and a must keep for the Heat. Though last year he didn't bring the most awe-inspiring numbers, he continually showed signs of tapping into his potential as the year progressed, and during the month of March before the playoffs, he averaged 12 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists in 26 minutes of action per game off the bench. It may sound a bit strange to talk about potential for a 6 year vet. Since his career has been so held back with injuries, he never had a true chance to gain the consistent playing time in order to bring out the most in his abilities. He is still only 24 years old, and still has time to prove himself. Next year will be the first year following a full season without a serious injury, and that will be the year where we will see his true game. Hopefully it will be proven in Miami. 4. Quentin Richardson 2009/2010 averages: 9 points (43% FG, 40% 3PT, 73% FT), 5 rebounds, and 0.9 steals in 27 minutes per game. Reasoning: Q-Rich is replaceable, but his chemistry with Wade is not. He is a long time friend of Wade's, they new each other before becoming professional athletes, and have talked together for a long time about one day playing for each other. The 09-10 season was like a dream come true for them. Resigning Q-Rich (as well as D-Wright, he is also a close friend of both Q and Wade) may play a part in convincing Dwayne to stay. A part from that, Q has proven to have a nice work ethic since his trade to the team, losing roughly 25 pounds over the summer before last season. Riley has compared his toughness and work ethic to Udonis Haslem. Last season, he contributed with his deadly 3 point jumpshooting with solid perimeter defender, as well as adapting the Riley defensive mentality of drawing charges. With the possibility of a max free agent taking his starting role this summer, hopefully Q-Rich will be willing to take a pay cut and continue his contributions off the bench. 5. Jermaine O'Neal 2009/2010 averages: 13.6 points (53% FG, 72% FT), 7 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks in 28 minutes per game. Reasoning: Though JO's piss-poor postseason still leaves an awful taste in every Heat fan's mouth, you can't ignore the fact that he is still one of the better options the Heat have this free agency at the center position. Perhaps he can be replaced, but with the majority of the scoring coming from Wade, Beasley, and "player X" from free agency, the diminished offensive role may be the best thing for JO at this point in his career. His defense, rebounding, and (usually) high field goal percentage, he can still be a solid contributor as a starter for a championship caliber team. Again, it is not an absolute must to keep him, and if the Heat can find a replacement (like Brendan Haywood), he may be as good as gone. Other Heat free agents that are worth mentioning: Joel Anthony 2009/2019 averages: 2.7 points (48% FG, 72% FT), 3.1 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks in 17 minutes per game off the bench. Reasoning: Joel is a good shot blocker and screen setter off the bench, though he provides little else unfortunately. He is a poor rebounder and a poor finisher around the basket for his position. His role as a back up center has already been replaced by Dexter Pittman, and the Heat already drafted a similar player to Joel in Jarvis Vernado. Carlos Arroyo 2009/2010 averages: 6.1 points (48% FG, 28% 3PT, 84% FT), 3.1 assists, and 0.5 steals in 22 minutes per game. Reasoning: He did a solid job fulfilling the role as a stopgap throughout the year. He played temporary parts as a bench player and a third stringer before finally settling as a starter before the postseason. He is a pure point guard that lacks the complete talent to start for a contending NBA team. With the Heat likely to sign a point guard this offseason, with Mario Chalmers continuing his role as a back up, Carlos Arroyo is likely to look for a role on another team.

1) The biggest player on the US team in soccer is 6'4'', 210lbs. That's an undersized SG in the NBA. Most players on the US roster are below 6ft, 180lbs. Let's say the physicality was 100% equal in both sports (which it absolutely is not, but play along), just different...who do you think is going to feel the affects of a foul more? A player getting hit by a 5'10'', 180lbs athlete, or a player getting hit by the 6'8'', 260lbs athlete? 2) NBA players don't get tripped up? You consider falling on the soccer field a nastier fall than falling on the basketball court from a few feet in the air after getting fouled hard going to the rim? 3) Yes, there are OCCASIONS where soccer players have to use physicality. But all players on the soccer field do NOT have to be physical virtually the entire game. In the NBA, everytime down the floor you have to deal with elbows, blatant fouls, jersey pulling, tripping, hip checks, and whatever punishment a player like Dwyane Wade has to take on his hard drives to the rim. And that's every single player...on every single possession. In soccer it's just the players with the ball, and whenever there is a free/corner kick. There is FAR more physicality in the NBA because the punishment is dished out on a consistent basis the entire game. It was an example, not to set a standard. If I used 5 different soccer games, and 5 different NBA games, completely random, and accumulated the averages, the fouls per minute will always come out to over 2:1 in favor of the NBA. In that example it happened to be over 3:1. 1) You're not getting my point...I explained to you how much more involved the NBA game is, and how much there is to ref ON EVERY POSSESSION. In soccer, there is very little to referee except offsides (when once in a blue moon a team is actually in scoring position), hand-balls and fouls (which as I showed are far less common in soccer than the NBA). So yes, there may be only one referee in soccer, but there are at least 3x more penalties to enforce in the NBA. That is why I said that the NBA having 3 refs and soccer having only 1 makes no difference. You can't possibly have 1 referee in an NBA game...you can in soccer, even if the results leave something to be desired. 2) Soccer is more spread out than the NBA, yes...that doesn't mean much. Except for on free/corner kicks, there is really no physicality to enforce in off-ball situations in soccer. All the penalties to enforce are where the ball is/is going. In the NBA, you have to pay attention to every single player on the floor, and have more penalties to enforce. Also, the ball also isn't going back-and-forth every 24 seconds on the dot either like in the NBA, and when the teams do trade possessions there are no rules to enforce whereas the NBA has the 8-second clock and such. Yes, a soccer ref has more area to cover than an NBA ref, but the NBA ref has more responsibility and areas to pay attention to than a soccer ref. *MOST IMPORTANT* One final thing- We can argue all day about which game is more physical, which game is harder to ref, all these things...and it DOESN'T MAKE A DIFFERENCE. Why? One word... Context. Basketball and soccer are two totally different sports. Have a totally different set of rules. What constitutes a foul in basketball is a lot different than in soccer. You admitted this yourself by saying soccer is all about the lower body, basketball is moreso the upper body. The refereeing situation is totally different in terms of responsibility. FIFA is not the NBA, either. What does all that mean? Using what happens in soccer and comparing it to what happens in basketball is completely pointless and misguided. They are two totally different sports, two different orginizations (FIFA and NBA), and both have issues with flopping. It starts and ends there. The NBA's problem with flopping stands completely alone from FIFA's. They should not be compared or contrasted. So, can we please get off this soccer crap and get back to the NBA?

^How can you say with certainty basketball is more physical than soccer when soccer players go down hard (not every fall is a flop okay) and grabbing their legs in genuine pain? Basketball may be more physical upper body wise, but soccer is more physical lower body wise with all the tackles going on and during free/ corner kicks players are fighting for positions, pushing and exchanging elbows... and the header can target anything but the ball. There were also NBA games with 25-35 fouls. I remember the Nuggets had a playoffs game last year where there were only 25 fouls committed between the two teams. You took a sample of one NBA game of 50 fouls and another sample of soccer game of 30 fouls and think they are the standard? It doesn't work that way. How can you keep saying an NBA game is harder to ref than a soccer game when it's blatantly clear: - There are three (3) NBA refs who can discuss calls together vs. only one (1) soccer ref who makes all on-court decisions - The NBA court is 17 x smaller than a soccer field - Bonus: there are 22 players on soccer field to ref (by ONE ref!) vs. only 10 players to ref on basketball court (by THREE refs)! Average wise, a soccer ref has to watch over 22.0 players while an NBA ref only has to watch 3.3 players. LMAO It's not even a contest here. You said I should take a 5 min sample of both NBA game and a soccer game. You're definitely missing the Germany-Serbia game where the ref dished out 9 yellow cards and 1 red card. That's equivalent to 9 technical fouls and 1 ejection in NBA. But the real reason why in soccer there're less calls than NBA is: soccer refs ignore flopping while NBA refs reward/ buy into flopping. In fact, if you flop in soccer and it's a bad acting, and the ref sees that, you're gonna get a yellow card... something that is not done in basketball/ NBA. How can 1 ref on a very big field vs. 3 refs on a small court "makes no difference"? If you're being offered one job to ref a soccer game where you ref alone and have to run like crazy on a massive field vs. another job to ref a basketball game where you know you don't make ALL MAJOR decisions by yourself, but you're accompanied by 2 other refs to see things that you miss. Same pay. You're lying if you say you prefer reffing a soccer match...

Now you can be the coolest video gamer / card collector in the world!!!!!

Are you Kingfish's retarded brother by any chance?

How in the world do you have Steph so far ahead of Steve Francis (and almost every other PG on that list)? And Cassell only had 5 really good to great seasons this decade...if number of seasons affects your view on guys like Paul and Williams, it should be the same for Cassell (and Marbury, Francis, etc..). As for my list... 1a) Steve Nash 1b) Jason Kidd 3) Chris Paul 4) Deron Williams 5) Chauncey Billups 6) Baron Davis 7) Tony Parker 8) Andre Miller 9) Sam Cassell 10) Mike Bibby Put Nash and Kidd at 1a, 1b. If I had to pick I'd put Nash slightly over Kidd because Kidd hasn't been the same player the last 3 seasons, never won an MVP, and Nash overall is just a much better offensive player. I put Paul at #3 and D-Will at #4 because they have been so far and away better than the non-Nash/Kidd PG's ever were in the last few seasons. Probably could put D-Will over Paul because of playoff success, but Paul was 2nd in MVP voting in 2008 and led the Hornets to a surprising run through the post-season. Paul is the slightly better player so I put him ahead. Billups is a Finals MVP, always been a very good defender and scorer, and from 2003-2009 made the Conference Finals every single season (winning 2 of them). His success really put him up a spot or two in my list. Davis was the best of the Marbury/Francis types, and unlike them his teams had some playoff success and he's remained consistent and in the league throughout the decade. Parker is another Finals MVP, has 3 rings and has been an All-Star. Once again, success counts in my eyes. Miller's been extremely consistent over the decade and was once an assists-leader. I put him over Cassell because Cassell only had 5 really good seasons this decade, while Miller did it the entire decade. If we're talking career, Cassell is hands down the better choice. And then Bibby rounds out the lineup because he's been consistent, teams have had success and he's always been a good PG.

Jason Kidd overrated? If anything, he'sunderrated.

That's what happens when you refuse to take advantage of technology.

GM's didn't follow the rules with Andrew Bogut and Andrea Bargnani (#1 picks). Same with Adam Morrison and Mike Dunleavy Jr. (#3) and even Ricky Rubio and Kevin Love (#5).

xxxx: i dont understand how a country like us with hitech training facilities and [expletive] lose to [expletive]ing ghana xxxx: what do they practice with lions and [expletive]? xxxx: they run from cheetahs trying to eat them

He's already been a "done deal" to sign with every team in the league.

Watching this World Cup, I wish NBA can make its games more like soccer where it's about the game, not about "everything else" surrounding the game. In soccer: - There's no game music... the only sound you hear is the thuds of the ball kicked, the fans, the whistles of the refs, the commentator and that's it. You really focus on the game. What do we see/ hear in an NBA game? Fireworks, bloody arena musics that dominate the game you can't hear dribbles or players' shoes squeaking anymore, cheerleaders showing off their boobs and asses - Continuous game play... obviously there's timeout with basketball. But what annoys me a lot is these players' interview videos during a freakin game... hey the game is goin on, it's just a dead play. I don't want to hear what Amare Stoudemire has to say about Lamar Odom that "he had a lucky game" in an interview from the day before. And these "NBA Cares" showing off after every break... I really applaud the NBA for its marketing genius, but it has to be toned down. - Refs do not dominate the game. In soccer, refs are refs... they make sure the game is played properly and they will make calls. But they don't care if you're Cristiano Ronaldo/ Messi... if you're offside, you're offside. If you tackle hard the wrong way, you get called for "defensive foul"... if it's excessive, it's yellow card. You object/ [expletive] like Kobe whenever he gets his shots blocked clean, and you get sent off. What do we see in NBA? If you're LeBron James you're allowed to take crab steps, or as we all know, the star/ superstar treatments. Best of all, soccer refs will give you a yellow card for flopping... a red card if you dare it to do it twice. I witnessed it when a ref gave a yellow card to Ozil (Germany-Australia) because he flopped... what do we see if Wade flops? He goes to the freakin FT line. So I feel like in an NBA game, it's more about superstars/ big names like Kobe, Wade, LeBron... and "the happenings" in an arena, rather than the basketball itself. If NBA can't make its games more like soccer, then I really hope it can make them at least more like NCAA games... I read a SLAM article from a few years back, and I agree when a writer said (not the exact quote but something like), "in NBA game it felt like you go to a rock concert where there happens to be a basketball game." I agree. When you have no fanfare/ side things, you have no options but to focus on the game. I think it's no coincidence soccer has billions of fans worldwide, while basketball has yet to reach that billion mark. I really think if NBA can adopt an approach where it focuses on the game, instead of the marketing side of the game, it will really attract the adult fans... those 30-60 year old who ditch NBA games because they're more like soap operas/ drama episodes than real sport. The game will be more exciting to watch... as they all say, "I let my game speak for myself". I wish NBA can do the same. Especially the freakin refs... this NBA ref domination has to stop. I can accept if it's about superstars, but the fact that we all know NBA refs names like Salvatore, Bavetta, Eddie Rush, Joe DeRosa, not just the obvious "Tim Donaghy", makes it clear this game is also about the freakin refs. I don't pay money to see a ref "dominates" the game. Name me a soccer ref, I bet you can't. I pay money to see the game... I can give in and accept paying money to see superstars dominate... but one thing I can't stand is paying money to see refs dominate a game.

http://i46.tinypic.com/11hqm12.png

My post had NOTHING to do with soccer besides 1 comment saying how basketball is the hardest sport to referee. Basketball is its own entity, and I was treating its situation of flopping as such. Which leads me to... STOP COMPARING SOCCER TO THE NBA!!! Basketball is on an entirely different level of physicality and action. Besides offsides, there is nothing to call in soccer except for fouls and hand-balls. In the NBA you have to deal with shot-clock violations, 8-second rule, 3-second rule, travelling, double dribble, carrying, on-ball fouls, off-ball fouls, shooting fouls, blocking fouls, charging fouls, goaltending, backcourt violations, etc... In soccer, there is very little physicality on-ball or off-ball...the NBA requires physicality each and every possession down the floor. To give you an example, in yesterday's USA-Ghana soccer matchup, there were 30 fouls. In Game 1 of the NBA Finals, there were 54. Per minute, that equated to .3 fouls per minute in FIFA, and 1.1 fouls per minute in the NBA. THAT is why the NBA game is so much harder to referee than a soccer match, especially from the position of fouls/flops, which is the point of this topic. There's just a LOT more going on to have to pay attention to, and there's a lot more physicality, which makes judging fouls that much harder. And yes, there may be only 1 referee in soccer on the field, but do this...Take a random soccer match, and watch just 5min of it. Any 5min of the game. Now, watch an NBA game for 5min, once again any 5min. What do you notice? That referees have very little to actual referee in those 5min of soccer. Meanwhile, in the NBA, there's a ton of calls to be made in that same 5min span. So, the fact that soccer has only 1 on-field ref really makes no difference in this topic IMO.

The league. 100% Players do it to gain advantage. They're mastering the technique and it wins their team an extra possession. They are basically creating TO's by flopping. Referees have NO motive to "reward" floppers. The fans hate flopping, many players hate flopping, and the league supposedly hates flopping. If they know a player is intentionally flopping, they have no reason to hold blow their whistle. Here's the problem- There are only 3 referees in a game looking at essentially 5 different 1-on-1 matchups. These players are professional athletes, and when you watch an NBA game in-person and have a close proximity to the action, the game speed is astonishing. Everything happens in a split second. They do not have the benefit to instant replay every foul, they don't have the benefit of seeing each foul from different angles, and most of the time they only catch a foul out of the corner of their eye. A foul takes place in the fraction of a second. Basically what I am getting at is refereeing an NBA game is harder than ref'ing any other sport, and in person it can be very, very difficult to determine what's a legit foul and what may be a flop. And what if a player reacts in a way that looks like he's flopping, but he is actually hit hard and just exaggerating the foul a little bit. Should a ref swallow his whistle because he assumed that player was flopping when in reality he was legitimately hit? That brings me back to the league. Players do what they can do to get an advantage, and referees do their best to call the game within its rules. To stop flopping, the league has to A) Allow for more physicality so fouls become more black-and-white than gray, and B) Start fining players more often for flopping. If players start getting fined or suspended for flopping, the flopping trend will slow down tremendously. By tweaking the rules to allow more physicality, it takes pressure off the refs to swallow their whistles unless they see a foul that could not be disputed.

I think they'll keep both Wade and Haslem for sure. Jermaine O'Neal would also be nice for you guys to keep at the right price. You get a +1 from me. Anyone who puts time into a post like this deserves it.

Hey uh someone want to tell me how these are not repeated blatant personal attacks? Just wondering I mean there must be something I'm not seeing because calling someone a dumbass moron and waste of space is an attack to me. I agree judging by the way you conduct yourself YOU do not belong here, you really just set that whole pointless argument up by baiting him. At least that's how I saw it, maybe I'm wrong.

Okay, I don't know you, or you don't know me personally... How do we know the loser is gonna pay? Me, if I lose I'll pay for sure... I've paid $30 to an OTR member here for winning my quiz. How do I know you'll pay if you lose? Being to the point... we gotta make sure we both enter into solid betting here. :glasses: And... this is including the possible penalties right, not just the first 90 minutes? In the end, who wins?

LOL @ trutrojan viewing the thread for 20 mins then leaving. He got http://media.urbandictionary.com/image/large/pwnt-31487.jpg

http://www.funny2.com/baseball.htm We all know who the real field fairies are

Well, thanks for taking it as a joke. I'd tell you how to change it back, but we all know you're the expert at it. BUUUUURRRRNNNNN.

Why do I have the weird feeling that this guy is PointForwardGuy?

If you get $50 for 20,000 views, and you don't think you'll get 20,000 views... are you making bank?

Gross, she smokes.

Jason Kidd is extremely over-rated and it's not even funny. He can't hold Steve Nash's jock for a second. I could give two [expletive]s about his rebounding as most of his boards are garbage and are just to get into transition. There is no way he is better than the best passer this decade, and arguably the best pure shooter this decade as well.