Dick Jerardi: Basketball officials need to put a stop to the flop

IF I COULD make officials do one thing to make the game better, I would have them call technical fouls on players who try to fool them by flopping. The flop is rewarded. It needs to be penalized.

I don't find myself agreeing with Rasheed Wallace often. But the Celtics forward recently railed about all the NBA floppers. He was right there and would be right if he were talking about the college game.

It is really difficult for an official who is behind a play when he sees a defender fall backward like he has been hit by a truck, but not as difficult as it sometimes seems. Slow down tape and you know the vast majority of these collisions are blocks not charges. The defender is moving more than officials think. And there are the floppers.

The NCAA has made a good first step this season, but it is not enough.

"A secondary defender who is positioned under the basket for the sole purpose of creating a charge foul . . . is now in an illegal guarding position," said national coordinator of officials John Adams in a recent conference call.

In other words, a help defender cannot stand under the net and draw a charge. This is a good thing.

If a defender does create contact in that fashion, it will be an automatic blocking foul and the official will point to the area under the basket, as he makes the call. So everybody should understand what just went down.

I like the NBA's arc in front of the basket more. It gives the officials an even better guideline to determine if there is a block or charge. If a defender is outside that arc, it can be a charge. If he is inside the arc, it is almost always a block.

As for the floppers, only the officials can clean that up, with a mandate by their supervisors. It can be done if they start calling technicals on players who are trying to cheat the game by fooling the officials.

Another new rule

 

If an injured player is unable to shoot his free throws, the opposing coach will be able to select from among the other four players on the floor. In the past, the injured player's coach could select a player from his bench to shoot the fouls. Which led to some guys getting "injured" who weren't really hurt.

Denzel who

 

Palestra custodian Dan Harrell is one of the most beloved people on the Penn campus. Really, who else carried a broom to his graduation?

Last spring, Harrell was introduced to a man who was accompanying his son on a campus visit. The son was going to be a member of the Quakers basketball team so a tour of the Palestra was in order.