Recently in my local basketball league I perfected the 5 point play. I scored a 2 whilst drawing a foul and went to the line. I missed the free throw, grabbed the board, scored another 2 with a foul and made the foul shot. OK so it was 2 plays and it was only possible because I missed the free throw but I'm claiming it all the same.
But back to reality, the 4 point play, the holy grail of a one possession play. When two players combine for the greater good, one to nail a three the other to foul in a way to still let them do so. Teamwork in harmony! But these days the shooter seems to not be playing fair. If you don't foul him, he's going to make you foul him. He's gonna kick his legs out, try and lock arms or generally flail to the ground like Shaquille O'Neal just ran through him. The natural reaction of the umpire is to follow the ball which on occassion leads to hearing a thud, seeing tangled bodies on the floor and adding 1 and 1 together to make 3 (free throws that is). Heaven forbid the player makes the shot and just gets the one bonus.
Is this a big problem? Does it happen a lot? No and No. So whats my problem with it? Well its really the fact that it is becoming acceptable and even expected. Talented athletes are falling over like fat men that are trying to sit down to fast. Basketball already cops enough flack for being a soft, non-contact sport and now we have this providing more ammo. Could you imagine if centres and power forwards started this? Big 6'8"+ guys falling over like its something to do. I've spoken to a few soccer supporters, a game that has its fair share of acting, and the response is a bit along the lines of "its part of the game". I'd hate to see that part of the game becoming regulation.
Is there a solution to this problem? I can't see one bar giving some of our premier shooters some acting classes so I stop spotting the fakes. Lets just hope the trend doesn't get any worse!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment