Article about the Flopping Fish in Oakland.

I'm not sure if this deserves a diary, but some people might want to read it.

No one is disputing that it was a blown call. Calls get missed all the time.

My biggest problem with it is that the refs are trained to learn the players and their reputations. Given that, and the fact that Fisher is the biggest flopper in the NBA, how does he get the benefit of the doubt on anything, let alone a game-deciding play?

Fisher is a great guy off the court, a class act. But on the court he's a fraud. After that call he remained sprawled on the ground and "played hurt." That's because even he felt bad, saying after the game that it should have been a no-call.

Yeah right Fish, you were hoping for that exact call. That's how you play the game. That's how you've always played the game.

Remember in last year's playoffs when Fisher was with Utah and Baron gave him that little elbow to the head and Fish fell and played hurt for about three minutes? Well I'm beginning to think he was faking that too. (When Baron was asked what he told Fisher after that, he jokingly said "I told him stop flopping and making me look bad.")

The NBA can put an end to this from floppers like Fisher.

They made an effort to rid the league of so many bad charging calls (a stat in which Fisher always led the league every year). The refs are calling blocking fouls when the play can go either way, and it has discouraged players from trying to take charges. Great move by the league.

If you want to discourage players like Fisher from doing what he did last night, you NEVER give him the benefit of the doubt on close calls until he stops flopping. Trust me, a few months of that and this nonsense will end.

http://warriors.realgm.com/articles/150/20080325/fisher_the_fraud/

In my opinion, that call was flat out disgusting. I don't care if I sound like a whiny Warriors fan or whatever. I just can't believe that I actually spent  almost 3 hours for that game... up until the last seconds of the game, the battle was amazing, the atmosphere was that of a playoff game showcasing Pacific Division action, Baron vs. Kobe and the fast paced action between athletic players going neck and neck, the crowd going wild, the intensity that was building up towards the end of regulation made my heart go crazy. The Warriors went on a stunning 10-1 run to send the game to overtime.

All of those moments and emotions throughout the game had compiled together to create big momentum for a huge climax.

What did it ALL lead to?? It led to a referee, who had a bad angle on the last play, making the big call to DECIDE the game... ensuring the Lakers a victory.

So we sat in front of our TV's for 2 and a half hours, screaming and going wild, just to end up seeing a damn referee decide the game. That call KILLED everything that the game was building up for. Even if he hadn't blown the whistle and the Warriors were to miss the shot, we wouldn't have gone crazy since a missed shot would have been the Warriors losing the game, not a ref. Instead, it was a damn whistle that gave the Lakers a victory, NOT a heartbreaking Kobe gamewinner, but a damn whistle. We play hard just to have some ref make everything that the Warriors did irrelevant. Although you COULD say that Fisher was clutch that game... I can't think of any other player that could come up with a clutch flop to clinch a guaranteed win.

Ahh, hopefully we kill the Trailblazers on national TV this Thursday. Hopefully that makes me forget about this controversy. Although I still remember that one game we had against the Wizards last year. haha.