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HuffPost: Mark Cuban donates $100,000 to research NBA flopping

markcubanNews blog Huffington Post picked up the coverage by KDAF’s CW33 Nightcap News of the research of SMU biomechanics expert Peter G. Weyand, who is teaming with Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to investigate the forces involved in basketball collisions and the possibility of estimating “flopping” forces from video data.

Huffington Post reposted the Nightcap News video at “Mark Cuban Gives $100K to SMU to Fight NBA Flopping

markcuban

News blog Huffington Post picked up the video coverage by KDAF’s CW33 Nightcap News of the research of SMU biomechanics expert Peter G. Weyand, who is teaming with Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to investigate the forces involved in basketball collisions and the possibility of estimating “flopping” forces from video data.

Huffington Post reposted the Nightcap News video at “Mark Cuban Gives $100K to SMU to Fight NBA Flopping

KDAF’s CW33 Nightcap News coverage, Mark Cuban Gives $100K to SMU to Fight NBA Flopping, was posted June 7.

Flopping is a player’s deliberate act of falling, or recoiling unnecessarily from a nearby opponent, to deceive game officials. Athletes engage in dramatic flopping to create the illusion of illegal contact, hoping to bait officials into calling undeserved fouls on opponents.

The phenomenon is considered a widespread problem in professional basketball and soccer. To discourage the practice, the National Basketball Association in 2012 began a system of escalating fines against NBA players suspected of flopping, including during the playoffs, “NBA announces anti-flopping rules for playoffs.”

The Cuban-owned company Radical Hoops Ltd. awarded a grant of more than $100,000 to fund the 18-month research study at SMU.

Watch the video at Nightcap News.

EXCERPT:
By Barry Carpenter
Nightcap News

The NBA–full of the biggest, fastest athletes in the world and all too often some of the worst actors. Witness flopping.
“This first play is an example that will be penalized.” The narrator on the video said.

The video shows the small player fighting through a pick and sending the much larger player flying.

As explained by the narrator, impossible.

“However the contact of the player is inconsistent with the grossly embellished fall to the floor.”

It happens all the time in the NBA and that’s apparently why the league issued this “What’s a flop and What’s not” training video for the 2012-2013 season.

Technically–flopping is defined by the as a physical act that appears to have been intended to cause the referees to call a foul on another player.

For those who don’t like basketball–let’s take it from the hardwood to the hallway.

Robert and Claire are both heading for the Nightcap coffee pot–at the same time–when all of the sudden the two make contact. Robert is jolted back, he stumbles and falls–looking for a little help.

That is a classic flop–and if Robert was in the NBA he could be fined $5,000.00.

Speaking of money—Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban wants to understand the dynamics of flopping and is giving SMU biomechanics experts a $100,000.00 grant to see how much contact is needed for a player to really flop.

SMU officials say their findings may lead to video reviews of flopping.

Watch the video at Nightcap News.

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