Doc Rivers apparently screamed at his team to stop flopping after a dismal first half in Game 7 against the Rockets. The thing about flopping is that it works a lot of the time. During the regular season flopping is effective. But the act of flopping is by definition the opposite of standing your ground and getting tough. Game 7 on the road? Requires standing your ground and getting tough. Plus the refs are suddenly less likely to decide the game. (They tend to “let ’em play” more in Game 7 scenarios.) So flopping — even it if helped get you there — becomes ineffectual fast.
Doc was mad in Houston, but wasn’t always against flopping. Last year Doc Rivers defended star Blake Griffin against charges that he flops a lot with this gem:“I just keep looking at what Blake’s done. If he’s flopping, then keep doing it because those numbers look awful good to me. So flop on. That’s the way I look at it. Whatever he’s done this year, I want him to keep doing exactly that.”
