Zizou Tsuki

[Bill Glasheen]

Here is the skill being taught. This is the posture described above before contact. Note the hand positioning.



Here are statistics for it in the NBA. They wouldn't be taking such statistics and posting them (as an asset) without it being part of basketball fundamentals.

"Taking the Charge" in NBA Basketball

In my personal experience, being enraged about this comes from not knowing the skill. When Duke would come in and draw so many offensive fouls, I first was ticked. Then I learned about the art of the act. Now I understand and appreciate the skill.

The character of a player to "take one for the team" is often discussed, but hard to quantify...offensive fouls drawn may be a good place to start.

- Bill

[Valkenar]

I was in Brazil

Justin: What did you end up using for insect repellant on you jungle trek?

Rich

Deet, as you suggested. It seemed to work pretty well over all. I did end up screwing up the shutter button on my camera slightly, but nothing too serious. I also felt slightly unwell at times, in circumstances that made me suspect the deet, but if it's the deet, which I can't really be sure of, I'd attribute it to being unable to follow the directions properly (e.g. no opportunity to wash it off for long periods). When I went a day without wearing it I did feel better, but I was also doing other things to try and fix the problem, so who knows. Thanks for the advice, it did weigh into my decision.

Bill:

I take it you don't watch a lot of basketball, Justin. Taking a charge (what you called "flopping") is one of the fundamental skills of the game.

I don't watch a great deal, but I watch enough. And I played on my high school's team and continue to play regularly, though not in an organized fashion. I know what it means to take a charge. There's a huge difference between taking a charge and flopping. I'm pretty stunned if you'd call yourself a basketball fan and believe that there's no difference between taking a charge and flopping.

Taking a charge involves using your quickness and wit to get into a position where you know that an opposing player either can't or won't avoid making excessive contact, and thereby creating an offensive foul. Doing that is definitely an admirable skill.

Flopping, on the other hand, is taking a little bit of contact and play-acting to make the referees believe that you were hit harder than you really were, whether you're on offense or defense. There is no way that flopping and taking a charge are the same act in basketball. You can flop when you take a charge, but you don't have to, it's not an integral part.

[Bill Glasheen]

The definitions get obscured, Justin, and after a while a negative becomes a positive. I remember as a child growing up in a black neighborhood learning that "bad" was "good."

Because Im bad, Im bad-come on
You know Im bad, Im bad-you know it
You know Im bad, Im bad-come on, you know
And the whole world has to answer right now
Just to tell you once again,
Who's bad . . .

Case in point.

The Phoenix Suns though have really been one of the two top team stories of the season along with Detroit's magnificent performance. The thing is that the mainstream is still thinking Phoenix is the uber-offense, no defense team of a year ago, when in fact they are playing a different style of game nowadays. Last year for instance, we had them drawing 135 offensive fouls on the season, which they nearly doubled this season! They also lead in "best net" for offensive fouls by a wide margin.

...and if we couldn't have guessed anyway, the Knicks were worst in the league in net offensive fouls, thanks in part to the league leader in committing the offensive foul, Eddy Curry.

We'll have more to say about fouls in future articles (picture things like "Flop %" and "Kings of the Loose Ball collisions"),

So why does taboo become chic? Maybe because those who criticize the forbidden don't really have a valid point! It's sort of an "in your face" response to the naysayers.

Food for thought.

Acknowledgement of the importance to the game of "taking a charge" came late, Justin. But you feel what you feel; that's your prerogative. Heck, dunking was illegal for half a generation. Now it's standard in the NBA game, and they have dunking contests during the Allstar Game. Ultimately those who couldn't lost out to those who wanted to watch "the theatrics."

Now if you and your friends want to sit courtside with numeric signs and grade "the performance" on a 1 to 10 scale, well... Maybe you can start a trend, Justin!



- Bill