King Kaufman's Sports Daily

Death to floppers! Change the charge rule! Play defense! An angry Jeff Van Gundy livens up ESPN's playoff broadcasts. Plus: Stanley Cup Finals.

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May 29, 2007 | Boy, am I liking Jeff Van Gundy on the ESPN broadcasts of the NBA playoffs.

Van Gundy has been working with Mike Breen and Mark Jackson on the Western Conference finals, and while I recall liking his work as a TV analyst when he was between coaching stints with the New York Knicks and Houston Rockets, I don't remember this level of candor. Or anger. Van Gundy, fired after Houston's first-round exit at the hands of the Utah Jazz, is peeved!

In a good way.

He has been railing against flopping, saying he'd like to see those who flop to get foul calls not just not rewarded but punished. We've discussed that around here, and it's problematic, but I like the way that man thinks.

Monday night Manu Ginobili of the San Antonio Spurs and Jared Collins of the Jazz got locked up in a mutual flop that would have been comical if it weren't so annoying. It was a race to the floor. What happens when floppers meet? It's like a snake eating itself. Time and space warp. Or something.

Enough of this, Van Gundy keeps saying. Play some damn defense. It doesn't sound like a radical idea out here in fanland, because that's how most fans think about flopping. Pretty much everybody hates it. But NBA insiders tend to think of it as an important strategy, or at least useful gamesmanship.

For example, Doug Collins, who's doing the Eastern Conference finals on TNT with Marv Albert and Steve Kerr, will praise a player for being able to "create a foul," which is to say fall down spectacularly. Hey Ma, guess what I saw today! A guy fell down!

Van Gundy has been taking it a step further than just knocking the floppers. He has been advocating that even legitimate charging fouls not be called. "Step into a guy's path so he runs into you, that's not playing defense," he said earlier in the playoffs. He'd like to see the rules changed to stop rewarding that style of play.

I couldn't agree more. "Taking a charge" should not be a valued basketball skill. It cuts down on offense and increases stoppages in play. Both bad. Let's make defenders play defense.

Van Gundy has gotten apoplectic about this at times, a what's this game coming to vibe dripping from him. And you kids get off my lawn! I don't know if he's mad about that kind of thing or about the Rockets firing him. Either way, it's fun to listen to.

Next page: Enough with the self-deprecation schtick. Plus: Stanley Cup Finals