Almost every time Sears got the ball, he was falling or acting like he was getting killed and the refs were calling fouls on us all the time- Oweh was getting hammered with no calls on Bama- getting hard to watch and KY's game was not the only one i watched over the wkdn where the refs had to be betting on the games
Refs need to go back and watch film of the games they've reffed and calls they've made, then try to calibrate themselves to the tricks players use to appear fouled - and stop falling for it. It's as obvious as anything, even at full speed. There just isn't any way a defender can have his arms straight up, jump straight up, and create the kind of contact that results in the player's head snapping backwards and body falling across the court.
There are so many players now that drive the ball, create the contact 100% themselves, then flop the head and flail around like they had zero expectation to be hit. Thiero did it (and still does it) at UK and I freaking hated it, even if he did get the call. Sears does it, Broome (sp?) at Auburn does it, and a few others. It's everywhere in the game, but I don't see refs falling for it as much in conferences not named the SEC.
It's chicken sh*t basketball, but at the same time, if the refs are going to keep rewarding these actors and not doing their homework or trying to improve their call consistency by watching their own performances after the fact, why wouldn't kids keep trying? The only reason this is getting more and more common in the game is because it works - refs are dumb enough to keep falling for it.
This all started in world cup soccer. Watch any soccer match from the EU - even matches from 30 years ago - and you'll see flopping and flailing all over the place. It's 1000 times worse today, and it's bleeding into almost every sport that has physical contact (offense/defense) - even the NFL.
