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Is Chris Goulding Really the Flop King Of The NBL? Analysing the Talk of the NBL World
Is Chris Goulding Really the Flop King Of The NBL?
With the recent discussions in the NBL world centred around NBL great Chris Goulding and his on court antics, it is now time to dive in and decide once and for all, is this fact or is this fiction. There is plenty to this whole story and in the recent weeks it has all come to a head with South East Melbourne Phoenix owner Romie Chaudhari and Illawarra Hawks coach Justin Tatum, both venting their frustrations around the NBL star. Is Chris Goulding the NBL Flop King or has it all been blown out of the water.
The word flop and Chris Goulding are words that have been married up plenty of times in his 452 game career. All it takes is a simple google search and you can see the number of articles, videos and forums talking about Goulding and his flopping history. When looking back to the 2015 NBL season, Goulding was almost fined for his flop against the New Zealand Breakers which caused a massive stir in the NBL as it turned the game around and United walked away winners in that game, very similar to last nights game against Illawarra.
Looking deeper into the last fortnight in particular, it is clear that Goulding flopped multiple times throughout both games causing frustration for both opposition players and coaches. He has always been a player who has exaggerated contact in order to get a call, but is there anything wrong with that? Not technically, as it is in the rules that if there is contact that is deemed a foul but maybe the responsibility needs to fall more on the officials in these moments.
South East Melbourne Phoenix owner Romie Chaudhari took to X to voice his displeasure around Goulding and his flopping and let's just say it wasn't taken too well by United Head Coach, Dean Vickerman. Chaudhari said the following statement after the game between South East Melbourne Phoenix and Melbourne United on the social media platform, X.
Goulding constantly flops and cries about it, that sh*t is weak.... Great win for SEM, they earned it, so proud of the effort, way to keep fighting!!
The main problem with all of this is that is it right for a NBL owner to be commenting on an opposition player? Probably not, but he does have a point. The play that sparked this all was in the first quarter where Goulding and Hunter got tangled up whilst boxing each other out, resulting in Hunter pulling his arm away and Goulding flopping to the floor. It caused a little moment between both players, teams and officials and Goulding wanted to go at Hunter after the play before being stopped by his teammates.
It was a clear as day flop, both players were tangled together and Hunter pulled his arm away resulting in Goulding flopping to the court and playing for the foul in which was a no call. Many have said that this should have been a flop warning and even a technical with how Goulding reacted afterwards at the officials, but sometimes these star players of the NBL get officiated a little differently, weather it is getting all the calls or getting none at all.
The next incidence was in last nights 92-87 point win over the Illawarra Hawks. Goulding would push the ball down the court late in that game and would force a little contact with Will Hickey before flopping and almost hurting his knee in the process. It was an ugly looking moment in the game in which could have been avoided if he didn’t flop in that moment.
This was a call that sparked outrage from the Hawks bench and in particular Head Coach, Justin Tatum. Tatum after the game said the following statement to the media in his post game press conference.
We’re just happy that Chris Goulding didn’t hurt himself flopping in front of us. So I’m glad he’s injury free.
It is going to be interesting to see how the NBL acts over the coming days with so much going on. This isn’t a new situation for Chris Goulding and it begs the question that if the NBL had fined him or suspended him early in his career, would he still be doing this right now? Have the NBL and their lack of accountability, allowed Chris Goulding to be this way? Yes he has been a great player but this is a part of his game that a lot of fans have looked at and lost a lot of respect for him.
Over night South East Melbourne Phoenix owner Romie Chaudhari barked back at Chris Goulding and Melbourne United coach, Dean Vickerman after the game against Illawarra, doubling down on his original statement. Chaudhari said the following on X after the incident against Illawarra and it’s going to have the NBL and its fans talking for some time, with sanctions and fines all but certain to be handed down in the coming days.
Guess I'm not the only one who feels this way about that dude at @MelbUnited.... What does Coach Vickerman have to say now? He said he won't forget what I said, now he has to remember what these guys said, too.... He got a lot on his mind, I guess 😂😂
Whilst this situation has been ugly in recent weeks, it all but adds another chapter in the story of the Chris Goulding’s flop diary. The real question though, Is Chris Goulding really the Flop King of the NBL? You decide!
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Comments (9)
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I.totally agree, his antics are uncalled for. The sad thing is his highlight reel will not be made up of him taking freaky 3point shots. But of him throwing himself on the ground like a toddler and screaming at Refs. Not pretty.
Not just the Flop King of the NBL, he is the Flop Emperor of the WORLD.
Have we forgotten the "Phantom of the Flopera" moment shown on Sports Centre?
When your flopping in an NBL game gets featured on Sports Centre, you know it's next level flopping.
And there's a huge difference between exaggerating contact (so the refs don't miss the call) and throwing yourself at the floor and bleating for a foul when no part of any opponent's body has come within 20cm of any part of your body. This is OUTRIGHT CHEATING.
Then take a situation like the recent Hunter/Flopper incident in Melbourne. Watch it from all angles frame by frame and this is what you see...
FRAME BY FRAME, BLOW BY BLOW:
● Hunter moves to contest rebound.
● Flopper races toward Hunter. Flopper's right arm is fully extended horizontally toward Hunter, so as he reaches Hunter, he is arm barring across Hunter's body.
● Hunter locks the arm bar to bring it down and stop FLopper from illegally impeding his movement.
Hunter is far more focussed on the rebound than the flea pestering him on his left, so takes a few seconds to continue his motion to free himself
■ At this point, a foul could've been called on Hunter and it would be reasonable. Hunter was just freeing himself from illegal defense, but he did it illegally.
● Hunter uses the lock to take both their arms backward, so he can pull his arm forward and out. Hunter's wrist is "soft" (almost "floppy") so as to allow it to pull through with minimum contact/impedance. This makes Hunter's intent patently clear: get free with as little contact as possible. This is in the spirit of the game!
■ NOTE: from the moment Flopper reached Hunter, he began turning his body away to initiate his flop and make it seem like he was pushed. He wasn't pulling away. He was still activeoy trying to "arm bar" when he started his turn to flop.
■ NOTE: Hunter NEVER moves any of his body or pressure in Flopper's direcfion. How is "poor" Flopper ever going to sell an imaginary "push"? Poor, poor Flopper, what ya gonna do?
● As Hunter takes the arms back, Flopper realises he is not going to be able to get the push (or appearance of a push) he was playing for.
He opens his arm horizontally across Hunter's back just above his waist.
● You can make out Flopper's hand shape changing into a grasping motion as it nears Hunter's shirt.
Flopper is now well into the action of heading for the floor.
● You can't see Flopper's hand grasp the shirt, but you can see the shirt clearly being pulled (hard) left from the back of the shirt. The only other player in reach of the back of Hunter's shirt is a SEMP player, with both arms in air...
● Hunter isn't "biting". He is entirely focussed on the ball. He is moving to his right.
● Flopper now knows he's not going to get a push and desperately throws himself at the floor, stll trying to hold onto Hunter's shirt. Presumably this was to pull Hunter in the same direction so it looks like the flop was a hip and shoulder from Hunter.
● But Flopper is a mere "pestering flea" to Hunter's significantly greater size and strength.
Physics tells us that Flopper had to use more force to throw himself at the floor as his grip on Hunter's shirt was causing resistance to his flop (and increased resistance as Hunter was moving in the opposite direction).
● Flopper may well have hit the floor harder than he wanted to. That was ALL ON HIM.
● When the whistle goes, Flopper almost screams at the ref "[that/he] could've ended my career!!" whilst making a show of nursing his (presumably) jarred wrist.
It was already one of the dirtiest attempts at flop-faking an imaginary foul I have ever witnessed, but this bleat on top is actually slanderous!
*******
Following this lying, cheating and slander, Rob Loe declares "Open Season" on Hunter. That (illegal in rugby!) high tackle was beyond "unsportsmanlike"; it was DANGEROUS and, IMHO, should have been a disqualifying foul and (by NBL tribubal review) a likely suspension and/or fine.
Loe follows with another unsportsmanlike foul (called as just a regular PF). Again should have berb ejected.
But the pinnacle of Flopper's disgustingly poor sportsmanship is when Flopper joins hip and shoulder's Hunter toward Dellavedova without any regard for his teammate's safety.
Flopper used imaginary angst at Hunter as his faked motive to hit out Hunter and get a low graded foul (refs giving a little "grace" because they bought into Flopper's lies in the initial rebound incident).
Aside from the injurt risk to Dellavedovs himself, this action put Dellavedova out of the game, and that absolutely had an impact on the result!
Why does nobody respect Flopper's flop-acting?
Only narcissists can appreciate when gaslighting "works". What does Flopper want us to think of him as a person?
The only thing his acting is selling to me is that there are red flags for possible narcissism. Is that what he wants people to believe of him?
Only a "basketball-ignorant" fool would not see the danger of this dirty little cheat's antics and gaslighting.
The refs need to start retrospectively reviewing tapes, frame by frame to understand who he is as a player and adjust their interpetation of future incidents appropriately.
Losing his team the game is an issue for his coaches abd teammates to understand and address
He is a talented but streaky shooter. If he actually worked at playing legally and learned to out effort in on Defence, he might be one of the greatest Australian players of his generation.
Sadly for him, he is choosing to be remembered for his flopping, whining and gaslighting instead.
His gaslighting is going to end someone's career (by injury) one day and I only hope that Karma and natural justice ensure it is HIS career and not somebody else's.
Flop or not last night. If Goulding wasn’t known for flopping no one would have thought he flopped which proves he is a flopper!
Terrible article with just your opinion highlighted. Last nights incident was far from a flop. He was fouled by hickey, he didn’t cause the contact hickey did. He then twisted and hurt his troubled ankle in the process. Get your facts right please. If you want to continue as a basketball journo you better start writing facts not just your biased opinion. Good luck. C ya at a press conference.
King of flopping, always has been, always will be
Sir Flopps a lot
A pathetic article you should be ashamed
of course he is.