Ginobili (gi-nob'-blee) verb. 1. To flop in response to minimal (or perhaps fictitious) contact in order to draw a foul. 2. To greatly overreact to little or no physical stimuli for personal gain.

Usage example: The guy I was guarding just toppled over and started writhing around. I barely touched him, but he got the foul call and his team won the game. I totally got Ginobili'd.

Word history: This word, inspired by Reebok's You got Rondo'd viral video campaign, is destined to become the standard term for describing athletes who needlessly dive, flail, flop, tumble, and/or thrash about for a foul call (and extrapolates to refer to any person who overreacts to minimal physical contact for personal gain). Sure, there are plenty of players who behave this way, but Manu is by far our favorite. Manu, you may not have won the title this year, but you'll always be first our heart -- our cynical, sarcastic heart, that is.

And now...prepare to be Ginobili'd (thanks to the great Basketbawful for his acting performance that, in my opinion, rivals even the standard-bearing Manu himself):


Phonetastic extra: Ever wonder how to pronounce Araujo, Garbajosa, Jasikevicius, Tsakalidis, or Vinicius? Then go check out The International NBA Players Pronunciation Guide.

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26 Comments:
Anonymous Anonymous said...
Are you the one getting hit by the van? If so, from the back you look a lot like Jason Kidd lol.

Blogger Wild Yams said...
I have to say that while not nearly as well known, Sasha Vujacic has taken the Ginobili to a new level. While Ginobili and other floppers just try to get the foul called, Vujacic tries to get a flagrant foul called, and he does this by usually reacting as if he got punched or kicked extremely hard in a very sensitive spot (like the throat or the nuts or something). You can usually see this on display in virtually any game he's in, and Game 5 was no exception. Watch the play where he got tied up for a jump ball in which he acted like he got thrown to the ground by a bear, and how he writhed around on the floor for a couple seconds before realizing the ref hadn't bought his act.

I guess that's how they roll in Slovenia.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Awesome!

My favorite Vujacic moment of the finals was when he tried to scissor his legs around Ray Allen's and pull him down, clearly caught on replay, then threw an it-wasn't-me tantrum. That was sort of ballsy there.

Blogger Drake said...
Wait a minute. Most of the players in the "International NBA Players - Pronunciation Guide" are American.

Do you think it's really a pronunciation guide FOR foreign players to use? Or do you think it's really just a "Hard to Pronounce NBA Player Names Guide"?

Blogger Shiv said...
While Vujacic's jump-ball flop was definitely note-worthy, I think the Finals' best flop so far has come courtesy of Paul Pierce.

When Luke Walton made that boneheaded move by trying to guard Pierce at half-court and slipped, Pierce actually took a backward dive-and-slide over Walton's prone body without injuring either and got the foul called on Walton. Even if you hate flopping, you can't help but admire the grace with which Pierce performed that manoeuvre.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Freakin brilliant video!

I especially like the music and the self-tipping mug.

Blogger Evil Ted said...
Drama - That's the great Bawful himself (pretty sure most bald people look about the same from the back though).

Yams et al - Vujacic is a special kind of crazy that may surpass Ginobili's antics before long (I've referred to him as Ginobili-in-training), but he has not remotely taken these skills to the art form level that Manu has. The jump ball where he dropped to the floor and intentionally banged his head was with 38-year-old Sam Cassell. Even I was a little stunned for a second, thinking "No Sam, don't toss the little European around like that!" V almost fooled even me...glad the refs didn't fall for that crap. Still, V may never get to rise to Manu heights, considering the flop fines and whatnot coming into effect next year.

Drake - Probably just a hard-to-pronounce guide. Bawful himself added this notation, probably because my initial attempt at the pronunciation guide for "Ginobili" in a draft of this post was so piss poor.

shiv - yes, Pierce's theatrics on that play were not lost on me.

Wormboy - Thanks. The self-tipping mug was my favorite thing too.

Blogger Wild Yams said...
The distinction I'm making with Vujacic compared to every other player who flops is that Vujacic doesn't just fall over to try to get the foul, but will actually continue his act for a good 30 seconds or minute after the foul has been called (or ignored) to try to get the refs to then discuss whether a flagrant foul should be called. He will stagger around clutching whatever area he thinks was hit, or he will roll around on the floor like he just got knocked out, things like that. Look at how much acting he did after Cassell tied him up in the last game. He was not just trying to get a foul called, he was either trying to get Cassell called for a flagrant or a technical. I haven't seen anyone else in the league doing that level of ref-baiting yet. Hopefully the fines next year will take care of this garbage.

Blogger Trev said...
I blame all this flopping on soccer. Think about all of the major offenders of the flop Divac, Ginobilli, Varejao, Tony Parker, and now Vujacic what do they all have in common? Nations where soccer is huge.

I'm not sure what Derek Fisher's and Bruce Bowen's excuse is though.

Blogger Babyshoes said...
My favorite in the pronunciation guide:

Dan Dickau DICK-cow

Anonymous Anonymous said...
wow, Spurs-haters can't rest! Ginobili (one of the world's best players and owner of several NBA Championship rings) is done playing this year and yet you still can't resist the urge to make fun of him. i'd still take Manu on my team over any of these current Celtics.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
I like how Sasha risked a concussion and a split wig to get a foul on Sam Cassell on a jump ball.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
Thanks for perpetuating the hate for all things Spurs related, and giving casual NBA fans reasons to hate a great player like Ginobili. I really wonder if people that write posts like this one only watch the Spurs a couple of times in the RS, and just kept the image of Manu's flops during the 2005 Finals.

I think Manu doesn't even flop any more. Or at least not enough to even merit mentioning in today's league. He doesn't even take charges any more! But people just love to hate him, and refuse to give him credit for changing his game.

Aah, the "Duncan face", "Ginobili", the NO series... Basketbawful is such a great site for us Spurs fans lately. I wonder how you plan to spin Tony's "Frenchiness" into a new word of the day, Evil Ted.

Should be hilarious.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
That pronounciation guide is blatantly wrong on about 1/3 of the names.

For instance:
"Peja Stojakovic - STOY-ak-O-vich"

Isn't it "sto-YAK-o-vich"?

This was the funniest entry:
"Dan Dickau - DICK-cow"

Blogger Raptor said...
You know if you're gonna make fun of Ginobili you could at least not make half your video clips of him driving to the hoop. Maybe use more clips of him actually flopping?

Blogger Evil Ted said...
timmy d and dm - Lighten up. We're having some fun with Manu...there's no hatred in this video. But hypersensitive Spurs fans think there is. Fact is, when I was watching the fan videos of Manu when I was putting this together, I gained a new appreciation of how much skill he has and how many great highlights he's had over his career (and it highlighted to me that he doesn't really need to have the Manu Flop as a part of his game at all - it's unfortunate he's gained such a flop rep, but he has - why not play with that?).

Another point: on the youtube comments, someone had written "I hate Manu. I wish he would die. Or at least retire." I deleted this comment, because it is the same stupidity, just in the other direction.

If you can't enjoy comedy, that's a little sad. And if you can't tolerate viewpoints other than your own, tell me what players you want me to make fun of, and I'll do that next for equal time.

Blogger Evil Ted said...
Raptor - I did have a tough time finding a ton of defensive flops documented on youtube. There is one sequence at the end of a Spurs-Suns playoff games this year where he actually flops twice on the same play - first he dives in response to running into Steve Nash, and then dives again; it was like watching a ping pong ball. If anyone can find that, please post a link...

But in searching for footage of the defensive flops, I realized that fan compilations contained a ton of offensive flops, which is entirely behavior of the same ilk. Oh, and if you don't think those are flops, I can only assume you don't play ball, because those dives are about as obviously fake as any that have ever taken place on the hardwood. You can try to argue that the body responds like that to minor physical contact all you want, but it could get a little embarrassing...

...on the other hand, it might reveal you as a prime candidate for NBA referee duty.

Blogger Raptor said...
Eh agree to disagree on the whole offensive floppery of those drives. I do play ball, and will throw my body around trying to eek out some awkward lay ups. I am a Ginobili fan, and I did find the majority of this vid funny. Totally dug the coffee mug.

I was just being an a-hole who was overly nitpicky.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
i'm pretty open to the jokes but Manu's flopping isn't even relevant now as the Spurs were eliminated in 5 (what, a few months ago, right? long long Finals). here's another flopper name for you: Paul Pierce.

Blogger jaaake said...
"Manu's flopping isn't even relevant now as the Spurs were eliminated in 5 (what, a few months ago, right? long long Finals)."

YEAH! everything that is not happening this very instant is irrelevant and must never be spoken of again!

"i'm pretty open to the jokes but"

Translation: I am, in fact, closed to this joke.

Blogger Evil Ted said...
timmy - I'll be sure to check with you next time I need to figure out what comedy is "relevant." The last Spurs game was on May 29th, less than three weeks ago. There's hyperbole, and then there's blatant inaccuracy to try to make an invalid point.

And you're clearly not open to jokes. Relax. Smoke it if you have it.

As for Pierce, I'll find something good to make fun of him about, so you can feel all warm and fuzzy.

Blogger Shrugz said...
HAHAHAHAH that was too funny
love the music

Blogger AnacondaHL said...
block, block, run, block, run, FATALITY, FLAWLESS VICTORY.

Anonymous Anonymous said...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BjhfwVY_p8

Anonymous Anonymous said...
"i am, in fact, closed to this joke". maybe 'cause its not that funny? its just lazy? possibly? "lighten up" was the advice given me so i extend the same.
its like calling the Manning brothers chokers when they have won back-to-back Super Bowls. shazam!

Blogger Evil Ted said...
Shazam?
Well played, timmy d. Well played.
That is some quintessential wit you have going there. I bow graciously in defeat to your...ah, to hell with it. Think whatever you want, Shazam.