J.J. Barea, the Anti-Flopper

Tomorrow evening I'll be heading down to Santa Clara to attend my first San Jose Earthquakes game (and my first soccer game of any kind since the World Cup this past summer), and I'm looking forward to checking in on the growth of professional soccer in the U.S.  Among all of the challenges associated with converting Americans into soccer fans, one of the most difficult will be convincing viewers to embrace a sport where flopping plays a major role.  While I don't see a need for sports to be overly ruthless, it may be hard for MLS to attract the same people who are used to watching running backs take punishing hits and baseball players get beaned by 100 mph fastballs.

Soccer isn't the only sport that's been plagued by the evils of the flop.  Basketball, too, has seen a dramatic increase in on-court acting, lead in large part by an inflow of undoubtedly-soccer-influenced European players.  A 2007 article in the Orlando Sentinel noted that "the recent flood of foreign-born players has increased this distraction to the game," a trend that has only increased over the last four years.  When the article speaks of "foreign-born players," though, it's referring to Europeans.  Puerto Rican native J.J. Barea, on the other hand, is the anti-flopper.

Barea is now most famous for the vicious hit he took from Los Angeles center Andrew Bynum during the fourth quarter of Game Four of the Mavericks' second round sweep over the Lakers.  Even before this, though, Barea had taken a ton of hard fouls and, given that he's (maybe) 6-feet tall and weighs just 175 lbs., I'm sure they all hurt a lot.  Despite his size, Barea goes right at the rim constantly, with utter disregard for the seven-footers standing in his way.  And while a Sports Illustrated player poll had Barea rated as the ninth worst (or best?) flopper in the NBA, I think the reputation is completely unwarranted.  Just because the guy is short, white and has a foreign name doesn't mean he's flopping when he hits the deck.  Instead, the hits Barea takes are very much real, and his moxie has played a large role in Dallas' run to the Western Conference Finals.

When Barea's lying in a heap, you know it was a dirty foul.

As my (sixth ever) post on Lou Amundson suggests, I have a soft spot in my heart for under-athletic NBA players who get by on hustle, energy and toughness.  After watching a lot of the 2011 NBA playoffs, J.J. Barea just might be my new favorite non-Knick NBA player.  In a country that values aggressive and tough athletes, it's a Puerto Rican who's showing the league how to play hard.  Plus, the guy is dating a former Miss Universe, so he must be doing something right.