Chris Goulding is one of the greatest shooters this country has produced, but critics have been shooting from the hip over claims he is a flopper.
Andrew Bogut, South East Melbourne Phoenix owner Romie Chaudhari and Illawarra Hawks coach Jason Tatum have all called out Goulding, 36, over his alleged tactics of exaggerating contact from opponents.
United gun Chris Goulding drives to the basket against Cairns’ Jonah Antonio on Sunday.Credit: Getty Images
It’s too much of a stretch to say Goulding is a league villain, but his actions have certainly become a talking point, and left him battling claims he is sullying the reputation he built on three NBL championships and an Olympic medal with the Boomers.
There have been two major instances over the past fortnight, while – like many shooters in the NBL and in the NBA – Goulding can kick out his legs seeking a foul when shooting a jump shot. It’s a tactic that first gained prominence from Indiana Pacers’ great Reggie Miller and later Kobe Bryant, the NBA then launching a crackdown by calling offensive fouls.
“You have just got to be careful. You have got to stay away from his [Goulding’s] feet. He likes to kick out his feet, similar to [NBL great] Bryce Cotton. Bryce jumps forward and exaggerates it a bit more,” former NBL and NBA shooter Ryan Broekhoff said.
“These type of shooters, you just can’t go near their feet, stay vertical, let them get into their shot.”
Goulding, as technically proficient a shooter as the NBL has ever seen, denies he is flopper. But incidents in the Throwdown against the Phoenix, and against the Illawarra Hawks last week, have ignited the debate.
Chaudhari took aim at Goulding on social media after Goulding became tangled up with Phoenix player Jordan Hunter and was brought to the floor in pain. Replays show a clearly agitated Goulding tangling with Hunter, but was the manner in which Goulding fell to the floor required? Chaudhari wrote that “Goulding constantly flops and cries about it, that s— is weak.”
Bogut, now a Sydney Kings part-owner, said on ESPN: “He flops a lot, it is what it is. He does flop a lot”.
Days later, Goulding was involved in another incident, this time allegedly exaggerating contact when slightly hit while dribbling down the court with 22 seconds left against the Hawks and United up by three. He awkwardly fell to the floor and grabbed at his ankle.
Tatum’s spray of what he described as “incompetent” refereeing in his team’s loss was in part over this incident, leading to the American being referred to Basketball Australia’s integrity unit. Tatum was hit with a technical foul for decrying the call at the time, all but sealing a United win.
Goulding had the last laugh, pouring in a game-high 25 points, while he responded on Sunday with 15 points in less than 18 minutes in a blow-out win over the Cairns Taipans. He is averaging 15.6 points per game through the season, and has the equal-most three-pointers.
Tatum, the father of Boston Celtics superstar Jason Tatum, was fined $3000 on Monday and forced to issue a public apology. He was clearly out of bounds with his overall controversial post-game comments, but he did raise further awareness about Goulding’s alleged tactics.
Former NBL guard Damon Lowery used his weekly column on the league website to add that “we all know CG43 has a history of theatrics, we all know CG43 knows how to embellish a call”.
What will be of particular interest in the Thursday night blockbuster against the Sydney Kings at John Cains Arena is how the referees react to any line-ball incidents involving Goulding.
For his part, Goulding has dismissed what has been a talking point among rival clubs.
Hot hand: Goulding gets his shot off.Credit: Getty Images
“I don’t care, I don’t care,” Goulding said on Tuesday when asked about the public commentary.
Asked if he felt he had anything to answer in terms of what Bogut, Chaudhari and Tatum had said, Goulding delivered an emphatic “no.”
Asked if he was a flopper, Goulding said: “No.”
“I am perfectly fine. We got two wins [over the weekend] and the commentary within our group has been really strong about things we need to get better at, even in games we are winning, so we can try and win more,” he said.
After an intense training session at the club’s Hoop City base, United coach Dean Vickerman said he and Goulding had discussed the criticism the star shooter was attracting.
“We, have, obviously had discussions about it, so, for me, it was going back to him and saying: ‘Hey, this is what you are doing for us. We love the way you put your body on the line for this team, the way you dive on the floor, the screens that you set and the physicality that you play with. We are just going to keep screening for you at the other end and try and get you as free as possible to be who you are’,” Vickerman said.
“He was, obviously, disappointed in some of it, to say: ‘That my family is talking about it and different things’. [He is] just locked in now to what really matters – it is just noise.”
Vickerman said Goulding, like all good scorers, had to work hard to get an open shot. “I think all elite scorers in our league are going to be good at finding ways to create contact to get some cheap points to keep the scoreboard ticking over to get to the foul line. I don’t think he is different to any other people,” he said.
Goulding also brushed off any suggestions he would have added motivation on Thursday when facing the Kings, now led by former national coach Brian Goorjian. It will be Goulding’s first match against the Kings since Goorjian overlooked him for selection in the Boomers team that competed at this year’s Paris Olympics.
After being a member of the team that won a bronze medal in Tokyo, Goulding was a shock omission for Paris, where the Boomers failed to make the medal rounds.
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