Power Rankings: Flop, flop, it must stop

Updated Dec. 8

The Atlantic Coast Conference has developed some of the most talented players in NBA history. But it also has transmitted a disease that's threatening to cripple many of their high-flying acts.

Rasheed Wallace was right. Flopping is ruining a great game. It's literally standing in the way of some of the most entertaining feats in all of sports.

Anderson Varejao's hair is the first thing to flop. The rest of him usually follows. (Getty Images)

Let's start fining all floppers $1,000 for each phony act, with the first 30 offenders paying off Wallace's recent fine and the rest of the money going toward improving officiating in the ACC.

Here are the five guys I would most expect to be contributing to the Rasheed Bail-Out Fund:

1. Manu Ginobili. It's little wonder the guy is always hurt. His flops so expertly (no hands allowed to break your fall), his back hits the hardwood more often than any player in the NBA.

2. Mike Dunleavy. I'd have made him pay double for the stunt he sold on the refs that denied Monta Ellis a chance to score 50 points the other night. Is it any wonder nobody likes this guy?

3. Anderson Varejao. Some would put him at the top of the list, but I sympathize (a bit) with an undersized power forward stuck in the land of the giants. A lightweight can only take so many heavyweight punches before he takes a fall and cashes the check.

4. Shane Battier. A second ACC product on the list. The disturbing aspect of his disingenuous defense is it's totally unnecessary. He'd be an elite-level defender without it.

5. Derek Fisher. He even was deceitful in explaining the one time he made legitimate contact with an opponent -- his forearm shiver to Luis Scola in last year's playoffs. Here's hoping that's not his last suspension.

So, what conclusion do we draw from the fact that three of the aforementioned frauds play for elite-level teams?

It makes you want to be a Mavericks fan. Imagine that: A team that actually blocks shots, not paths to the rim.

Speaking of elite-level teams, they're on their way up the charts as the cream finally is rising to the top of my CBSSports.com NBA Power Rankings:

RANK	TEAM		MOVE (LW)