It was the groin hit heard around the world yesterday as France's Nicolas Batum decided to nut-punch Spain's Juan Carlos Navarro in the waning moments of France's loss to Spain yesterday.

If you haven't seen it, check it out but fair warning, it's pretty painful looking (h/t Sports-Kings.com).

Ouch

Of course, one can say Batum might have been aiming for the ball but from the footage here, it is clear he had a low-blow in mind.

This all boiled over because during the game, some Spanish players resorted to flopping led by Rudy Fernandez. The flopping got to France and Batum clearly had enough.

Batum said after the game he wanted to give Spain something to flop about and boy did he! Though Batum did eventually apologize on his Twitter account for the punch.

Of course this raises the topic about flopping in general. If you really think about it, France let the flopping get to them. They had a lead during the game and let their emotions get the best of them. Of course France went cold from the perimeter in the fourth quarter but the flopping tactic employed by Spain helped close the gap en route to a win and one step close to an Olympic medal.

Yes flopping is annoying and a cheap way to get cheap foul calls but it does work. Unless something is done about it, it wouldn't be much of a surprise to see more players in the future get frustrated as did Batum.

I am not condoning what Batum did because it was a cheap shot but there are other ways to let opponents know you won't stand for flopping.

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