CHICAGO - With the PBA Governors' Cup only six days old, it will be quite sometime before the league makes a determination on the viability of the newly-implemented 4-point shot.
Through seven games since Sunday so far, 11 of 12 PBA teams (Ginebra doesn't play until Saturday, August 24) have shot a combined 18-of-80 from 4-point territory, a connect rate of 22.5 percent.
The low success clip was expected. Which is probably the reason why neither the FIBA nor the NBA have adopted it.
READ Oftana looks comfortable with the 4-pointer after perfect night
Sports is mostly about the celebration of feats of human achievement. Missing 77.5 percent of field goal attempts is close to abject failure.
That, however, doesn't mean it won't and can't work in the PBA.
What's important to note here is that the 4-point heave is merely a suggestion, not an edict. It's like providing the choice of sprinkling MSG in your pork adobo.
IT'S A CHOICE NOT A MANDATE.
"It's only a line. Eh di wag n'yo gamitin," an exasperated SMC sports director Alfrancis Chua said while deflecting noise about the issue.
Al is right.
It's up to the coaches to decide if and when this nuclear option is warranted. And it's up to the players to understand that the line which divides a harmless shot from a harmful one is 27 feet long.
Initially, I thought the 4-pointer was silly, gimmicky. But after CJ Perez swished a 4 to give San Miguel a 110-105 lead in the Beermen's 111-107 win over Phoenix last Wednesday, I am warming to the idea that 4-ball can be fun.
Perez's quadruple was actually a good shot, done with the shot clock waning down to six seconds, with the lane clogged and his defender slow to close out.
Obviously, not all 4-pointers are created equal. In fact, as the early returns have indicated, a great majority are awful.
SO WHAT'S THE SOLUTION?
Discretion.
Teams need to realize that the 4-point shot is not for everyone.. Blackwater, for instance, is 1-for-13 in two games, a horrible 7 percent clip. Their import, Ricky Ledo, is 0-for-7.
It might not be a bad idea to pump the brakes.
Look, the 4-point shot isn't free money. In fact, it's expensive in a way that it costs possessions, opportunities and momentum.
Just because it's there doesn't mean you gotta take it. Prudence, not just precision, is the key.
Just look at Calvin Oftana, a pure shooter with an effortless, graceful stroke. He went 2-of-2 from 4 against NorthPort and didn't attempt any against Meralco. The Tropang Giga won both games.
I really am liking this new PBA innovation.
Four real.
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