CHICAGO - In the NBA, proposals for rule changes go through a competition committee that is made up of two team owners, four GMs, three coaches and a representative from the players' association.
The body's make-up ensures a diversity of opinion from different levels of the league's hierarchy.
Once the committee decides in favor of a rule change, it then recommends the proposal to the Board of Governors where a two-thirds vote (20 of 30) is required for final approval.
READ PBA four-point shot adopted without consultation with coaches, says Guiao
"It's a developmental process where they use the G League and the Summer League to try out new rules. There's all kinds of data behind those things," Atlanta Hawks coach Quin Synder, who previously served in the competition committee, said in a 2019 interview.
In contrast, the PBA board recently approved the adoption of a four-point shot. Apparently, it did so like a non-stop bullet train from Tokyo to Morioka.
"Hindi dumaan sa aming mga coaches 'yan," Rain Or Shine head coach Yeng Guiao told SPIN.ph.
DUE DILIGENCE.
When I told coach Yeng about the tedious process a proposed rule change has to navigate in the NBA, he wished the PBA would do the same.
"That's exactly the process we want to emulate. Maybe a simpler model but something as radical as a 4-point shot deserves more serious study.
"I am not against it. But for our own protection, the PBA should follow its own protocol in applying rule changes," Guiao told me via text message.
"All the while, we thought the direction of the PBA was to get closer to the Fiba rules to help Gilas prepare for international competition. The 4-point shot is certainly not getting us closer to Fiba rules," Guiao added.
As I have pointed out in a previous column, the PBA board deserves credit for its boldness to embrace change.
But careful thought and spirited discussion among the ranks, not haste, are required when there is an attempt to introduce something that is untested and unfamiliar.
VERY LOW PERCENTAGE.
A quick glimpse of last conference's statistics suggest that the four-point shot is not the greatest innovation.
Of the PBA's 12 teams, only three (San Miguel, Terrafirma and TNT) shot at least 34 percent. The Beermen are No. 1 at 38 percent (133 of 344) while NorthPort was dead last at 28.7 percent (96 of 334).
Sharp-shooter Kyle Korver, who sank 2,450 triples in his 17-year NBA career, told Deseret News that "there was a time in my first few years when they were talking about getting rid of the 3-point line because they felt they were too many bad 3-point shots."
The PBA, meanwhile, is adding a 4-point shot from 27 feet.
So is there a chance this 4-point measure can be peeled back pending more study?
"Yes," Guiao said, but that's unlikely. "I don't think they'll admit to making a mistake."
Oh well.
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