We asked Barangay Ginebra teammates Justin Brownlee, Jared Dillinger and Joe Devance the other day to suggest one rule change in basketball to make it more exciting for the fans. Devance said raising the height of the hoop from 10 feet to 11 would be “a game changer” because it would be a little more difficult to dunk. As it is, seven-footers barely elevate to jam it in and it’s become too easy to slam.
Brownlee and Dillinger, however, agreed on a novel idea. Why not a four-point halfcourt shot? The Harlem Globetrotters introduced two four-point circles from where to heave on the court in 2010 then six years later, came up with the four-point arc, 30 feet from the basket or over six feet longer than the standard three-point line. Then, the BIG 3 league which features mainly retired NBA players in a halfcourt game designated three distinct circles from which to score a four-pointer. The circles are 30 feet from the hoop and a player needs to launch with at least one foot in the circle to make a four-point attempt. A halfcourt shot would be about 45 feet from the basket and NBA commentators refer to it as a “logo” shot because either the venue or home team symbol is plastered at midcourt. Steph Curry and Damian Lillard don’t shy away from taking logo shots to beat the buzzer.
Dillinger said it would be dramatic if a team were to sink a four-point shot to win a game from being down by three at the buzzer. Purists would probably dismiss the idea of a four-point shot because of its “carnival” nature. Remember that it took the NBA nearly 35 years to adopt the three-point shot from when it was first tested in 1945. A 21-foot three-point line was on experiment in a college game in 1945 then a 23-foot arc was used in another one-game trial in 1958. The American Basketball League instituted the three-point shot in 1961 from 25 feet. Then the Eastern Professional Basketball League in 1963-64 and the American Basketball Association in 1967-68 adopted the three-pointer. In 1979, the NBA finally brought in the three-point shot and the PBA, a year later. But it wasn’t until 1984 that FIBA introduced it. In 1988, the three-point shot made its Olympic debut in Seoul.
On another topic, Devance said the PBA player whom he would like to play forever is Alvin Patrimonio. “Alvin was so dominant in his era and it would’ve been fun to see him match up against guys in this era,” he said. Michael Jordan was Devance’s choice as the NBA star to play forever. Dillinger said his NBA pick would be Pete Maravich because he was way ahead of his time. He would’ve enjoyed watching Maravich test his creativity against the stars of today. “Pistol Pete was eccentric like Larry Bird,” said Dillinger, imagining how Maravich would play in this generation. As for his PBA forever player, it would be Jimmy Alapag. “He was as smart as they come, a cool guy, short in stature but what an impact he made,” said Dillinger.