Revolutionary ideas

PARIS [The Monday International show] - I was pleased to note, reading Marc Stein,that the NBA's competition committee met to hash over a few suggestions I've been promoting, concerning rules and format.

Overzealous floppers will be fined which is fine with me!

The committee studied ways to limit the Hack-a-Shaq entertainment killing tactic used alot by Popovich vs Phoenix but decided not to give the bricklayers from the free throw line(and the fans) a break!

Too bad! Discussion also centered around the idea of simply qualifying the 16 teams with the best win percentage,regardless of division or conference, for the playoffs which would limit some of the unfair situations that arise because of the dominance of the western conference.

Only three teams in the east had a better win percentage than Golden St. which didn't qualify for the playoffs, for example!

Another good idea is to extend the use of video for certain game-ending or clock running down type situations, something that might have sent Brent Barry to the line to tie the game 4 of the western conference finals after Fisher was not called for an obvious foul on the last play which obliged the NBA to issue an embarrassing mea culpa the next day!

This being said, you folks know that I am all for positive change but thouroughly against conspiracy theories concerning the league and its major media partners because credibility is the NBA's most precious asset, as Stern well knows, and finally if there were conspiracies the small-market Spurs never would have won four titles!

Now, how about if I suggest to the commitee some revolutionary ideas to improve the league!

What would you say to an NBA with a shorter season,more intense and impactful regular season games,less injuries, no back to backs,longer player careers and more time on the calendar for international competitions!

I like a 58 game regular season where each team meets the others twice,once home and once away,with the point differential from the two games as a tie-breaker.

For three or four way ties,use results between the teams concerned to break ties.

Let's keep the divisions and conferences for honorific old-times sake but the 16 best win percentages qualify for the playoffs regardless, with 1vs 16,2 vs 15 and on down.

I'm against reseeding after each round because it's a scheduling nightmare and complicated,homecourt advantage to the team with the best win percentage in each round is sufficient.

This is simple,fair and adds eventful interest and intensity to each game which would increase attendance and maybe even ticket prices to make up for fewer games!

Everyone would accept a 20 percent " quality of play " paycut which would be made up through longer careers due to less wear and tear and more rest and recuperation!

The level of play and performance would naturally increase.

I told you this stuff was revolutionary, but not any more than a maximum salary scale that noone thought possible before the '99 lockout!

This system would eliminate alot of the injustices caused by the present format.

If we could add world-wide rules uniformisation then the picture would be perfect!

I'll be back in touch after Boston beats LA in the " revival " NBA finals!