I let out a chuckle when I read the blurb for Chito Salud’s appearance on the GMANews.TV sports show FTW, which said that the new commissioner’s mantra is “constant innovation.” It was funny because so far, the only real innovation under his tenure has been the changes in the opening ceremony. In fact, most of the ideas the new regime has trotted out, so far, has been recycled.

The “time-tested” three-conference format? It’s obviously a return to tradition, and Sonny Barrios actually proposed the very same thing in 2008.

The handicapping scheme for lower-tier teams for the upcoming third conference? It’s a very old idea that dates back to the 1981 PBA reinforced conference. As local message board community’s eminent basketball historian Jay P. Mercado wrote in the MyPBA forums:

It was in 1981 when the league introduced the Reinforced Conference. This was done to prevent the domination of the imports and allow our local players to flourish even during import-laced conferences. Since our tallest local player was Abet Guidaben who measured at 6'5, the height ceiling was set at 6'5 for the four cellar dwellers, 6'3 for the four middle-tier teams, and 6'1 for the top two teams.

Hence, the 6'1 Al Green reinforced Crispa (leading the Redmanizers to the first Reinforced championship) while the 6'1 Archie Talley backstopped Toyota. In the succeeding Reinforced the next season, Toyota was allowed to play a 6'3 import and got Arnold Dugger, and later, Donnie Ray Koonce. Crispa and U/Tex, for figuring in the finals of the 1981 Reinforced, were penalized with a 6'1 height handicap. The Redmanizers got former Boston Celtic Glenn Hagan while U/Tex settled for Julius Wayne.

U/Tex floundered while Crispa, despite Hagan's wizardry, lost out to San Miguel Beer in the semifinals. The Beermen were led by the 6'5 Norman Black. In the finals, Koonce and Toyota defeated SMB for the championship. Therefore, in 1983, Toyota experienced the handicap and brought in an aging Kevin Porter (formerly of the Washington Bullets) while Crispa was able to parade the 6'3 Billy Ray Bates. Crispa won all the marbles that year.

And finally there are the “new rules” in officiating, which implements a no-harm, no-foul philosophy that is meant to make the games more physical. It has been done before – as recently as 2007 in fact, under Barrios. I dug up this old story from Sun Star about the reaction of owners and coaches to the rule changes back then:

PBA officials fear for rough games

THE NEW ‘no advantage, no foul rule’ caused several members of the PBA board some concern as it might turn the games rough and more physical.

But PBA OIC commissioner Renauld ‘Sonny’ Barios said that it’s about time Asia’s first professional league will have to meet the challenge by adopting the new hand check rule that states: “A defensive player is not permitted to retain hand contact with an offensive player when the player is in his ‘sights’ except when such hand contact is not deemed by the game officials as impending the progress of the offensive player, in which case it will be allowed.”

Barrios explained that the debacle suffered by the RP national squad in the 2007 Fiba-Asia Championship in Tokushima, Japan on August, prompted the PBA to adjust with the Fiba international rules.

“But even if we are not going to the Fiba International tournament, it’s about time we have to accept this challenge to make the PBA a faster league and provide the followers with a more fast-paced game.” Barrios explained.

Anxieties

Some PBA officials, particularly Alaska team owner Welfred Uytengsu, expressed apprehension because the new rule gave the referees more discretion in making the calls and their unfamiliarity with it was showed during the highly-physical and bruising Purefoods-Sta. Lucia Realty game on Oct. 17, where it netted nine technical fouls.

Uytengsu, in his letter to PBA chairman Tony Chua, said that he is afraid that the referees’ failure to properly apply the new rules can result in players hurting each other and may end up to early retirement from their promising career.

However, Barrios assured that officiating has improved by leaps and bounds and concerns about the games taking a turn for the worse is now unfounded.

“It (officiating) is going to be perfect since we are concerted in our efforts to lift our standards above the past,” said Barrios.

“If you ask us where we are now, since (Oct. 21) Sunday’s games we’re already there. We just need to lift it up a bit, but we’ve gone far from last Wednesday,” he added.

Coach Derick Pumaren of Talk ‘N Text said that the new rule really affected the game particularly in the shooting department because the defensive player can now bother the attempt of the offensive player to make the shot.

“Yes, it really affects the game, because it bothers the act of shooting of an offensive player,” said Pumaren.

But Pumaren, however, did not blame the new rule as the cause for their 97-112 setback to purefoods on Oct. 20 in Dumaguete City as well as their 87-97 defeat to Sta. Lucia on Sunday.

“No, it was not because of the physical game. It cannot be made as an excuse,” added Pumaren.

Hard fought

For Alaska coach Tim Cone, he blamed the physical game for the Aces’ two losses. “It’s really hard to win these days. The game is too physical,” Cone said after the Aces’ 98-94 win over the Coca-Cola Tigers on Friday.

If Pumaren’s assessment is to be considered, shooting percentage of each team in the first two weeks of the 33rd Smart-PBA Philippine Cup deserves scrutiny.

Since the introduction of the new hand check rule, no team so far scored more than 49 percent field goal since the opening on Oct. 14.

The Talk ‘N Text Phone Pals thus far made the highest of 49.4 field goal against Ginebra on Oct. 24. But the Phone Pals’ average in four outings is only 43.25, which ranked only third best behind Magnolia Beverage with 44.5 field goal average in four outings and Alaska with 3-game average of 44.33 percent.

Placing fourth surprisingly are Air21 and Ginebra with identical 42.5 percent field goal average in two matches.

In fact, pacesetter Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants ranked only fifth with a three-game field goal average of 40.33, while the rests are below the 40 percent level average in two starts led by Red Bull with 40,0 percent, Coca-Cola with 38.66, Sta. Lucia with also 38.66 and Welcoat with the lowest average of 32 percent field goal in two matches. (FCC)

The curious thing is that the new rules are supposedly in place for the sake of the fans, which is total bullshit. The fan reaction to the tougher play has been mixed, at best. Some people like it, but some people don’t. I find myself in the latter camp.

It doesn’t help that the execution of the new rules so far has been, quite frankly, piss-poor, with referees making calls inconsistently not just from game to game but, in some case, from quarter to quarter. In the broadcast of the game tonight, Quinito Henson reported that Salud has already suspended and sanctioned a couple of referees for supposed poor performance, and that referees will be under tighter watch. (UPDATE: Quinito writes about it in detail in his column.) Never mind the fact that the referees have received little actual training over the adjustment of the calls. Unfortunately for Salud, simply wishing for referees to become better does not make them so.

But the more important point here that everyone seems to be missing is that the people who are debating the PBA’s new rules are already fans of the league, and would probably watch the games whether or not the officiating philosophy has changed. If you didn’t watch before, you wouldn’t watch the PBA now just because they changed the rules. The reverse is true, however; fans who do not like the new rules can quit watching the league altogether.

(I know it’s still early, but has anyone else noticed that there seems to be more empty seats this season, especially – and alarmingly – during out-of-town games?)

To draw new fans, the PBA needs to give them actual compelling reasons to watch the games. The thing is, there are so many reasons for people who have stopped watching years ago to come back, and none of them have anything to do with what’s going on in the commissioner’s office. The PBA can tell them, for example, that LA Tenorio is the best little point guard to play in the Philippines since Johnny Abarrientos, that James Yap does one or two things each game that’s worth paying to watch, that they can lustily boo Mac Cardona in the arena while secretly admiring his unorthodox game. There are a million ways to do this, if you are really committed to innovation.

(Next: Some new ideas for the PBA)