Phil Jackson gave a rare one-on-one interview over the weekend with Charley Rosen for Today’s Fastbreak.
In the interview Jackson talks about two rules he would like to see come into fruition.
“Why not have a four-point line about 35 feet out? It wouldn’t be long before players will get reasonably comfortable shooting from out there. And having a four-point line would certainly serve to enable teams to catch up in what are now blowout games.”
A four-point line to some people sounds crazy but the idea has been around for a while, the only problem with Jackson’s idea is that it would only help one team. The Golden State Warriors have two of the limited amount of players that can hit shots from that distance. This would actually create more blowouts. Perhaps moving the three-point line back to 35 feet would be a better solution. It would focus on more post play like Jackson said and wouldn’t make the sport look too much like a carnival game.
His second rule change focuses on the shot clock.
Jackson supports adding six seconds to the shot clock: “This would give offenses more time to get low-post players involved, make defenses work harder, and encourage more passing and player movement.”
Of course Phil Jackson wants this rule change it would only favor the Knicks. A longer shot clock means a slower pace which favors the triangle offense. The NCAA changed their shot clock from 35 seconds to 30 seconds last season because the sport was painful to watch. Now Phil Jackson wants to make the NBA fan suffer with a longer shot clock.
