4-point shot set to become PBA staple beginning Season 49

The four-point shot, which helped Robert Bolick force a draw in last season's PBA All-Star Game, will become an official part of the league. PBA Images (file photo)

By Ivan Saldajeno

MANILA--An arc that you usually see in either the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game or the last two PBA All-Star Games could become an official part of the PBA's basketball court markings.

The PBA Board of Governors approved a new rule adding a four-point shot to the offensive options a player could do.

Just like in the aforementioned mid-season classics, an arc 27 feet away from the rim will be drawn on both sides of the hardwood, and players who make a shot outside the new arc will earn four points instead of just three.

"Nagawa na natin ito sa All-Star Game. With this rule, mababawasan ang zone defense, lalabas ang depensa at mas tutulin ang laro," Ginebra governor Alfrancis Chua, the new PBA board vice chairman, said via the PBA website on Monday at the conclusion of the board's annual planning session in Osaka.

Also according to the PBA's news release, some other new rules will be implemented for the league's 49th season which will begin on Aug. 18 "in a bid to make the game more exciting."

However, making the four-point shot a regular thing quickly became the talk of the town upon confirmation of the development, drawing mixed reactions.

Some of the fans who oppose the move question why it was quickly approved when there are what they think are better ways to attract a live audience once again just like what the PBA board looks to envision after the league reasserts its might as the most-watched sports show on national television.

Some in favor of it, though, believe that it could lead to a bigger competition among the league's top three-point shooters as they will try to one-up each other by expanding their range and even to its best big men as the extended perimeter defense would give them more room to dominate the paint.

A four-point shot decided last season's PBA All-Star Game in Bacolod as Robert Bolick completed the de facto first five-point play in league history to force a draw between Team Mark and Team Japeth.

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