ESPN NBA

First of all, let me say that as someone who dedicates most of his waking hours to the NBA, I'm not one of those doom and gloomers who believe, essentially, that the NBA will perish if it is not "saved."

However, every entity on the planet should, in my opinion, always be asking how it can improve itself, and the NBA, especially in a moment when audience embrace of the league is a tad lukewarm, is no different.

The other night on ESPN Jeff Van Gundy -- who, you have to admit, has been remarkably peppy, pithy, and just the right amount punchy as a TV guy -- suggested widening all four sidelines of the court.

I'm guessing at what some effects of that would be:

• Ball-handlers would have more angles of attack. Right now the sixth defender on every basketball team is the baseline. If you like to drive with the ball, that baseline can be a big impediment.
• It would reward running teams. They would have an easier time creating the space necessary for the passes that begin and end fast breaks.
• It would help top passers like Jason Kidd and Steve Nash, who could act like hockey players by setting up scores from behind the net.
• It would make interior defenders nervous, as now they could essentially be attacked from 360 degrees.

So, I guess that's all promising.

But it would also be a pretty big change -- monkeying with the game we all love -- without a guarantee of fixing anything all that major. Some drawbacks:

• There would still be two, three, or four athletic defenders converging on any good scorer who makes it close to the rim.
• There would not be extra room in the paint.
• There would not be extra room between the three-point line and the basket, where the vast majority of plays take place.
• It would not actually remove the baseline, so there'd still be a point on the court past which a dribbler can not scoot past a defender.
• You'd be removing a big number of the best seats, while simultaneously putting almost every fan -- including, from some camera angles, those watching at home -- further from the action.
  

The Magical Solution
I have written this before, and I'll write it again: If the NBA's Board of Governors ever gets to the point that it feels it needs radical change to reinvigorate the game, I know the one that would fix everything ... if people could get used to the idea.

Make it four on four.

It is no secret among basketball players that the extra space that comes with removing two players makes an amazing difference. Basically, in four on four, if you beat your guy off the dribble, there often isn't anyone else there. If there is? You have a wide open teammate nearby, who has a good shot at a flashy finish.

Way more fun. Way more scoring. Way more running. Way more dunks. And even posting up and shooting mid-range jumpshots gets easier when the help defense is coming from an extra step away.

Think of it this way, at any given moment, a five-on-five NBA defense might have two or three weak spots. A four-on-four defense? Where practically every defender is isolated before the play even starts, and help is a mile away? It might have a dozen weak spots.

Try this sometime: if you play five-on-five pickup basketball at your local gym, take a look at the clock when your games start and finish. Figure out how long it typically takes you to get to 11 or 15 or whatever you play to. Do that, maybe, ten times. Then play a game of four on four. You'll set a record. I can practically guarantee it. (Of course, for some of you that test would be hard, because more and more pickup games these days are already four on four, because it's so much more fun.)

That extra space on the court can make you feel like Tracy McGrady. Imagine what it could do for ... Tracy McGrady.

Some other advantages, besides faster pace and style of play that rewards athletic, high-scoring players (do you need anything else?):

• Big savings from the reality that tams just would not need as many players, which in a perfect world could even mean cheaper tickets.
• Fewer injuries.
• Makes it nearly impossible to coach that ugly, brawling "plug the lane" defensive style. (No offense, Coach Van Gundy.)
• It makes every team a lot more like the Phoenix Suns then they are now.
  
• There would be a mad dash to sign up good passers and shooters of all kinds, and especially those who are also super-athletic and can score at the rim. Last I checked, those guys aren't bad for the bottom line.

UPDATE: An idea from Anthony Macri, assistant coach at the John Carroll school in Maryland:

I think the best way to get the game flowing the way it should be is to use the five second rules that are in effect in college in the pros. Instead of everyone standing around for five minutes while Duncan holds the ball in the post, or while Billups gets every guy in precisely the right position, it would encourage ball and player movement. Some folks have fought against it because they say it would detract from the best players in the game getting a chance to score, etc. But I think Durant scored just fine in college without taking 100 dribbles first.