No coaching challenge in PBA opener

The PBA is introducing 12 new rules in the conduct of games starting with the Commissioner’s Cup this season. The innovations include no player timeout and the coaching challenge which are integral in FIBA’s game. The PBA, however, has tweaked its coaching challenge rule to allow an extra challenge if the first is successful. FIBA permits only one challenge per team. The challengeable calls are act of shooting/sideline, charging or blocking, traveling, flopping, eight-second violation, backcourt violation, held ball, out-of-bounds or last touch and shot clock remaining. The PBA experimented with the coaching challenge during its OnTour summer series and of 70 total challenges, 46 were unsuccessful or a 65.7 percent rejection rate.

In last Sunday’s season opener pitting TNT against Magnolia, neither coach called for a challenge. There were two instances where players thought of calling a timeout. TNT’s Kelly Williams crossed the timeline with the ball and appeared to call for a timeout. When he realized the option is no longer available, play went on. In another instance, TNT’s Jayson Castro was whistled for a five-second inbound violation and would’ve called for a timeout.

The coaching challenge and no player timeout are distinct features of the FIBA game. PBA commissioner Willie Marcial said while there is a conscious effort to align the league rules with FIBA, it isn’t the primary consideration. What’s more important, he said, is applying rules to make the PBA game more exciting and interesting. He added that the new rules will be adopted this season and evaluated at the end of the Philippine Cup to determine their impact, one way or the other, if they’ll continue to be applied.

Another new rule is the transition take foul which was also on experiment in the OnTour games. “A transition take foul is an intentional foul committed by a defensive player to deprive the offensive team of a fastbreak opportunity without making a play on the ball,” explained PBA deputy commissioner Eric Castro. “The foul is committed either during a transition scoring opportunity or immediately following a change of possession and before the offensive team has the opportunity to advance the ball.” The penalty is one free throw and possession. If the fouling team is in the penalty, it will mean two free throws and possession.

Castro said the PBA has distinct interpretations of transition take, deliberate and advantage fouls. “Deliberate foul is our counter for the Hack-A-Shaq tactic,” said Castro, referring to intentionally fouling a poor foul shooter with no play on the ball for free throws. “Advantage foul is when there is no defender between an offensive player and the goal. Penalty for both deliberate and advantage fouls is two free throws and possession. The NBA also calls a transition take foul and advantage foul or clear path foul. Tayo lang mayroon deliberate foul. Landing spot foul, mayroon na ang NBA pero nauna tayo during the time of Commissioner Chito Narvasa. The NBA adopted it when Kawhi Leonard landed on (Zaza) Pachulia’s foot.”