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Wednesday, October 13
Here's the real Jackson Five

By David Aldridge
Special to ESPN.com

Most NBA types have resigned themselves to the rules changes that are coming. Most NBA types say that something needed to be done to get the flow back into the game, to keep the grabbing at a minimum, to stop the horrifying two-man isolations in the halfcourt offense, to get the scoring in the '90s, which is in the 70s, back to the scoring of the '70s, which was in the 90s.

Most everybody. Not Phil Jackson.


	Phil Jackson wants Shaq to learn a new offense, and pass more.

Tanned, rested and ready to take the Lakers places, Jackson doesn't think the Mark Jackson/Charles Barkley five-second rule, or the no-contact above the free-throw line rule, or the strong-side zone defense rule, really addresses the problems the game has.

"I would like to say that I think the rules changes will be effective with NBA basketball, but I don't," Jackson said. "I think that there are some simple things to do that could make the game flow better."

The Jackson Agenda:

1) Widen the court. "As long as we've got these bigger aprons in these newer arenas, make the court 10 feet longer or something like that," he said. "Give the guys more space to run. Then we'll get the running game and the scoring game back ... this court was built for guys who were six feet (tall) back in the 1900s."

2) Limit timeouts. "We stop the game so often, 17 to 20 stoppages of play is an average," Jackson said. "Then you throw in these two (television) commercials that come in during playoff time, and you never have a continuous flow of more than two or three minutes in a basketball game. You might get the initial surge in the basketball game, for five minutes. And we need more five-minute play actions during the course of a game. You've got your coaches that, if anybody scores three times in a row, and (they) don't, they automatically call a timeout, which is kind of a maxim. So we just have this kind of herky-jerky game in a game that is really supposed to be a flow game."

3) Call the fouls. "It's as simple as that, it really is," Jackson said. "But then you have to be a respecter of nobody. Then you have this dichotomy. The NBA is a game of stars, so if you're gonna call the plays, then you have to call the stars for their fouls." (Question from the Peanut Gallery: does that include Shaq and Kobe? It obviously didn't include Michael Jeffrey Jordan, who last fouled out of a game -- one game -- in the 1991-92 season.)

4) Eliminate the six-foul disqualification. "Six fouls, a technical and the ball back, free throws, too," he proposes. "Make it a really big penalty for the sixth foul, seventh foul, or whatever. But let these guys stay on the floor. If fouling out becomes an issue, then the referees can call the fouls that should be called."

5) Change the referee's ratings system. "Our league has some wonderful referees, but a lot of the judgment towards referees as to how good they are is who calls the least fouls," Jackson said. "Who keeps play going? What's the time limit on the game? Can they get finished in two hours and two minutes? We have kind of a show going on that's supposed to match television. Soccer hasn't done that. Now, they haven't gained the popularity in this country, even though it's a worldwide sport. But we have to remember there's a purity in the sport that has to be kept somewhat pure itself. It can't just be a television show with canned laughter."

Miller time in Phoenix
This just in -- Oliver Miller looks great. Yes, Oliver Miller. The former national joke, last seen waddling around the floor in a Sacramento Kings uniform at close to 400 pounds, had lost at least 80 of those pounds as the Suns started training camp this week. And Miller is working his way into possible big minutes behind Luc Longley -- who's also in better shape. Miller went on a two-month program in California over the summer and shed the pounds -- and also shed thoughts of suing the Suns' mascot, who eviscerated him in a skit during a timeout of a Suns-Kings game last season.

Miller says he's over the hump. The Suns think he might be. They lost track of him for 10 days late in the offseason, and when he returned, he was only three pounds heavier than when he left.

Also, Phoenix is encouraged that Rex Chapman is healthy after missing a third of last season. He's also willing, he says, to back up Penny Hardaway.

"I have to be realistic about it," Rex in Effect says. "I've been in the league, this is my 12th year. I've been on four teams that have gone to the playoffs as a starting two guard and never made it out of the first round. I'd like to leave this league at some point in time beyond just making some money."

When the Suns acquired Hardaway, Chapman called coach Danny Ainge. "He said 'that's an awful lot of money to be paying a guard coming off the bench,' Ainge recalled. "He knew right away. He knows. Rex and I have talked about it. Rex and I talked about it last year, that he needed to prepare for that role at some point in his career. If Rex will mentally prepare for it, which I think he has over the last few months, and he will throughout training camp, I think he'll be great at it."

Around the league
Bison Dele is expected back in the country this week, when he'll let everybody know if he really does plan to retire and walk away from more than $35 million. The Pistons don't know what to think. They knew they couldn't count on Dele every night, but losing him would nonetheless be a big blow ... the league has gotten next to nowhere in its dealings with the NCAA on establishing an age limit for incoming players. The league, the union and the college folk have had several meetings but haven't been able to find much in the way of common ground. "We really can't seem to get a dialogue going with the NBA on the subject," commissioner David Stern said. "Their committees appoint subcommittees; their subcommittees appoint working groups and their working groups appoint task forces. And then they issue position papers. I understand that, in a funny way, I joke about it, but they have different constituencies and different concerns. So it's a real problem."

Stern says one thing that would help -- "it's not original with me," he said -- would be if the NCAA enforced the letters of intent that players sign with colleges. "Make them contracts, and make the players agree that they'll stay in school for a certain period of time," he said. "If it's a year, it's a year; if it's two years, it's two years, whatever it is. And that should be it. Period. They could do it themselves, they could do it legally, and it wouldn't be a problem" ... Nets want Keith Van Horn to get used to playing small forward, even though he might get exposed some defensively. "We've got to slide him out there on occasion," coach Don Casey says ... Suns are having camp in Flagstaff, Ariz., with its 7,000-foot elevation. Players were wheezing after the first couple of days. David Robinson, who practiced in Colorado Springs with the Olympic team in 1988, was sympathetic. "It's not gonna help you if you're only there a day or two," he said. "You have to be there a month or so, and then you feel like Superman." ... Walt Williams spent $2,500 to buy number 42 from teammate Don MacLean in Houston. "I've worn this number my whole career," the Wizard said. MacLean will now wear number 25 ... Sean Elliott will do color commentary for the Spurs this season while he recovers from his kidney transplant. Spurs are trying to do as much as they can to keep him feeling he's part of the team ... interesting auction to take place Oct. 30 at the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas. Among the items that will be raffled off are Mark McGwire's 500th home run ball, Mickey Mantle's 500th homer ball and the old Delta Center floor that was purchased by Dwight Manley, Karl Malone's agent. The floor, of course, was the one on which Michael Jordan played his last game.


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