The four-pointer made its much-anticipated PBA debut last Sunday, and it’s already changed how the game is played.
After much fanfare, the controversial four-point shot finally made its PBA debut on Sunday during the opening game of the PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup between the Meralco Bolts and the Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots.
The Bolts won, 99-94, and the official stat sheet showed a total of 10 four-point shots were attempted, with three going in. Each team took five attempts, with Meralco making two and Magnolia sinking one.
Here’s what happened in the debut of the “quadruple.”
The build-up
There was much debate and division about this new rule ever since the league announced it was adopting it following its annual planning session held in Osaka, Japan last month. Some coaches didn’t like it, some embraced it. Players interviewed for the most part said they weren’t going to actively look for it during games.
So when Meralco-Magnolia finally got underway on Sunday night, the anticipation in the crowd was palpable. Every time a player looked set to launch from beyond the designated 27-foot line, there was an audible murmur of anticipation.
The Bolt’s Chris Newsome took first crack early in the fourth quarter. No dice. A few plays later, the Hotshots’ Mark Barroca appeared to have made history by sinking a long shot, but alas, his foot was on the four-point line and his basket was credited only as a three.
Meralco rookie CJ Cansino, sent into the game at the start of the second quarter, tried to make his PBA debut a memorable one by also taking an attempt. It looked good on release, but was a bit long.
‘Chris Banchero foouur points!’
Then finally, it happened.
Bolts guard Chris Banchero and import Allen Durham were engaged in a two-man game, each trying to set the other up for a shot. When Durham drove to his right and attracted a double-team, he swung the ball out to Banchero, who was at the right quartercourt around six inches behind the four-point line.
Banchero calmly received the pass and let it fly. At the 10:25 mark, the ball found its way into the hoop, the first-ever four-point basket in PBA history.
The crowd erupted in cheers, even as game announcer Robster Evangelista had the privilege of announcing the historic words “Chris Banchero foouur points!” Those watching on TV were treated to Andy Jao’s shout for joy.
Banchero, meanwhile, held out four fingers to the referee to confirm his achievement.
“It’s good to be in the history books,” he told the media after the game. “It’s just a little bit further than it was last conference. It’s not that crazy for me. But, it’s good. I’m happy I made it.”
Banchero revealed that one of the Meralco coaches had told him he would be the first.
“Coach Diego (Dario) said a couple of weeks ago that I’d be the first one to make it. I did. I’m just happy we got the win tonight.”
The rest of the game
Banchero’s teammate Jolo Mendoza, taking advantage of the playing time given to him with the absence of Allein Maliksi, became the second player to hit a four-pointer, and the first to bank it off the glass.
Mendoza, who was hardly used as a rookie, finished with 13 points on perfect 4-for-4 shooting, including that banked four-pointer with 1:05 left in the second quarter.
Hotshots star Paul Lee, tipped by many to possibly be the first to make one, hit Magnolia’s lone four-pointer in the second half.
At endgame, the effect of the new shot came into full display. With the Hotshots with the ball down 97-94, import Glenn Robinson pulled up for what would have been the go-ahead four-point basket.
He missed, but that moment perfectly encapsulated the ramifications of this new rule.
“Of course, you have to adjust to it,” Banchero said. “It’s a big play. Four-pointers can put you back in the game. We were only up by four points. They could have hit one and give it a chance. It’s fun playing with them.
“We will see how it goes this conference. We will see if they want to keep it. You don’t want to force it from the four-point line. Just because it’s a four-point, you want to catch it in rhythm. I usually shoot from that range. It comes natural. You don’t want to force it from there. It’s a bit further.”
Bolts coach Luigi Trillo admitted his team has yet to decide if they foul or just defend the four-point shot.
“With us as a game plan, do you foul and do you put them on the free-throw instead of getting four-point? That’s something that, as a staff, we decide on, right? But he fired it up and when you’re moving forward, you have to be able to defend that perimeter better, right? So, it’s hard.
“If I’m a guy who can shoot there, when guys are closing out, it’s a whole lane going downhill.”
For his part, Robinson had no regrets taking it. “We were down three, and I went for the kill,” he said. “It just missed.”
Hotshots coach Chito Victolero also wasn’t too disappointed in his import’s decision-making.
“It’s his choice because that’s the play,” he said. “The other two guards were a decoy. Then, we want him to create for his shot or his teammates. But it’s just to take the four-point. It’s his decision. But that’s the play.
“So we wanted him to go one-on-one. And then, if there’s a chance to kick out or to take his shots, he will do it.”
Now that his team has sampled it, Trillo anticipates major adjustments as the rest of the league deals with the four-point shot.
“What’s nice is that it opens up the floor,” he said. “It’s something new. It’s something you can get back, even in the endgame. Like before, three points, you need a three-point shot.
“Now, at four, you can come back. So, I’m sure teams will find ways how to use it.”
Images from PBA Media Bureau.