It’s Time to Settle the Score With Points Down

I love this game anyway: It really is more fluid, as David Stern says. It just isn’t any faster.

Here’s how open it is: The top five in points in the paint last week were Shawn Marion, LeBron James, Tony Parker, Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade. That’s three guards and no one taller than 6 feet 7.

Players fire from way downtown as never before. Larry Bird took 1.9 three-pointers a game. Ray Allen now takes 8.8.

Unfortunately, enhanced fluidity hasn’t reversed the trend toward fewer possessions, shots and points, which is the real problem.

In 1996, scoring fell below 100 to stay. In 1998, it fell below 97.5 to stay. Since then, the league has had all it could do to keep it above 90.

Last season, with referees allowing less contact, scoring rose from 93.4 to 97.2, amid rejoicing. This season it’s back down to 96.6, suggesting more should be done.

Such as:

* Get rid of the three-pointer.

Just kidding. It won’t happen -- and shouldn’t because fans like it -- so they’ll have to work around it.

Years ago, Miami’s Pat Riley noted a correlation between the rise in three-point shots and the drop in scoring, but aghast league officials said they’d never ban the three. However, the extra point remains an incentive to play in the half-court and work the ball around longer.

* Take all the contact out.

Stern has been moving in this direction since he decided the NBA was better served by Michael Jordan’s artistry than the spectacle of the Bad Boy Pistons and Riley’s New York Knicks trying to beat him up.

Nevertheless, it’s hard to buck custom and practice. A defender is still allowed to lodge his forearm into a dribbler’s side, and it’s still sumo wrestling in the post.

Make the defender move his feet or forget about it. If Shaquille O’Neal’s career is revived and everyone complains they can’t defend if they can’t use their hands, that just means it’s working.

* Clean up flopping, stepping in and the entire idea of what constitutes an offensive foul.

Referees were told to start ignoring flops too, but that went by the boards. A defender can still be moving into a driver’s path, throw himself backward as soon as he feels contact, and get the call.

Make the defender be in that spot for a count. Taking charges may require courage and skill, but it doesn’t bring fans out.

* Take out all intentional fouls -- flagrant, hard, grabs after steals and at the end of games to put the other team on the line -- anything that isn’t a play on the ball.

“No layups” goes back to George Mikan. The league tried one gimmick after another to discourage fouling (two shots instead of the college one-and-one, the Wilt Chamberlain-inspired three-to-make-two), but two shots and the ball would do it.

Fans would rather see someone lay the ball up than get hacked across the arms so the game can come to a halt for the parade to the foul line.

If coaches have their players hack O’Neal or Ben Wallace over and over, it’s two free throws and the ball, and the fans get refunds.

Everyone was up in arms two seasons ago when the league moved to clean up contact. The referees wouldn’t call it, the games would take three hours because of all the free throws, etc.

Instead, it helped. Just not enough.

And a few other things:

* Could whoever thought up the six-division format change it back?

The standings are harder to read; I check them online where you can bring them up in conference format, the way many newspapers run them in the spring.

Worse, division winners get the top three seedings in each conference. Four weeks ago, San Antonio was No. 1 at 26-7, Phoenix (21-11) was No. 2, Minnesota (15-15) No. 3 and Dallas (24-9) No. 4.

Because they won’t reseed (something else they should do), the Spurs and Mavericks are still on track to meet in the second round, and the Suns could cruise into the West finals by beating No. 7 and the 3-6 winner.

Since No. 3-seeded Minnesota had the eighth-best record, the Suns would be in a bracket with the sixth-, seventh- and eighth-best teams.

(This is why the Clippers are dying to overtake Phoenix, and the Lakers think they have a shot even if they’re No. 7 or 8.)

* Could whoever thought up the seven-game first round change it back?

This is spitting into the wind because it would eliminate 16 games and, say, $24 million in gate receipts. Of course, it would put something back: drama.

Since they went to a 7-7-7-7 format in 2003, the early rounds have dragged, and not just because of all the days off. The further they are from an elimination game, the less drama. The NCAA tournament remains the game’s premier event because someone goes home every time they toss the ball up.

* Promote “true” shooting percentage.

Not that we need more stats, but this is one coaches have kept in their heads since the three-point shot came in.

It means adding half a make for every three-point basket to account for the extra point. Shooting 2-6, including 2-4 on threes, gives you six points and a “true” percentage of 50%, just as 3-6 on two-pointers gives you six points and 50%.

The NBA doesn’t even have it on its site. ESPN does, but it gets little notice.

Today’s lower percentages, the result of taking more threes, promote the myth that today’s players are less skilled. They may be more spoiled, but they’re more skilled too.

Bird’s best percentage on threes in any season was 42.7%. This season that would make him No. 11.

Faces and Figures

What could go wrong now?: Ron Artest and Sacramento fans predictably fell in love with each other. “It was so amazing, wow, because all the best players on every team were calling me,” Artest told the Sacramento Bee of his six weeks off. “I got a call from [Kevin] Garnett. I was like, Garnett wants to play with me! Wow. Then I’m going to Minnesota. I got a call from Kobe [Bryant.] Oh my goodness, Kobe wants me to play with him! And then I’m going to the Lakers. Then I get a call from Elton [Brand.] Then I’m going to the Clippers. Then ‘Melo [Carmelo Anthony]. I didn’t think I was that good.” ...

The Knicks are 14-31, team President Isiah Thomas is under siege by the tabloids after being sued for sexual harassment, and now there is mutiny among players who are tired of being ripped by Larry Brown and worried about being traded. The New York Daily News reported that after Brown was ejected in the loss to the Lakers, an unnamed player told teammates: “Now we can start playing ball.” ... The press is splitting into anti-Brown and anti-Knick camps. Praising Brown’s honesty, the Daily News’ Bob Raissman wrote, “It would be absolutely no surprise if [corporate boss James] Dolan ultimately orders the plug pulled on [Madison Square Garden’s] coverage of Brown press conferences.” ... Meanwhile, the Post’s Peter Vecsey wrote, “Larry Brown’s solution to every problem is change. We’re talking marriage (switched wives three times), head coaching jobs (nine in the pros and two in college) ... players he has run off rosters (you do the math, I don’t have that much time left).” ...

Things could be going better in Golden State too. With the team reeling, Baron Davis and Mike Dunleavy Jr. took jabs at each other. Davis said after the team rallied with Dunleavy out, “We put some people in who wanted to play.... We have to play people that are going to produce.” ... Dunleavy recently said the Warriors were playing “street ball” and reportedly would welcome a trade.... Coach Mike Montgomery, who isn’t in trouble, according to General Manager Chris Mullin, has stayed out of Davis’ way, but assistant Mario Elie yelled at him to push the ball during a recent game. “Who was open? Who was open?” yelled Davis, glaring at Elie....

Houston’s Jeff Van Gundy, in his continuing black comedy routine: “In general, when you looked at our team last year, we were a hard-playing team. Even our team with Steve [Francis] and those guys, we were a hard-playing team. We weren’t a smart-playing team. But this year we have no foundation. We’re neither hard-playing nor are we smart.” ...

Chicago Coach Scott Skiles, marveling at Chris Paul, 20, who had 25 points and 11 assists in a victory over the Bulls: “There’s certain rookies -- it doesn’t happen that much -- who come into the league ready to play.... He’s an all-pro caliber guard, no question about it.” ...

Perhaps giddy after holding Bryant to 26 points in a 105-79 Pacer rout, Indiana Coach Rick Carlisle noted, “Having Kobe come into your building is like having an assassin to a luncheon of all living presidents -- you know there’s a chance there can be some major carnage.”