By Ivan Stewart Saldajeno/PNA
MANILA — Three new rules will be introduced by the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) for its 2019 season.
The most significant of which is the new FIBA (International Basketball Association) traveling rule, where players can now take a gather step before doing the usual two steps before a layup or dunk.
“Parang nalulugi tayo nung huli eh. Pagkuha natin ng bola, di na tayo gumagalaw. May isang step pa tayo. So i-a-adopt natin yung FIBA traveling na 0-1-2. Parang 1-2-3 yun (We’re being shortchanged recently. When we get the ball, our players don’t move anymore. So now, we added another step. We are adopting the FIBA traveling [rule] which is 0-1-2. It’s like 1-2-3),” Commissioner Willie Marcial said on Tuesday during the press launch of the new season at the Conrad Hotel in Pasay.
“Ginagawa na [ito] ng NBA [National Basketball Association] at ng FIBA. Gawin din natin (This is being observed by the NBA and FIBA. Let’s do it here).”
The other tweaks to the PBA rules are revisions in goaltending and timeout calling.
Goaltending situations will now be reviewed from wire to wire, while coaches can now just simply call a timeout verbally without using any hand gesture.
