The One

I had a quick thought on a new pro basketball league yesterday. I said it should consist primarily of recent high school graduates who didn't want to attend college, and that it could eventually be an NBA farm system.

I still like that idea, but I cannot come up with a good name for the league. Hot Shots Basketball was my favorite, and others like Young Guns Basketball, or simply Young Guns were kind of appealing. They just didn't make me go "wow." I'd still watch the league with either name, but there is a better name out there just waiting to be invented.

But as I was thinking about that concept, I think I came up with something much, much better.  The idea was staring me right in the face the whole time and I didn't see it.

Over the last couple of summers, at a nearby park, friends of mine would frequently get together to play some half-court basketball. Sometime only three or four of us would show up. Three kind of made playing awkward. We'd play some two-on-one games, but that really wasn't very satisfying or much fun. The TWO nearly always beat the ONE. One-on-One meant somebody always had to sit, and "horse" is for little kids.

A new game idea was eventually hatched. I came up with the idea of playing one-on-one-on-one. Now before I go any farther, I have to tell you that this is MY idea, and I'm patenting and trade-marking it right now, so don't go stealing this on me.

The rules are really simple. Every player is in it for himself. On offense, you are always battling two guys on defense.

And the ball is always live. If you make the shot, the first person to get the ball, after it goes through the net, now possesess the ball. In effect, you play it just like a rebound.

Each shot is worth one point. And if you foul, the play continues with the player fouled retaining the ball, BUT the player who had the foul gets a point taken away for each foul. That rule encourages good defense with clean play. If you MAKE the shot when fouled, you play it like any other shot, but the person who fouls always loses a point. There are no free throws.

And there is no out of bounds.

If the ball goes flying somewhere, anywhere after a play, the person who gets to it first gets to have it. We reward hustle in this game.

That's it. Sometimes we play to 10 points. Sometimes we play to 15. But those 15 point games can get pretty long. Remember, since the ball is always in play and there are no timeouts, you are always moving. A quick game might be over in 15 minutes, but a long game could go over half an hour.

I forgot to mention, if a player with the ball travels or double dribbles, he will be required to shoot the ball immediately wherever he is at while being double-teamed on defense. He can no longer move freely with the ball.

Now here's my "Big Idea."  Get the best players in the world who are not currently in college or under pro contract, and have them play in this league. Sign the 24 best you can find.

Now put them in a season-long tournament with every possible combination of those 24 players. The person who wins each game gets three points in the standings. The person with the second highest total of points in the game is awarded just ONE point in the standings and the third place player gets NONE. If there is a tie for second in the game, they both get one point in the standings.

At the end of the season, the three players with the highest point standings will play a five game tournament against each other. The winner of that tournament will be declared "The One" which will be the name of the show and the league.

The best part? IF these game were televised, they could be run in a half hour time slot, an hour time slot, or even longer, depending on how many games that they wanted to show at one time.

And the games would be non-stop action. Imagine that. In the NBA, the last TWO MINUTES could go half an hour or longer with all the timeouts and fouls called. In this league, you could play a whole game in that time period.

If it were a "real" league, I'd set up a hoop at center court and put a high plexiglass circle around the area. Spectators could then have seats behind the barrier. It would kind of look like hockey.

If players got hurt, subs would take over for them and they would finish the game and it would then be THEIR slot from that game on. Injured players who heal would then be designated subs for future games.

There are some awfully good one-on-one players who play this game who have never played pro or college ball. This league, this game, would give them a chance to excel and get noticed. Stars would be born, and the game of basketball could quickly evolve into something totally different from what we see today.

It's time for "The One."

It's the ultimate reality show.

I should mention that even though I'm short and don't jump all that well, I successfully played this game against much taller players. The best players won't necessarily have to be tall to win.

If you like basketball, call up a couple of your buddies, and play the game. You'll be surprised how much fun it is and how tired you get. It's a great workout even if the T.V. show never gets aired as a real league.

And if YOU win, you can call yourself "The One."