Few people have had as much success in the NBA as current Lakers coach Phil Jackson, so when he talks people usually listen.  Jackson, shooting for his fourth straight championship in L.A. this season, believes that the rapid advancement in today's athlete from yesteryear means the game needs to grow with the player.  If they player is growing so rapidly... jumping higher, running quicker, and getting stronger.. then perhaps it is time the court grew too?

"One of the things we've discussed about basketball is how to make it more stimulating, to better keep it advancing," Jackson said. "The size of our athletes has increased dramatically over the last 10 or 20 years and really has changed the sport. My suggestion is to extend the length of the court, from 94 feet to 110 feet. We have big arenas. Even the front-row seats wouldn't be changed that much, and the owners would get more of those [pricey] courtside seats. But it would give players enough space to run with the ball, to again have fast breaks, to use the speed they've got."

"It might produce teams like the Showtime Lakers of the 1980s. Portland was a good running team in the early 1990s. But we don't have a fast-break kind of game. It would be interesting to fans and exciting, a game that shows the true athleticism the players have. The way the game is now, players take one or two steps before they're starting to slow down and get under control because of the size of the court. With the great athletes we have it should be a more athletic game."

Sam Smith writes in his Chicago Tribune column that despite the NBA changing rules over the last number of seasons in the hope of promoting a more high flowing, higher scoring style of basketball the league average still sits at 95 points per game.

Today's game is dominated by coaches and strategies, games in which a coach would rather devise plays to stop the opposition from scoring than to actually score themselves.  The free flowing games of the past meant the team which scored the highest amount of points won, but now it is more of a case of the team who keeps their opponent to the lower score is victorious.

"We're always saying we have the best athletes," Jackson said. "Let them show what they can do."