NBA NOTEBOOK: MCHALE, THOMPSON HONORED.

Byline: Daily News Wire Services

Georgetown and the Boston Celtics - for years standards of excellence in basketball - sent two of their finest to the Hall of Fame on Wednesday.

John Thompson, the combative coach who made the Hoyas a national power, entered the hall with Kevin McHale, the long-armed forward who helped the Celtics win three titles.

Thompson became the first African-American coach to win an NCAA title in 1984.

Also entering the Hall of Fame were former NBA center and general manager Wayne Embry; Billie Moore, the first women's coach to lead two schools to national championships, and the late Fred Zollner, the NBA pioneer who owned the Fort Wayne and Detroit Pistons. The five will be inducted Oct. 1.

Thompson, 6-foot-10, was the Celtics' backup center for Bill Russell on the 1965 and 1966 championship teams. He arrived as Georgetown's coach in 1972 and inherited a 3-23 program.

McHale played 13 seasons with the Celtics. The trio of Robert Parish, Larry Bird and McHale formed one of the best NBA frontcourts, leading the Celtics to championships in 1981, 1984 and 1986. Boston has won 16 NBA titles, more than any other team.

Embry also has a Celtics link as a member of the 1968 title team. He was picked for his overall contributions to the sport. In 1971, he became general manager of the Milwaukee Bucks as the first African-American in that NBA position.

Zollner brought the Pistons to Detroit in 1957. He is credited with many innovations, including the 24-second shot clock, wider foul lane and six-foul limit.

Rules panel plays safe: Talk of radical rules changes to improve the low-scoring, rough-and-tumble NBA proved to be just that Tuesday. Talk.

Despite a torrent of criticism aimed at the league for its sloppy play in recent years, a panel of 16 owners, general managers, coaches and players proposed only minor alterations in the game's setup during a secretive, six-hour meeting in New York.

Indications that the NBA might widen the lanes, revamp the shot clock and even allow zone defenses were all dismissed by the panel, which instead threw its support behind a stricter interpretation of the existing rules by referees.

``Radical change was not something we were looking for,'' said NBA deputy commissioner Russ Granik, who vowed the alterations will be in place for the Atlanta summer league late next month.

The biggest change will be the creation of a five-second rule governing one-on-one play below the foul line. The aim is to keep players such as Charles Barkley and the Mavericks' Gary Trent from using nearly the entire 24-second clock to back down a defender in the low post.