Author Topic: HS Shot Clock  (Read 5109 times)

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Offline ilyazhito

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HS Shot Clock
« on: May 12, 2018, 07:45:53 PM »
 nAnA Most of y'all know about a handy-dandy gizmo called a shot clock :D. In college and NBA games, that thingy helps prevent teams from delaying the game by keeping the ball for an entire quarter. The horrors! Unfortunately, high school rules do not provide for a shot clock, and fans, coaches, and officials alike must suffer through a team holding the ball, and the other team fouling in response, to stop the clock and try to take the ball away.  nAnA

Some state high school associations (CA, WA, ND, SD, MA, RI, NY, MD, DC [and MN, for nonconference games]) do have a shot clock, and do not experience the stalling and associated end-of-game fouls that turn a beautifully played (and well-officiated) basketball game into a messy mashup between Whac-a-Mole and Monkey in the Middle in the last few minutes. In addition to forestalling stalling strategies for most of the game, and reducing end-of-game fouls, the shot clock has other benefits to officials as well: It can simplify enforcement of the backcourt and closely-guarded counts, freeing the responsible official (usually the trail or center official) to concentrate on a wider area and spectrum of action. This is because the NCAA has eliminated closely guarded counts on dribblers, as a count on someone dribbling is unnecessary when possessions are under a time limit, and the NBA has no closely guarded counts. In addition, NCAA and NBA officials use the shot clock as a reference point for the backcourt count, unless the shot clock is reset with less time in the period than it would normally display (shot clock gets reset to 30 seconds with 20 seconds left in the period).

Now I've said my piece on the shot clock, I'd like to hear what you have to say about it, as basketball fans (and fellow basketball officials).

Offline UTchad

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Re: HS Shot Clock
« Reply #1 on: July 13, 2018, 09:26:38 AM »
In Utah we had a couple of schools use a shot clock this last season. Personally I am for it. To speed up the game. I see no true benefit as a referee. Because I actually check the clock before on in bounds, and my count is pretty darn accurate. So while in the back court clock reads 8:38 before inbound. I am counting and know that the clock better read 8:28 if I am going to get a 10 second call.

Offline JasonTX

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Re: HS Shot Clock
« Reply #2 on: July 13, 2018, 03:40:06 PM »
Quote
that thingy helps prevent teams from delaying the game by keeping the ball for an entire quarter.

These are my kind of games.  Dribble that clock out.   yEs:

Offline bama_stripes

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Re: HS Shot Clock
« Reply #3 on: July 13, 2018, 06:53:26 PM »
In this age of “push the ball up the court & shoot a three / dunk”, I’d be surprised if anybody is holding the ball anymore.  The players won’t stand for it.

Offline ilyazhito

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Re: HS Shot Clock
« Reply #4 on: July 17, 2018, 05:33:17 PM »
In this age of “push the ball up the court & shoot a three / dunk”, I’d be surprised if anybody is holding the ball anymore.  The players won’t stand for it.
Well, the Bibb County vs Brookwood game that ended 2-0, the Waseca-Marshall girls game that ended 17-4, and a 27-24 Dunbar-Fenwick boys  game in Ohio are all counter-examples. What is worse is these games are playoff games, and yet they end up being an embarrassment to basketball, with the teams just standing around for minutes because they are allowed to do so. Even a good game in the 2017 Beach Ball Classic between Imhotep Institute Charter High School (Philadelphia, PA) and Archbishop Moeller High School (Cincinnati, OH) had a possession where Imhotep just held the ball and did nothing for about 1:30, followed by holding the ball for another 30 seconds after a timeout. Fortunately, Moeller was able to get enough pressure to tie the game, and Imhotep was able to hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to win the game, so the game did not degenerate into the Monkey in the Middle/Whac-a-Mole/Free Throw Contest mashup that games without the shot clock commonly become.

Maybe a new generation will finally see the change to a nationwide adoption of the shot clock. Arkansas allowed schools to experiment with the shot clock for non-conference games in 2018, and NFHS might pass a shot clock proposal in the next few years. This would be a tremendous improvement for high school basketball, from all perspectives: fans, coaches, and officials.   

Offline bama_stripes

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Re: HS Shot Clock
« Reply #5 on: July 18, 2018, 06:39:38 AM »
The Brookwood game (which was in my home county) was played three years ago.  If that’s your best example, I’d say HS basketball is in pretty good shape without a shot clock.  There will always be outliers.

Offline ilyazhito

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Re: HS Shot Clock
« Reply #6 on: July 23, 2018, 07:23:30 PM »
Many will disagree. MD adopted a 35-second shot clock for boys' basketball prior to the start of the 2017-18 season, because the stalling in the playoffs was too much for the MD basketball rules committee to take (In MD, girls basketball has had a 30-second shot clock since the 1970s. The boys shot clock has since been reduced to 30 seconds). In addition, Arkansas will experiment with a shot clock, and many other states are considering whether to adopt one.

I understand coaches' and fans' arguments in favor of a shot clock (better pace of game, more offense, rewarding good defense), but I don't believe that anyone has paid attention to officials' arguments in favor of the shot clock (simplified end-of-game officiating, fewer fouls, simplified enforcement of closely guarded and backcourt count rules (NCAA, NBA, and FIBA all use the shot clock as the official timer for the backcourt count, and NBA even uses the shot clock display for the official game clock timepiece. If a shot clock contains game time, it is the official timepiece at any level, NCAA, NBA, or FIBA), and improved transition coverage). These may be the reason why the NBA and USA Basketball have recommended that high school basketball adopt a shot clock.