Apr 26, 2009

WIAA approves shot clock for boys

Dribble dribble dribble outside the arc... gesture toward the key... dribble dribble, pass, dribble dribble dribble dribble... crossover... dribble dribble dribble... duck in, duck out, dribble dribble dribble... pass, post up, face the basket, pivot, pass... dribble dribble dribble dribble outside the arc... pass, pass, pass, penetrate, kick out, dribble dribble dribble back toward the halfcourt line... escape the trap, dribble dribble... pass, dribble dribble dribble around the arc... gesture toward the baseline... pass... turn away from the defender, wait... dribble toward the key... pass, pass, dribble dribble dribble...

Those days are over.
After shooting down measures at least twice in the past, the Representative Assembly of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association not only passed a shot-clock amendment, it did so overwhelmingly, by a vote of 42-11.

Starting next season, every high-school boys basketball game will have a 35-second shot clock. The clock will be reset when a shot hits the rim.
Via Dr. Pezz, who explains the change as a generation thing. We've come to expect speed in professional and college hoops, and now we'll get speed in the boys' preps game. (Girls were decades ahead on this one.)

Up-tempo, at long last.

Dribble dribble pass shoot miss tip tip rebound clear pass dribble dribble dribble lay-in score!

5 comments:

James Hanley said...

I hated the shot clock until I realized how it boosts the value of defense. I'm not a big fan of a speeded up game (I'm a Big 10 fan after all), but I love watching the defense force a shot-clock violation.

Jim Anderson said...

And 35 seconds seems reasonable for the high school level. (I'd like to see the college game adopt a 30-second clock.)

Dr Pezz said...

The reset on any shot is a bit of a cop out though. I think hitting the rim should be required to reset the shot clock.

Still, this is a good change.

Jim Anderson said...

I'm confused, good doctor. The Times says it resets "when a shot hits the rim."

Dr Pezz said...

Sorry. That was the original proposal which was later amended. My fault.

Some coaches wanted to make any shot count to reset the clock, which would of course make officials have to judge whether or not the shot was legitimate (just like an air balled "shot" can be caught or tipped by the shooter if the official says the shot was real). The advantage here would have been to allow an air ball or hard shot off the board to be caught to reset the clock and keep possession.

This rule change will definitely help the game. I went to about 20 or so games this year around the state and watched at least half those games go into a stall. Ugh!