This year's debate over whether to add a shot clockto boys and girls high school varsity basketball games in Indiana has expired.
Just as it apparently has in Ohio and North Carolina,leaving the number of states with a shot clock at 32.
But the Bloomington area's coaches are in little doubt it will be reset. More a matter of when than if a 35-second shot clock is approved. Statewide, coaches were mostly in favor at 68% in a poll, while administrators were not so much (24%), so a 17-1 'no' vote by the IHSAA board nixed it.
Just as the 3-point line and the elimination of the 1-and-1 free throws with bonus rule, the game is always evolving, so stay tuned.
Here's how several of our area coaches came down on the issue:
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Absolutely for it
"I like it," Eastern Greene boys coach Jamie Hudson said. "I was able to play with it with my daughters' AAU teams. As a defensive guy, I like a 35-40-second shot clock, but I didn't care either way."
Keylee, Jamie's daughter, walked into her parents' house as the phone interview took place, home after her second year playing hoops at Indiana University-South Bend. She wasn't expecting a pop quiz. Jamie asked if she liked playing with a shot clock in college.
"Keylee loves it," Jamie said. "She said she likes the pace so much better."
His son, Kyan, and teammate Cody Sykesare also well-versed in high-speed basketball, having been long-time high-level AAU players.
"Coby and Kyan would like it," Jamie said. "I think they'd like it. Maybe I'm wrong. It would put an interesting twist to it.
"I think the kids play harder when there's a shot clock. If you can play defense for 35 seconds, it's a turnover and a big momentum thing. I think the kids want to play that way. They see the college game. I like the shot clock. It rewards the defense, and you've got to keep playing."
Lighthouse Christian boys coach Kyle Hankinshas plenty of experience with it as a college player and long-time college coach.
"I'll play with whatever the rules are," Hankins said. "But I don't understand the hubbub around it."
He also saw the other side of it when he played at South. Every so often, teams would hold the ball to offset the Panthers' physical superiority.
"As a player at South, I hated it," Hankins said. He then admitted that, as a coach, he once used stalling as a tool to win a game.
In his first year at Clarksville, his team played Charlestown early in the year and couldn't hit 3 over the taller Pirates or get the ball inside, losing 59-41. Not even three weeks later, they met again in a consolation final of a Christmas tournament.
"I told our staff before the game, 'Man, I said I would never do this, but this is our best chance to win,'" Hankins said. "'If we get up early, we're going to hold it.'"
Clarksville got up 10-3. "(Charlestown) Coach (Matt) Lynch is a friend of mine, but I told our guys to hold it," Hankins said. They did for the last four minutes of the first quarter and did the same to start the second. It worked. Final: Clarksville 52, Charlestown 31.
"We were not a great shooting team," Hankins said. "That allowed us to win the game. It's not fun for fans, but as a coach, I have to give my team the best chance to win."
Yeah, but...
South coach JR Holmes remembers watching an Indiana-Michigan game the first year the NCAA implemented a shot clock. He saw the Hoosiers fail to hold a late lead that, in years past, would have been locked down with four corners and free throws.
"I don't mind a shot clock of 35-40 seconds," Holmes said. "It won't make a difference most of the time. But I also wouldn't like to have it in the last two minutes.
"If I've worked that long to have a lead, I should have the right to protect it. But I've not seen that proposal. I can live with it, but I'd like to have the chance to hit my free throws and hold the lead."
Holmes noted that as a coach at a larger school, he would be more likely to be OK with the change.
"If I was at Tunnelton or Mitchell, I wouldn't want the shot clock," he said. "But I can live with it or without it."
Not leaning either way
Several coaches had no strong feelings either way, but would simply adjust, as they do every time the rules change.
"I really fall under the I don't care," South girls coach Larry Winters said. "I don't know if it comes into play in a whole lot of games I've been involved in. But I understand how some people would want it in games.
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"We've not held the ball. It's just another thing they would introduce that would be taking away a coaching part of it for some coaches."
Owen Valley is one of the schools that would have to add clocks and find someone to run them, so girls head coach Trace Temples understands why principals might hesitate. And for officials, especially younger or less experienced ones, it's one more thing to worry about and stir up debate during a game.
"I don't really have a big stance on it," Temples said. "I think it would make the game interesting and add to some situations.
"I feel like it's going to be a hard one to pass, just because there are a lot of aspects to it."
Right now, many coaches just consider it a bridge they will cross when they come to it.
North coach Jason Speer thinks the new rule that sends players to the line for two shots after five fouls each quarter, eliminating 1-and-1, will have a bigger effect in the long run. Colleges still have the old 7-10 bonus rule.
Given the pace of play most teams are at nowadays, Speer sees minimal effect. But games would likely remain in jeopardy longer than they do in college and pro levels.
"I haven't thought about it, too much," Speer said. "My experience with the shot clock was last summer, coaching the Indiana All-Stars when we played Kentucky.
"It certainly would take some adjustment."
No, but no big deal if it is
"I would say I'm a traditionalist," Edgewood boys coach Matt Wadsworth said. "I miss the one-class tournament, and I prefer not having the shot clock. But I also realize times change.
"The basketball you watch on TV has a shot clock in it. As coaches and players, we should be able to adjust if it's implemented. I think from an aspect of coaching, it would energize coaches to show off their creativity."
He sees teams trying to be quicker, getting the ball up the court and looking for shots in the first 6-8 seconds. If not, then do the work in the final 10. Defensively, more pressing and extended pressure, anything to disrupt the flow.
Offensively, having a player(s) who can get their own spot would be key. Defensively, there would be a potential reward for staying locked in for 35 seconds.
"It's the age-old challenge, athleticism vs. skill," Wadsworth said.
Costs and other issues
There was consensus in one area: the IHSAA should allow selected tournaments, shootouts, or maybe summer league games to put a shot clock in play so fans, players, and coaches can see how it works.
"Ohio handpicks events to incorporate it to see how goes," Wadsworth said. "I think that would be a good thing in Indiana."
High school basketball is still a development arena. Two things coaches fear are a lot of forced/rushed shots to beat the buzzer, and also the raised importance of clock and score awareness for both players and coaches.
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Costs as high as $10,000 have been claimed, including the clocks, wireless controls, installation, and the electrical connection to the basket stanchion. That's something South and Eastern Greene wouldn't have to worry about, as they already have them.
Schools would also have to find an extra operator, much like they do for football, and maybe extra space at the scorer's table.
In reality, class basketball, and maybe even social media, has virtually eliminated stall games. Witness how viral word of Crown Point's tactic in the 4A title game spread.
A true all-out stall takes two to tango, since the defense has to let it happen. Playing keep-away from an aggressive defense is a tough thing to do for a minute or more. Terre Haute North's boys tried it for nearly 11 minutes two years ago in the sectional final, and host South nearly pulled off a crazy rally from down 21.
Long gone are games like Hudson remembered back in December of 2001.
The T-Birds were semistate qualifiers the year before and were coming off a 47-point whipping of Edgewood when they came to Bloomfield for their annual SWIAC battle. Hudson was on the Cardinals bench for some true non-action in a 12-11 upset of their county rivals.
"It was not a fun game to watch," Hudson said. "But guys want to win games."
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times:Bloomington area basketball coaches react to IHSAA's shot clock vote
This year's debate over whether to add a shot clockto boys and girls high school varsity basketball games in Indiana has expired. ...
