Chip Shots: Finally!

Various percentages of approval (ranging from 68% to 76%) among Indiana high school boys’ and girls’ basketball coaches have been noted in news articles and social media regarding the IHSAA’s consideration of the 35-second shot clock for Indiana high school basketball.

Who cares what the correct percentage is?

Finally!

There is a high probability the shot clock will make it to one of the 19 states who have not yet adopted the rule.

If one free transfer originally had the votes of 30% of the coaches, and it was still added to the IHSAA eligibility regulations, then I am confident the 35-wecond shot clock will be part of prep hoops in the Hoosier State.

There are plenty of difficulties, but the ups outweigh the downs, and some of the ups will be painful among struggling programs.

I’ll begin politely.

The shot clock will keep benches engaged. Teams at college level, especially at smaller venues, can easily be heard counting down the shot clock when it reaches 9 seconds. It’s a significant help to teammates on the floor.

The kids will have one more rule similar to college play for those who transition to college hoops. Basketball needs more standardization in college and high school levels.

You can still run a North Carolina Tarheel-ian stall, because many teams have teenagers who hate playing more the 18-20 second of defense in a possession.

My high school graduating class had an exceptional group of players who – as freshmen – could run a four-corner offense most of the game, spread the defense, catch defenders off guard and score 50 points among four 6- or 7-minute quarters.

This group did the same thing at varsity levels and managed to score in the 70s and 80s with its fair share of lengthy possessions. I think they would have just been more aggressive about attacking the basket with a 35-second shot clock.

I can’t recall the quarter length because it was 48 years ago. Sorry.

I’ll preface the rest of the column noting that I couldn’t hit the side of a barn outside 10-12 feet in the hardcourt, so I appreciate how hard it is to shoot consistently, and successfully while also doing it in memory motion.

Nonetheless, as a fan, and as an off-on-off again game coverage writer, and as a PA announcer, I enjoy watching a lot of basketball. Sometimes, the more I watch, the more (as I noted last week) Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings plays in my head.

Most of the time the team I’m either working for or rooting for is on the delivering end of the dominant win.

Athletes will still hoist many three-point shots with or without the shot clock, but we’ll get to see some of the best players with and without the basketball attacking the hoop with increased urgency.

If you’ve been in the Tiger Den the most recent handful of seasons, you’ve become accustomed to some sharp shooting from the boys’ and girls’ squads. If you’re watching prep ball where the shooting percentages are closer to some high school baseball batting averages on a normal day, at least you might see more points as a function of more possessions.

Will the shot clock widen the victory margins, especially in girls’ basketball?

The pervasive disparity especially in Northern Indiana among elite and struggling programs will result in earlier starts for running clock, so… yes. I actually enjoy watching a dominant win but serious, focused competitors.

With all this said, I have to hand it to Paul Neidig, the IHSAA commissioner.

In his five-year tenure he’s administered the opening up of “free” single transfers with better guardrails than the NCAA used in their early transfer portal days,

Commissioner Neidig has also sanctioned girls’ wrestling and boys’ volleyball, and girls’ flag football looks like it only needs less than a handful of seasons and available, willing leadership to become the next sanctioned IHSAA sport.

There are some recent marked improvements in basketball tournament structure and structure of classification among other four-class sports.

I especially like the larger Class 1A grouping among four-class sports. I’m not a fan of the expanding number of tiny private and charter schools who, until these recent class structure changes, were contaminating the lower three classes domino style.

The IHSAA was well-governed before Neidig took the helm, but he’s had a tenure where society, media, and other aspects of life and sport have changed more quickly than years past: a busier era per se.

I’m looking forward to the next handful of seasons to see how the 35-second shot clock affects the on-going evolution of prep hoops.