Thoughts on the Shot Clock

Interesting idea, I thought.

 

I remember well when there was much fuss about the 3-point shot when it was instituted in 1987. Was it good for basketball or not? Would it create a generation of players who lived to launch shots from the cheap seats at the expense of precision, methodical play that would create high-percentage opportunities? Would it alter the game so much that purists might not recognize it?

 

Folks adjust, of course, and now it’s hard to imagine basketball without a 3-point land and the excitement when a guy or girl pulls up and strikes from long range.

 

The same sentiment will no doubt ring true when the shot clock – time yet to be determined – becomes a fixture in the Virginia Prep League (of which Collegiate is a signatory) in the 2019-2020 season.

In fact, considering the speed and intensity with which many teams now play the game, my guess is that players, coaches, and spectators will hardly realize it’s there.

 

Actually, Collegiate teams have already played with a shot clock. Some years ago, the Independent School League (ISL) – a D.C. area affiliation which includes Episcopal, Flint Hill, Potomac, and St. Stephen’s-St. Agnes, all opponents of the Cougars – adopted it for both girls and boys.

 

“Honestly, it doesn’t affect us a whole lot,” said Rives Fleming, Collegiate’s head varsity girls coach. “We talk about it ahead of time. Two or three times a game, we might notice it.”

 

A little known fact is that recent trips to Northern Virginia were not the first time Collegiate basketball players operated with a shot clock. In December 1985, organizers of the Rebel Invitational Tournament at Douglas Freeman High experimented with both a 35-second clock and the 3-point line placed at 19 feet, nine inches to correspond with the top of the circle.

 

“The shot clock sped the game up for us,” said Bill Chambers, who coached the Cougars from 1971 until 1989, “but I don’t like it. It forces teams that don’t have as much talent to run an offense and maybe take some shots they’re not ready for. My teams were always famous for running as much of the clock as they could and turning the ball over and over and over until we got the shot we wanted. If the shot clock had been widespread then, we couldn’t have done that.”

 

During the Chambers years, Collegiate squads compiled a 236-162 mark and won six Prep League regular season and four tournament championships.

 

“I don’t think my teams would have been as successful if we had to play a fast game,” he said.   “Coaches like me would have to make some big adaptations. The kids are bigger now. They’re faster. They’re stronger. There’s more weight room stuff going on than it was years ago. I’m glad I don’t have to contend with it. I’ll be watching it with interest.”

 

Chambers’ teams were also famous for playing tenacious and stingy defense. He had plenty of tricks up his sleeve – junk defenses, you might call them – that often flustered more talented opponents by taking them out of their rhythm.

 

Chances are, he would have figured a way to use the clock to his advantage. Many coaches at the college level certainly have. High school coaches, by necessity, will no doubt follow suit.

 

“We’re a defense oriented team,” said Del Harris, Collegiate’s head boys basketball coach since 2016. “Hopefully, it’ll help us, knock on wood.

 

“When the shot clock in college basketball went down in time (from 45 seconds in 1985 to 35 in 1993 to 30 in 2015), you saw multiple teams picking up token pressure. Think about if I make a basket and pick up in a soft 2-2-1 press. Now you can’t run the ball up the court. Now, seven or eight seconds have gone off the clock. Once you get to half court, you’re working with 22, 23 seconds.

        

“By the time some teams set up their offense, somebody might have to take a shot that’s either rushed or not what they’re looking for. The days where you could hold the ball and shorten the game are over. There’s definitely some strategy to it.”

     -- Weldon Bradshaw