Shot clock about to get shot down again in Pennsylvania

Do we need a shot clock in Pennsylvania high school basketball?

Most fans would say yes; they don’t like to see a team hold the ball. It’s not the way basketball should be played, they reason. Boring, too.

Most coaches would agree; so, too, would most game officials.

They would like to see Pennsylvania follow Maryland, New York and more than a dozen states that, by next season, will be playing with a shot clock.

The PIAA, which governs high school sports in the state, isn’t ready to go there. Earlier this month the PIAA’s basketball steering committee recommended against adopting a shot clock. Next week the full Board of Directors will meet to vote on the issue. Expect them to shoot it down, as well.

I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. To me, the high school game doesn’t need a shot clock. Every now and then an undermanned team will try to hold the ball against a superior opponent, but that’s rare. People remember when it happens — Snip Esterly immediately goes right back to 2011, when Greenwood held the ball against his powerhouse Central Catholic team in a district title game — and site that as a reason why we need a shot clock.

Hazleton tried to hold the ball against Donyell Marshall and Reading High during a state playoff game in 1991, and Red Knights fans were furious. So was Mike Miller, the Reading coach. Two years later, when Marshall was gone and Hazleton had the upper hand, Miller held the ball.

It’s part of the game, a tool some coaches like to have at their disposal, especially when they don’t have the best players.

Holding the ball isn’t automatic, like issuing an intentional walk in baseball. It takes skill to be able to effectively maintain possession, because you’re really not “holding” the ball: You’re dribbling, passing, cutting. Against skilled defensive teams that’s not easy to do.

Most teams at this level can’t hold it effectively, anyway. When Reading had guys such Khary Mauras, Damon Stern and Lonnie Walker IV in the backcourt they could’ve held the ball all night and nobody was gonna get it away from them. That was a team you didn’t want to fall behind against, because they’d turn the lights out on you; they made the final two or three minutes of a game disappear.

Reading’s had a string of good guards since, with guys such as Wesley Butler and Joey Chapman and Ruben Rodriguez. You’re not gonna take the ball away from those guys, either.

That’s the exception; Reading High is a top-level team. Most teams can’t do that, not even close. There are very few teams in the state skilled enough to hold the ball for a full minute without turning it over — and then come up with a good shot before the quarter or half ends.

Implementing a 35-second shot clock isn’t going to change the game all that much. Most possessions don’t last that long, anyway. It could be counterproductive, too. As a coach, don’t you want to teach your players to control the ball and look for the best shot possible? Why rush developing players into taking bad shots? Don’t we see enough of those already?

At the highest levels of the game players are talented enough to get off shots — and make them — in a heartbeat. That’s not the case in high school.

Of course, that’s not the reason the shot clock is about to get shot down. It’s money. It might cost a school $10,000 or more to purchase and install the equipment needed. Plus, schools will need to hire an extra person to run the clock during games, and pay them to do it. That’ll be another $1,000 per season.

Finding a competent person to run the clock is an issue that concerns athletic administrators. They look at the college game, especially at the Division III level, and see constant shot-clock issues. They occur in Division I games, as well.

There are already nightly issues at the high school level with keeping the score book properly and running the clock and scoreboard. Adding a shot clock will only multiply those problems.

That’s a key reason why a majority of athletic directors, when surveyed by the PIAA recently, opposed adopting a shot clock. The vote was close, almost a 50-50 split.

Adding shot clock will eliminate the occasional “stall” game and scores such as 24-18 — that was the final count when Central Catholic came back to beat Greenwood. It took a supreme defensive effort for the Cardinals to chase the ball around the court and force turnovers, which they eventually did.

The shot clock would also help cut down on the intentional fouling that goes on at the end of so many games; that would be a plus. But there are other ways around that issue.

Don’t fret, shot-clock devotees: This isn’t your last shot. In a couple years the issue will come up again; it’ll eventually pass, maybe as soon as 2025. At some point the National Federation of State High School Associations will include a shot clock in its rules, and the PIAA will follow suit.

Then you’ll have something new to complain about.