No shot clock, 5-foul limit still good rules for HS basketball

One of the most enjoyable aspects of writing a weekly column for this newspaper is the number of e-mails I receive suggesting some strategy or another for improving sports.

Among those letters are ideas for making the high school basketball game better for all participants.

Let’s start with the game itself.

There’s a lot of talk each year about the merits of adding a shot clock to the high school game.

As most of you may know, timed possessions were originally added to the pro game in 1954 because scores were too low, and teams were stalling for minutes at a time to secure victory. The 24-second shot clock was born.

Next up were the college teams, who were doing the same thing. Shot clocks soon followed. In 1985, colleges used a 45-second shot clock. All that changed in 1993 when a 35-second shot clock became the rule for men, and a 30-second shot clock became the rule for women.

Although high school basketball does implement a shot clock in seven states, most states have not used the shot clock as part of their game. Here’s why.

Money. Yes, dear readers, high school budgets are tight, and the very notion of adding an expensive electrical device to the annual budget is scary. Toss into that mix the need for hiring a person – another game official, really – to man the thing, and most schools can’t factor all that into a budget equation.

Timed possessions would favor the better of the two teams playing. Having to launch a shot within a certain period of time takes away from the underdog’s chance to win.

If I were the man in charge on all this stuff, I’d leave the game alone in terms of timed possessions.

I understand the need for more action at the professional level. And once North Carolina’s legendary coach Dean Smith started spreading the floor at the close of his team’s games with a lead, I understood fan interest in a shot clock, too. The high school hoop scene is another matter entirely.

There is also talk each year at the high school level of hoop play – remember how young these kids are! – about adding an extra foul to each player before elimination is instituted.

The current rule of five fouls per participant before elimination has stood the test of time for many years. States such as Minnesota have experimented with a pro-like sixth foul, adding a two-shot technical foul and possession to the offending player’s penalty.

Personally, I like the five-foul rule for a 32-minute game. I would support the pro rule of six for college basketball if for no other reason than in the extra eight minutes of play in college, players must be prudent in their fouling compared to high school.

And finally, in Maine in particular, I think it’s time – and some of you have heard me say this before – that we move the start of winter sports back to the first Monday in November.

The ultimate cramming of games into December and January is perfect without snow and ice. This winter is a prime example of why we need an earlier preseason start.

I say “no” to timed possessions in high school. Keep the rules the same on the number of fouls to walk the plank in high school basketball. And – please, Maine Principals’ Association – move the winter sports starting date back to the first Monday in November.

Old Man Winter is obviously not a high school basketball fan.

30-Second Time Out

I had the good fortune to catch most of the University of Maine women’s basketball team’s 67-55 victory over Maryland Baltimore County Saturday night on WABI-TV 5 of Bangor.

First-year coach Cindy Blodgett’s Black Bear squad hustled its way to the win, and as they feel their way through this learning season, the lessons learned in victory and in defeat will help lead the program back to where it was when Cindy left it as a player.

bdnsports@bangordailynews.net