AAA adopts shot clock on trial basis.

By: Cade Carlton

Arkansas will become the ninth state to implement a shot clock in high school basketball, it was announced after the conclusion of the summer workshop.

The shot clock will be used on a one-year experimental basis and will only be eligible for use in regular season tournaments, such as the NEA Tournament. The length of the shot clock will be 35 seconds.

In March, USA basketball and the NBA released a joint statement recommending that a shot clock be implemented at the high school level in all 50 states. The joint statement recommended a 24-second shot clock, but of all nine states with a shot clock in high school basketball, all have a 30 or 35 second shot clock.

While, there have been a number of people in support of the shot clock in Arkansas, some have been vehemently against it, because it would limit the sets and plays you could run offensively, but that’s simply not true. The pace of play is at an all-time high in all levels of the game. This season alone, 8 of the 16 teams that qualified for the NBA playoffs ended the postseason with a pace of 98 or higher. To put that into perspective, four years ago in the postseason, zero teams had a pace of 100 or higher. As we know, all levels of basketball are reflective off of what happens at the highest level.

With the birth of the emphasis put on three-point shooting in all levels of basketball, the pace would not be an issue with a shot clock implemented. In fact, it would make teams value their possessions more; because you would lose a few possessions a game with the length of the shot clock.

One of the pros to this being implemented is the end of stall ball as we know it. Too many times, in both girls’ and boys’ games in the state, we’ve seen teams hold the ball for two-three minutes in order to get the last shot. We’ve also seen teams play stall ball when they have a lead in a game, despite not having as much talent as their opponent, to limit their opponent’s possessions. That would stop with a 35-second shot clock. 

Adding a shot clock will not make the game perfect, but it will take out a loophole that some coaches have, whether you like watching it or not, smartly chosen to take to help their team win games in playing stall ball. 

The other concern that would come with a shot clock, particularly with administration and coaches, would be the cost of installing one along with the cost of hiring an additional person to run it. Currently, it costs $2,000+ to install a shot clock, plus the costs of paying an additional person to run it. To most schools in the 5A and 6A conferences, that number may seem reasonable, but if this was to be fully adapted by the AAA for the 2019-20 season, schools in 1A-4A, who don’t have the same resources as Bentonville or Rogers, may not take a liking to being out $2,000 for a shot clock. The question then becomes: does the AAA come to the aid of schools who can’t afford one, or are they on their own to fundraise?

Despite the negativity that may surround it, the shot clock would make the game better than it currently is. It would take away your games in the 20s and 30s, where teams have possessions that last two minutes and win games based solely on how well they defend. It would add more games where teams combine for 100 points, because they would value their possessions more than they do now. Instead of implementing what Steph Curry did on a Monday night, and pulling up two steps after you cross mid-court, players would be more inclined to run an offense and get good looks at the basket, because, possessions do become more limited in a fast-paced game than they are now. 

At this point, it feels inevitable that a shot clock is coming. The NBA implemented a shot clock during the 1954-55 season, some 31 years later, college basketball followed suit. Now, 33 years later, the discussion is on the forefront at the high school level in most states. The conversation has changed from “if” to “when.”