Shot clock on the way for Class 6A

I sensed the moaning and groaning at the Class 4A state tournament in Farmington when a team held the ball for at least two or three minutes without making a move toward the basket.

I definitely heard the cheers, and even some laughter, when the team on defense forced a turnover and converted it into a layup to end the quarter.

Serves them right, I thought, for playing “stall ball.” The vast majority of fans don’t want to pay money to watch a team stand and pass the ball around on the perimeter without making a move toward the basket.

Boring.

If this is your view, then you’ll be pleased to know a 35-second clock will be used in Arkansas beginning this year for Class 6A schools on a three-year experimental basis. The Arkansas Activities Association board of directors unanimously approved the change after the National Federation of High School Associations initially gave its OK on a request for the 35-second clock by schools in Arkansas’ largest classification.

“It’s been something we’ve been trying to get done for a while,” Fayetteville

coach Brad Stamps said. “I’m excited about it.”

I’ve long been wishy-washy whenever the topic of a shot clock for high school basketball comes up. Doesn’t matter to me either way. Detractors will continue to insist a 35-second shot clock takes away some strategy and makes it much more difficult for an underdog to beat a team with superior talent.

Way back in 1980 and years before I became a sports writer, I stood about four-deep at Jonesboro High School while trying to catch a glimpse of Keith Lee and Michael Cage for West Memphis. West Memphis went on to finish 30-0 that season and the Blue Devils with Lee and Cage on the backline are widely considered as the best high school basketball team in

Arkansas history.

Jonesboro knew it was outmanned that night in 1980 and the Hurricane held the ball.

And held it.

And held it.

The strategy nearly worked but West Memphis escaped with a slim victory, 19-18, if I remember correctly. Had there been a shot clock, Jonesboro wouldn’t have stood a chance. Cage went onto play 15 years as a top rebounder in the NBA while Lee became an All-American at Memphis before his bad knees limited his professional career to only 182 games with Cleveland and New Jersey.

So, yes, “stall ball” can be intriguing and Dean Smith used it effectively as a coach to finish out games at North Carolina with his “four corners” alignment.

Skeptics will argue a shot clock for high school basketball places too much emphasis on scoring, like in a summer league AAU game. But too many coaches I respect say just the opposite will happen.

“From a strategy standpoint, I think teams that want to be defense first — and we consider ourselves a defensive-minded team — the shot clock actually becomes an advantage,” Rogers girls coach Preston Early said. “If you guard well for 25 seconds, which isn’t a lot of time, then teams will be scrambling to get a quality shot.”

The idea of a shot clock for high school basketball in Arkansas has come up before. I remember a year ago asking a coach about it and he was a definite “no” on the subject. Among his concerns were the cost of a shot clock and the fact his school would have to pay someone to work it during games.

That seems like a minor obstacle today, considering there’s a public address announcer and multiple people working different aspects of electronic scoreboards from press row. Some 6A schools already have shot clocks in place and others will make the purchase and install them before the start of the season.

Again, I don’t have a strong opinion either way about the use of a shot clock for high school basketball. But I do know there was a time when some folks were fiercely opposed to the idea of girls playing full-court basketball instead of half-court 6-on-6.

So, how’d that turn out? Exactly.

RICK FIRES