Yep. That's not a typo. An honest-to-God final score of 4-2. What, couldn't anybody find the ladder to get the ball out of the peach basket (gotta love being able to slip in a James Naismith reference!) A score like that brings to mind the pre-shot clock days of college basketball, the North Carolina four-corner (lack of) offense in particular. Also called the stall by many. Quick show of hands, how many found that style of play boring??
So, in Oklahoma there now seems to be an outcry for a shot clock at the high school level. Weatherford (19-1) was the 4-2 winner over Anadarko (13-8). Not sure of Weatherford has employed this type of "attack" (and we'll use that term loosely here) before, but it sure produced a stinker of a game.
The call for the shot clock surprises me. Not that they are calling for one, mind you, but the fact that it's 2023 and they haven't implemented it yet! Further investigation shows just eight states currently using a 35-second shot clock at the high school level. Another big surprise.
High school sports seem to be like a battleship, taking years to turn in the seas of change. Hell, until 1994 Iowa girls' basketball was still running with a system of six-on-six basketball and a limited number of players on the offensive attack. It was a half-court game with three forwards and three guards who COULD NOT cross the center line, were limited to two dribbles and had three seconds to either shoot or pass the ball.
This while the rest of the country was playing five-on-five, full court hoops.
So the fact that high schools across the country are slow to implement a shot clock doesn't surprise.
In many cases, it may well be a cost factor for school districts. So how about this -- the National Basketball Association and it's players' association step up and fund it? Hell, put the NBA logo on it while you're at it.
Seems like a win-win to me.
