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Time to Debate Basketball Shot Clock

By Paul Valencia, Columbian High School Sports Reporter
Published: December 17, 2009, 12:00am
3 Photos
Steven Lane/The Columbian
Heritage's Jeff Parrish, #4, brings the ball up court against Columbia River as the new shot clock ticks down.
Steven Lane/The Columbian Heritage's Jeff Parrish, #4, brings the ball up court against Columbia River as the new shot clock ticks down. Photo Gallery

Coaches see both sides of new rule adding shot clock

Tick. Tick. Tick.

Shoot it.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

Shoot the ball.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

Shoot it NOW!

The shot clock, a staple of high school girls basketball in Washington for years, has made its debut in the boys game this season.

While most of the coaches in Southwest Washington are in favor of the new rule, at least one voiced his displeasure.

And David Long of Columbia River did not need 35 seconds to come up with his opinion:

“I don’t like a rule that dictates the pace that makes me have to play at,” Long said. “It would be like a football coach having to play a West Coast offense just because it’s more ‘entertaining.’ High school basketball is the last pure form of basketball there is. The NBA is a different game. College is a different game.

“If it works, you don’t need to fix it. It was working.”

The perception is the shot clock in high school boys basketball is taking over the country. Not true. Washington is the seventh state to bring the clock in play.

Union coach Maco Hamilton, for one, is thrilled to be part of the change. And just about all involved in the sport believe the shot clock will be nationwide someday, perhaps within the next decade.

If you recall, the 3-point line started in the pro game, then college, and then came to high school.

“I think it allows the game to be more pure,” Hamilton said. “It makes a kid work on his skills, the ability to drive and shoot. The tempo makes the game more exciting. More importantly, I think it forces kids to improve their skill level.”

It is an interesting contrast, the belief system between two successful coaches. A year ago, Columbia River won the Class 3A Greater St. Helens League title, then Union topped the Chieftains for the district championship.

Hamilton’s approach — a fast style, always pushing the ball — also led the Titans to the 3A state tournament last year. Union came home with a seventh-place trophy in its second season of basketball.

Long’s teams, meanwhile, have used a deliberate style of basketball en route to Class 3A state tournament appearances in three of the past five seasons.

Last year, the Chieftains won three games at state before falling in the championship game. Columbia River’s second-place finish was the best in the program’s history.

“You take fundamentals out of the game,” Long said, referring to the shot clock. “We beat two basketball teams with superior athletic ability and talent because we changed the tempo of the game.”

Some might like the idea now, but Long will not be surprised if some coaches have a change of heart one day.

It has been his experience, with his teams through the years, that slowing the pace has been beneficial, especially against faster teams from other parts of the state.

Long said coaches in Southwest Washington might realize “going toe-to-toe, athlete-to athlete, we’re going to be on the losing end.”

It takes a fundamentally sound basketball team to hold the ball for long stretches at a time, waiting patiently or the right shot, a la the Chieftains.

But Hamilton says a shot clock will help fundamentally sound players get better in other aspects of the game.

“It’s going to expose a lot of weaknesses,” Hamilton said. “When you don’t have a shot clock, you can hide a lot of weaknesses. It’s going to force kids to work harder in the offseason. It shouldn’t hinder how a team plays. You should be able to create shots and people should feel comfortable taking different shots.”

Then there is Long’s opinion, that the shot clock takes away from coaching, saying the clock makes what he does “less important.”

Hamilton believes Long and other quality coaches will get even better.

“It’s going to allow a coach to be more creative, diagramming plays to get shots off,” Hamilton said.

Long might not be thrilled with the new rule, but he understands it is here for now. And possibly, here for good.

“We’ll adapt to it. I’m not angry,” he said. “We’ll adapt and do what we need to do.”

The Chieftains and the rest of the boys basketball teams in Washington will have to do it in a hurry.

Boys basketball is now on the clock.

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Columbian High School Sports Reporter