It's Time: Lower the NCAA Shot Clock to 24 Seconds

UNTflyer · February 2, 2012

On Tuesday night, Michigan State and Illinois played a basketball game, and the score was 42-41.

That was not the score at halftime. That was not the score after a meteor hit Assembly Hall in Champaign, stopping play and killing hundreds. That was not the score when Tom Izzo went mad, took off his clothes, and ran across the court quoting scripture until his wife chased him down and gave him a mysterious injection, prompting Illinois to cancel the game out of pity.

That was the final score. Two Division I teams that will both make the NCAA tournament were scarcely able to crack the 40-point barrier. And if you're curious about who won, the correct answer is: nobody.

http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/id/15808/its-time-lower-the-ncaa-shot-clock-to-24-seconds

cl_1_2008 · February 2, 2012

I couldn't agree more, and I haven't even read the article yet, which is shocking, because Grantland is my homepage.

Andrew · February 2, 2012

I have been saying this for years! I hate the fact that here in Texas we do not use a shot clock in high school ball! It allows the other teams to sit on the ball for minutes with the lead!

It slows down the pace and Johhny always seems to take full advantage of that 35 seconds!

CMJ · February 2, 2012

Disagree entirely. The longer shot clock allows more upsets to occur in the tournament, because Mid majors with awesome guards can take the air out of the ball, and yet still create in the final few seconds of the shot clock.

You wouldn't have seen Butler make the title game with a 24 second shot clock two times in a row. They were excellent at bleeding the clock and wearing down more talented teams by forcing them to play defense for long stretches of time.

NT03 · February 2, 2012

I have been saying this for years! I hate the fact that here in Texas we do not use a shot clock in high school ball! It allows the other teams to sit on the ball for minutes with the lead!

It slows down the pace and Johhny always seems to take full advantage of that 35 seconds!

I'd love to see one in high school.

greenminer · February 2, 2012

Count me in the minority that does not define the quality of bball played by the tempo of the game.

35 second shot clock? sure (no four corners offensive game plans for me)

40-something scores = horrible, boring bball? no.

Roadruner · February 2, 2012

Count me in the minority that does not define the quality of bball played by the tempo of the game.

35 second shot clock? sure (no four corners offensive game plans for me)

40-something scores = horrible, boring bball? no.

I agree and disagree, 30 secs maybe but not 24 to me. Maybe a gradual transition. College ball is unlike NBA ball and I think the game would suffer.

The talent to work in a 24 second environment would be restricted to fast thinkers and quick shooters.

The lumbering guards (and there are some good ones) would have a hard time adjusting and it could make for some ugly basketball.

I always felt in college quite often 30/35 seconds is like 24 secs of NBA ball.

Some teams aren't built for speed, and the contrast is what makes college bball so unique.

Green Mean · February 2, 2012

I've always thought that about the college game. Make it more faster and adopt the 24 second shot clock. Most teams just sit around most of the possession only to shoot three's most of the time. I don't like that. Might as well speed the game up and make it more NBA style.

untgeorge · February 2, 2012

On Tuesday night, Michigan State and Illinois played a basketball game, and the score was 42-41.

That was not the score at halftime. That was not the score after a meteor hit Assembly Hall in Champaign, stopping play and killing hundreds. That was not the score when Tom Izzo went mad, took off his clothes, and ran across the court quoting scripture until his wife chased him down and gave him a mysterious injection, prompting Illinois to cancel the game out of pity.

That was the final score. Two Division I teams that will both make the NCAA tournament were scarcely able to crack the 40-point barrier. And if you're curious about who won, the correct answer is: nobody.

http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/id/15808/its-time-lower-the-ncaa-shot-clock-to-24-seconds

No.

KoldBeer · February 2, 2012

Disagree entirely. The longer shot clock allows more upsets to occur in the tournament, because Mid majors with awesome guards can take the air out of the ball, and yet still create in the final few seconds of the shot clock.

You wouldn't have seen Butler make the title game with a 24 second shot clock two times in a row. They were excellent at bleeding the clock and wearing down more talented teams by forcing them to play defense for long stretches of time.

I'm not even worried about upsets. I like the longer shot clock because it allows for more diverse type of offenses. It seems in NBA you have time to run one set and then somebody has to throw up a contested jumper. NBA guys can make those shots. A lot of college guys can't. I'm not sure scoring would increase all that much with a shorter shot clock but I'd guess FG % would drop. I was watching USC the other day and Steve Kerr was doing the game. He said USC ran a NBA style offense but the talent couldn't handle it. They just take a lot of bad jumpers that they miss.

I don't think college should adopt every NBA rule. Next they'll want to ban zone like the NBA does (I know the NBA allows it now but it's still different with defensive 3 second rule).

GrandGreen · February 2, 2012

No reason to speed up the game or take more of the strategy out of the game.

Censored by Laurie · February 2, 2012

No.

This.

Correlation does not imply causality. The great Loyola Marymount teams of the late 80s somehow managed 732 points a night...and with a 45 second shot clock.

42-41 is the result of 2 good Big 10 teams playing good Big 10 basketball. The shot clock is fine.

UNT90 · February 2, 2012

On Tuesday night, Michigan State and Illinois played a basketball game, and the score was 42-41.

That was not the score at halftime. That was not the score after a meteor hit Assembly Hall in Champaign, stopping play and killing hundreds. That was not the score when Tom Izzo went mad, took off his clothes, and ran across the court quoting scripture until his wife chased him down and gave him a mysterious injection, prompting Illinois to cancel the game out of pity.

That was the final score. Two Division I teams that will both make the NCAA tournament were scarcely able to crack the 40-point barrier. And if you're curious about who won, the correct answer is: nobody.

http://www.grantland...k-to-24-seconds

While we are at it, why not change the rules to allow 4 steps to the basket, constant palming of the basketball, one shot technical fouls, and the ball to be brought in on the offensive end no matter where the time out was called?

If you wanna watch the NBE, go watch the F'n NBE, but don't please don't bastardize one of the best games around.

Keith7 · February 2, 2012

Screw it. Lets go to 10 seconds - now that would be fun to watch.

Green Otaku · February 2, 2012

I always thought 35 seconds was a lot. I especially get frustrated when teams just sit on a lead. 30 seconds could be doable and cut some of that out.