Shot clock approval applauded by local coaches

Well, it finally happened; the state of Idaho has left the stone age and has entered the modern day in regards to the sport of basketball.

According to the Idaho Statesman, the Idaho High School Activities Association approved the use of a 35-second shot clock in both boys and girls basketball at Wednesday’s board meeting.

“I’m really excited about the decision to add the shot clock,” Sandpoint girls basketball coach Will Love said. “It’s going to help the game in Idaho as well as other states around us that have adopted the shot clock.”

At Wednesday’s meeting, it was determined unanimously that the shot clock will be used at state tournaments for the 2023-24 season.

The IHSSA will give individual conferences the option of whether or not to implement the shot clock for the regular season and district tournaments.

“I’m really excited about it,” Clark Fork girls basketball coach Jordan Adams said. “I was kind of against it at first because I didn’t have it in high school, but I did have it in college.”

Priest River boys basketball coach Jaden Barrett also went through high school without a shot clock but had to adjust to its novelties once he reached the college level.

“College was a huge difference for me,” Barrett said. “You have to get into your offense a lot quicker with all the players knowing that you only have a certain amount of time to get down the court.”

Love, who admitted he was a huge proponent of the shot clock for Idaho, realizes the impact that it’s going to have on the game.

“Right now we play within the rules of the game, so we’ve utilized the ability to stall possessions,” Love said. “We’ll figure out some new elements and how to use that 35-second shot clock. It’s a good thing for basketball in the state of Idaho.”

All coaches touched on the excitement that the shot clock brings to the game as well, making double digit leads not so insurmountable to overcome.

“Nobody wants to see a bunch of fouls to end the game,” Love said. “This provides teams with another option other than fouling with two minutes left down four points.”

Love also noted the impact it’ll have on the defense as well as scoring on the offensive end.

“It’ll bring more strategy and ultimately it’ll help players become more skilled,” Love said. “We’ll see adjustments on the defensive end to utilize the shot clock and limit how many possessions a team has.”

The addition of the shot clock also allows Idaho to catch up with not only most of the country but the rest of the world.

“If you go to Canada, you see kids as young as eight playing with a shot clock,” Love said. “It’s nice we’re having more of a standardized way of playing the game.”

Barrett echoed Love’s feelings on the clock, making the game more exciting for the kids on the court.

“I know all my kids are looking forward to the change,” Barrett said. “It also comes with an opportunity to have more buzzer beaters.”

Another big piece to the shot clock puzzle is fluidity and keeping a certain pace during the game.

“Say you’re down 15 with a quarter left that’s almost impossible to come back from without a shot clock,” Barrett said. “But with a clock you actually have an opportunity to make a comeback, and that’s good news to me.”

Fluidity will be the biggest improvement overall to the game, according to Barrett.

“It’ll give more chances at possessions and it’ll definitely increase fluidity and I can’t stress that enough,” Barrett said. “It makes the game more fluid. You can’t sit there with the ball for a minute and a half and kill time because you’re up 10. It forces teams to play all 32 minutes.”

The increase in fluidity and possession doesn’t necessarily correlate to more points, though, according to Love.

“I don’t know if teams will score 100 points a game; it’s not the NBA,” Love said. “But it will have some impact. We’re going to have to teach kids some actions when there are 8-10 seconds left to get a shot off.”

With Clark Fork playing in the 1AD2 conference and having constant turnover on its team, the shot clock might become a yearly adjustment.

“I’m excited to see how our older girls respond to it,” Adams said. “Our younger girls are going to have a harder time. I find that at our level we have girls that are very skilled, but there is a big gap in skill level.”

Clark Fork boys’ basketball coach Heath Beason agreed with Adams’ sentiment saying the hardest adjustment to the clock will be getting used to it.

“I know the kids are going to have a good mindset about it,” Beason said. “They have to have it in the back of their minds, though, and they're going to have to go out and change their offense.”

Beason was a bit indifferent about the news of the shot clock, seeing its pros and cons once the news broke.

“I don’t mind having a shot clock; it speeds the game up,” Beason said. “Sometimes it's an advantage for one team or another; either way it forces you to correct what you're doing. I think it’s more of a plus than a take away.”

Barrett has pushed for the addition of the clock since the end of last season.

“I’m stoked for it. I really pushed hard for the addition,” Barrett said. “We’re stuck in the stone age here in Idaho and not having it is a game killer and it takes away the excitement of the game. Now teams have more chances to run and have fun.”