Shot clock thoughts

Games like the Prospect-Buffalo Grove boys game last night usually spark this debate - 13-9 at halftime and 21-17 after three - which would have been low-scoring football games this season. Prospect boys AD Tom Martindale joked it was more like last spring's MSL baseball...

Anyway, back to the shot clock, which surely people were thinking about while passing the time watching BG eat up chunks of time playing pass and catch. I'm not a proponent of it at the high school level. I still believe there are other ways to force a faster game without adding another administrative element to it that could be tougher than people realize.

For example, do you also have a shot clock at the frosh-soph levels? Do you have enough people qualified to operate one - some schools not as wealthy might have an issue there?

Although in some areas this isn't necessarily true, this isn't like college where you can create your own team - you're limited to working with what walks through the door. Controlling the pace may be the only way to have a chance to beat a more powerful team. Would you rather see a 92-65 up-and-down game or a 40-36 game (Prospect beating BG) where every possession mattered until the final four seconds? Obviously that depends on your tastes.

Years ago there were rules that "forced the action." The trailing team either had to make attempts to advance the ball into scoring positions in the front court or had to come out defensively and not just sit back to keep the score close. Maybe that would be an answer.