Does High School Basketball NEED a Shot Clock?

A shot clock allows for a more effective overall flow to the game! Flow is what keeps players out of foul trouble and teams make better offensive and defensive decisions! The margin of error is smaller which challenges players to rise to the occasion and work on their craft!

This has been a question we've seen debated many time in the past few years...

Does high school basketball NEED a shot clock to improve the quality of the game?

We decided to take this discussion to Twitter and received over 5,000 votes and a ton of comments:

🏀 We know it's a hot topic...

𝘿𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝 𝙨𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙡 𝙗𝙖𝙨𝙠𝙚𝙩𝙗𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙖 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙩 𝙘𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙠?

Please comment why. If "YES" how long should the shot clock be?

We are planning to write a blog post on this topic and YOU could be featured!

— Dr. Dish Basketball (@drdishbball) January 25, 2019

In Favor of Shot Clock

As you can see, the overwhelming favorite was "YES" high school basketball needs a shot clock. Here are a few of the reasons why...

30. Good teams get good shots off in that amount of time. Bad teams will just have to adjust. It will make games more competitive, give players incentive to grow as an offensive player, and challenge coaches to improve their philosophies/playbooks.

— Jacob Franz (@JacobJFranz) January 25, 2019

YES- to speed up the game, give each team more possessions, add an extra element of buzzer beaters and running quick hitters when shot clock is winding down, and prevent teams from "stalling". 30 seconds.

— Amanda Farrell (@AMFarrell07) January 25, 2019

A shot clock allows for a more effective overall flow to the game! Flow is what keeps players out of foul trouble and teams make better offensive and defensive decisions! The margin of error is smaller which challenges players to rise to the occasion and work on their craft!

— •SLG• (@shelb_luann40) January 27, 2019

Why is American high school basketball the only (above middle school) level of ball without a shot clock? Real question. The rest of the world uses one and it’s used at their higher levels.

Personally, I love our 24 second shot clock for high school girls.

— Shawn Heggie (@Sheggie2) January 25, 2019

Not in Favor of Shot Clock

While the vast majority believes a shot clock is necessary and most beneficial, there were a handful of really good points on why a shot clock isn't necessarily needed.

While technically Tyler is in favor of the shot clock, he brings up a good point:

I think a shot clock is needed but not financially possible. Putting a shot clock in every gym where games are played, training and paying someone to run it every game. It adds up.

— Tyler Welch (@tyler2welch) January 26, 2019

1. How often does an offensive possession consistently go over 30 seconds. 2. Does the State’s Athletic Association pay for the shot clocks and installation as that is a cost that schools would be forced to pay otherwise.

— Garrett Daugherty (@IGotTheRuns800) January 25, 2019

I said no because in high schools should not need the pressure of getting the ball up the court and in the basket within about 30 seconds. It takes about 5-9 seconds to get the ball up the court and then that leaves the team with about 20 seconds to get it in the hoop.

— Emma Leis (@LeisCattleEmma) January 26, 2019

A shot clock is not needed. Yes, it could be a good opportunity for high schoolers to get ready for college basketball, but only 2 percent of high school ATHLETES (all sports) get a scholarship. So let them play while they can.

— Joah Shay (@jellyjshay) January 25, 2019

Our Take

This is definitely an intriguing topic. I talked to many of our employees who are mostly former high school/college athletes in the office and they definitely agreed that having a shot clock would be nice but NOT necessarily necessary (is that a term)?

For me, it's interesting because I graduated from high school in 2008 and don't remember ever talking about how we needed a shot clock. There was one time in a summer league game where my team did stall for a few minutes to make a point (the team we were playing was sitting in 2-3 zone in a summer league game...that's a whole other conversation), but otherwise I don't believe there was an actual high school game where we felt there NEEDED to be a shot clock.

However, with the rise of social media and extreme cases of stalling it's become a very hot topic. As of writing this, I believe there are 9 out 50 states that have a shot clock in high school. I imagine it's only a matter of time before all 50 have a shot clock at this point.

What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments!

Regardless of which way you lean, it's a fact that you need good shooters to become a great team! 

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