35 second shot clock

Depends.

It would be to the advantage of teams with one big center and a bunch of fast breaking players, like the Lakers of the 1980s.

It would put way too much in the hands of officials, though. And that might not be good.

Free throws are just so freeking tough to watch. They just kill the flow of the game.

 

No, it's all those damn intentional fouls that aren't levied as intentional fouls that slows games to a crawl.

If they're intentional, call 'em intentional. Get rid of that nonsense in a heartbeat.

 

Completely agree. Talk about no flow to a game. It's horrible.

 

No offense, but I hope to God they never make this change. As it is, college teams I've seen or covered generally play relatively quick anyway (a shot within the first 15 seconds or so) and look for transition first before anything else. Few are disciplined and patient enough to actually work the offense for a good shot.

And the HS teams around here play a heck of a lot quicker than college, with no shot clock. I never see any "hold the ball and wait" offense in HS ball.

 

Three-point possessions for quick baskets would lead to tons of pressing and trapping. It would also significantly change the final minutes of most games.

 

Get rid of dribbling. The ball should only be advanced by passing.

 

The clock has changed the game in a few ways.

Negatives ...
It has reduced the number of cut/screen offenses in favor of dribble-drive offenses that can get someone quick to the rim, because there isn't enough time to break the defense down in a traditional cut/screen motion offense in 35 seconds. Basketball instead becomes a few 7-second quick-hitter set plays or spread-the-floor and drive (and it appears to be "milk the clock and drive") ... and each possession gets managed pretty easily. Break (try to isolate for one-on-one move or kick-out for 3) -> set play -> maybe do set play again -> spread the floor & drive. The NBA game is the same, but with time for only one set play instead of two. Set plays take time to set up and involve a lot more standing around.

A 45-second clock allowed for more motion to be run and less spread-it-and-drive-and-kick.

It has also brought the zone defense back into play (that, and the fact that nobody can hit -- or will shoot -- a 15-footer anymore) as zones naturally slow the offense down and are harder to break down when one only has to play half-court defense for 25-30 seconds.

Positives:
The clock reduces intentional fouling at the end of a game. If I'm down 4 with 1:00 left, I might have to think about fouling early with no clock. If I have the ball, I can score, get a stop (knowing they have only 35 to shoot), and then have time to score again.

 

That's the point.

As the game of basketball is currently constituted, there is no incentive to fast-break or press, so nobody ever does. Ever.

 

If only they would do that. Maybe it's different in juco (I almost never get to see anything other than that), but it seems coaches either don't trust their defenses to make the stop or they just don't know how to manage the clock. Sometimes at this level, the fouling to stop the clock starts with 2 1/2 minutes left in a 6- or 8-point game.

If you don't believe you can get the stop with 2 1/2 left, you sure ain't going to trust your defense with a minute left down by 4.

My most hated rule: Two free throws after the 10th foul. It does not serve as incentive to stop fouling and play some defense. If you gave three free throws after the 10th foul, they'd still foul and hope you miss at least 2 of the 3 shots.

Again, though, most of the college ball I get to watch is juco ball, so YMMV.

 

Every level of basketball should have 24 scond shot clock. That is plenty of time to get a quality shot and it is plenty of time to run through a set or two - but it would knock off the "let's dribble at the top of the key for 30 seconds then try to get fouled" crap that goes on way too much.

Of course, if college hoops had a 24 second shot clock, 1/2 the so-called "genius" coaches would not be able to survive because they'd actually have to coach their players to, you know, play the fucking game.

And then we'd see all these "defensive geniuses" exposed as well because most of these guys who claim to be defensive geniuses rely on running down the shot clock and slowing the game to a crawl in order to keep the score down.

 

i was at a game last night where a team trailed by 20 entering the fourth quarter and fouled on nearly every possession. the strategy worked -- it only lost by 14.
there were 75 free throws in the game, only 31 of which were made. ugh.
put me behind deadline by about 30 minutes.

 

Spoken like someone who doesn't watch any basketball .