Local coaches favor new shot-clock rule

It’s looking like Montana high school basketball will join most of the rest of the country next year in implementing and installing 35-second shot clocks.

The proposal, along with another proposal to make baseball a high school sport, were both overwhelmingly approved at the recent Montana High School Association’s annual meeting in Butte.

The MHSA is the governing body that adopts and implements such changes to sports.

And the proposal is apparently very popular throughout Western Montana, with the main concerns being focused on the cost of buying, installing and operating the clocks.

The shot clocks give teams 35 seconds from the time they take possession of the basketball until they must shoot the ball. The idea is to avoid in-game slow downs when teams with a lead essentially play keep away from the other team in an effort to exhaust time remaining to be played.

Getting and running a shot clock system is estimated to cost between $5,000 and $10,000. Some administrators at small schools like those in Mineral and Sanders Counties worry that expense will further tax already stretched budgets.

Among those expressing concern over the costs involved is Hot Springs Schools Superintendent Gerald Chouinard.

“I dislike the proposal,” Chouinard said. “This will involve the initial costs of purchasing the clock systems, as well as the cost of an added person to run the clock”.

Chouinard said he worries such expenses will “add to the budgetary challenges already experienced in a small district”.

Coaches, however, are almost unanimous in their support of adding the clocks.

“The shot clock will bring a new aspect to the game,” said long-time and highly successful Thompson Falls girls basketball coach Chadd Laws. “Much like the addition of the three-point line in Montana high school basketball in 1986, the shot clock will impact the game”.

Laws added the 35-second limit will “certainly change how we scheme (plan for games).”

And as is the case with most coaches asked about the shot clock, Laws said he likes it for creating a more up tempo game and bringing Montana basketball in line with the majority of the country. Laws said he too has concerns about the expense involved but is confident those issues can be overcome.

“It will cost schools more money to add the clock and a person to run it during the games,” he said. “But it will certainly help college-bound athletes for the next step if they play college basketball”.

St.. Regis boys coach Jesse Allan sees both sides of the issue.

“I am supportive of the clock as a coach although I really don’t see a major necessity for it,” Allan said. “I feel like the majority of coaches these days in all classifications and levels of play have bought into getting more shots up early and speeding up the game anyway”.

Allan added that in his role as an administrator finding someone to run the clock in small venues is “going to be difficult”. “It’s challenging enough most nights to find people willing to work for not a lot of pay, especially for someone who will really need to understand basketball and possessions, etc.”

A big fan of the shot clock proposal is Superior High School girls basketball coach Jeff Schultz, whose teams typically play at a fast pace on both ends of the court.

“I am super excited for the shot clock,” Schultz said. “I like tempo in basketball and this will force teams to be more aggressive to get a shot up. The strategy at the end of the game will see the biggest change. Instead of stalling to keep the lead which I am guilty of as well, you will have to keep playing the whole game and I think we will see more exciting finishes”.

Most coaches in the area are in favor of the shot clock, like Tyrel Allen, head boys coach at Plains High School.

“I believe having the shot clock will help push Montana basketball to be on a par with the others states,” he said. “As far as basketball goes and with players here I do not see that it will have an affect one way or the other. Thirty five seconds is a lot of time to get a shot up, so here it will be a nice, smooth transition”.

Allen said the feasibility of many rural schools being able to afford purchasing and installing the equipment makes this an “interesting” decision.