By Daniel Schoettler
Times-Villager and Wrightstown Area Spirit Sports
Reporter
The WIAA approved the limited use of a shot clock in basketball
for next season. Schools will now be permitted to use a 35-second shot clock
for non-conference games if there is a mutual agreement between the teams as
permitted by NFHS rule adaptations.
“I think it is a good first step in the right direction,” FVA
commissioner and area referee Jason Nate said. “It was something that we were
talking about for a little while now. Just the hope that they were going to
trial it in the non-conference games. I think this will give people the
opportunity to see what it can add to the game. I think there are still
skeptics still out there, but this will give them a chance to see and a chance
to trial it.”
Nate added that the state implementing a shot clock is an
adjustment and adds a whole new level of thinking to the game from the
official’s standpoint.
“New mechanics and new learning,” he added. “There will be a major
adjustment period. We are already thinking of some of the training that is
going to have to take place. We are still waiting on some of the exact rules. It
is 35 seconds, so is there going to be a full 35 second reset on a made basket
or a foul or is it going to go to 20 like it does at the college level and some
of the states around us.”
Kimberly girls basketball coach Dave Lepisto is happy that the
school can potentially use the shot clock for their six non-conference games
this season. The school has had shot clocks in their gym since the 2018-19
season and have used them in practices.
“As long as we get agreement from the visiting schools we will
play with the shot clock at home. This will give people an opportunity to
experience how a shot clock impacts a game — players get to impact the game
more than coaches since with more possessions more player decisions will be
made,” Lepisto added.
Little Chute boys basketball coach Jake Van Roy added that he
thinks the shot clock will be good for the sport, but he doesn’t think they’ll
use it in their non-conference games unless they are at something where
everyone is using it. The Mustangs play every year in the Baird-Gustman
Shootout in Kaukauna as well as playing at the Kress Center, while they also
have a game scheduled at the La Crosse Center this year.
“Those are the three times where if that opportunity happens that
we will do that. We’ll get prepared for it,” Van Roy added. “It will be a fun
piece to add to the game and to the strategy from a coach’s perspective. I
think it allows our players to have to think about the game a little more and
be decision makers in those moments. We can’t be passing up good shots when we
get them early in the possession.”
Wrightstown boys basketball coach Cory Haese isn’t opposed to having
a shot clock, but doesn’t know if all of the smaller schools that they play
will have them installed this summer or fall in order to use them. The Tigers
do play three games at venues that do have them with playing Brillion at
Kaukauna, Valders at the Kress Center and Mauston at the Just a Game Fieldhouse
this season.
“I wouldn’t mind giving it a shot, but I don’t know if I want to
use it after Christmas time,” he added. “Why play with it when you get to the
tournament and you aren’t going to have it. It will be interesting to see where
it goes.”
Nate added that he has already talked to many area schools that
are already going to use the shot clock with non-conference games this season.
“I think once more schools use it that we will start to see the
benefits of it,” he added. “There will always be some that will have concerns
for costs and other reasons. Once they see the excitement that it will bring to
the game, I think they will be on board.”
Coach Haese added that with him being a defensive coach that it
will feel like getting a charge during a game.
“Just the energy that you can feed off of when getting a shot
clock violation,” he added. “If you can stifle a team for 35 seconds and that
buzzer goes off or you take a horrible shot is going to be really cool. That
will be huge for our chemistry and culture of a team.
He also added that if you don’t have a good guard to come off a
screen on offense that it will be tough to score at the end of a shot clock.
“An old man like me will have to be creative and figure stuff out
because I have always preached for decades that we want to get the best shot
that Wrightstown can get every possession and I don’t care how long it takes,”
Coach Haese said. “I really dislike bad shot attempts as they are horrible to
watch and see.”
Lepisto added that the shot clock will make end of game scenarios
better.
“If a team is behind, the game doesn’t have to become a “foul
every possession” situation,” he added. “If ahead a team will need to continue
to play advantage basketball instead of simply running clock. Execution becomes
paramount.”
Kimberly boys head coach Kam Cerroni thinks that the
implementation will allow some offensive creativity in the sport.
“Teams have to be set to move the ball and to screen, and you have
to be more efficient,” Cerroni added. “It will reward good defense. Sometimes
you can play amazing defense for 40 to 45 seconds. Then you have one lapse in
the last 50 seconds and the other team scores. It will reward good defense and
encourage good offensive creativity from players and coaches.”
Cerroni also added that already having the shot clock in the gym
will help them a lot with the change.
“It will be a benefit for us, but it will be a learning curve for
both players, coaches, referees and fans to adapt to this change the fastest,”
he added.
Nate agreed with Cerroni on how it will impact both the offense
and defensive sides of the game.
“I talked to one coach and he said that he is excited about it
because you only have to play defense for so long,” he added. “From a defensive
mindset, I think this will be really strong here because you get rewarded for
playing good defense for 35 seconds. I think offensively it will speed up the
pace a little bit. I still think the end of the game is the biggest benefit
because it will add excitement because you don’t have to foul always at the end
of the game. You can play defense and still have the opportunity to still win
the game without fouling, and I think that just adds excitement to the game.”
Coach Haese added that he is scared that 30 or 40 point games will
turn into 60 or 70 point games, and he thinks it will have more of an impact on
the girls side of the game because of the effect that side of the game is
having on numbers.
“The haves will just win by more over the have nots with a shot
clock,” Coach Haese added. “I do think it is an exciting time, and I do think
the kids will enjoy it.”
The Wrightstown athletic director said he is fine with the shot
clock, but he is worried that it will effect the girls game more.
“One thing that I am super against is
how girls college basketball goes,” he added. “They need to keep the bonus free
throws and I think that is huge. The 7-8-9 if there is talk about going to
quarters like in college basketball, that you automatically get two free throws
once you get five fouls. I think that really hurts defensive teams. That is the
most exciting thing with high school basketball is the bonus free throws. That
one-for-one is definitely somewhere where a team can get back into play. I know
with watching college basketball, it is a lot more fun going to the line for a
1-for-1 than it is two. I think that is a bigger play if that comes if the NFHS
adapts that.”
Lepisto
added that the full implementation for shot clock to be used in every game will
need to be approved by the majority of WIAA membership schools. He is not
confident that it will pass since most Division 4 and Division 5 schools do not
want it for various reasons.
“In my opinion, the WIAA has created a precedent where different
rules can exist within a season (non-conference shot clock allowance versus no
shot clock in conference games) so why not take it a step further — Allow D1
and D2 schools to play with a shot clock while allowing D3/D4/D5 schools to not
have the shot clock,” the Kimberly girls basketball coach said. “Anecdotally
the shot clock in other states has created more flow to the game.”
Van Roy added that each school has to do what is best for their
communities.
“The cost is a huge part of this and the shot clock is not a huge
thing to implement. It isn’t 100 dollars and we’re done. It is a pretty
significant investment,” the Little Chute boys basketball coach added. “That is
a huge change because you have to think about who is going to run the shot
clock during games. In Little Chute, we are pretty lucky that we have a good
stable of community and staff members that are willing to work games and make
sure that our games go off without a hitch. I know that a lot of places don’t
have that as they don’t have the support to have game workers and managers with
people that do the scorebook and the scoreboard. In places like that, I could
see where it isn’t as appealing.”
The Little Chute coach disagrees with Lepisto on the shot clock
being only implemented potentially at just the Division 1 and Division 2 levels
of high school basketball in the state.
“I don’t love that idea because then you are playing a different
game,” Van Roy added. “At the end of the day, we are all playing basketball.
Just because your school had 1,400 kids in it and Little Chute has 300 kids in
it, we are going to have different rules. I don’t think that is fair to the
kids or the fans. When you go to the state tournament, and you see more games
played with than without. We always have to go up against those bigger schools,
and I don’t think the WIAA would go that route and I hope they don’t because
that is something that wouldn’t be great for the WIAA and their membership as a
whole.”
Van Roy added that implementing it with non-conference games first
will allow both the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association as well as the
WIAA to have data when it comes to having a shot clock in the future for all
games.
“We are all looking at data from schools that have it whether that
maybe in Iowa or the Dakotas,” Van Roy added. “This will allow the WIAA get
some data to the WBCA from actual Wisconsin teams. I think that will hopefully
help in our favor.”
As for Lepisto’s team, their game plan will be similar with how
they are going to defend and now they won’t have to defend as long with the
implementation of a shot clock.
“We have always played big advantage basketball — shoot when you
have the advantage regardless of time so that will not change,” he added. “The
end of game situations will change in that we would play “layup only” under
four minutes when we had a more than two possession lead. We have been prepared
for the shot clock with our style of play for a long time. Kids will be fine.”
The WIAA board of control also discussed the full implementation
of the clock for the 2028-29 season, which will require approval at the annual
meeting next April.
“I think it will be good for the game as I think there is a lot of
potential here,” Nate added. “There is going to be an adjustment for officials,
but we will learn and grow from it. There will be a learning and growth period,
but we are looking forward to the opportunity. I think it is good for the state
of Wisconsin.”
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