COLLEGE basketball is conducting a grand experiment in exempted preseason tournaments, including those hosted by the University of Hawaii (through the Rainbow Classic). Shot clock experiment
a waste of time?NCAA officials are experimenting with a 45-second clock instead of the regular 35 seconds to get off a shot.
Watching the Hawaii Rainbows use the 45-second clock in their games the past two nights, I've come to one conclusion: It takes forever to get the shot clock down to zero.
Talk about sloooow. We're talking Princeton basketball.
Good or bad? It depends on whom you're asking.
Considering that the Rainbows committed 18 turnovers in beating Nicholls State Thursday night and 16 in losing to Oklahoma State last night, it seems as though they just had 10 extra seconds to screw up.
But Rainbow coach Riley Wallace sees it differently. He likes the 45-second clock, and hopes it can be incorporated to stay in the not too distant future.
"It gives us time to rest on offense," Wallace said about the 10-second difference. "It also puts coaching back into the game, where people can use the clock a little more."
Obviously, slowing play down is an advantage to the have-nots of college basketball, of which UH would be Exhibit A.
SIMPLY put, you can't get in a racehorse game with thoroughbreds if you don't have thoroughbreds of your own.
So it would benefit the underdog. That's the opinion of Eddie Sutton, Oklahoma State's veteran coach.
Talk about someone who's been there and done that. Sutton's the only coach to take four different schools to the NCAA Tournament. Take that, Rick Pitino and you'all Kentucky fans.
"I was on the rules committee when they put the clock in and the 3-point line in. I think it was really great for college basketball," Sutton said.
"But I would hate to see the clock go back to 45 seconds. The way it is right now, college basketball is at an all-time high in popularity. I just think 45 seconds might be too long."
The NCAA switched to the 35-second clock during the 1993-94 season after introducing the 45-second clock in 1985-86.
The reason the NCAA is tinkering with the shot clock now is that the five-second dribbling violation has been reinstated this season.
STILL, the trade-off isn't worth it, even if the extra time could help the 'Bows.
"The only advantage of the 45-second clock is that it would shorten the length of the game for the underdog," Sutton said.
"In other words, every possession you go down the court, you can milk the clock down to, say, 15 seconds, 10 seconds. The teams that are in the playoffs year to year are the teams with the best talent, because the more times you go up and down the floor, the advantage is with talent."
"It kind of helps us. We can rest on offense and pick it up more on defense," Rainbow point guard Johnny White said.
"Basically, it's not really a factor. When you're out there playing, you don't realize if it's 45 or 35 seconds. You're just playing your game. And when the clock's down to seven seconds, you just look for your shot."
Wallace, though, says he'll give it a few more games before passing judgment.
"Let's try it a little while longer and we'll see," he said. "But I'll probably like it."
One thing's for sure: Rainbow coach Fred vonAppen probably wishes college football had a 45-second clock.
That way, his football 'Bows wouldn't have to burn so many timeouts, could cut down on delay-of-game penalties, and get their plays in on time.