Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/924029
JANUARY 10-16, 2018 UCW 25 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM My biggest objection to a shot clock in high school is you're going to make the game worse, not better. Katy Beasley Terry Sanford • Sophomore • Tennis Beasley has a 4.0 grade point average. She was the No. 4 singles player on the Terry Sanford team. She is active in a number of organiza- tions, including Tri Chi, Key Club, Friends Club, Go Club and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. She's in the Hay Street United Methodist Church youth group and volunteers at the Fayetteville Animal Protection Society. Connor Sykes Pine Forest • Junior • Soccer Sykes has a 4.0 grade point average. In addi- tion to playing soccer at Pine Forest, he's active in the Student Government Association and Academy of Emergency Medical Science. Rocket Fizz Soda Pop and Candy Shop congratulates these amazing scholar athletes of the week and invites them to the Rocket Fizz Store at 1916 Skibo Rd. to receive a FREE gift recognizing their achievement! www.rocketfizz.com High school shot clock debate rages by EARL VAUGHAN JR. You'd be amazed at what high school sports writers do with their free time over the holidays. During the down week after the Cumberland County Holiday Classic, I got into a discussion on Twitter with several of my peers and a few coaches about a burn- ing issue in high school basketball, the ques- tion of whether a shot clock is needed. There are some who feel strongly the time has come to pull the high school game into the same arena with colleges and the NBA and add a shot clock to competition. The arguments are pretty familiar. They think it will improve the pace of play, plus it will be a boon for those ath- letes who will be leaving the high school ranks to compete at the higher levels where the clock has been in use for years. But let's just hold on for a second. I'm not sure if I'm in a minority or a majority on this because I haven't conducted any polls, but I strongly dis- agree that the time for the shot clock has come in the high school game. For one thing, I can count on zero fingers the number of times I've seen a team engage in a full-fledged stall to try and win a high school game. The reason for that is the majority of teams don't have a player skilled enough to command possession of the ball and keep flip- ping it around the court to various teammates to force the clock to wind down. So my biggest case is we're trying to fix something that's not broken, at least it's not broken in the basketball I've seen. The biggest argument against the change to a shot clock is the cost. Somebody's got to buy a working clock, and you've got to set up satel- lite clocks at either end of the court that both teams can see. I just did a quick Google search, and the first one I saw with the operating station and the two clocks came in at $1,375. Another problem is you've got to train and pay someone to operate the clock. That's an ongo- ing hit to already skimpy athletic budgets. Finally, my biggest objection to a shot clock in high school is you're going to make the game worse, not better, because only a fraction of the athletes at the high school level have the athletic ability and drive to advance to college and NBA basketball. Far too many youngsters who play the high school game are out there simply for the love of it and don't have either the aspiration or the chance to be on a team once high school is over. To force players of limited skill to try and get off a shot every 30 or 45 or however many sec- onds we set a high school shot clock for would be painful and turn sloppy games into absolute train wrecks. Let's don't rush to judgment on this and do something that will benefit a fraction of the players and a handful of teams who would dominate the opposition because of superior talent alone. Let's leave something to coaching and respect the talent level of every player in the game, from the stars to the kids that get in off the bench. MONDAY 10 20 30 40 40 30 20 10 50 10 20 30 40 40 30 20 10 50 10 20 30 40 40 30 20 10 50 10 20 30 40 40 30 20 10 50 10 20 30 40 40 30 20 10 50 10 20 30 40 40 30 20 10 50 FRIDAY 6-8pm HAPPY NEW YEAR! Basketball coverage Jan 12th to air on WCLN 105.7 FM @ 7PM Jack Britt HS @ 71st HS & WILL BE PRESENTING CUMBERLAND COUNTY BASKETBALL IN 2018 Athlete of the Month: will resume next week.