Thread: Shot Clock Dies
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Old Wed Jan 04, 2006, 11:39am
BayStateRef BayStateRef is offline
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Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Boston area
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Quote:
Originally posted by ChuckElias
Problem is that, by rule, you can't play without the shot clock. You have to use an alternate device.
Good point. But Mass. does not actually have any shot-clock rules in writing -- at least none that I have seen.

This is the complete rule from the MIAA handbook:
66. Boys' and girls' high school basketball shall be played under the rules of the National Federation of State High School Associations, as modified by the MIAA.
66.2 The 30-second shot clock will be utilized at all levels in both boys and girls games.
66.3 The ten-second back court count does not apply to girls' games.

The MIAA also provides a 2-page set of instructions for shot-clock operators that explains when to reset the clock, but is silent about what to do if the clock stops working.

As for the poster that asked about only one clock failing, it was the clock "mechanism" that failed, not the actual clocks (as noted, there are two.) In this gym, the shot clock control is a "box" that is separate from the scoreboard control. That box stopped working.

In this game, the officals simply did away with the shot clock. They also did not impose a 10-second backcourt count, which became a big deal. With about 90 seconds to go, the team that was winning by 4 points kept the ball in the backcourt and was able to kill 51 seconds before the clock stopped..

Related point: the clock stopped working in the first half. At half-time, someone figured out what was wrong and got the clock working. The officials would not allow the shot clock to be used in the second half.


[Edited by baystateref on Jan 4th, 2006 at 11:59 AM]
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