[APG]

Originally Posted by Rob1968

The use of a shot clock is generally considered to do what Camron mentioned -increase fan interest because of increased scoring.

The 24 second clock, in the NBA, was supported by the mathematical formula that in 48 minutes, with 50% FG accuracy, the average scores would be 100 per team, which would increase fan interest - or so goes the story.

Whether the quality of play is increased is a constant debate. Again, in the NBA, scores in the play-offs are expected to be lower than in the regular season. Different parties assign differing causes - better teams play better defense, officials allow more contact in play-off games (let 'em play, ref!), more structure and more frontcourt offense/defense rather than fastbreak scoring, etc.

I doubt that the NFHS or its member state assn.'s use similar criteria in such decisions.

NBA.com - History of the Shot Clock

Biasone chose the unusual number of 24 seconds by figuring that the average number of shots two teams would take during a game was 120. He divided that number into 48 minutes or 2,880 seconds, the length of a game, and ended up with the magical number of 24.