Bowling Green State University’s Louis Orr is unconvinced, suggesting a shot clock that expires faster could further cause offensive numbers to suffer, the result of hasty possessions.

“The key is getting shots you can make,” Orr said. “You can shoot all you want, but if they are low-percentage shots, you are just giving the ball back quicker.”

Defining which acts of contact should warrant a foul is on the agenda for next week at the rules committee meeting.

“The game needs to be played at a faster pace, but it’s not just the shot clock that has to change,” Kowalczyk said. “I think freedom of movement has to be officiated better. There is way too much contact that’s allowed now. We’ve gotten away from a finesse game of basketball. Now it’s nothing but brute strength. That needs to change.”

I tend to agree with Louis Orr on this.  I'm not sure decreasing the shot clock from 35 to 30 seconds will improve the game offensively.  Like Orr says, will this mean that teams will find better shots quicker?  Teams may end up firing up more bad shots than before. 

Allowing increasingly physical defense is probably a bigger factor in all this.  Teams just struggle to find good shots any more unless it's in transition.



Bowling Green State University’s Louis Orr is unconvinced, suggesting a shot clock that expires faster could further cause offensive numbers to suffer, the result of hasty possessions.

“The key is getting shots you can make,” Orr said. “You can shoot all you want, but if they are low-percentage shots, you are just giving the ball back quicker.”

Some believe efforts to speed up play ignores other culprits, ones they believe are more strongly linked to team scoring plummeting to 67.5 points per game — the lowest mark since 1951-52. Fouls called reached an all-time low, and teams shot fewer free throws than in any season since 1976.

Defining which acts of contact should warrant a foul is on the agenda for next week at the rules committee meeting.

“The game needs to be played at a faster pace, but it’s not just the shot clock that has to change,” Kowalczyk said. “I think freedom of movement has to be officiated better. There is way too much contact that’s allowed now. We’ve gotten away from a finesse game of basketball. Now it’s nothing but brute strength. That needs to change.”