{"id":161457,"date":"2022-12-27T04:42:35","date_gmt":"2022-12-27T09:42:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=161457"},"modified":"2022-12-27T04:42:36","modified_gmt":"2022-12-27T09:42:36","slug":"random-thoughts-shot-clock-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2022\/12\/27\/random-thoughts-shot-clock-and-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Random Thoughts: shot clock and more"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The final edition of Random Thoughts for 2022 centers around the never-ending high school shot clock debate, a busy month ahead, polls, College Football Playoff predictions and a non-sports tidbit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shot clock Part 6,276<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ok, so maybe 6,276 is an exaggeration but the debate over an Ohio high school shot clock is back. In fact, it\u2019s started even earlier than usual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most common argument for it is \u201cit\u2019ll improve the game.\u201d How so? No one has actually explained that. If a couple of good shooting teams are playing then a shot clock probably isn\u2019t needed anyway. How about a mismatch \u2013 an 11-0 team vs. a 2-9 team that\u2019s struggling to put the ball in the basketball without a shot clock? How does that help?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The biggest gripe I hear is about teams with a lead that try to run time off the clock in the fourth quarter, and how that\u2019s not basketball. Of course it\u2019s basketball. It\u2019s called strategy. It\u2019s no different than slapping on a press. It\u2019s not stall ball, which is rarely used anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other common argument is \u201cit\u2019ll help get players ready for the next level.\u201d That argument holds no water, simply because something like five percent of all high school basketball players go on to play collegiate basketball at any level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If anyone \u2013 current or past coaches or players have thoughts, please feel free to chime in. Maybe I\u2019m missing something and if so, I\u2019d like to know what it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s coming<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having said all of that, a shot clock is probably coming to Ohio. Not next year, probably not the year after, but it\u2019s mostly likely going to happen at some point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

California, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island South Dakota, Utah and Washington are the only states that currently use a shot clock. Oregon will join in during the 2023-2024 school year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Busy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The month of January just got busier for the Van Wert Cougars boys basketball team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

After Friday\u2019s game at Columbus Grove was postponed, it was rescheduled for Tuesday, January 3, giving the Cougars 11 games that month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Polls<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For anyone wondering \u2013 the first Associated Press girls and boys basketball polls of the season should be out as soon as next week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Predictions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like many college football fans, I\u2019ll be planted in front of the TV on New Year\u2019s Eve, checking out the College Football Playoff games. Any other plans will have to be covered earlier in the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are my predictions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fiesta Bowl \u2013 TCU keeps things interesting into the fourth quarter but Michigan wins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peach Bowl \u2013 Can Ohio St. win? Yes. Will they? I\u2019m not so sure. As much as I want the Buckeyes to win, I thinking Georgia gets the \u2018W\u2019 and heads back to the national championship game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyone else care to chime in?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Christmas Story<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like many people, we watched A Christmas Story more than once Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I can\u2019t tell you how many times I\u2019ve watched that movie over the years, but it\u2019s a lot and I learned something this time.
Did anyone else know the old man\u2019s name is Frank and the mom\u2019s name is Edna? I had no idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have thoughts on any of the above subjects, feel free to email me at sports@thevwindependent.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent editor The final edition of Random Thoughts for 2022 centers around the never-ending high school shot clock debate, a busy month ahead, polls, College Football Playoff predictions and a non-sports tidbit. Shot clock Part 6,276 Ok, so maybe 6,276 is an exaggeration but the debate over an Ohio high school shot clock is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-161457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-01 03:55:05","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=161457"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161457\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":161481,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161457\/revisions\/161481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}