Five NBA or college rules that would make high school basketball better

But here are five NBA or college rules that would make the high school game even better.

1. Thirty-second shot clock
Believe it or not, only eight states — California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota and Washington — use a shot clock. The rest don't. That low number seems unfathomable. It was adopted in California nearly 30 years ago in the early 1990s. Besides adding speed, scoring and strategy to the game, it's a teaching tool. The game is played with one at every advanced level. If the Dakotas have progressed to the current game, how in the world hasn't Texas, Florida, and Indiana? Wisconsin and Illinois are scheduled to add one in 2019-20. The NFHS surveyed 6,000 coaches nationwide in 2017 on the topic and 57 percent favored the shot clock. Though roughly a $2,000 expense to add to any gym, it's time. We prefer the college game's 30-second clock. Interestingly, the states that utilize the shot clock, the girls use 30 seconds and the boys 35.

1A. While we're at it, let's progress with the latest NBA rule to reset the shot clock only partially on offensive rebounds that hit the rim. The NBA has gone from 24 seconds to 14. College continues to reset clock to full a 30 seconds. High school should cut it in half, from 30 to 15.

2. Eight seconds to the front court
This is another rule, recently adopted only in the NBA. The rule in high school — and all others — is teams get 10 seconds to advance the ball to mid-court or a violation. Again, let's speed up the game by encouraging full-court pressure, fastbreak baskets, steals and more excitement.



2A. While we're at it, the most urgent of all these rules is to change the girls rule of no time restriction to get to the front court. We've seen shot-clock violations called in the back court. Let's get the girls up to speed and give them 10 seconds like the college game. The WNBA mirrors NBA time guidelines. 
3. Six fouls for ejection
Another NBA-only rule, it's only one more foul than the current high school ejection policy of five. Yes, the high school game is 16 minutes less than the NBA and eight minutes less than the college game. But the rosters are largely thinner, and I don't know how many games we've reported on with teams down to below five players because of foul outs. I don't know how many big, championship games I've covered where the star player is saddled with two or three quick fouls and became a non-factor, tipping the advantage to an inferior team. An additional foul to play with should help alleviate that.

3A. Technical fouls should not be personal fouls — they currently are in high school — and count toward ejections. A separate two-technical ejection policy should be in place like the NBA and college, which also counts technical fouls as personals.

4. Advance the ball to the front court after a late timeout
Like the NBA and college game, in the final minute of game or overtime, a team that is granted a timeout in the backcourt will now have the option to inbound the ball at the 28-foot line in the frontcourt. Prep teams now take the ball out where the timeout is called. As a different nuance to the pros and college, we'd like that if a team does opt to inbound in the frontcourt, it is not given time to huddle like a traditional timeout. This presents a new coaching option: Take a timeout or advance the ball.

5. Stop the clock after baskets in the final minute
Another college rule — the NBA stops it in the final two minutes — but currently in high school, if a basket is made, the clock continues to run. If a team is out of timeouts, makes a basket with less than five seconds, the game — if not tied — is essentially over. Hard to see a team, after a gallant comeback, fight to within a point after a basket, then has to watch helplessly as the clock runs out. A winning team should be adept enough to inbound the ball and run out the clock while ball is in bounds.