This season when North Adams’ Kenlie Jones steps to the free throw line late in a game, the rules will be different, two shots all the time after five team fouls in a quarter. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
“Let’s shoot two!”
If you read elsewhere on these sports pages, you will find an article from the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) which details the changes in high school basketball rules for the upcoming 2023-24 season, the ones causing the most discussion being the new free throw rules.
In the past and what fans have come accustomed to, fouls were measured by half with seven team fouls putting the opponent in the simple one-and-one bonus and then 10 team fouls in a half giving the opponent the automatic two-shot double bonus, No longer though.
As of the 2023-24 season, fouls will now be counted by quarters, and wiped clean at the end of each. When a team reaches five fouls in a particular quarter, their opponent will automatically shoot two shots on every fouled until the end of that quarter, when the fouls will reset. As you will read, the NFHS made these changes to “reduce opportunities for rough play during rebounding situations and also to improve the flow of the game.”
Personally, I’m not totally sold yet but I will have to see the rules in action first to make any kind of informed decision, yeah or nay, not that my opinion will change the rules. I stand under the basket quite often with my camera and can’t say that I have seen an abundance of rough play but perhaps that is something you see more often in the bigger Division I an II contests. The rumors abound that this rule and maybe more to follow are just a precursor to bringing the shot clock to high school basketball, which I don’t think would ever fly in these parts.
I asked a few of the county’s varsity basketball coaches what they thought of these rule changed and got some mixed opinions.
“I don’t like it,” said North Adams varsity girls coach Rob Davis. “I just think it takes away from end of the game situations. They say because of the physical play on free throws and I think that is a bunch of crap. Keep and one-and-one after five fouls each quarter if they want to do the quarter thing. It’s funny that it was never brought up at any of our district meetings.”
“It will change the way that late-game situations work,” says Manchester boys varsity coach Austin Kingsolver. “I’m interested to see it put into place. It will definitely be an adjustment for everyone.”
“It is something I think will take some time to adjust to, especially in close games,” adds Peebles Lady Indians head coach Sidney Pell. “In theory, it takes a little pressure off of the shooter in late game situations, Staying out of foul trouble and making free throws is always going to be part of the game so we’ll just roll with the punches and learn the new pros and cons. Overall, I don’t mind the change.”
“I’m not a fan,” says North Adams boys varsity coach Nathan Copas. “I’m not sure why they thought they needed to make changes, I like knowing if I need to put someone at the line I can do so in a one-and-one situation. There is already a shortage of officials and they’d have to add another to run the shot clock if that ever is approved. I;m not sure how that is going to work.”
“I think this could be the next step in the evolution of the shot clock into the high school game,” said Peebles head boys coach Josh Arey. “There had been some discussion about the length of games being worrisome and that the new rule changes would help in that regard but I think the opposite will actually occur. Coaches will have to adjust strategy accordingly during the course of each quarter and the added pressure of the one-and-one has been moved so deficits will be even harder to overcome. It will be interesting to see how this impacts the high school game and if the shot clock is fast approaching in the tailwind.”
For a different perspective, I reached out to a pair of longtime and respected officials in the Southeast District, Scott Jenkins and Dave Stamm.
“I think the one thing it will do is speed up the game some,” said Jenkins. “There may be times that a team may not get into the bonus free throws, Officials must still keep good communication with table personnel and remind everyone of the rule changes. I think it could get tricky with coaching at the end of the game- you lose the opportunity of one missed free throw and getting the ball back and scoring. Plus, with two shots I think players are more likely to convert, without the pressure of the one plus one.”
“You see things change , not only in basketball but other sports as well, to become close or more similar to the college game, It would be a headache for schools to get the shot clocks installed and then find someone who can run them.”
“Officials will like it, especially shooting less foul shots in the first half,” said Stamm. “You could actually have eight fouls in a half before anyone is shooting. I think a lot of the decision was that everyone would have the same rules. NCAA men’s basketball is the only one who doesn’t do it this way- NBA, WNBA, international basketball, they all do it this way. I think teams that are desperate to stop the clock at the end of the game are still going to stop it with the two shots, but teams might start fouling earlier in the quarter.”
“The one thing kind of hidden that I really like is taking some of the pressure off of kids at the end of a game. I really hate to see a kid taking the blame for losing a game by missing foul shots and I think this gives them a better opportunity to succeed. This will speed up the game in the first half but it will ultimately come down to a coach’s strategy.”
:Shot clocks come with some immediate issues,” Stamm continued. “Not a lot of high schools want to put thousands of dollars out for shot clocks plus finding people to run them. Some states are experimenting with the shot clock but honestly, when was the last high school game you went to that needed a shot clock? It’a a lot of AAU-style basketball.”
It will be an interesting change to the upcoming season but I think the quality coaches in this area will adjust and adapt as the season progresses. Every game is different and we may see some fourth quarters drag out, but we will still be there because that’s what we do. Another note to the companies that produce scorebooks- better get to work, you’re going to need all new ones.
