JimThorpe

Now that the national organization of high school ball has endorsed a 35 second shot clock for the 22/23 season we're going to see more states adopt it.  Texas, being a big and important public school basketball state will come under a lot of pressure from inside and outside.  I think it's inevitable certainly by the end of the decade.  I say go ahead and do it now.  Start a pilot with 6A district and post season play and then let it filter down.

I still say that the kids will love it, the parents and fans will love it and eventually even the coaches will love it.  The referees won't love it but they'll adapt.  The staff running the clock won't love it but they'll adapt as well.
I think a shot clock adds an interesting level of complexity to the game that high school kids will enjoy.  And really, 35 seconds is am eternity for some schools.  Of course it's easy for me to say being a Silsbee fan.  The Tigers get antsy if they don't get a shot off before 15 seconds - 3 to get it down the court and 10 or 12 to find somebody open.  

I'm in favor of a shot clock for 4A and above.  It's not that expensive and it adds a dimension to the game that the kids and the parents and the fans would enjoy.  It could be very forgiving, 40 seconds.  A quarter is 480 seconds long.  That's 12 possessions per period and that's slow enough.  

Plus it would give officials who aren't physically able to run the court for some reason the opportunity to participate and make a little extra money.  The districts can afford it.  Basketball is a small fraction of the expense of football.  I think it's a win all around.
Though I'm not going to condemn what Mitchell did, I hope this episode becomes ammunition for the proponents of a shot clock for Texas.

The National Federation of State High School Associations at its April meeting approved a 35-second shot clock for use beginning in the 2022-23 season.  
California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and Washington already have it.

It's time for Texas to begin a pilot program and then proceed with a phased implementation.  Start with 40 seconds, which is an eternity really. 
The cost would be less than $10,000 per gym for very nice systems.  Cooperative packages could reduce that cost significantly.  If a vendor knows he's got 8 or 15 or 20 gyms to do one after the other, one vehicle operating from a single hotel for several weeks, he's going to give a good price. 

You need a trained official to run the clock, but he doesn't have to have the skill set of the guys on the court.  So you're looking at $75 a game, 15 games max, that's less than $1200 per season for a given school.  

All the college and arena venues where playoffs and tournaments are held already have the equipment.

Being a Tigers fan it's kind of a moot point.  They could live with a 10 second shot clock.  But I think almost all the kids would love it.  It would add a little extra drama to each possession.  It's second nature at the college level.  

The only problem is that it's about to take off nationally and supply chain could become a thing!
 

I'm in favor of a shot clock for 4A and above.  It's not that expensive and it adds a dimension to the game that the kids and the parents and the fans would enjoy.  It could be very forgiving, 40 seconds.  A quarter is 480 seconds long.  That's 12 possessions per period and that's slow enough.  

Plus it would give officials who aren't physically able to run the court for some reason the opportunity to participate and make a little extra money.  The districts can afford it.  Basketball is a small fraction of the expense of football.  I think it's a win all around.
Though I'm not going to condemn what Mitchell did, I hope this episode becomes ammunition for the proponents of a shot clock for Texas.

I'm in favor of a shot clock for 4A and above.  It's not that expensive and it adds a dimension to the game that the kids and the parents and the fans would enjoy.  It could be very forgiving, 40 seconds.  A quarter is 480 seconds long.  That's 12 possessions per period and that's slow enough.  

Plus it would give officials who aren't physically able to run the court for some reason the opportunity to participate and make a little extra money.  The districts can afford it.  Basketball is a small fraction of the expense of football.  I think it's a win all around.
Though I'm not going to condemn what Mitchell did, I hope this episode becomes ammunition for the proponents of a shot clock for Texas.

That's a fact.  They composed themselves and adapted.  It was weird at first and they were somewhat at a loss as most of us were.  But they solved the ball holding thing making it too costly for Lumberton and they only tried it once or twice in the 3rd.  

This kind of thing may come up again and the experience gained here will help them be ready for it.  So you're not going to score 100.  Your not even going to score 80.  But when you run up a 31 point lead before the coaches pull the plug it ain't bad.   

Really?  Washington is a mystery to me.  They don't post highlight videos on MaxPreps.  You can see them as the "other" team on their opponents highlights but that's useless because it so unrepresentative. 

They have no common opponents with Silsbee.  I note one thing.  They beat 12th ranked Brazosport 82-79 while Silsbee beat No. 11 ranked Hardin Jefferson 77 - 53.  On the other hand Booker T seems to be ripping through their district opponents with more ease than Silsbee has.

I admit the matchup looks bad for Silsbee on paper simply because of height.  If it was just one 6'7 star wing it would be one thing, but two?  And it's not just Washington, on paper the Tigers don't match up particularly well against any of the other top 10 teams.  But the coaches around the state see something in them and really like them.  Silsbee is basically a bunch of guards who are almost interchangeable.  They sometimes lose the opening tip to much weaker district opponents.  But some of the Tiger guards are pretty strong guys and they don't really get pushed around inside as much as one would suppose.  They're a hard team to peg.  

I will be shocked if Omicron doesn't have an impact.  I wouldn't be surprised if the virus is a determining factor in some cases.  Predictions are simply impossible in this climate.  
For instance....

Silsbee has a two game lead on it's way to the district championship.  If the whole team got Omicron this Wednesday, after Tuesday's game at Orangefield, there's a very good chance that it would have no impact on their standing at all because they are off Friday.   They'd have time to quarantine, they'd have their natural immunity (which appears to be the only thing that has much value) and they would be good to go. 

On the other hand if the Tigers don't get it now and make it through the first couple of rounds, which they should, and then key players come down with it their season is over.

On the third hand if the Tigers aren't affected by Omicron at all and Faith Family's kids get it during the playoffs then Silsbee's chances of another state championship increase dramatically.
It's an uncertain world for sure.

54 -18 at the half.  Everyone got to play in the first half.  3’s we’re falling like rain.

The margin was greater but I don't think it was worse.  This was not an upset, this was expected.  Even the margin wasn't a real surprise.  The loss at home by 20 to Orangefield was a real upset.

 
 

The plot thickens.  I assumed these two would meet undefeated on Tuesday.  Now the Tigers can split with L-CM and still win the district outright if they win everywhere else.  



 

Hutchins is a decent team.  We beat them by only 10.  Goes to show just what a cat fight 4A is going to be.  Who knows which other three teams will end up in San Antonio. 

Sadly, we do know it won't be Carter or Hutchins.  We know that because they are in the same region with that 4th team that will be in San Antonio.  

So we're looking at something like 105 to 102?  Just kidding.

It's clear that the Tigers' district strategy is to simply to outscore their opponents.  And the key is three point efficiency.  If they can lure the Mustangs into running up and down, which is always a temptation, and can hit their 3's then the Tigers will score in triple figures.  Now, can the Mustangs hang with that? Factor in also that since this is an important away game and there probably won't be anything like a 30 point separation the Tigers likely play only the first 8 or 9 and they'll maintain a higher intensity longer than against Lumberton or Bridge City.

Except for only a small number of possessions the Tigers simply refused to let Lumberton run it's offence.  It's not that Silsbee shut the Raiders down exactly.  It's rather that most times down the Tigers either quickly generated a turnover or gave Lumberton a quick shot, a good number of which they made.  After all, scoring 63 is not bad.  But scoring 94 in 3 quarters is at another level.
I can see a game like Silsbee/Orangefield where the Bobcats had plenty of opportunities and scored plenty but were simply outscored.  Or not.

 

So far this season in district play Silsbee has scored 101, 104 and 123.  Seems a little like the old days.  

So far this season in district play Silsbee has scored 101, 104 and 123.  Seems a little like the old days.  

So far this season in district play Silsbee has scored 101, 104 and 123.  Seems a little like the old days.  

I hesitate to bring it up because this is not what this thread is about but...

If Huff wins it makes the Tigers look that much better!  They only bowed out to the eventual champion. 
And now I'll stop.

I hesitate to bring it up because this is not what this thread is about but...

If Huff wins it makes the Tigers look that much better!  They only bowed out to the eventual champion. 
And now I'll stop.

I wouldn't count Huff out.  Not with Harvey on the court.  I'm a believer.

An occasional 3 pointer going in would have made a WORLD of difference.  The young Tigers confidence level would have been much higher.  At the beginning of the second they looked as down as I've seen them in the playoffs.  They were psyched out.  They battled back and it was a contest right up to the last couple of minutes.
They had looks that were just about as open as in the Connally game but nothing fell.  Was it the open gym?  Whatever.

What we saw was the best possible scenario for Huff and I think the Tigers being ice cold is the only way the Falcons win.

Silsbee cleared the way for Huff by taking out Yates.  A championship is beyond them but winning the semi-final is a definite possibility due to the seeding.  Whatever they're going to do they better do it now because Harvey is a senior.  They wouldn't have won this game without him at the helm.  Every Falcon played like they knew he was on that court and he was.  He never sat down.  He couldn't. 

Now if they want to advance again he's going to have to play the game of his life.  On paper Boerne is a kind of copy of Huff but a little bigger and a little better.  I think he and they have it in them.  We'll see.

True.  And Raiders and Lumberjacks (axes? OUCH).  And if we dare, Indians and Highlanders and Farmers and Punchers and even Plowboys.

One that could be even more scary than a Tiger is the Itasca Wampus Cat.  The illusive and ever deadly wampus cat stalks the prairies south of the Metroplex.  

The Falcons have us in one attribute.  They are the fastest animal.  240mph in a dive.  So I'm pretty sure that keeping them in level flight is a key component Coach Sig's game plan. 

I think it will be Argyle, Boerne, Faith Family and Silsbee seeded in that order.  Which means we would get Argyle in the semi and Faith in the final.
And if by some miracle the unranked Tigers claw out a championship they will have beaten the top three ranked teams almost one after another to win it.

And it would be the biggest story in the history of Texas high school basketball.  And a movie would be made.  And Denzel Washington will play Coach Sig (he has experience in that kind of role).  And I think Shan Gilder should play himself.  

But would it be a miracle?  Not if the ranking means anything.  Why couldn't it happen?  The Tiger win over the Lions wasn't exactly comfortable but it was a convincing 15 point victory.  And the No. 2 team is supposed to be better than the No. 3 team right?  So beating Argyle certainly isn't any kind of insurmountable thing.  And the No. 2 team shouldn't be that far behind the No. 1 right?  So a Silsbee win against Faith would be only a mild upset.  In conclusion don't think it's premature to start thinking of a name for that movie.  

True.  And Raiders and Lumberjacks (axes? OUCH).  And if we dare, Indians and Highlanders and Farmers and Punchers and even Plowboys.

One that could be even more scary than a Tiger is the Itasca Wampus Cat.  The illusive and ever deadly wampus cat stalks the prairies south of the Metroplex.  

The Falcons have us in one attribute.  They are the fastest animal.  240mph in a dive.  So I'm pretty sure that keeping them in level flight is a key component Coach Sig's game plan. 

True.  That's why the Wharton game was a little closer.   It was Tigers vs. Tigers.   

I was just thinking, humans are the most dangerous mammals by far.  Humans kill more mammals than all the other mammals put together.  Humans even kill more humans than all the other mammals put together.  It's interesting that none of our high schools have the human as a mascot.  The Calamityville High Humans.  Scary.