Girls’ Coaches Say Clock Has Helped Their Game

Thirty, 29, 28, 27 . . .

California, either at the forefront of change or simply living up to its nutty reputation, is one of only three states that has used the 30-second shot clock in girls’ basketball over an extended period of time.

Twenty-six, 25, 24, 23 . . .

New York and Washington states also have used the clock for more than a decade, but the shot clock isn’t the norm--even though it’s standard in the NCAA. Dick Schindler, the assistant director of the National Federation of State High School Athletic Assns., bristles at the suggestion the rest of the country isn’t hip.

“Is that the purpose, to make it consistent with college?” Schindler said. “And because we don’t have it, does that suggest that we’re behind the times? Does that make it better? Our rules committee has debated this since the shot clock came into use at the college level [in 1971-72], and we have not seen any reason to adopt it at the high school level. . . . [They] have not felt the shot clock is going to have a positive effect on our game.”

Twenty-two, 21, 20, 19 . . .

Pepperdine women’s Coach Mark Trakh, who set the foundation for Brea Olinda becoming the girls’ basketball program in California while he coached there from 1980 to 1993, says superior teams benefit most from the shot clock.

“How many lopsided girls’ games have you seen? The fact that the undermanned team had to [shoot] every 30 seconds, don’t you think that added to it?” Trakh asked. “Every 30 seconds, the other team is going to get the ball.”

Eighteen, 17, 16, 15 . . .

Trakh endorses the shot clock but says 30 seconds is too limiting--for high schools and the NCAA. The shot clock for college men is 35 seconds.

He said a 45-second clock would still accelerate the game, but provide additional coaching strategy, allow teams to take selective shots and eliminate some of the blowouts that occur when the elite meet the weak.

“The score might have been 77-33 instead of 99-33, but I would have had the kids run delay games,” Trakh said. “When you have a superior team, and you have to shoot, your hands are tied.

“Some [coaches] do run it up, but a lot of them don’t want to make a mockery of the game. But you can’t tell your players to go down and miss the shot on purpose to try to keep the game close.”

Fourteen, 13, 12, 11 . . .

Mary Mulligan, who played at San Clemente from 1978 to 1981 and has coached there since 1986, said the 30-second clock was instrumental in the evolution of the girls’ game--and made it better.

“Now that the girls’ game has improved so much, we might be ready for a 45-second clock,” she said. “Fifteen years ago, I don’t think very many girls’ teams could pass the ball more than five or six times without getting a turnover, so it was better for the teams to be thinking about shooting.

“The thing I like about the clock is it rewards tough defense. I’ve watched the high school boys’ game and there’s no reward for playing great defense for two minutes because you get burned for a layup because one person is out of position.”

Ten, 9, 8, 7 . . .

Pat Quinn coached Saddleback boys for 17 years before taking over the Woodbridge girls’ program this season. He said made a surprising discovery.

“With a shot clock, you have to execute a little better--you can’t just wing it,” Quinn said. “You run through the offense, run side to side, and if you haven’t got the shot you want, you have to go into a panic situation. You have to set the screens.”

He agrees that an additional 10 to 15 seconds would enable players to get into the real Xs and O’s of the game.

Six, 5, 4 . . .

But don’t expect time to be added to the shot clock. Marcy Weston, the NCAA’s national coordinator for women’s basketball officiating/secretary rules editor, said that in the NCAA’s annual Rules Survey of college coaches, officials and media, only 19% in 1992 and 17% in 1993 said they were in favor of a 45-second clock; in 1994 and ‘95, only 5% were in favor of a 40-second clock. And the shot clock isn’t even on this year’s survey.

Three, 2, 1 . . .

“If the NCAA women go to 45,” Southern Section Commissioner Dean Crowley said, “I’m sure we would shift here in California.”

But the likelihood of that, according to Weston? “Virtually nonexistent.”

Zero.