Let’s go halvzies

With the shot clock in basketball coming to fruition in the near future — which I’m pretty excited about, by the way — there are a couple of other rules from the pros that I would like to see implemented into high school basketball.

The first is the no-charge semi-circle, and the second is the option to advance the ball to half-court during the last two minutes of the half, after a made basket, after calling a full-time out.

Basketball, at every level from high school to the pros, has been getting bigger and faster as the years go by. As athletes, equipment and training get more talented and sophisticated, bigger challenges need to be implemented to keep things interesting.

First, the no-charge semi-circle is a designated area in the lane underneath the basket where a defensive player cannot legally draw a charge against an offensive player driving to the hoop. The rule is intended to prevent defenders from camping out under the basket to gain an advantage and to protect offensive players attempting to score near the rim.

Calling a charging foul can be tricky for officials because they have to determine if the defender has established position, and the collision that results from offensive players going up and into defenders can result in injuries to one or both athletes involved.

I would be highly in favor of seeing this rule applied to high school ball.

Next, if high school teams had the option to advance the ball to half-court in the waning minutes or seconds of a highly contested game, imagine the possibilities!

First and foremost, strategy would become imperative as time-out utilization would be key throughout the contest. In four quarters, each team is allotted five time-outs — three full (1:00) and two 30-second. Obviously, coaches already use these time-outs strategically because they do not want to waste those precious opportunities to break up the action on the court. But to know you may have the opportunity to give your team an advantage like advancing the ball late in the game would make the decision to use up time-outs early even more critical.

And then there’s the offensive opportunities that the team with the ball will gain. Suppose your team is down one to three points with less than two seconds on the clock. If you get possession of the ball underneath the other team’s basket, the likelihood that you can inbound the ball and get off a decent shot to win or extend the game into overtime is pretty slim.

However, if you could take the ball out at half-court, things would get pretty interesting real quick!

The discipline of the athletes on the court, as well as their determination to win, would factor into the outcome of the game. Defense would become even more imperative, and offensive execution would need to be precise. Those last two seconds would have everyone on their feet, collectively waiting to exhale until the final buzzer rang.

I can hear the cacophony that would invariably ensue as the winning team and their fans celebrate, while the losing team and their fans feel the pain of disappointment.

I don’t know if a lot of coaches would agree with me — they’re already under a lot of stress in those late-game situations — but I would love to see the possibility of the half-circle under the hoop and of going half the distance come to high school basketball.