Shot clock, football, and more to come

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

A shot clock in high school basketball, high school football, bigger and better things and the NBA draft are among this week’s random thoughts.

Shot clock

The idea of a shot clock in high school basketball appears to be gaining momentum and could indeed become reality. I don’t think it’s something you’ll see in the next season or two, but it may not be too far away. From what I’m told, it’s not coming from OHSAA, but rather the national level.

For what it’s worth, I don’t like it simply because I don’t see any advantages. What exactly is the rationale for needing a shot clock at the high school level?

It seems to me that it would only make strong teams stronger, and bad teams worse. Teams at a disadvantage would no longer be able to work the clock to stay in a game, or perhaps pull an upset. I’ve heard some people say it will eliminate stall ball. Outside of Tinora, who really plays stall ball in Ohio? For that matter, what’s wrong with stall ball? While not used much anymore (except for end of quarter/half/game), it’s a legit strategy.

If this passes, who’s going to cover the cost of shot clocks? I could go on, but I won’t. I will however, get thoughts of local basketball coaches and present those in a future column. It will be interesting to see what they have to say, good or bad, and their reasoning.

The countdown continues

The 2018 high school football season kicks off nine weeks from today, and I can’t wait. To me, there’s nothing like it – the crowds, the excitement, the bands and the pop of the pads for the first time of the season.

I’ve covered high school football for many years, and it never gets old.

I’d like to add that I believe the 2018 high school football season will be a very exciting one in Van Wert County.

Bigger and better

The 2018 fall high school sports season will bring more new features to www.thevwindependent.com sports. I won’t go into details right now, but more information will be released in August.

These new features will join other enhancements offered last year – expanded coverage of all high school sports in Van Wert County, including video clips, Coaches Corner and other feature stories, game previews and stories, the Student Athlete of the Week and Pigskin Pick’Em.

I will say now that the new features will be more reader interactive.

Don’t be shy

Speaking of reader interaction, don’t be afraid to tell us what you’d like see included our coverage of local sports. There are always great stories out there, and we’d like to share them with our readers. No suggestion is too big or too small.

If you have ideas, want to chat about something that has already been published, agree or disagree, simply email us at sports@thevwindependent.com.

NBA draft

I watched some of the NBA draft last night, and while it doesn’t have the same excitement as the NFL draft (at least for me), it had it’s moments.

One of those moments was when Villanova’s Mikal Bridges was drafted by his hometown team, the Philadelphia 76ers. The pick had feel good story written all over it – the Philly native returning home to a team that employs his mother as vice president of human resources. The two were interviewed on ESPN and talked about how excited they were, etc. But in a surprising twist, Bridges was traded to Phoenix about an hour later. I doubt many people saw that coming.

Ohio State’s Keitha Bates-Diop had hopes of being drafting somewhere in the first round. The Big Ten Player of the Year was projected to be a mid to late first round pick, but he slipped to late in the second round, where he was taken No. 48 by the Minnesota Timberwolves.

That’s significant for several reasons, most notably money and future. First round draft picks get guaranteed money (millions), but second rounders don’t have same luxury. There is no guaranteed money for those players, and many wind up playing overseas.

Also of note — former Elida High School star Dakota Mathias (Purdue) wasn’t drafted last night, but he signed a summer league contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Here’s hoping things work out for Bates-Diop and Mathias.