By TOM WILLIAMS

This column was supposed to be written more than three weeks ago. But we lost access to the Internet during the blizzard and it wasn’t restored for more than two weeks.

Try to avoid Infinity, if you can.

Anyway, in the nest few months principals and athletics directors from high school in New Jersey will cast an important vote. In most cases, they will vote as instructed by their superintendents or boards of education. A yes vote will bring a shot clock to NJSIAA basketball starting in December of 2027.

Why does New Jersey need a shot clock?

Has there been a lot of those “freeze” offenses, when one team passes the ball back and forth and holds it on their hips and the other team declines to defend them? Dixie Howell did it in the 1960s against Bishop Eustace and Jim Mogan did it against Ken Leary and Reggie Miller’s Pleasantville in the 1970s. Can’t remember any such games in the last 50 years.

And those end-of-game situations when a team leads by four or five points and holds the ball to run out the clock. That’s when the team on defense needs to step up and free throw shooting becomes even more important.

Some people think the shot clock should be added to New Jersey basketball to prepare the student-athletes for college basketball. But only a little over three percent of high school basketball players will go on to play in college, so why make a major change for such a small perentage.

One person pointed to a recent high school game that finished 29-27 as a reason for the change. What is that person expecting to happen if those two teams played with a shot clock? It wouldn’t be a 64-62 game. It would probably be a 34-32 game with about 20 more bad shots.

High school athletes do not have the skills of college athletes. They cannot react quickly to take a shot as the clock counts down. There will just be many wild throws as the clock expires. Even in the NCAA, the NBA and the WNBA you see desperation shots once in a while. And those athletes are much better than those in high school.

The coaches in the Cape-Atlantic League do not agree. We polled them and just over 80 percent want a shot clock.

One other fact about the shot clock that administrators might consider – they must purchase the two clocks and the electronics that go with them and set aside additional funds on game night for an operator – an operator who has been trained. And you might have to double those costs for schools that play in two gyms.

We also polled them about the running clock, that crazy rule that keeps the clock running when one team leads by 35 or more points. It started in the CAL four or five years ago and the NJSIAA made it statewide this past season. There are nine other states with what they call “the mercy rule”, though almost all of them stop the clock for free throws. New Jersey does not.

Just over 50 percent of CAL coaches like the running clock. But one coach said, “Wish we didn’t need the running clock but too many coaches are simply clueless on how to beat lesser teams and not embarrass people.”

Actually, one could argue that the running clock isn’t doing a great job reducing blowouts and eliminating embarrassments. Here are some scores selected from two random back-to-back nights this season. 80-22, 68-31, 68-18, 75-17, 81-28 and 85-12. Those were just the 50-point games, all played with a running clock. There were dozens and dozens more games where the difference was in the 40s. By the way, in that 85-12 game, it was 55-9 at halftime and the winners shut out their opponent, 18-0, in the third quarter.

You cannot legislate sportsmanship (or mercy). The running clock does not make games more competitive, just shorter. And it gets everybody home five minutes earlier. But the running clock does accomplish one thing. It gives both teams’ substitute players a lot less time on the court.

So, here are two no votes – one for the shot clock and another for the running clock (which actually isn’t up for a vote).

But there are some things that basketball could change that would improve the game.

According to the rule book, high school basketball rules require jersey numbers to be “a solid contrasting color to the jersey, explicitly banning numbers that are the same color as the jersey, even if bordered. Numbers must be clearly visible, with front numbers at least 4 inches and back numbers at least 6 inches high”. Its a rule, please consider it when ordering uniforms and enforce it when violated during a game. Why not have schools clear their uniform styles with Officials Board 196 before ordering?

Lets bring the NBA, WNBA and NCAA Women’s rule about time outs to high school basketball. When you call a timeout at the opposite end of the court following an opponents basket, you can advance the ball to the foul line-extended at your end of the court just by requesting it.

A lot of people complained when the bonus rules were changed to five fouls in a quarter and the one-plus-one bonus was eliminated. They complained that “one-and-one” was a iconic phrase in basketball. Well, the jump ball was iconic, too. When there is a scramble on the floor and an official raises both thumbs, some announcers still call it a jump ball, even though there will be no jump. How about bringing a little more of the jump ball back to the game with a center jump to start the second half – maybe even each quarter.

While we’re at it, lets eliminate the 30-second timeout and make them all the same length. Require a player to have both feet on the floor to call a timeout. And start the clock when an in-bounds pass touches the floor or a player to eliminate rolling the ball to half court to delay the start of the clock.

A couple final things regarding the highly successful CAL Tournament.

In the preliminary and first rounds, the losers of each game will play each other loser in consolation games. If the seeding meeting is on a Thursday, no CAL games can be scheduled that week. Teams that do not reach the CAL semifinals can not schedule games on the Tuesday, Wednesday or Saturday afternoon of the championship week. That just shows respect for the teams who are still playing in the second week by not conflicting with their championship games. You can play those games on Monday, Thursday, Friday or Saturday night.

High school basketball is a great game. Some of these changes will make it better. The shot clock is not one of them.