Nevada High School Rule Getting Rebuked

[BigMac1212]

How A Rule Made Basketball Unrecognizable In Sin City

Don't blame the players. They're merely following a Nevada rule: Whatever you do, don't win a basketball game by 50 points.

In 2011, after years of lopsided results and accusations of dominant programs running up scores, the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association created a rule hoping to encourage sportsmanship and prevent embarrassing scores.

"There were a number of complaints and concerns about several coaches and several schools running up the score and, of course, no one thought this was very sportsmanlike," says Ray Mathis, who oversees Las Vegas athletics and is one of nine members on the NIAA's Board of Control. "We didn't want kids to be embarrassed, so we felt like we needed to come up with a process so at least we could get coaches to start thinking about not humiliating kids or getting them in a situation where they felt they had to defend themselves or not try out or be on a team because they were too embarrassed."

The board developed the now-controversial rule in which teams can't win by a margin of more than 49 points, and if they do, coaches are required to submit documentation explaining how it happened and how they tried to prevent it. If it happens three times in a season, the winning coach is suspended. The rule also institutes a running clock in the second half after a lead gets to 40 points.

Over the years, one-sided scores across the country -- among them a 108-1 win in Ohio on Wednesday night, a 161-2 victory in California in 2015 and a 100-0 blowout in Texas in 2009 -- have earned national attention and sparked debate about sportsmanship and fairness. Nevada's rule has succeeded in sparing teams from that mortification, but what has happened instead might be even more problematic.

This rule is just problematic. How are teams supposed to play and coaches supposed to coach?

Discuss.

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[Virtanen18]

How much coaching is really being done in a 100-0 game?

 

[BigMac1212]

How much coaching is really being done in a 100-0 game?

You might teach the benchwarmers some finer points of the game.

 

[DyerMaker66*]

That's dumb.

I've been on hockey teams where not scoring made it look even worse. Like we were playing keep away with children.

 

[Big Poppa Puck]

So if you're up 49 are you supposedly just intentionally turn it over? I don't understand.

I'm all for not running up scores and rubbing it in but you still have to play the game and if the team is so bad that they can't stop anything, what are you supposed to do?

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

Time to practice on those crazy shots you've always wanted to do in a game!

 

[Quid Pro Clowe]

Just start scoring in your own hoop over and over lol

 

[Dr Pepper]

100-0?

That just blew my mind.

How can anyone get shut out in basketball?

Hell, if HF put together a team and it squared off against an NBA team, I'm confident we could score at LEAST 2 points.

We'd lose 164-2, but dammit we'd get those two points.

 

[Skrudland]

100-0?

That just blew my mind.

How can anyone get shut out in basketball?

Hell, if HF put together a team and it squared off against an NBA team, I'm confident we could score at LEAST 2 points.

We'd lose 164-2, but dammit we'd get those two points.

I'm a little less confident that we would score the 2 points.

It seems like the obvious solution would be just to end the game after a lead of 50 was reached. It would suck for them to only play 10 minutes and for the fans that showed up but it would sure beat watching that garbage for 20 minutes.

 

[DonskoiDonscored]

Just create a mercy rule.

Although if you're up by 30 or more and the game looks as lopsided as the score then you should be playing the bench players.

 

[KaylaJ]

100-0?

That just blew my mind.

How can anyone get shut out in basketball?

Hell, if HF put together a team and it squared off against an NBA team, I'm confident we could score at LEAST 2 points.

We'd lose 164-2, but dammit we'd get those two points.

I remember that story! The girls who lost were from a smaller school that specializes in students who have learning disabilities such as ADD and dyslexia. I believe after the loss, they pulled out of the varsity league and played JV teams, but their like 4 season losing streak continued. They really were the definition of some kids just playing ball and they noted several times over that while they got frustrated, they didn't want to be quitters and sometimes that's how it went.

The other school apologized, I think forfeited the game, and fired the coach who did not apologize. Depending on who you believe they may have been gunning for 100, full court press, and going for 3s even when the score was like 80-0 in the 3rd.


Anyway, there was actually a rule in place that should've stopped that game but I'm not sure why it was not used. But that is what should be applied in this case as well. Sometimes no matter what you do to stop a blowout, it'll still happen.


Also, unless the NBAers handed us the ball, we'd so get our ***** kicked. It'd be like the South Park children vs the Red Wings. I hate you coach.


Edit: If they don't change the divisioning so weaker teams play each other and stronger play each other, could some of these better teams hold clinics after a mercy rule? Like since there will probably be whole halves left, why not play a few one on ones and horse games. Shoot the breeze.