It’s a new dawn for the free throw in high school sports in Oregon. Following the lead of the National Federation of High School Associations (NFHS) the Oregon School Activities Association has instituted new rules on fouls shots for the 2023-24 season.
Instead of teams moving to 1-and-1 free throws upon the seventh team foul of each half the system is now quarter based. Commit five team fouls in a quarter and your opponent automatically shoots two. The old system shifted from 1-and-1 to an automatic two shots with a tenth foul in the half.
Which means the 1-and-1, which I have never liked much because it rewards you with a second shot for making a first shot, rather than rewarding you for a good play, is out the window. Good riddance. Let’s move on.
My question, though, is how will the new rules affect play and what do area coaches think? Here is what the NFHS said in its press release on the changes:
“The rules committee studied data that showed higher injury rates on rebounding situations and saw this as an opportunity to reduce opportunities for rough play during rebounds. Additionally, resetting the fouls each quarter will improve game flow and allow teams to adjust their play by not carrying foul totals to quarters two and four.”
Well, one out of two ain’t bad. I couldn’t find a single coach who feels injuries add up during free throws. Think about it. Hoops injuries are far more common in occasions in which both players are moving fast and/or in the air. I’m happy to look at data on free throw injuries during rebounds, but I remain skeptical.
Here is a sampling of comments from coaches:
Jamie McCarty, Silverton boys: “I like the five fouls per quarter and no one-on-one. I think it is cleaner and it allows more strategy to come into play when thinking about the game and options you have defensively.”
Alyssa Ogle, Silverton girls: “If you have a bad quarter it gives you an opportunity going into the fourth to wipe your slate clean and start new. You did not get that luxury previously. It also entices our offense to be aggressive to get to the FT line. It could make comebacks more difficult when they get two instead of maybe one attempt. But the flip side of that is we get two shots to preserve a lead late.”
Karl Schmidtman, Kennedy boys: “I have noticed that we are taking less free throws, which speeds up the flow of the game and it allows teams to use their fouls as a tool when we have fouls to give late in quarters. We are still getting better about how to manage the fouls in different time and score situations, but I like the extra element of strategy that it brings to the game and I think it will be a better product for fans to watch too.”
A second rule change adds a 35-second shot clock for varsity contests. It is optional for lower levels. Coaches I talked with felt that the foul shot rule would have far greater impact.
Ogle: “With the shot clock we have worked hard on obtaining two for one possessions and taking advantage of that aspect of the game. Especially this year when we have a phenomenal guard, Kyleigh Brown, who can create shots for herself. So two for one possessions are big for us in the shot clock era. We have only had one offensive shot clock violation and defensively have forced six violations. We love it in that aspect. If we do our job and rebound, our defensive possessions will be 35 seconds max. Great to entice the girls to play tough D and then get the ball back.”
Kennedy’s Schmidtman, meanwhile, said “it has been a little bit of an adjustment for us with the shot clock. That has been one of our strengths over the years is that we are pretty patient on offense and wait for a good shot. There have only been a handful of possessions that have been affected by the fact that there is a shot clock though, through five games. I was in support of adding the shot clock, I like that teams still have to play in the fourth quarter and can’t just go into a stall game.”
The federation also tweaked the uniform rules, allowing multiple styles and lengths of uniform shorts, although they must all be like-colored. Also teams and players that wear undershirts must wear a single solid color or solid black for visiting teams with dark jerseys.
