I was looking at the Web site of the newspaper in the town where I went to high school the other day. I don’t recall why. It’s certainly not an everyday practice. But, for some reason, I decided I’d like to see what’s going on in Roseburg, Ore. Of course this meant I eventually ended up reading the sports section and was a little surprised to see my alma matter, the Indians lost their last game by a score of 39-33.

“Only 33 points in an entire varsity basketball game,” I thought to myself. “What in the world was going on?”

After further research I learned that their opponent, a team from Sheldon, ran off one to three minutes of clock each time they had possession of the ball. Well, that answered my question. However, it raised another one, why don’t I ever see teams play that style of ball here?

My first thought is that the schools here have too much talent to waste it on perpetual passing. My second was that any coach who tried to tell a team they had to pass the ball for three minutes before shooting might very well have a mutiny on their hands. The brand of basketball I am lucky enough to watch every week is fast paced, the players are talented and athletic and the up-tempo style suits them. Still I wonder, what about the teams that aren’t so good? How about the ones who only win nine or 10 times are year and still they try and run-and-gun with the big boys? Why do they do it? Why not slow things down. I’m not saying they would win, but they certainly would stay closer than they are by trying to run with teams that are more talented.

As I have no answers, nor a team of my own to attempt to implement my theories on, I turned to my source for such things. I went straight to my dad. As you may or may not know my father coached high school and junior college basketball in three different states for well over 40 years. Heck, even though he retired he’s still not done as his passion for the game is such that he has returned to coach on a part-time basis at a school in California he turned from a doormat to a perennial district champion. He has seen the game change. He must have an idea.

“It used to be a slower-paced game,” he told me. “I don’t know if you could get the kids now to do that.”

This is not to say teams in our great state have never slowed it down. My father’s teams used to have a set offense he called “Snook,” named after the tiny town to our east and the style of basketball their teams used to play. If you doubt the fact this style could be successful then I should let you know that Snook has 10 state titles to its credit including at least three when they played this methodical style of basketball.

So there you have it, it can be done. Will it be done? It certainly seems unlikely. Even without a shot clock it seems most teams are content to make a couple of passes and take a shot. I am not going to argue that this is a good or bad thing. It simply is the way things are and as a specator I am pretty much fine with that.

And if I ever feel the need to watch a team execute an offense that features three minutes of passing, I can always pay a visit to my alma matter.