B Historian wrote:Bison-Vikes #1 wrote:It's too late for a 3 class system. With the decline of population in rural areas and loss of participation due to parity issues in current system, believe what you see now is what you will see for next 20 years. Handful of teams will dominate every year. 1 team from a small school will come along every now and then, but will happen less and less as time goes on.
SD has had a 3-class system for 35 years and that state is having similar problems with participation and parity issues.
Times change and values change and I think those factors play a large role in the participation issues. But I also think the game is harder to play for the "average" athlete than it was 30 years ago: It's faster and you have to be able to shoot well from greater distances. With so many other options of things to do now, it's much easier for the average kid to give up the game, especially when playing could also mean traveling 30 minutes just to get to practice in some of these coops.
SD has approximately 274 public schools and 16 private. They are fielding 18 - AA teams, 55 - A teams and 84 - B teams. Percentage of bbb teams to high schools is 54%. ND has approximately 177 public schools and 16 private. They are fielding 22 - A teams and 104 B - teams. Percentage of bbb teams to high schools is 65%. You could say that ND has a better participation rate than SD. The question remains, how many more teams would there be if ND would have went to 3 classes 20 years ago? How many co-ops would not have happened if there was more parity in the smaller schools?
B Historian wrote:Times change and values change and I think those factors play a large role in the participation issues. But I also think the game is harder to play for the "average" athlete than it was 30 years ago: It's faster and you have to be able to shoot well from greater distances. With so many other options of things to do now, it's much easier for the average kid to give up the game, especially when playing could also mean traveling 30 minutes just to get to practice in some of these coops.
I would say the game has changed not the athletes. IMHO, the reason it's faster is 2 fold: Increase in 3 point shots and shot clock. Buying into the 3 point offense leads to more wide open court, longer passes and longer rebounds. Longer passes turn into more steals for more layups. Longer rebounds turn into more transition points. Agree with the travel issues. However, that would not be the case if schools would not have had to co-op to compete.
B Historian wrote:Also, I never see this talked about, but I think the shot clock has made the parity issues worse in Class B. Sure, the shot clock is fine when teams like Enderlin and Four Winds play, but for the 90% of the rest of these schools it doesn't make sense. It's just logical that a team with less shooters and athletes is going to play worse basketball with the shot clock. I am shocked at the number of games this season with teams scoring in the 20's. The Utopian vision of 80-78 scores in Class B every night has not materialized.
100% agree. Shot clock came into use in the 90's for Class A. Their games were very low scoring and very physical. Attendance was not good because of that. The shot clock really helped that. They have a good brand of basketball right now. Class B was always considered wide open and fast paced. But, change one and you end up changing all it seems.