Aliquippa boys' basketball coach Marvin Emerson isn't unlike most of his brethren in his chosen profession. Above all, he loves the sport of basketball. Spending so much time around the game is what makes the long hours and other downsides of coaching worth while. And, it gives him an excuse to watch as many games as he can.

So, as much as he respects the players and coaches involved in such games, Emerson likely cringes at contests such as the 29-25 Ambridge win against Hopewell last week.

Eliminating such displays of slow-it-down, low-scoring basketball is part of the rationale for supporting the implementation of a shot clock in high school games.

A staple in the professional and college game, only seven states use a shot clock at the high school level.

"Who wants to come to a game and see it end, 29-28?" Emerson asked. "Nobody wants to see that. That's not what a basketball game is. When we go to see a basketball game, we want to see some action."

Though there have been no known debates or formal proposals by the PIAA or WPIAL to add a shot clock to games in Pennsylvania, the topic is bound to be broached at some point, and for now it can make for some interesting fodder for debate.

Count Emerson among those who are firmly behind the idea.

"It would force you to be prepared offensively," Emerson said. "It forces you to plan strategically. If you've got a three-point lead and the shot clock is 30 seconds and there are 37 seconds left on the game clock, now you're forced to figure out how to get another bucket. You can't just wait to get fouled."

One of the obvious benefits of a shot clock, proponents say, is that it would make the final minute of games more interesting because, as it stands now, teams that are behind are forced to foul to extend the contest in hopes of getting the ball back.

Also, some teams -- often when they feel they are overmatched against a more-talented opponent -- will play "keep away" for an entire game. That strategy can lead to long stretches of simply holding the ball or passing it around the perimeter.

In theory, a shot clock would spark more offensive creativity; if nothing else. It would also add more shots to every game, which in turn, theoretically, means more offense.

"Anything that challenges us as coaches and players, I'm for," Mt. Lebanon High School boys' coach Joe David said.

But employing a shot clock isn't quite as simple as merely deciding to use one. Perhaps the greatest obstacle for it becoming ubiquitous at the high school level is the cost. Surely standards would be put into place for proper color, size and brightness of the clocks, the best of which can run in the thousands of dollars.

That says nothing for the wiring, the electricity, maintenance and game-night operation of the clocks.

"I just think it's another added expense," said Bob Rozanski, who coaches at Serra Catholic, a Class A school. "Just like adding that third official a few years ago, now there's someone else operating the clock, not to mention someone coming in and installing it. That makes it pretty tough. I just think that in itself makes it pretty tough to institute."

Not everyone is convinced the cost is that prohibitive, particularly at Class AAAA schools, where athletic budgets are larger.

"By the look of some of the uniforms and warm-ups I see, I think they can afford it," said David, whose Mt. Lebanon team competes in Class AAAA. "I see guys coming in with fancy jackets with their names on them, bags and shoes. I'm not sure of the actual expense, but I think it should be able to be done."

Franklin Regional boys' coach Doug Kelly has one of the highest-scoring teams in the WPIAL, so the Panthers would figure to be one of the teams least affected by a shot clock. But even Kelly concedes his team might be forced to take a lower percentage shot from time to time. Then again, the Panthers' philosophy is to take higher-percentage shots, figuring they will translate into points even if the field-goal percentage is not as high.

"Not many teams are holding the ball for more than 30 seconds," said Kelly, who added he wouldn't be bothered one way or the other if a shot clock was added. "You'd have to work a little harder to get good shots off, but I don't see how it's really going to change anything. Maybe you'd see scoring go up for some teams and it would force some teams to play at a little quicker pace. But there's not too may teams out there, from what we've seen, that don't already play at a fast pace."

Kelly accompanied his team to North Carroll, Md., this past weekend for a tournament. There was a girls' tournament going on at the same time and there was a shot clock in use for those games.

The women's college game has a shot clock that is 30 seconds -- 5 seconds shorter than the one the men use -- theoretically speeding up that game even more. Local girls' coaches also offered opinions on the shot clock.

"I'd like to see it be all uniform so that girls who are making the transition from high school to college get used to it," Washington girls' coach Mike Maltony said. "But I haven't really ran into any problems where [adding a shot clock] would have affected me one way or another. Most teams don't play the stall game too much. It's pretty much run-and-gun."

"As a coach, I think it would be interesting to work that in as far as strategy at the end of games," Pine-Richland girls' coach Joe Frank said. "It would be interesting to see how different coaches react to the introduction of the choice in strategy."

It's the late-game, comeback-from-lead or protecting-a-lead situation that coaches believe would be most affected by a shot clock.

But Frank and Chartiers-Houston boys' coach Jerry Cypher agree that the inferior team trying to "shorten" the game scenario isn't much of a concern because possessing the ball is a skill, and if a team is that substandard that it believes it needs to employ such a gimmick, it probably isn't that good at holding onto the ball for long periods of time.

"It's one thing if they're playing back in a zone, anybody can not turn the ball over against that," Cypher said. "But against a good man-to-man defensive team, to have an ability to hold onto the ball for 60 or 90 seconds I think requires a tremendous amount of offensive talent."

Fox Chapel boys' coach Ben O'Connor wouldn't be thrilled with a shot clock in high school games, but could live with it. Still, he likes the variety and challenge of the Foxes playing in a 75-70 game one night and a 38-31 contest the next.

A self-described high school basketball "purist," O'Connor said he fundamentally resists change in the sport. If it ain't broke, he figures, why try to fix it?

"The game itself doesn't need altered," O'Connor said. "I think high school basketball in Pennsylvania right now is as good as it's ever been for as long as I've been a player or coaching in it. Altering it just does not make much sense."