[Pulp Fiction]

Overtime... Four extra minutes of basketball. A last-second shot from half court or a tip-in as the buzzer goes off to send a game to overtime. Some of the best fan and player reaction videos you will see come from a game going in to OT.

Some games take three or four OT's to decide a winner. Four OT's is sixteen minutes of extra play, that's an entire half (duh). In the district or regional tournament, that can really take a toll on a good team that doesn't have a deep bench or even a team that does have a good bench if some players foul out. Yes, I know kids should be in shape by mid-February, but a Friday night regional semi-final game that goes to 4 OT's followed up by a Saturday championship game can make any team play terrible.


Here's my topic of discussion.
- Should we leave the OT format the way it is?
- Should we change the format after the 2nd OT?

My proposition is to change the format after the 2nd OT. Soccer, wrestling, college football, NFL... these sports have a different format to decide a winner in OT that reflects the specific type of competition outside of a specific time frame.

High school Soccer has the Shootout after one OT period.
NHL Hockey has a 5 minute Sudden Death OT, if no winner, then they go to the penalty shootout.
High school and NCAA wrestling have a 1 minute sudden death period. This is followed up by two 30 second periods. If still no winner a 30 second Ultimate Tie Breaker is wrestled.
NFL OT is decided by the first team to score a TD or the whoever scores the first points after both teams have had one possession of the ball.
NCAA football makes teams go for a 2 pt. conv. after the 2nd OT.

Basketball can adopt an OT procedure to determine a winner outside of a set time period.
IMO, the most logical competition would be some type of shooting contest. The last five players on the floor after the 2nd OT would get two shots a piece from a random spot from the 3 point line inside the key to the baseline, the team with the most wins. If tied, the process repeats from a different spot until a winner is determined. That way, the game ends quicker and your players don't exert themselves beyond their means in a 4 OT contest.