Have any of you heard of the Elam Ending? Well, it might soon be coming to a basketball court near you. It is an innovation that a really smart guy named Nick Elam came up with to eliminate the intentional fouling that mars the end of most college and pro basketball games. The reason teams that are behind towards the end of a basketball game commit so many fouls is that they need to stop the Clock. But what if the clock was taken out of the equation? That's what the Elam Ending does. Here's how it would work: With the first stoppage of play after a certain point late a game (the 4-minute mark in a college game and the 3-minute mark in a pro game), the clock would be turned off. From that point on, the teams would play until someone scores 7 points more than the team in the lead had before the clock was turned off.

For example, lets say the Warriors were leading the Cavaliers 100-95 when the clock was turned off. They would play until someone scored 107 points and then the game would be over. The number 7 was not chosen at random or because it is a supposed "lucky" number. Mr. Elam has calculated that the average NBA team scores 7 points in 3 minutes of clock play. The average college team, according to his calculation, scores 7 points in 4 minutes of clock play. So basketball fans would not be shortchanged by the fact that the clock is turned off at that point. With no clock to worry about, teams wouldn't be committing all of those intentional fouls. It wouldn't make sense anymore. Why would a team want to give their opponents free shots at getting closer to target score that ends the game? But putting an end to intentional fouling is not the only benefit to the Elam Ending. There are some other obvious benefits such as:

1) No more watching a team dribble the clock out

2) Every game - no matter how much of a blowout it might be - would end in sudden death fashion with a walk-off shot

3) Every game would end in regulation, so there would never be a need for overtime

4) No matter how far behind a team might be, they would still have a theoretical chance to come back and win, as long they keep scoring and stopping the other team from scoring (kind of like baseball)

5) The last few minutes of the game would move along just as quickly as the previous part of the game

6) No more delays down the stretch to review the clock and possibly add/subtract time to/from it

7) The shot clock would never be turned off in the second half, so no matter how late it is in the game, teams would always be forced to shoot at some point

The Elam Ending is already being experimented with in some of the summer leagues and tournaments such as the TBT. I believe it will be adopted by college basketball within five years, and then the NBA shortly thereafter. I think it is an exciting change that is just what basketball needs. Thank you, Mr. Elam, for coming up with the idea!