<P> Syracuse Nationals General Manager Leo Ferris has emerged in the discussion as one of those involved in the creation and development of the shot clock . Along with Danny Biasone and Emil Barboni, a scout for the Nats, Leo Ferris was a key figure in developing the 24 - second clock . Jack Andrews, longtime basketball writer for The Syracuse Post-Standard, often recalled how Ferris would sit at Danny Biasone's Eastwood bowling alley, scribbling potential shot clock formulas onto a napkin . Ferris, who loved mathematics, ended up dividing the number of seconds in a 48 - minute game (2,880) by the average number of shots taken in a game (120) to get to the 24 - second time limit per possession . While he and Biasone often share in the credit for the shot clock, it was Ferris who was singled out by business manager Bob Sexton at the 1954 team banquet for pushing the shot clock rule . </P> <P> When it was first introduced by the NBA, the 24 - second shot clock made players so nervous that it hardly came into play, as players were taking fewer than 20 seconds to shoot . According to Syracuse star Dolph Schayes, "We thought we had to take quick shots--a pass and a shot was it--maybe 8--10 seconds...But as the game went on, we saw the inherent genius in Danny's 24 seconds--you could work the ball around (the offensive zone) for a good shot ." </P> <P> The shot clock, together with some rule changes concerning fouls, revolutionized NBA basketball . In the last pre-clock season (1953--54), teams averaged 79 points per game; in the first year with the clock (1954--55), the average was 93 points, which went up to 107 points by its fourth year in use (1957--58). The advent of the shot clock (and the resulting increase in scoring) coincided with an increase in attendance, which increased 40% within a few years to an average of 4,800 per game . </P> <P> The shot clock received near - universal praise for its role in improving the style of play in the NBA . Coach and referee Charley Eckman said, "Danny Biasone saved the NBA with the 24 - second rule ." Boston Celtic all - star Bob Cousy said, "Before the new rule, the last quarter could be deadly . The team in front would hold the ball indefinitely, and the only way you could get it was by fouling somebody . In the meantime, nobody dared take a shot and the whole game slowed up . With the clock, we have constant action . I think it saved the NBA at that time . It allowed the game to breathe and progress ." League president Maurice Podoloff called the adoption of the shot clock "the most important event in the NBA ." The league itself states, "Biasone's invention rescue (d) the league ." </P>

When did the nba institute the shot clock