I find it unsavory to be overly critical of female athletes. That is a flaw I am glad to have. I have respect for any girl that picks up a ball or a puck at a young age to play a “Boys” game.
With that said, I think there 2 kinds of basketball players. There are players and there are passengers. Players play. They pull or push themselves and their teammates to the level they need for success. Players often fail but it’s not due to effort or courage. Passengers are along for the ride. You can coach a passenger to be a Player, but they’ll often revert back to a passenger when you need them the most. While Players eventually develop past a hurdle and move on the next step in development, Passengers have to cross that hurdle over and over. Every game is full of highs and lows, emotionally, mentally, physically, and tactically. I don’t fault passengers. They are fine if you don’t ask too much of them, especially lead. Passenger always remind me of the story of the scorpion crossing the stream on the turtles back. If you take a scorpion for a ride, you will end up stung.
Basketball and Soccer are very similar when in it comes to passengers. In soccer they often refer to it as “Hiding”. A player that shy away from the ball, tackles, or generally plays it safe is Hiding (basically any Arsenal player last season).