Men's vs Women's Game

[reno tony]

Here is a Rebecca Lobo quote from her enshrinement speech concerning this very topic... kind of:
"But two years ago, a year and a half ago, my oldest daughter, who was 4 ½, and my husband was watching UConn men, playing on the television in the living room, and my daughter walked in the room and looked at the TV and said to Steve, Are those boys playing.
And I said, yes.
And my daughter said, I didn't know boys played basketball."
Out of the mouths of babes.

 

[RoyDodger]

I agree let the men's fans enjoy and women's fans enjoy their game. My comments were not meant to disparage the men's game as it's played today but to say us old farts appreciate the style our women play because we like to harkin back. Is there something wrong with that ? Never did say you
knew less about the game either but the more you write the more I may change my mind. Stirring a pot again, you must be bored.

There's something to this, at least from my point of view. Before I started watching the UConn women back in 2003-2004, I almost never watched a basketball game. Period. College, NBA, etc. And then I turned on CT PBS and saw the UConn women and said to my wife: "The women play the game the way I remembered it being played when I was growing up." And that was obviously the game played by men in those days--guys like Cousy, Sharman, Russell, Frazier, Arizin, Robertson, West, Lucas, Baylor, Schayes, and Pettit. Oh, there were the Wilt Chamberlains and Bill Russells of course. But there wasn't a sense that the game was made up of a volley of slam dunks, even from the super tall guys. I may be wrong, but that was my recollection and the reason I became interested in women's basketball.

 

[tomcat]

Well, if the WWE/rollerball example is perhaps a bit...um...over the top, it is mostly because men's basketball has moved (some would say advanced) to the point where all players are so damn big that they have, in effect, cut the size of the court by at least one third. And if you added another foot or two to the height of the basket, that might make things more interesting, at least for me. But more than that is the fact that NBA games are,. to my mind, less athletics than spectacle. I haven't been to many, but that was the overwhelming impression I got. There is, absolutely, a level of personal athleticism that is amazing. But all too often it's about those breakout individual moments, rather than team play. Too many Allen Iversons -- an amazing player, a real gladiator, but the originator of the famous phrase "Practice? You're talkin' about practice?"

Yeah, I know, to each his own.

 

[CL82]

People who don't think there is strategy and execution in the men's game aren't paying attention. The men's size and speed demand it. The speed that you need release the ball if shoot off of a screen is barely enough time to square. Passing lanes open and close in an eye blink. Those plays are executed to perfection. It isn't just a one on one play.

I enjoy the woman's game for what it is, but the men's game is, well for me, more fun to watch. That said, I think it is a mistake to spend a lot of time comparing the two. Best to enjoy each for what they are.

 

[OldAlum]

Interesting to see the different views on the different games. Also interesting to see how different positions are argued and interpreted. Trying to tease out what does draw people to the women's game. Maybe then it could be more effectively marketed.

FWIW to clarify my points again: I was not claiming moral or intellectual superiority for the women's game - simply that the strategy and execution are a bigger aspect due to the way women have to play. Never said men's game didn't use strategy, it is a matter of emphasis.