There is a difference between saying an entire team of women could take on a men's team, which is ridiculous, and saying perhaps the most skilled athlete in the sport's history could be out there in very limited minutes at a low level with four better athletes to cover for her, where she doesn't have to do anything but spot up or hide in a zone/sag off a player who can't shoot in garbage time.
Why whenever someone is realistic about the men's and women's game, someone says something about having your manhood challenged? I was a decent athlete but was never really too good at basketball, I have no problem admitting that all of these girls would kick my ass in hoops. I also have no problem saying none of them could play D1 men's basketball, why is that so hard for some to accept? Gurleyman when exactly did you play D1 basketball? I find it impossible to believe that you had players on your team that could only dream about touching the rim. I also watch tons of low level D1 and high school hoops and this just seems to be a ridiculous to me. Are you by any chance in your 60's or 70's?[/quote]
Sorry - the manhood crack was maybe a kneejerk reaction.
I'm 40. I never dunked. I could grab the rim, but that was it. But I wasn't terribly overmatched athletically against the "real players" on my college team - it was only Patriot League, where the only people who stood out were the ones who actually were good athletes. They were just better basketball players. I used to go toe to toe in practice with a guy who transferred and was redshirting, who dropped almost 30 on 1-seed Kansas in the NCAA Tournament his senior year. He was better than I was, no question. Much better court sense, and he had the quickest release I've ever dealt with - plus he was a gamer, whereas I frankly was not. But we were probably similar athletically. He couldn't dunk either, wasn't terribly quick, but man he could play. His name was Tucker, and there are poor men's Tuckers floating on the bottom of MAAC/NEC/Ivy rosters, not playing much, hoping to get a chance to hit a few threes, but long since having given up on the dream of someday dunking.
Maya does some things athletically that are somewhat guy-like. Primarily her jumper. I've watched her play in person elevate off curl screens - similar to the plays that we ran - and thinking that she did that better than most of the guys on my college team. But she couldn't handle average DI men athletes when it comes to foot speed or lateral quickness, never mind superior ones. Which is why, all I'm saying, is that she could be buried on a MAAC bench in a world without women's hoops, the same way a dude with one arm was.
