Physicality in The Women's Game

[Brad Palmer]

My two cents...

I go to many women's games in all three divisions and honestly enjoy the d2 and d3 games more, because there's more of an offensive flow to the game. Less big bodies clogging the lanes so guards can finish. I went to a Hartford-Albany women's game where the final score was 40-37. The Fairfield women (who have a great record this season) have yet to play a game where both teams scored 60 points. A fast break basket at many women's college d1 games is becoming as rare as a dunk.

It's no wonder why the women's game at the d1 level is such a hard sell.

Scouting (via video) and weightlifting (year-round) have taken any semblance of finesse out of a majority of women's d1 games.

SCOUTING: When the opposition knows every single part of your offense and all of your out of bounds plays, there's no flow or element of surprise to the offensive part of the game. Coaches sit in offices ad nauseum dissecting the offenses of opposing teams. Their teams often know the opposition's offenses just as well as their own.

WEIGHTLIFTING: Increased year-round weightlifting has made the players so much bigger and stronger that it turns into a virtual scrum in the half court. Cutters being bounced and pushed when going through the lane, players being held coming off screens, etc...

This all starts in the younger grades where (especially in AAU basketball) refs allow constant fouling because they want to get the games over with quickly. And coaches feed into this because they know they have 10 players/50 fouls to give. At most AAU tournaments, you don't shoot the bonus until the 10th foul of each half (and then it's often only one and one). Finally at many "exposure tournaments", players are now allowed 6 fouls.

End of rant...thoughts?

PS--UConn absolutely does not fall into this category. They're one of the few teams that still plays the game "the way it was meant to be played".

 

[ThisJustIn]

UConn absolutely does not fall into this category. They're one of the few teams that still plays the game "the way it was meant to be played".

How is that possible? They scout and they weight lift.

 

[meyers7]

Scouting (via video) and weightlifting (year-round) have taken any semblance of finesse out of a majority of women's d1 games.

I agree, clueless and fat players have a lot more finesse. I know I do.

 

[JS]

How is that possible? They scout and they weight lift.

But only for pure purposes.

 

[Brad Palmer]

I should have stated that a coach's mindset also affects the way the game is played . Geno allows his players some offensive leeway and runs some great offensive sets. To him "offense" isn't a dirty word. He thinks outside the box. You'll often see quotes from him stating how important it is to have 3-4 solid offensive options on the floor at all times, while most coaches simply preach the "defense wins, we're going to outwork the other team" mantra. It's almost as if they're afraid to say that offense is an important part of the game.

While he certainly wants his players to be aggressive, he doesn't try to bully the opposition.

 

[meyers7]

But only for pure purposes.

Pure as the driven snow. That's UConn.

 

[pinotbear]

I agree, clueless and fat players have a lot more finesse. I know I do.

ahh, the lies we like to tell ourselves..

 

[JS]

fat players have a lot more finesse. I know I do.

Meyers sets a finesse pick. ​

Opponent gets around him ​

but by then is winded.​

 

[UcMiami]

I think a big part of this is exposure - it used to be that there were only five or six women's games available on a national basis each year. Now, if you have a sports package, there are two or three games available almost every night, and a lot of the teams getting that exposure are not very good. All the D1 athletes have gotten physically better individually, but I don't think the coaching ranks in the women's game have kept pace. The women's game is still played below the rim, and there are still very few players who cannot be guarded one on one, so for good offense you still have to play a team game to get the indivdual players open shots.
The physicality doesn't both me - these women are now real athletes who train year around and don't need to be protected. The hand checks and bumps are still called on the perimeter, but down low, you have to allow a certain amount of contact as the centers/forward jockey for position.

 

[Icebear]

I agree, clueless and fat players have a lot more finesse. I know I do.

I, too, dance like a butterfly. Plus it takes two zip codes to go around me. And you don't even want to start a discussion of being an immovable object.

Defensive postures.

http://www.google.com/search?q=standing+polar+bear+pictures&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari

 

[ThisJustIn]

While he certainly wants his players to be aggressive, he doesn't try to bully the opposition.

That's exactly how Bam Bam and Shea played -- nary a bullying bone in their body.

 

[Sonny44]

My two cents...

I go to many women's games in all three divisions and honestly enjoy the d2 and d3 games more, because there's more of an offensive flow to the game. Less big bodies clogging the lanes so guards can finish. I went to a Hartford-Albany women's game where the final score was 40-37. The Fairfield women (who have a great record this season) have yet to play a game where both teams scored 60 points. A fast break basket at many women's college d1 games is becoming as rare as a dunk.

It's no wonder why the women's game at the d1 level is such a hard sell.

Scouting (via video) and weightlifting (year-round) have taken any semblance of finesse out of a majority of women's d1 games.

SCOUTING: When the opposition knows every single part of your offense and all of your out of bounds plays, there's no flow or element of surprise to the offensive part of the game. Coaches sit in offices ad nauseum dissecting the offenses of opposing teams. Their teams often know the opposition's offenses just as well as their own.

WEIGHTLIFTING: Increased year-round weightlifting has made the players so much bigger and stronger that it turns into a virtual scrum in the half court. Cutters being bounced and pushed when going through the lane, players being held coming off screens, etc...

This all starts in the younger grades where (especially in AAU basketball) refs allow constant fouling because they want to get the games over with quickly. And coaches feed into this because they know they have 10 players/50 fouls to give. At most AAU tournaments, you don't shoot the bonus until the 10th foul of each half (and then it's often only one and one). Finally at many "exposure tournaments", players are now allowed 6 fouls.

End of rant...thoughts?

PS--UConn absolutely does not fall into this category. They're one of the few teams that still plays the game "the way it was meant to be played".

In a way I think you are saying you like a game with more uncertainty, more mistakes, etc. I know what you mean. I like to watch a football or rugby game played in the snow or mud. I hate indoor stadiums. Everything seems so orchestrated now, lots of the excitement is gone.
But I wouldn't change a thing about our gals!

 

[grizz36]

ahh, the lies we like to tell ourselves..

"If I take my meds, I'll probably be OK."

Naaaaw! No chance!

 

[meyers7]

ahh, the lies we like to tell ourselves..

Rationalizations, more important than sex. (have you ever gone a week without a rationalization?)

 

[Jarhead_1775]

Pure as the driven snow. That's UConn.

Seriously. Sounds like a holier than thou BCU post.

 

[HuskyNan]

I, too, dance like a butterfly. Plus it takes two zip codes to go around me. And you don't even want to start a discussion of being an immovable object.

Icebear at his Weight Watchers weigh-in...

 

[HuskyNan]

Seriously. Sounds like a holier than thou BCU post.

Are you even following this thread?

 

[easttexastrash]

The thing that bothers me more is the lag between the increase in physicality and the officiating. The officials at times seem not to have caught up with what the women are capable of doing compared to 10 or even 5 years ago.

 

[pap49cba]

I found the OP's AAU comments interesting. Geno has been a fairly outspoken critic of the AAU system for some time.

 

[Jarhead_1775]

Are you even following this thread?

Sry just the OP. Should have quoted.

 

[VAMike23]

The thing that bothers me more is the lag between the increase in physicality and the officiating. The officials at times seem not to have caught up with what the women are capable of doing compared to 10 or even 5 years ago.

I think part of is that consistency is more difficult for refs to achieve, for reasons touched upon in the aftermath of the ND game by a number of folks. That being that from a certain point of view, the refs *could* call a foul most every time down the floor, given the level of contact, particularly in the lane. Since they feel they can't do that, they have to pick between egregious fouls and not-so-egregious fouls, in addition to the ones that are so obvious that they feel compelled to call them even if they're not "bad" fouls.

It's the league's fault (in the BE) and the NCAA's to some degree not to have made a greater point-of-emphasis some years back to nip things in the bud. Now, for many leagues (particularly the BE) you have a lot of games where a whole lot of physical play is 'the norm'.

One caveat to all this is that for players who are bigger and stronger than they used to be, a somewhat greater amount of contact can take place (some types of contact, not all) before an advantage is created. Without an advantage created, there is no foul. This isn't meant as a complete disclaimer by any means, but it does explain a small part of why increasingly physical play sometimes does not translate into more fouls called.

 

[Icebear]

Icebear at his Weight Watchers weigh-in...

This is what happens when Icebear get benched. It isn't a pretty sight.

 

[Icebear]

We start teaching the bear cubs proper hands up defensive posture early.

http://www.thatcutesite.com/standing-baby-polar-bear.html