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Message: [QUOTE="Papa33, post: 4612503, member: 682"] "Finesse" is the right word, and it's being replaced more and more with the men's game's reliance on power and muscle, becoming more and more a contact sport—more grabbing, holding, bodying up, and other forms of contact— less and less an exercise in finesse, timing, etc. It was particularly visible this season as I watched our team collect bruises, sprains, concussions, etc. It's not entirely new: ask Diana T how much she got held and bounced around and bruised trying to cut through opponents' defenses. Happened to Maya also when one of the Ogwumike sisters clamped her in a lock-down embrace for an entire first half that ended with a 20-12 score. Ugly, high-contact, and not much of what I consider real basketball. As I watched the LSU-Iowa championship game this year, I saw [I]some[/I] excellent team ball, but far too much collision ball in the paint, too much of what I call "maul ball" that refs were not able to control. If hard-contact and grabbing had been called properly, there wouldn't have been enough players to finish out the game five-on-five. Is it also, then, only coincidental that some in-your-face behavior followed after the final whistle? [/QUOTE]