Women Who HAVE Changed the Game

[Icebear]

Parker.. if she wasnt injuried so often and took time out to have her child

Parker has not changed the game. She has exceeded the abilities of many past players. Lauren Jackson has not changed the game either.

Changing the game is more the transition at which a fundamental and enduring difference takes. More like starting to shoot real jump shots instead of set shots. Changing the game should be seen as something that becomes fundamentally different that others can mimic and therefore spreads throughout the game. Unique talents as individuals can transcend the game as it is played but that does not necessarily change it.

 

[DaddyChoc]

Parker has not changed the game. She has exceeded the abilities of many past players. Lauren Jackson has not changed the game either.

Changing the game is more the transition at which a fundamental and enduring difference takes. More like starting to shoot real jump shots instead of set shots. Changing the game should be seen as something that becomes fundamentally different that others can mimic and therefore spreads throughout the game. Unique talents as individuals can transcend the game as it is played but that does not necessarily change it.

your opinion... and I had a HUGE if at the start of my comment

 

[UcMiami]

I do think if you look at the course of women's basketball, you do see players that herald in a change in playing standards or a change in perception. That is why I mentioned Lobo/Jackson/EDD/Parker and the perception of what a player in the 6'5" range is capable of providing offensively. You look at the men's game and change the height to 7' and you see players like Walton, Novitski, etc. that take a center and turn him onto a 3 pooint threat or an assist machine.
Again on the men's side - Dr. J is the player that changed the perception of what was physically possible and led to a revolution in 'air time'. Not dissimilar to what Diana and Maya have done.
Griner may be a physically unique specimen, but young tall girls see her and the publicity she receives, and they go out and try to copy what she does - it will take some time for those 12-14 year olds to emerge, but ... dunking in the women's game will become more common and more effortless. Just in the way we are seeing players now emerging that watched and tried to copy Diana, or will see players that watched and try to copy Maya or Parker or ...
With women's basketball we are also still in a certain infancy, so the players that get national spotlight attention and bring viewers to the game are also 'game changers' in a real sense in that they expand the footprint. Sue Bird is a great point guard, but hasn't changed the perception of what a point guard should or can do, but she also happens to be beautiful and has been in the spotlight during a big expansion in national 'attention' and has helped to drive that. ( Same could be said for Diggins after last year's final four - she may not be the best guard in the college game, but the mixture of beauty and skill is an attention getter.) On this line, think of the goal celebration of Brandi Chastain - a woman taking off her top and revealing her sports bra - not really very 'racy', but it was all over every news outlet in the world - didn't change the game at all, but it did change the perception of the game and was in part responsible for women's pro soccor. ( so sad that the plug has been pulled on that.)
And finally - probably the biggest driver of perception over the past 15 years is the rivalry between TN and Uconn. People may only have watched one game a year, but that game Uconn vs. Tenn became 'must see' both because it was always fierce, but also because it was Geno vs. Pat.
Finally - women's basketball as the most consistently televised women's sport is changing the national perception of what being a girl can mean. It wasn't that long ago that sport for girls was seen as a help to posture and deportment, and actually sweating was frowned upon. So WCBB in itself is a 'game changer,!

 

[Icebear]

Never said it wasn't my opinion. Your if is about her being healthy and having the baby but I don't think that has altered her impact under the conditions I havefor proposed. She is too unique a talent just like Griner to talk about her changing "the game." it will take time to learn if they are the first of many and either an evolutionary change or a conceptual change of how the game is played. If we want to limit the discussion of game changer to individual games, then Parker is certainly a game changer. However, she has not fundamentally altered how the game is played. She is not a player like Pete Maravich who fundamentally changed the concepts of ball handling. Today players in the men's and women's game use going behind the back and between the legs as standard means of protecting the ball.

 

[Blakeon18]

Alex - I had the same question you had: what do we mean by game changer? (And does it have to be a player?)

1) How the game is played -- as in, redefining the position: So, a back to the basket game now includes a Lauren Jackson who nails threes - who started that trend? Or, a point guard was not just a distributor, but expected to score.

2) How the game is recognized outside by folks outside the die hard fan base. Miller, Holdsclaw, Lobo, Taurasi, Parker, Diggins -- Azzi had her obsessed folks and, if I remember "In these girls hope is a muscle," Wideman garnered huge west coast/east coast attention with her recruitment out of high school.

Justin: you mention of Wideman [Amherst High in Ma.] brought a smile.
I saw Amherst play Haverill for the Mass. D1 title in Worcester about 18 years ago. Haverhill was a very good team....probably the favorite going in.
Amherst got out to an 18-4 lead and Haverill called a timeout to try and stop the bleeding. They scored out of the TO to make it 18-6.

The halftime score was 51-6!
Wideman had the best overall game I have ever seen from a high school girl.
Something like 28 points....10 boards....10 steals....10 assists.

That same year I saw Carla Berube lead Oxford High to an easy win for the D2 title with around 30. 7th grader [seventh!!] Breezy Stepherson was the starting point on the opponent....Masconomet High. Stepherson verballed to UConn...later recanted to go to BC. She and Keirsten Walters were the two incoming guards at one point. Breezy left....Sue Bird arrived. Would Geno have offered Bird if Breezy had kept her commitment?

 

[UcMiami]

Ice - as I have written in my posts, I think where a player like Parker has 'changed the game' is not in her specific skill set, but in her skill set in a body size that used to be limited to low post moves and short jumpers, and that was never expected to do 'handle' on the perimeter. It is the same type of change that we see in EDD and that we expect in Stewart. It represent an expansion in perception of what a 'post' sized body can do.
I agree more with Griner in that her size and athleticism are unique and rare at this time - I do think you are going to see more tall girls try to emulate her because she has showed them what is possible, but we will have to wait a number of years to see if they can.

 

[Icebear]

I understand, UcM, in the manner you are speaking I don't see Parker as a game changer because a line from Lobo through Jackson (who predates Parker) through Parker and to EDD among others and beyond as evolutionary progress not as a specific game marker as a game changer in the way Maravich changed the nature of the game.

 

[Aluminny69]

Nancy Lieberman

There is a reason they named an award in her honor. If you are not familiar with her accomplishments, please read her wiki bio at the link provided.

 

[MilfordHusky]

SkyDigg ushered the game into the social media age.

GAAAAAAAAAAAAG!

 

[JRRRJ]

The obvious answer to this, which I'm surprised no one's come up with so far, is the entire 1995 Husky women's team, including Geno and with Lobo first among equals. CPTV and title IX get supporting actor credit.

It was the 1995 undefeated season, along with the ability to see every game, that produced a spike in interest for watching women play basketball. Lobo's inclusion in the '96 Olympic team, and the controversy that caused, continued the interest. Title IX had primed the pipeline that raised the general level of skill & athleticism available for recruitment in women's sport.

Due to the publicity from the 1995-1996, the WABA was able to get off the ground, with Lobo as the star attraction (deserved or not, that's how she was presented) in the largest market (NYC).

The WABA's ability to garner interest made the NBA think this might be a way to make more money from their stadia during the summer season and birthed the WNBA.

Arguably, but I have no proof, the explosive growth of leagues worldwide can be traced to the same roots.

The existence of a viable career option, with international visibility for female basketball players, I posit, is the largest change in the history of womens' basketball.

The Huskies' continued success and TV exposure continue to support and engender interest in women's BB.

 

[Jackalope]

Jackie Stiles in College. In many ways the Pete Maravich of Women's basketball. 5'8" and still the only NCAA women's player to score more than 1,000 points in a season, along with being the career leader in points scored.

Who could forget her 41 pt sweet 16 game against Duke, and her bringing Southwest Misouri State to the final four? Game changer? Probably as much as any other Women's basketball player.

 

[JRRRJ]

Here's a list of WBB-changing candidates for you -- many of whom did these things long before I thought they'd been done.

I think I'll throw my support behind Nancy Lieberman, whose accomplishment list was much longer than I had recalled. The game-changer, as with the discussion of Candace above, was about showing what was possible. The difference is that Nancy really took it a full level (or more) higher than what had been done before, through an extraordinary combination of skill and will. It's evolution, but it's a looong step.

562 steals? 961 assists? 1,167 rebounds. 2,430 points. And that's in 33 games/year, not 39. Wow.

 

[NCorBust]

How did any of these players change the game? Specifically, how did the game of women's basketball change due to any of these players' efforts from 1970 until the present?

 

[NCorBust]

Still waiting for someone to suggest Sam Prahalis...

Work in progress!

 

[lcjeff]

Tamika Catchings,for showing young girls that having physical impairments (her hearing disablity)doesn't have to prevent you from doing what you love.

 

[Icebear]

Tamika Catchings,for showing young girls that having physical impairments (her hearing disablity)doesn't have to prevent you from doing what you love.

While ont necessarily changing the game itself Catchings is a great role model for kids and should be an inspiration to many.

 

[easttexastrash]

Billy Jean King. She fought for equal rights for women and is a big reason that we have TitleIX was passed, which opened the door for female athletes at the collegiate level.

 

[Icebear]

Billy Jean King. She fought for equal rights for women and is a big reason that we have TitleIX was passed, which opened the door for female athletes at the collegiate level.

Yes, she had a big impact on WCBB without being an on court person at the time.

 

[easttexastrash]

Very few players have changed the game. Some have played it at a higher level that was played before, but did truly change the game.

Parker changed the game. She demonstrated the value of having a big player being able to handle the ball. In my opinion, she is the biggest game changer ever. EDD is the evolution of Parker but EDD is not changing the game, especially since nobody gets to see her play.

Nancy Leiberman and Cheryl Miller demonstrated an athleticism that opened the door for women to be more athletic on the court.

Taurasi, Bird, and Maya in no way changed the game, other than bringing attention to women's basketball. They played at a high level but didn't have an impact on HOW the game is played. Who knows if Griner will have changed the game. She changes the games she is in and will affect women's basketball game for years, but as far as having a long term impact on the women's game, I don't think she will. We simply will not see a rush of 6-8 players who can dunk.

 

[DishNSwish]

Shouldn't we get away from talking about Griner and dunking at this point? When was the last time she dunked in a a game anyway?

 

[easttexastrash]

Shouldn't we get away from talking about Griner and dunking at this point? When was the last time she dunked in a a game anyway?

Whether she is doing it or not, she can and it will always be discussed. But I don't see that it "changes the game." It is a very unique thing that is limited to Griner at this point.

I think that Mulkey has pulled the plug on dunking during games. I doubt that you will see it again in her college career unless she has a break-away. It simply doesn't benefit the team. I think that the attempted dunk against TAMU in the Elite Eight last year was her last attempt.