Sunday, February 15, 2009

But Their Fundamentals Are So... Fundamental

Do you think one Top 25 team should be able to beat another Top 25 by 53 points? No, we don't think so.

Is a college sport legit when this sort of thing happens with some measure of regularity? No, we don't think so.

You can pretend that Geno Auriemma is a terrific coach and that Pat Summit's 1,000+ wins are just as meaningful as Bob Knight's 902. But you'd be wrong.

As a co-editor of mine once said, it's not a "golden age of women's basketball," it's a golden age of a few teams.

18 comments:

Purdue Matt said...

Agreed.

T-Mill said...

I won't say much ebcause Purdue's only national title came in this sport. I was a freshman that year and we celebrated it about as well as anyone else would have (couch burning included!)

boilerdowd said...

Look into 1932, Travis.

Basketball under water.

Sean said...

Amen brother, Amen. I've been making this point - the margin of victory one, not Travis forgetting about Johnny W and the 1932 squad - for a while now and it's fallen on deaf ears. Occasionally, you may get a blowout of 1995 Nebraska - Florida Fiesta Bowl proportions, but more often than not, games are within reason in basketball (and yes, I know I used a football game to illustrate a basketball point).

Holding Pat Summit's 1k up as "the" mark that everyone is chasing is totally disingenuous. Some of the teams that her Vols play (and the Lady Boilers, for that matter) that count towards victory totals don't put up nearly the level of competition that some of the men's preseason, Athletes-in-Action games do; much less games that count.

E said...

How about Cynthia Cooper's name being on the list for Basketball Hall of Fame nominees?? More forcing it down out throats!!!

Anonymous said...

If you don't like it, don't pay attention to it... Why all the anger? As a female athlete, no we are not nearly as quick, athletic, and the number of athletes with potential are just not there. But, why be so negative? We still put in just as much hard work and effort. Purdue women's bball gets about 8,000 to their home games, so people do enjoy rooting them on-that's more then Butler's Top 25 men's team!!! I see no reason to be such pricks just because you don't enjoy it.

Anonymous said...

http://blogs.indystar.com/hoosiersinsider/archives/2009/02/another_good_da.html

Terry's at it again. Some points... it's a good recruiting day just because recruits were in attendance. Imagine how much better the fans will be when they are winning. (since it was a sellout, I'm guessing there won't be more of them). This guy is unreal.

boilerdowd said...

Hey brave female anonymous athlete- name-calling rules! Nice job- stay classy.

Who's the bigger prick? The person who starts name-calling when others have another opinion or the person who just has another opinion?

A few points:
-Butler has 4,200 students...might that be part of the reason they can't draw...could be huh?

And you are absolutely dreaming if you think Purdue's women are drawing 8K/game. There have been a few games this season when they've had less than 4,000.

I don't mind women playing the game, that's great...I just don't want to see it on ESPN during men's coverage; they shouldn't be compared, they're barely the same sport...Women can shoot the ball (with a 2/3-sized ball), generally, but many women still shoot the ball from below their shoulders; no men's player could get one shot off shooting that way.

If Purdue's going to have a women's team, I want them to succeed because they're representing my alma mater...just like swimming, softball, tennis and other teams...but they should be covered the same way as the other Title IX sports- not force-fed. Granted, EsPN is close to UConn, but the rest of the nation doesn't have the affinity for that game as they do in Connecticut and Tennessee.

Anonymous said...

FYI-
Purdue women's team is 4th-best in attendance drawing an average of 8,933 this season.

http://web1.ncaa.org/app_data/weeklyrpi/2009WBBattend1.html

Info available on NCAA website. Could only find Butler attendance for last season which averaged around 5900. Being that Purdue is located in W. Laf and the women's team is unranked, while Butler is located in a city of 1 million and ranked, it is still very pathetic that they can't draw more than an unranked WOMEN'S team.

boilerdowd said...

OK, and Purdue's located in a metro area with 100,000...and nothing else to do...no other major sporting events.

I'm not a Butler fan, I'm not going to defend Butler's fan base, because it's awful that they can't draw...I made fun of them when I went to a game at Hinkle earlier this season...

But,aren't Purdue's numbers a bit skewed because of the levels of student tickets sold? Doesn't every person that wants to be eligible for the lower level Paint Crew have to have women's tickets too?

Someone from the PC, please weigh-in...I'm not positive about the logistics of this.

Stats can be tweaked and twisted, but Purdue's women's team does not have 8K bodies in the stands for most games. There were empty seats in the lower level last week when they were in the BTN.

John said...

Yes, to be in the Paint Crew you must purchase a package that includes Football, Men's and Women's Basketball, Women's Volleyball, and a handful of other smaller sports.

Boilergal said...

I guess I will weigh in on this... I played HS b-ball and with some promotion, we pulled over a thousand for a few games. Girls basketball is not as exciting, which is why the fundamentals are so important.

As far as ESPN coverage, I can't imagine it was that huge of a segment, and probably wasn't that exciting, but what Geno and Summit have done at their respective schools should be applauded. You do still have to coach girls and they have proven they can do that pretty well.

As far as Purdue's women's games, I am ashamed to say that I haven't been to one in at least a decade, unless they were playing right before the men and I caught the end (and I have season tix for men's). I still do like to see them do well, and they are always ranked in the top for attendance. They put out a good product for those that are into it, and I have some friends that like to take their kids to the women's games, because they are cheaper and they can get good seats and still enjoy a good atmosphere.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, I don't attend, but still root on the lady Boilers and hope they are successful. Being a Boiler, I don't see any reason to badmouth the players or the sport (especially since it is a sport in which Purdue is consistently successful.)

boilerdowd said...

Thanks John; appreciate the info. How many are in the Paint Crew, anybody know?

Who badmouthed whom?

If badmouthing is saying Summit's record doesn't hold a candle to Knight's, Rupp's, or Smith's, then I'm badmouthing...and will continue doing so.

Anonymous said...

Mewwwwwwwww... who cares about women's ball and you are arguing about it this much??? So what if they take a little blip on ESPN?? ESPN just replays the same crap over and over and has to mix it up by putting in something a little different. Big deal.

Purdue Matt said...

Anonymous girl is slow and has a three inch vertical.

Purdue Matt said...

Erika Valek sucks and is ugly.

THAT is bad mouthing.

J Money said...

This is always what happens if you ever dare to suggest women's sports aren't entertaining. And that's all we were suggesting.

Nobody said they don't have a right to play. Nobody ever said they SHOULDN'T play. If I have a daughter and she's good enough to be an athlete, I will appreciate Title IX is there.

HOWEVER, the point is simply that women's basketball should NOT be compared to men's. It's insulting to do so. This doesn't mean women are lesser beings -- none of us thinks, so. Our wives are our worlds. But when it comes to athletes, women are in fact physically less significant than male athletes. And, thus, the product is far less impressive. And there are far FEWER talented athletes. Which is why Tennessee and UConn can dominate.

No doubt what Auriemma and Summit have done is admirable. Absolutely no doubt. But it's also admirable if you win 1,000 games coaching CYO basketball and yet I don't think they should be compared to NCAA D-1 men's programs, either.

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