Articles & Resources

What Is Wrong With Girls Basketball? by Brian McCormick

Posted by Boston Sports Medicine and Performance Group on Nov 28, 2010 3:41:00 PM

I picked up the following on another web site that covers primarily southern California prep players and teams. However, it closely mirrors many points made on this site previously (I deleted the player’s name and school):

As the negative stories started filtering out of the HAX tourney, perhaps the most significant was the oft-repeated observation that [D1] recruit K.S. has no desire.  She’s a player with all the gifts to be a collegiate AA, yet, she plays as if she’d rather be anywhere other than the basketball court.  If this were a reality show, a judge would have already put the question to her, “Do you really want to be here?”  My belief is that she wants to come to [college] and if she has to play basketball in order to do it, so be it.  During the tournament, numerous observers felt that she was content to let others do the dirty work and if the ball got in her hands, then the magic happened.  Unfortunately, she was not the only player at the tournament who had that attitude.
Have we burned out these girls?  Playing every day, every month of the year.  Even though this is the first big high school tournament in the Southland [technically it is before the official start date of high school basketball practice], scores and scores of concerned fans were noticing that the girls were disinterested and unenthusiastic.  Also, the girls were better athletes, but not better basketball players.  Playing all those games hasn’t translated into higher skills because there’s no teaching or coaching. Watching player after player incorrectly perform a basic skill like a bounce pass or totally ignoring others like a close out,  and you can only start wondering what these parents are paying the big bucks for.  Oh, I know, it’s for the college scholie, and a lot of girls at the tournament have gotten that.  Good for them.  But have we lost a generation of players because of that single-minded goal?  Watching some of the ghastly games that WBB put on during their first week, I’d say the prognosis is not encouraging.

 

Topics: Basketball Related, Brian McCormick