Is it more athletic, physical defense? Or just poor shooting.

 

From Mike Fields notebook.

http://www.heraldleader.com/289/story/30012.html

 

• The 16 girls' teams combined to shoot 38.2 percent in their state tournament in Diddle Arena two weeks ago. That's slightly better than last year, which was the worst in a decade.

All the emphasis on the dunk.

I see a lot more physical defense and I also think that many girls are not taught the fundamentals of shooting at a young age.

IMO...there are several other factors that contribute as well. There is a huge difference when they step into a large arena and that atmosphere. There is also such a big difference in depth perception and most players are not conditioned to play on a 94ft floor.

IMO...there are several other factors that contribute as well. There is a huge difference when they step into a large arena and that atmosphere. There is also such a big difference in depth perception and most players are not conditioned to play on a 94ft floor.

 

All very good pointsthat I totally agree with. During the regular season, I think that girls teams are playing more aggressive man to man defense than in the past. Teams are not allowing girls to take the outside jumper anymore by just sitting back in a zone.

IMO, I feel like the game is changing such that the players are getting faster, more physical, and more athletic. However, most girls at this level have not adapted their scoring ability yet. You see, while good ball movement some time ago was good enough to get a girl open enough to set shoot from a particular position on the floor, defenders are now closing out faster and quicker to the shooter forcing them to put the ball on the floor.

Now that said, Girls basketball is facing the same dilemma that the boys game faced in the 80's. During that period, players had to learn to shoot off of the dribble and create shots in movment. Two girls who I have found that can do that are Queen and the Scott Co. girl (sorry dont remember her name only saw her once). True others can do it and there are several that are learning. I think that because of this, girls basketball will see the most advancement in the coming decade than will the boys. It should make for exciting basketball in the future for girls basketball. Look at Candice Parker at TN, in ten years there will be 20 of those in college basketball. Wont that be exciting.

Girls are missing alot more layup's than they have in the past as well...

NCC06 - I have noticed this too..what is wrong with using the backboard..It is not like they get points for style!

Yes this is partly the coaches fault. They are spending more time on running offenses and they can not even put the layup's in the basket. But i do agree they just need to slow down use the backboard and make them. This would make shooting % go up as well.

Yes this is partly the coaches fault. They are spending more time on running offenses and they can not even put the layup's in the basket. But i do agree they just need to slow down use the backboard and make them. This would make shooting % go up as well.

Disagree, too many players decelerate on a layup which allows the defense to catch up and pressure the layup. They need to go through the layup.

 

Thing is they don't practice at that speed. They practice it at a slow pace and then in at game speed, haven't shot it that way before.

Disagree, too many players decelerate on a layup which allows the defense to catch up and pressure the layup. They need to go through the layup.

 

Thing is they don't practice at that speed. They practice it at a slow pace and then in at game speed, haven't shot it that way before.

Very good point. They need to practice going at full speed on layups instead like they do in warmups.

Thank you lbbc. The hardest thing that I found with coaching girls at the high school level is that some just dont want to go game speed all of the time. Maybe that is a direct reflection of not being driven either by coaching or by the lack of desire from teammates or whatever but, yes absolutely, slow down nothing about girls basketball, drive hard, go hard to the cup, and keep girls basketball going where UCONN and TN started and LSU and Vandy, and Duke and UNC have followed!

In addition to the better man to man defensive principles mentioned, I would also guess that the number of 3 point shots taken per game is probably way up.

Thank you lbbc. The hardest thing that I found with coaching girls at the high school level is that some just dont want to go game speed all of the time. Maybe that is a direct reflection of not being driven either by coaching or by the lack of desire from teammates or whatever but, yes absolutely, slow down nothing about girls basketball, drive hard, go hard to the cup, and keep girls basketball going where UCONN and TN started and LSU and Vandy, and Duke and UNC have followed!

 

Another great comment IMO!!!!

IMO it is a combination:

 

1. Lack of upper body strength and control. (Count the number of jump balls in a girls game versus a boys game. That leads to blown layups and missed shots when not set.)

 

2. Too many non-shooters take shots. (I've seen girls throw up shots they are 20% on at best because they lack the patience or the ball control skills to get the ball back to the girls that are the shooters.)

 

3. Smaller ball but even smaller hands. (Saw an NCAA game and the center for one of the teams had huge hands. Probably 2 inches longer than the male announcers fingers when held up together. Not surprisingly she was shooting like 58% on the season. Most high school girls simply have small hands and the smaller ball doesn't make up the difference).

 

4. Better defense on the arc. (Teams have figured out a girl shooting a 14 footer on the move is a less percentage made shot than a 20 foot three pointer with feet set.)

 

5. More physically allowed play by officials. (Rougher play inside results in more off balanced shots which goes back to #1)