The WNBA - Dallas-Mavs.com Forums

Joey · 09-24-2002, 01:46 PM

What are some thoughts on the WNBA? I see a few of ya'll don't like it, but howmany of you want to go one on one (in basketball) with Stacy Dales-Schuman or Sue Bird? These girls kick some serious tale! If you watch it and are expecting mens ball, you ain't gonna get it. However, if you watch it for the love of the game, it is good ball. Not to mention the fact that some of those girls are hot! I think that the only thing missing in the WNBA is a DALLAS team!

Drbio · 09-24-2002, 02:05 PM

I love to go 2 on 1 with Stacy Dales and Sue Bird, but I am sure that you are talking about something else.

The WNBA has it's niche, but personally...I think it stinks.

MavsManiac · 09-24-2002, 02:09 PM

I wouldn't mind seeing a Dallas WNBA team... if for no other reason than to get me thru the summertime hoops withdrawls...

Joey · 09-24-2002, 02:12 PM

Good call. There are a ton of wonderful women athletes coming up through college. I am very glad that womens basketball is finally starting to get some star power and hopefully it will take off in the next couple of years. Does anybody know about WNBA attendance? Is it going up or down?

Drbio · 09-24-2002, 02:46 PM

Does anybody know about WNBA attendance? Is it going up or down?

Depends on the City, but overall it is declining.

Joey · 09-24-2002, 03:14 PM

Thanks Doc. I think that that is a shame!

Drbio · 09-24-2002, 05:01 PM

FYI, some of the teams are doing very well. Well enough to keep the others afloat. They may just need to move a team or two to survive.

Usually Lurkin · 09-24-2002, 05:12 PM

I'm not a big fan of the WNBA. I just don't see the point - they don't shoot better, rebound, pass, or blockout more than the NBA - what do they have to make up for the obvious lack of athleticism? Its like watching three-legged horses race around, or watching chuck norris movies. Sure, you can get into it, but you always know something is missing, and you're getting a second rate product.

Joey · 09-24-2002, 05:43 PM

There is missing something...but I don't want to be the one to spell out the birds and the bees. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] Just kidding.

But think of all of the wonderful athletes that girls growing up have now. If you think about it, what sport have women always had? Tennis. Now, don't get me wrong, Anna K is HOT as if Martina Hingis, but if, growing up Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, John McEnroe, and Jimmy Connors were your only role models, then a men's basketball league would be a God send to you. It is the same for the girls of today. All of a sudden they have great role models. I think that that in of itself makes up for the something missing.

Drbio · 09-24-2002, 08:48 PM

good point on the role model thing Joey.

And Chuck Norris is hardly second rate UL. He is one of the most well respected, decorated and successful martial artists in history.

Usually Lurkin · 09-25-2002, 06:28 AM

That is a good point about the role models, Joey. Females should learn basketball. But we're talking about my very precious tv air time. I like to watch womens tennis because when I imagine a mixed bracket, I honestly dont know if a man or women will win the tournament. I'm sure it hasn't always been that way, and perhaps air time has always been directly related. Other women's sports, when based on speed, bear enough resemblence to the better men's competition (what's a couple of seconds when you watch two people try to go faster than each other?) to retain entertainment value, and when based on grace, are qualitatively different enough to carry value under their own merit (women have uneven bars, men parallel).

Basketball is different. There are fundamental and valuable basketball skills that are missing in the women's game. If you saw men do the things women do (not dunk on a putback, not jump up to the rim to grab a rebound) you'd put them on the bench. If you had a team of men that never did those things, no one would watch them. Maybe someday, like in tennis, women's skills will reach the men's. But until then, I'd rather have Simpson's reruns - or better yet, more of the better basketball talent on the air.

And Chuck Norris is hardly second rate UL. He is one of the most well respected, decorated and successful martial artists in history.

no doubt about his credentials. But if I'm watching a martial arts movie, I know Bruce Lee is better. If watching the badass vet movie, I know Rambo is better. Don't get me started on the tough-guy acting. Chuck Norris is an awsome guy, who's probably done more in his life than I ever will. But as an entertainer, he's nonetheless (at best) second best in a lot of things.

Joey · 09-25-2002, 08:48 AM

Point very well taken UL.

I wonder, though, if the women were bigger, would the dunk all of the time of be more petite about it? One thing you gotta hand the girls though is this...They pass like a son of a gun! In the look at me NBA it is all about the highlight reel at ESPN, but the WNBA is all about assists.

Don't get me wrong, I definatly prefer the NBA to the WNBA, I was just curious what ya'll thought about it.

mavs_afroman · 09-25-2002, 02:07 PM

I like the WNBA. It is definitely something to hold me over until the NBA season starts again. Until I was about 13 my sister was the hooper of the family anyway, so I grew up on womens basketball and its nothing new to me.

Usually Lurkin · 09-26-2002, 06:53 AM

I've complained that WNBA is overexposed, but it's just rediculous that I'd heard nothing about the US womens run to world championships. (US Women Win WC)

Fidel · 09-26-2002, 03:05 PM

<< I like to watch womens tennis because when I imagine a mixed bracket, I honestly dont know if a man or women will win the tournament. >>

No woman would win a single game in such a tourney. Even NR. 500 on the mens ranking would beat Serena Williams 6-0, 6-0. It might look different on TV, but the mens game is much faster and most important the men are able to play fast and still put alot of spin on the ball. They also have much better control while playing fast and their footwork is lightyears ahaed of the womens. Because womens tennis has quite some starpower people tend to overestimate what they can do.

With that said, I still enjoy watching womens tennis sometimes and I think it´s one of the better female pro sports.

Usually Lurkin · 09-26-2002, 03:50 PM

you may be right fidel (though No. 500 at 6-0 6-0 might be a bit harsh.)
I looked at service speed from USOpen, and the top female is 10 mph below the 20th male. The top males do have more double faults, though. Don't know where else to find tennis stats to compare speed.

I think the point I was making might still be valid, though, because you can't really tell on tv. If the women's game was qualitatively different from the men's (like they served underhanded or couldn't run all the way up to the net or something) then it'd be more like the difference between men's and women's basketball.

Fidel · 09-26-2002, 04:29 PM

UL,
while Venus and others do reach a pretty high service speed, they are not able to put any spin on the ball when serving 190 mph. Believe me a Safin serve with 190 mph is a completely different story. The difference is even bigger when it comes to the second serve. No woman on the tour is able to do a kick service for example.

Just comparing stroke speed isn´t saying anything. The womens game is completely different from the mens game. They´d be happy to make a few points and they know it. Still the womens game is ok to look at.

MavsManiac · 09-26-2002, 08:36 PM

<< Still the womens game is ok to look at. >>

two words...

Anna Kournikova [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/img]

Usually Lurkin · 09-27-2002, 06:53 AM

cool fidel.

I'm taking a tennis class in November. Maybe I'll be able to talk more with you about tennis after I learn something [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

Do you see women's game changing towards the men's? I remember when everyone was impressed when Graf (was it her) started hitting so hard a few years ago.

MavsManiac · 09-27-2002, 09:08 AM

Venus & Serena probably hit harder than any female before them & they've closed the gap a tiny bit, but Venus' showing versus that low-ranking male a while back (in australia, wasn't it?) proved they still have a long way to go... Anyone know the rank of the male? The score?

of course, I think women's tennis is a lot more fun to watch than men's because most of the men's game = server serves, opponent flails weekly, results in either ace or smash if the week return finally makes it over the net...

In women's you get long rallies, more excitement, & Anna for one round [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

Of course, since the thread's about WNBA, I still prefer the NBA

Fidel · 09-27-2002, 10:04 PM

<< Venus & Serena probably hit harder than any female before them & they've closed the gap a tiny bit, but Venus' showing versus that low-ranking male a while back (in australia, wasn't it?) proved they still have a long way to go... Anyone know the rank of the male? The score? >>

Both Venus and Serena played a set each against german player Karsten Brasch. The score was 6-1 both times with Brasch leading 5-0 and then giving one game away because he liked the two. A lot of jokes were made of him after that on the mens ATP tour. He was something like NR.150 back then I think.

UL, I think the women might get a little closer when it comes to technique. They will always lack the athletism though. I believe that the athletic explosion in alot of womens sports happened because of doping. Still there is only so much you can do with drugs, and I don´t think women will be able to ever catch up with the men when it comes to athletic ability. The only sports where they might have a good chance to compete in the future are the ones where athletic ability isn´t as important, like racing (there have been a few examples allready, Sahrah Fisher most recently).