As a coach of girls ball, one of the fundamental problems with girls is they do not try to play the same game the boys can play. We were discussing this issue at a coahc's meeting for the spring. One of our coaches is a former player for the NY Liberty, and she said she is upset to go on the court with a bunch of HS girls and none of them can do a finger roll.
My freshman girls AAU team scrimmaged an 8-9th grade boys AAU team yesterday. They had a 5'10" white guy who was slamming before the scrimmage (white men CAN dunk
), and several taller kids who could slam. My 5'10" player doesn't even think about dunking, which really means she won't play the game in the air like the boys. The boys executed a lot of plays that my girls have never tried. some of it is BS and causes their coach to go ballistic, but some of it is very useful for creating shots against tough defense.
So I think it is a big deal that a girl dunks and gets publicity, because it may lead to girls re-thinking how they approach the game. But I also think it is a bit overdone. If it leads to a lot of jumping and dunking, I think it will improve the girls game. But we have had the isolated female dunker for about 15-20 years now, and it is always one woman in college at a time, now one HS player - you get my point. When it is half of the HS all-Americans, when it is half of the UCONN or Tenn starting line-up (or Baylor even, Judge!), then the game will start to change. Until then, it remains a curiosity, but not a game changing act.