Coached both sides of the fence. I agree with Chuck and would add:

The girls' game is definitely slower up and down the floor. Girls aren't as good at creating their own shots off the dribble. Girls don't move laterally as well or quickly as boys do, leaving them vulnerable to outside shots if they play a zone. On the other hand, girls are better at hitting their free throws. Girls are more likely to follow coaching instructions and are more willing to learn. More jump balls in the girls game.

Boys are less likely to give up the ball once they put it down inside the arc - even when they are in trouble. Boys don't shoot as well as the girls from the free throw line. Never had to yell, "SHOOT THE BALL!!!" with boys. With better speed and elevation, boys can force their opponents to rush or alter their shots, even in a zone. Since they watch ESPN way more than the girls, boys are definitely less coachable and always know more than anyone else.

And we have a tie... Neither box-out nearly enough to make this coach happy.

[Edited by PGCougar on Mar 31st, 2005 at 12:50 AM]

I think this is good. I hope it continues.

Also, I think it's clear that we're talking about generalities, and not individual players, or even individual teams. Even so, I'm struck by one observation, and that is that I see differences between hs and college that are much greater in girls than in boys. Others here, so far, havent mentioned those.

For instance, in hs girls, there ARE a lot more held balls, and the lower you go in age and ability, the more there are. But in watching all the college ball this weekend I see far, far fewer held balls thanin the hs game. In fact, it's nearly equal to what I've seen on the men's side.

What I'd like to do is have a sort of check list like in the front of the "Find Waldo..." books, and then watch for the differences over this coming weekend. So far, we've got (these are the items that I agree need to be considered)

Speed,
Elevation
(Held Balls)
Coachability
Girls less likely to turn a fast break into a lay-up
Boys less likely to give up the ball inside the arc

Let's discuss the others further.

Maybe in the "average" game this is true, but I don't think it's true at every level. I haven't seem more girls on the floor in the TV games over the last week.

About knnee pads, I don't see them much around here. Almost never.

UHHHH, I disagree big time. Guys are on the floor way more than girls. Guys are more willing to take the charge and more willing to sacrifice their body for the ball. I guess girls wear kneepads cause they don't want to get floorburn, gotta have pretty knees for the beach.

Again, in generalities... The big difference you allude to is probably due to the depth of the talent pool and the number of players at each level. Although there are equal numbers of boys and girls playing at both the HS and College levels, there isn't an equal depth of talent. Since the talent pool isn't as deep for girls as it is for boys, you often see situations where boys that are pretty good players getting cut from their JV and Varsity teams while on the girls side you see players that are sub-par for JV and Varsity making their teams.

So in HS, the talent difference between the best and worst players on any squad is more noticeable in girls ball than in boys. Result is inconsistent skill levels througout girls HS ball. But the 50 to 1 cut to make it to college weeds out those marginal players on the girls side. This probably explains the improved play at the college level when compared to HS levels and below. In fact, if you look at the mid-major D1 programs versus the top tier D1 programs, you see far more parity in boys than in girls. Again, I believe this points to the depth of the talent pool.

It's late so I hope this made sense...

[Edited by PGCougar on Mar 31st, 2005 at 02:48 AM]

Girls pass the ball and usually catch it two handed. In general, girls are more fumdamentally sound, and boys are more showy. This probably arises from boys playing more pickup games while girls usually play more structured games.

Also, very few girls shoot a true jump shot. They all look like they learned from watching the same video... more of a jumping set shot. This is probably more accurate, but needs more room to release, which helps explain why they pass more and don't usually shoot off the dribble.

Seaking High School:

Usually on the girls side, you will see only 1 or 2 shooters from outside because many of them lack the strength to shoot from 3 point range. There will usually be another 1 or 2 who will try but they have to throw in an extra step to generate the power....tweet..travel.

While a girls team still might play well together, they may only have a couple of really athletic players. A boys team will have a half dozen or more good athletes. Thus, we have a faster game on the boys side because they have more teammates to run with.

You never have to talk to players in a girls game and tell them to pull up their shorts.

Junker, maybe I'm misunderstanding what you're saying here so please explain before I make an @$$ out of myself on here...what exactly do you mean you start the game w/ a coin flip?

All the differences stated so far are absolutely correct.
Another big difference I see, and this goes directly to the flow of the game at both levels, is that the Men/Boys see a lot more of the court and they have the physical ability(most of the time) to react accordingly. Women/Girls appear to only see the defender and one other player.
i.e. 2 on 1 breaks - I hardly ever see the female of the species hit the trail coming in from behind.
I have been asked this before and I have noticed it more and more over the past couple of seasons.
It appears to be a subtle difference on the surface but if you pay attention to it, this is in part why the held ball count is so high in Womens/Girls. They don't see enough of the court to anticipate 2 oplays away.
AAR

A fast boys game is a good workout. A fast girls game is not.

Girls keep their shirts tucked in.

You might hear an "I'm sorry" from a girl when she fouls hard. In a boys game, the boy might step on the kid after the hard foul just to make sure he felt it. :D

There is more team play and less one-on-one in a girls game.

Z

Biggest difference I see is the gap between good and average teams/players...guy's side: good team vs. average team might be a 8-10 point difference, while on the women's side it will be 20 or more points difference.

You heard right. There is no jump ball to start an Iowa girls high school game. A coin is flipped to decide possession.

Continue your laughing now. :)

I think the funny part is that you have to have a coin flip to see who gets to call it.

Someone brought up an excellent point about skill development at an early age. I think this has a lot to do with the differences in the game at a higher level. It is very likely to see a group of young boys playing a pickup game of basketball, much less likely that you would see young girls doing the same thing. As with most sports, the best players tend to be the ones that have been playing the sport for the longest time. On average, boys tend to play much more than girls over the course of their youth. Around here, this is certainly true in the rec leagues. The younger leagues are filled with boys and a few girls. This probably has a lot to do with the differences in the two games by the time the kids make it to high school.

The coachability point is an interesting one. I have never really noticed that before. Although I have noticed that some coaches try to coach the girls beyond their athletic ability. The two games are undoubtedly different, but some coaches try to coach them the same way.

Sure about that?
 

Do you consider it fundamental to bring the ball down after you take control of the ball? Do you consider it fundamental to slap at the ball during a rebound, instead of just grabbing the ball? Do you consider it fundamental to try to dribble through 3 defenders in the lane, and then complain you were fouled by the defenders that did not need to move to stop the ball?

Not sure what is so fundamental about girl's basketball with all the head balls and many of the decision making that I see in girl's basketball.

Peace