Girls Blowouts

[Hawks Coach]

To be nice to dblref, I will refrain from saying what I really wanted to say in response to your query. Then again, he could probably respond about what it takes to coach AAU

To ref AAU, all you really need to do is be a member of an association that has as contract with one of the clubs that run tournaments, and show an interst. It is not so easy to find refs that want to do younger age groups, especially for the girls.

My club, the Vogues, and the Cardinal are the prime tournament host clubs in our area. Fencor in Philadelphia holds quite a few. Most clubs host at least one ournament, some go 3-4 per spring, and some very few clubs are out there all the time (Kenny Farmer in Mt Vernon is running nearly every weekend!)

http://www.usjn.com lists many of the girls AAU tournaments on the East Coast under their EGBA Master List page, which also includes a smattering of mid-west, south, and western tourneys. Not sure where the best source of boys info is.

[tw1ns]

There was actually some talk in Iowa about going back to
6 on 6 basketball because of the lack of interest in the state tournament. My wife and mother in law are all for this. Of course they played 6 on 6. I am not sure if this would solve the problem of blowouts but they were thinking about it for the smaller schools who don't have the number of girls out.

[Hawks Coach]

Originally posted by tw1ns
There was actually some talk in Iowa about going back to
6 on 6 basketball because of the lack of interest in the state tournament. My wife and mother in law are all for this. Of course they played 6 on 6. I am not sure if this would solve the problem of blowouts but they were thinking about it for the smaller schools who don't have the number of girls out.

This will just make the game worse. Less qualified girls playing, but more on the court.

The less experieinced/talented girls teams have a hard enough time scoring - adding a player will only make it worse!

[tw1ns]

Originally posted by Hawks Coach

This will just make the game worse. Less qualified girls playing, but more on the court.

The less experieinced/talented girls teams have a hard enough time scoring - adding a player will only make it worse! [/B]

6 on 6 is basically 3 on 3 -

I guess they think they can put the more skilled players on offense and the less skilled on defense. Remember, 6 on 6 is 3 forwards against 3 defensive players and you can't cross half court. I know I am going to get ripped for saying less skilled players would play defense!!!

[A Pennsylvania Coach]

6-on-6 will never happen in any state, because someone would sue that their daughter doesn't get a fair shot at a bball scholarship. And they'd be right. Ask mick about the lawsuit in Michigan to get the season moved from fall to winter.

[Call It Both Ways!]

This article came a few weeks after an article documenting the drop in points scored in the boys games in the Cincinnati area.

We had a big game in the "premiere" league in Cincinnati featuring the defending D-II State Champion. (the team that knocked off Lebron's team last year)

Final score..........26-25. and nope......not stall ball.

Other scores from that league....31-17, 36-32, 33-29.

With regards to the girls' article......While there are plenty of blow outs, you won't find the boys teams failing to score a field goal in the game. Just proves that the girls game has a long way to go (overall).

Title IX has produced some unintended consequences. Unfortunately this may be something that will never be completely remedied.

[Hawks Coach]

Never is a long time. And we shouldn't think of growing pains as a total negative, just a reality of growing a sport. Growth will occur, then skills will follow.

In our area, lots of girls start thinking about HS ball while they are in MS, some well before that. There are so many opportunities to play high level ball that the serious ones pick up with a club and play travel ball. Every HS ends up with several girls that have at least AAU B team experience, and many will have at least 1-2 A-level players. Even the B level players have played against A teams numerous times and are ready to handle the speed and skill (and defensive pressure) that player of this caliber bring to a game.

Yesterday, I watched a sub-500 HS team play one of the top teams in the area, and they actually were able to hang with them for a while. They were blown out, but no worse than a guys' mismatch game would produce. The level of players was clearly different between the two teams, but the girls on the weaker team could handle the pressure, beat the press, run offense, etc. They just were a step slower and slightly less talented. They rushed a few more shots, had trouble getting good looks, etc., but they could play the game and it still looked like basketball.

The complete mismatches where a team gets only 1 or 2 points are usually cases where a school has no players with any high level experience coming in, and they cannot possibly handle a quick, skilled team defense. They cannot begin to figure out how to beat one defender at that level, let alone a team of great defenders. They also do not transition well and find themselves chasing a team that is doing an unopposed full-court layup drill the whole game.

I am convinced that across the country, opportunities for early high level play will continue to expand and you will see less situations where schools are completely overmatched. Until then, consider it just a necessary component of growing a sport. Not bad, not good, just reality.