Geno Auriremma has a few suggestions for how to improve women’s college basketball. For starters, he thinks scoring needs to be made easier. What’s the best way to assure that more balls go in the basket? Lower the rim, of course.
According to the Hartford Courant, Auriemma believes the inability of some women to make shots and finish layups hurts the growth of the game. Lowering the rim “about seven inches” would help stimulate that growth, he says.
“What makes fans not want to watch women’s basketball is that some of the players can’t shoot and they miss layups and that forces the game to slow down,” Auriemma said. “How do you help improve that? Lower the rim (from 10 feet). Do you think the average fan knows that the net is lower in women’s volleyball than men’s volleyball? It’s about seven inches shorter so the women have the chance for the same kind of success at the net (as the men).”
I don’t know how much it would result in the growth of the women’s college basketball audience, but Auriemma’s idea makes sense. As dumb as it may sound, there are a ton of fans out there who argue that women’s basketball is boring because it lacks athleticism and dunking. It’s rare that a woman like Brittney Griner can throw down a dunk like this one on a 10-foot hoop, so lowering the rim could lead to more scoring and more dunking. Whether you agree with it or not, that’s what people want to see. Men are generally much taller than women, so the theory makes sense. Having said that, a change of that nature seems unlikely.
H/T Game On!
