IT'S HERE. The WNBA has finally arrived after a long, long introduction (just don't ask who's next). Eight teams will begin play this weekend, one of them being the Utah Starzz, who will send a homecoming queen, a mother and a TV actress, among others, onto the Delta Center floor tonight to play the Sacramento Monarchs.
The question of the hour: Can women's professional basketball survive in this the 25th anniversary of Title IX, or will the WNBA become another footnote in women's sports history?This time the women have hitched their hopes to the men's NBA. That marriage makes this the most publicized, moneyed and boldest attempt ever, but it is also precisely where the league could go wrong.
In a way, it will be a mistake if the league doesn't try to distance itself from the NBA. Right from the start, the WBNA - like its failed predecessors - has a problem: Fans will be tempted to judge the women's game against the men's game, especially now that the games are paired. Fans will be disappointed if they go the Delta Center today expecting to see an NBA replica with longer hair.
"If fans will just take it for what it is and not expect the same play as the men, they're going to enjoy the game," says Fern Gardner, the retired University of Utah coach and one of pioneers of the women's game. "I'm really curious about what fans are expecting. It's not the same as the men's pros."
Nor does it need to be. The women's game has its own appeal. John Wooden, the legendary men's coach, believes the women's game is better than the men's game. I agree for the same reason that I believe that women's tennis is better than men's tennis, and women's volleyball is better than men's volleyball. The women's games are built around finesse rather than power, which, in these sports, creates longer rallies, more strategy and better viewing for spectators.
(For that matter, after watching the Olympic softball competition last summer, I became convinced that women's softball is at least as much fun to watch as men's baseball. You can decide if that's a compliment.)
Because of the differences in strength, size and speed, the women's basketball game is noticeably different than the men's game. It is slower and more earthbound. At least for now, there are few if any dunks. But the women's game is surely closer to what Naismith envisioned when he invented the sport than the NBA game. It is a purist's game, and the NBA is not.
Where the NBA has gone wrong, the women's game has gone right at the collegiate and international level, at least so far. The NBA has regressed to street play because of the spectacular one-on-one abilities. NBA players are prone to loaf at times because of the league's marathon schedule and because they own fat, guaranteed contracts. NBA shooting skills have declined because, some believe, fundamentals have eroded.
Because they lack the men's strength and size, the women rely more on team play, fundamentals and finesse. There is less one-on-one play. There is more passing. Unlike the NBA, the WNBA will allow zone defenses, which will force teams to adjust to varying defenses and alter the strategy and predictability at both ends of the court.
In the women's game, there is less bump and grind in the paint. In the men's game, the inside play has turned into a nightly sumo match. Remember when basketball was considered a non-contact sport?
"There is more finesse with the (women's) inside game," says Gardner. "I hope the refs don't call that game (and allow it in the WNBA). If you see that in the women's game, it will detract from it."
The women will play hard from the opening tipoff, night after night, because they play only 28 games and they are eager to prove themselves. They are making considerably less money than their male counterparts - in the neighborhood of $40,000, about the same as the rest of us - which means they haven't grown spoiled and content.
And the women can flat out shoot. "People will be surprised how good the shooters are," says Gardner. "There are a lot of pure shooters in the women's game. Women can shoot the jumper. They'll be better at the foul line than the men. I just anticipate that."
As the women embark on their latest professional venture, it's important to note the differences in the men's and women's games and also to hope that they embrace them. One can only hope the women's game doesn't evolve into something it is not out of the mistaken belief that it must imitate the men's game. Viva la difference.