NBA vs. Little Girls

Last Sunday I went to a basketball game. The featured combatants were girls in elementary school. I enjoyed it much more than the last professional basketball game I watched on TV. Why? Pure joy.

The girls on that court were actually having fun. There were no arguments with the referee. The official's word was absolute. The coaches let every single girl play. The fans were nice. The team my girl is on lost 24-1 but nobody cared.

I used to say that there is nothing more miserable than watching little girls play basketball. I have to say that I was very, very wrong. And it isn't because my girl was on the court. It is because I had no frame of reference.

I have a long history of playing (average) basketball. I played from elementary school all the way through high school and was on intramural teams in collej. At times I would get to play with some guys from the Illini basketball team in pick up games. My most famous memory was when Deon Thomas was bearing down on me on a fast break one on one. I set up to take the charge and he dunked over me, the wind from his size 13 Air Jordan's causing a slight breeze past my ear. He literally jumped over me and I am around six feet tall. I had to laugh - actually I gave him a high five. Good times. Oddly, my best basketball was played in college in pickup games where nobody would ever have a record of it. Even though I was shorter than a lot of guys I was very good at boxing out and got tons of rebounds.

As an aside, reading Deon's wiki, I see he is one of the most successful American pros of all time in the European leagues. Good for him.

After we got home from the game last Sunday, I started teaching my daughter some of the basics of basketball. How to defend, box out, rebound, shoot, set pics - the simple stuff. It was a lot for her to absorb but she liked it. Not to brag, but I saw some talent out there, albeit in the roughest of states. She reminded me a lot of me on the court. Not exactly blessed with the natrual talent but making up for that with her brain. She will come along fine.

I have read many places that the purest form of basketball is high school girls hoops and I believe it. There is no dunking, and typically no dominant player so the teams must master fundamentals like dribbling with your head up, passing, setting good pics, good shooting, etc.

Speaking of dribbling, when I played all those years ago, we would have never gotten away with all the carrying they do now. I don't know you can play defense with guys dribbling like that. Watch any college or pro game and you will see what I mean.

So here you have the NBA, full of gun totin', 'roid pumpin' thugs, causing mayhem, cursing out the refs and acting like jerks. The refs are fixing games. The players don't even run up and down the court.

And on the other hand I see a court full of 9 and 10 year old girls getting great exercise, running up and down the court having a good time and enjoying themselves. I will take the girls game any day. I think that is what Naismith had in mind when he set up that peach basket all those years ago.