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Posted on Fri, Dec. 16, 2005 |
GIRLS BASKETBALL: The game has evolved from its early years and has changed
the way it's played.
NEWS TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Esko girls basketball coach Sue Northey recently gave her players a copy of a Sports Illustrated profile of University of Tennessee's Candace Parker.
Almost every player already knew about Parker, a highly athletic 6-foot-3 red shirt freshman known for her ability to dunk. Parker is one of the top players for the No. 1-ranked Lady Vols, who are coached by the NCAA's winningest coach, Pat Summitt.
Ten years ago, Northey says, Parker wouldn't have been a household name.
Girl’s basketball has evolved, thus changing the way the game is played. The game is more popular and physical. Faster, quicker, more athletic players are giving teams more depth, and expanded playing opportunities for young players are helping the Northland keep pace with the Twin Cities.
First-year Minnesota Duluth women's basketball coach Sue Fiero said the level of play is drastically different than when she played at UMD in 1996-2000.
"These players are heads and tails above even five years ago," Fiero said.
Today, the top high school senior players are far more prepared to make the jump to college ball. Top-level players follow a structured weight lifting program, play in summer leagues and follow the game's elite players on TV and in person.
Northey said that 10 years ago female players struggled to find role models because games weren't televised or covered by the media to the current degree. But today, high school girls can name many players from the University of Minnesota's team.
"You can see kids trying to emulate the players," said Northey, who has coached at Esko for 16 years. "Prior to now, girls were emulating boys."
Girls are faster and stronger. They are spending more time lifting weights, Hermantown coach Beth Clark said, which has made more athletic players.
"The skill level has gone up," said Clark, who has coached girl’s basketball at Hermantown for 18 years.
Fiero says an emphasis at the high school and college level on improving strength and conditioning has improved athleticism.
Many of the girls are two- and three-sport athletes who have a better perspective on being better all-around athletes, Northey said. They lift weights. They do plyometrics.
"How you coach, your style, is more dictated by their ability than your philosophy," Northey said.
The game also has become more physical.
"It's more demanding on the body," Clark said.
At Hermantown, where girl’s soccer is a popular and successful sport, Clark has noticed that her basketball players are more physical. She thinks the girls that play both soccer and basketball are often more physical players.
The more physical style of play leads to coaches pounding the ball more inside to their post players, Clark said.
"The more physical you play, the better you can wear down an opponent," Clark said.
Teams now have more depth. There used to be teams with just one or two good players, Clark said, but that has changed.
The depth also gets more players involved, Northey said. The younger girls are getting more of an opportunity to play.
Girls are also playing more basketball in the off-season. They can attend camps or play in an AAU league in the summer. With 1996 being the first year Clark had one of her players join an AAU team. That number has grown.
Girls are spending more time learning about the game and practicing the fundamentals in the off-season, Fiero said.
The starting of the AAU Northern Lights teams has helped the area keep pace with the rest of the state, said Karen Stromme, who coached UMD women's basketball for 21 years.
"That has changed the game more than anything," Stromme said.
Because coaches are providing girls the opportunities and resources to play in the off-season, Fiero said, the level of play between the Northland and the Twin Cities is starting to even out a little more.
Five of the 15 players on UMD's roster are from the Northland.
"There's been a jump in the level of talent in this area," Fiero said.
On top of being good for the area, the changes are good for the game, Fiero said.
"It's a fun time for women's and girls basketball."
NIKKI OVERFELT covers prep girl’s basketball for the News Tribune. She can be reached at (218) 723-5242, (800) 456-8181 or e-mailed at noverfelt@duluthnews.com