Who Will Change The Future Of Women's Basketball...

[Enigma64]

Of course it's Skylar Diggins!

http://espn.go.com/womens-college-b...gins-ready-take-control-ncaa-women-basketball

 

[FairView]

Really nice piece about a really nice young lady.

 

[Enigma64]

That she is! I hope she shines in every game (except when she plays UConn).

 

[Wbbfan1]

Skylar has a great personality and is a great player but she's not the one to change WBB. Of the current players, I say Griner has the best chance. Not the personality of Skylar but if she starts to dunk on a regular basis, WBB will get more play on ESPN highlights and possibly the average sports fan will start to play attention. I suspect this won't happen until Griner gets into the WNBA and she will probably end up in either NY or LA. WNBA cannot afford to have Griner end up in Tulsa.

 

[Olde Coach]

Of course it's Skylar Diggins!

http://espn.go.com/womens-college-b...gins-ready-take-control-ncaa-women-basketball

This is the stupidest article I have ever read about a college athlete.

It epitomizes celebrity worship in ways that should embarrass any thoughtful, decent, values-oriented adult or teen ager in America.

Welcome to the world of People magazine and all the other stupid, gossip, celebrity rags available at your local super-market checkout line.

I don't know Skylar; but my best guess from watching her play basketball is that she is a really nice kid. And she is really embarrassed by, and unhappy with, this piece of media over exposure and hyperbole.

Shame on ESPN for publishing this fawning bit of media self-promotion.

Just My Humble Opinion.

Olde Coach

 

[Husky68]

Funny how perceptions are different. Several times during ND loses have noticed her being "petulant", swatting at a ball for a steal late in the game, a kind of "smugness" about her look like "how dare you guard me, or call a foul on me". Guess I just can't like anything "ND", although I will admit that I no longer think Ruth Riley is a witch (although her hairdo does resemble the wicked witch of the west)!

 

[alexrgct]

This is the stupidest article I have ever read about a college athlete.

It epitomizes celebrity worship in ways that should embarrass any thoughtful, decent, values-oriented adult or teen ager in America.

Welcome to the world of People magazine and all the other stupid, gossip, celebrity rags available at your local super-market checkout line.

I don't know Skylar; but my best guess from watching her play basketball is that she is a really nice kid. And she is really embarrassed by, and unhappy with, this piece of media over exposure and hyperbole.

Shame on ESPN for publishing this fawning bit of media self-promotion.

Just My Humble Opinion.

Olde Coach

So, just so I'm clear, you didn't think much of the article?

I thought the article was poor myself. Skylar Diggins is not the first attractive woman to play women's ball. She's not the only player Lil' Wayne follows. See this pic? He's wearing the jersey of the team Maya plays for now:

 

[alexrgct]

[continuing due to stupid character limit]

The theory that we're in an "attraction economy" in a way we've never been before is just nonsense. Ana Kournikova made a fortune for being an avergae tennis player who was exceptionally attractive, if it comes to that. Sex sells, has sold, and will continue to.

I also cannot believe the article is really buying into the notion that we're entering an age of parity in WCBB, using ND's preseason Big East projection this one season as evidence. Hasn't the author SEEN Uconn's current and upcoming recruiting classes??? Weren't we supposed to be entering an age of parity five years ago after the Baylor-Maryland championships? And who won the next four 'ships after that? It's just a terrible narrative that is based on not having an attention span or real udnerstanding of what's happening to the game right now.

Skylar Diggins is beautiful. She's a very good basketball player. If she plays at her highest level, game in and game out, I'd even concede she's a great WBB player. However, her ceiling is not that of the players the author opens the article with. So if she's going to change the game by virtue of being a great but not transcendent player and exceptionally cute, God help us.

 

[dtbtbtb]

With all due repect to her, while she is a very good player (AA and all), she is not going to change the game. Griner does and will and I think B. Stewart got a chance but Diggins....not

 

[sarals24]

Plus, is the author's point that the first few players mentioned didn't change WCBB? I beg to differ, my friend. Lisa Leslie and Sheryl Swoopes are pretty famous, and as for D, well...I'd certainly say she's changed the game. Enough that some lab was apparently willing to cheat in order to get her off the court for the Olympics (just my theory, fwiw)

WCBB is now widely televised, there are recruiting websites devoted to high school players, Final Fours are sold out...I'd say those players changed the game significantly. And as for Maya, it remains to be seen, though she is the first woman to sign with the Jordan brand and did win a WNBA championship her first season...I bet lots of people could name what team she plays for. Their attendance was way up this year.

So Skylar is going to "change" the game by...being pretty? And a good point guard? I don't buy it. Sue Bird is gorgeous and has won a lot more than Diggins. Not to take anything away from Skylar, of course, but it seems disingenuous to think she's going to change the nature of WCBB because of her looks, basically. She wasn't even the best point guard in the game last season, IMO...I'd say Vandersloot was.

WCBB isn't going to dramatically change overnight. Players like Griner are helping bring some attention to the sport, true, but anyone who tunes in just to see dunks is going to be pretty underwhelmed. I think it's more likely that the trend will continue as it has...more and more interest each year, with some outstanding players or events (like The Streak) helping push things along a bit. Guys growing up and having daughters who play sports, and realizing how great it is to have older athlete role models for them...that's what it takes. Not sensationalism or attractive players.

 

[FairView]

This article is not about her skills changing the game. It's really about the fact that our society values celebrity and beauty so much, that Skylar has the chance to change the ways people look at the game. It can bring more fans to the game because, like it or not, people thrive on celebrity. Look at Paris Hilton and the Kardashians (I don't know or care how to spell it). My take away from the story is that there is that Skylar appears to remain a pretty grounded, dedicated and hardworking person, despite the celebrity being thrust upon her. (I only wish the celebrity would distract her.) It's also a nice piece about how she thinks and makes decisions and looks at things. Regarding her "petulant" actions during games, we would tend to call them competitive, driven or acts of frustration for not delivering if she played for our team instead. She's a good kid. UConn would have liked to have her. Regarding the parity comments, etc., hey, they're "trying to sell papers." It can't be all UConn all the time and a story about another kid on a team that dashed the giant's hopes last year sells. We would all be praising the author if this was a few years ago and the story was about Sue Bird.

 

[alexrgct]

This article is not about her skills changing the game. It's really about the fact that our society values celebrity and beauty so much, that Skylar has the chance to change the ways people look at the game. It can bring more fans to the game because, like it or not, people thrive on celebrity. Look at Paris Hilton and the Kardashians (I don't know or care how to spell it). My take away from the story is that there is that Skylar appears to remain a pretty grounded, dedicated and hardworking person, despite the celebrity being thrust upon her. (I only wish the celebrity would distract her.) It's also a nice piece about how she thinks and makes decisions and looks at things. Regarding her "petulant" actions during games, we would tend to call them competitive, driven or acts of frustration for not delivering if she played for our team instead. She's a good kid. UConn would have liked to have her. Regarding the parity comments, etc., hey, they're "trying to sell papers." It can't be all UConn all the time and a story about another kid on a team that dashed the giant's hopes last year sells. We would all be praising the author if this was a few years ago and the story was about Sue Bird.

And my point is that she is neither the first attractive WBB player, nor nearly as transcendent a player as those the author opens with. Nor has our society changed so dramatically over the past 10-15 years that the beauty of one player is going to create a tipping point in WBB. Nor are we headed to an age or parity.

If someone wrote an article about a UConn player that was myopic, inaccurate, and unoriginal, I would not be praising anything about it.

 

[MilfordHusky]

To answer the question:

Maya Moore

Britney Griner

Breanna Stewart

Diamond DeShields

Brianna Turner

They have size, athleticism, and skills not seen before.

 

[FairView]

I think our society has changed a bit in the past 10-15 years with the phenomenal growth of things like reality TV and celebrity web sites like TMZ. Heck, even the legitimate news organizations pay more attention than ever to celebrity. And a huge change in the past 10-15 years has been the growth in communications forums. There was to twitter when Sue Bird played, so there was no way for a celebrity to tweet about her and direct the attention of tens of thousands of his followers to women's basketball. And then that tweet itself becomes a "legitimate" news story, snowballing even more. People couldn't share interests as easily as through Facebook. There weren't viral videos. Twitter is five years old, You Tube is six. Facebook is seven. And those timelines are from their founding, not when their popularity took off. You are right that Skyler isn't nearly as transcendent as the players at the beginning of the story, but that does not mean her celebrity cannot have more of an effect on the game. And if that is the case, isn't that a pretty big story in itself? And, by the way, if you read the subhead carefully, you will see that it is a question, not a statement.

 

[pap49cba]

"the game changer that women's hoops has long prophesied?"

Where can I read the women's hoops prophesies?

 

[NCorBust]

PROGRESS! Change women's basketball by converting the players into starlets! Sex symbols! Yeah, great job ENTERTAINMENT sports programming network (Espn)!!!!!

 

[boontonbomber]

Funny how perceptions are different. Several times during ND loses have noticed her being "petulant", swatting at a ball for a steal late in the game, a kind of "smugness" about her look like "how dare you guard me, or call a foul on me". Guess I just can't like anything "ND", although I will admit that I no longer think Ruth Riley is a witch (although her hairdo does resemble the wicked witch of the west)!

i'm relieved to see that someone else sees that side of diggins.

 

[wire chief]

[continuing due to stupid character limit]

The theory that we're in an "attraction economy" in a way we've never been before is just nonsense. Ana Kournikova made a fortune for being an avergae tennis player who was exceptionally attractive, if it comes to that. Sex sells, has sold, and will continue to.

I also cannot believe the article is really buying into the notion that we're entering an age of parity in WCBB, using ND's preseason Big East projection this one season as evidence. Hasn't the author SEEN Uconn's current and upcoming recruiting classes??? Weren't we supposed to be entering an age of parity five years ago after the Baylor-Maryland championships? And who won the next four 'ships after that? It's just a terrible narrative that is based on not having an attention span or real udnerstanding of what's happening to the game right now.

Skylar Diggins is beautiful. She's a very good basketball player. If she plays at her highest level, game in and game out, I'd even concede she's a great WBB player. However, her ceiling is not that of the players the author opens the article with. So if she's going to change the game by virtue of being a great but not transcendent player and exceptionally cute, God help us.

One small quibble, Alex, and not about your main points. Anna was an above average player who just couldn't quite break through to a championship.

 

[VAMike23]

To answer the question:

Maya Moore

Britney Griner

Breanna Stewart

Diamond DeShields

Brianna Turner

They have size, athleticism, and skills not seen before.

And KML !!! hehehe She has shooting skills not quite seen before (at least by me)

 

[speedoo]

Yes. Miss Diggins, meet Miss Lewis.

 

[ThisJustIn]

"the game changer that women's hoops has long prophesied?"

Where can I read the women's hoops prophesies?

Ahem. I said nothing of the sort!

It's important to define what we mean by "game changer." Are you talking introducing a new skill set that OTHERS can then emulate? Or changes someones perception of the game. Larry and Magic were "game changers" in that they saved the NBA's butt....

I think that D is a game changer, but we'll see it in a decade or so in the way people talk about the game -- instead of "she plays like a guy" they'll say, "she plays like Diana."

 

[Justavisitor]

She's not the only player Lil' Wayne follows. See this pic? He's wearing the jersey of the team Maya plays for now:

This was the game that he attended with Diggins. Skylar is close friends with Wiggins and this was from the championship series. He attended a game as Diggins' friend, but to clarify, not her boyfriend, as the tabloids alluded to.

 

[MilfordHusky]

And KML !!! hehehe She has shooting skills not quite seen before (at least by me)

I was just going to make the same addition. She will raise the bar for shooters everywhere.

 

[Kevin G]

When Skylar starts to do things I have yet to see in a game and win a championship I just MIGHT consider her as one of the best. As for now, I don't think so. She is not even close to greats such as Carol Blazejowski, Ann Meyers, Cheryl Miller, Lisa Leslie, Diana Taurasi, Candace Parker, Maya Moore, etc. Now these women CHANGED the game in one way shape or form.

 

[Buzzyboy]

One small quibble, Alex, and not about your main points. Anna was an above average player who just couldn't quite break through to a championship.

I think Anna Kournikova was actually a little subpar when it came to tennis skills. She was so ordinary that it hurt and I'm one who doesn't think that she was overtly attractive. So for me and a bunch of other men, her being a media "star" was ludicrous.