‘

Vanity OMT Ay ODE TET MS

Pe i ee ee a ne el on

         

 

 

 

HE WHO WALKS BEHIND THE BENCHES put on by professional athletes. And, as anyone who
follows basketball knows, the women’s game is far better

to watch as a purist because they can a) dribble, b) pass,

off June 10, but eventually the NBA and the WNBA c) shoot and d) play “D.”

: new season of professional women’s basketball tips
will have to play together.

. ost NBA games today
...the league will eventually be too Mein .
occasional 3-pointer and a lot

crammed with teams tO play ad real of missed jump shots. If you

want to watch real basketball
se a SO Nn ; click on the WNBA, or better

yet, catch the University of
Tennessee when they play the
University of Connecticut. That’s real basketball in action.

 

 

league status given to it by the NBA. Twelve teams
ompeting over two months (June\July) with the
playoffs covering two weeks in August is fine for now,
but with the NBA's goal being to put a women’s team in
every franchise city, the league will eventually be too o
crammed with teams to play a real season. Therefore, ans f h ec p | d Nn fi 0 fi xX t h at
once the WNBA expands past its current 12-team format

the NBA should look to playing the seasons problem—play double

simultaneously.

he problem with that scenario is that while Kobe A ed der. S .

T= the Lakers are dazzling a sold-out arena in
Westwood, the equally dazzling Sheryl Swoopes is
playing in front of friends and family in Houston.
However, this is the plan to fix that problem—play
double-headers. Say Utah and Minnesota are scheduled to
play. Start the women’s game at 5pm local time and start
the men’s game at 8pm. Now, the women’s game won't be
a novelty showcase, like the US likes to make of its
women’s soccer team; it would be a real basketball game

R= now, the WNBA is the perfect size for the bush

lot of arguing will go on, especially over television

Te: changes aren't going to happen overnight. A
times. Well screw television! Basketball was here a

 

 

long time before television, and if some “fans” don’t want
to catch a WNBA game because they won't see any Vince
Carteresque highlight dunks, too bad for them. Theyre
missing an excellent game.

June 1999 the Other Press page 11