Uconn wins 89 straight

[Roy H.]

Knock the women's game for their below-the-rim play but they're better in the fundamentals overall.  It'd be a match of athleticism against fundamentals to see who'd win.  I think the women would beat the HS teams and would beat a fair number of men's teams too.

I disagree.  Athleticism is about more than above-the-rim play.  It's speed, lateral quickness, endurance, strength, etc., etc.  I just don't think top women can compete with even average college male athletes in that regard.

perhaps you watch more 'average' mens teams than I do Roy (which isn't much of a stretch) but the ones I've seen aren't solid fundamentally.  They don't have more than a few guys that can shoot.  Most of the players are poor FT shooters.  Most don't fundamentally box out on the boards.  Most have poor defensive footwork. Most rely on loose interpretations of the rulebook to get away with what the pass off as ballhandling.  Many make poor passes, particularly under pressure. 

I don't watch much women's ball (primarily because there's so few good women players and let's face it, the only team worth watching is the C's or the local college teams) but the good players I've seen are pretty solid fundamentally.  They're not nearly as athletic as men but how many times have smarter, more-skilled teams beaten more athletic teams.

Also consider the fact that with most of the men's best talent jumping to the pro's very early from college, there's even more mediocre men's college teams out there.

I think you're overrating fundamentals, though.  Fundamentals and team play can overcome some degree of an athleticism gap, but when there is a drastic difference in every phase of athletic ability, the lesser athletes won't be able to compete.

The gap between average men and top women is, in my estimation, a lot larger than the gap between average men and top men.  Even average men play above the rim and have the speed and musculature to at least compete against the best men.  Women don't possess that.

That shouldn't take away from UConn's accomplishments.  It's just a different sport, played by different levels of athletes.

[Fafnir]

I agree with Roy, a men's team would have too much of a size/athletic advantage over even UConn.

[Tgro]

I'm sick of them.

I can't wait for them to finally lose.

[PosImpos]

"UConn women broke the record for the longest winning streak in women's college basketball" all is good.

Fixed.

[thirstyboots18]

You are all missing the point!  Women are not in competition with men!  (We are don't have to be, we are better than that and are above that!)  Men, evidently, are in competition with women, though.  Who knew men were so insecure?   

[Cman]

You are all missing the point!  Women are not in competition with men!  (We are don't have to be, we are better than that and are above that!)  Men, evidently, are in competition with women, though.  Who knew men were so insecure?   

TP, well said

[Bahku]

You are all missing the point!  Women are not in competition with men!  (We are don't have to be, we are better than that and are above that!)  Men, evidently, are in competition with women, though.  Who knew men were so insecure?  

TP, well said

I agree completely ... this is about an NCAA record, not a women's record or a men's record. You can not compare, appraise, evaluate, or criticize by the same standards, or try to "equalize" the standards by which the two groups are looked at.

Women are a completely different entity, with different strengths, weaknesses, capabilities, and physiological/biological differences that men do not have to deal with or apply to the equation. (I, for one, am extremely thankful for those differences).

The NCAA is about men AND women, not more so for one or the other, and this is an NCAA record that was well-earned and should be well-praised. People that shrug it off because they somehow feel that women athletes don't have to work as hard or train as hard simply because they're women, are only putting their limited perspective on display for all to see.

Personally, I'm a bit more impressed with this record being set by the womens' team, because females deal with physical and biological stresses that we men can not begin to understand, and thankfully for us, been given a detour around. Can you imagine a Kobe Bryant or LeBron James with PMS?!?

All I can say is that if men were the ones who had to give birth, the world would have no problem with over-population. Awesome record ... you GO, girls!!

[thirstyboots18]

You are all missing the point!  Women are not in competition with men!  (We are don't have to be, we are better than that and are above that!)  Men, evidently, are in competition with women, though.  Who knew men were so insecure?  

TP, well said

I agree completely ... this is about an NCAA record, not a women's record or a men's record. You can not compare, appraise, evaluate, or criticize by the same standards, or try to "equalize" the standards by which the two groups are looked at.

Women are a completely different entity, with different strengths, weaknesses, capabilities, and physiological/biological differences that men do not have to deal with or apply to the equation. (I, for one, am extremely thankful for those differences).

The NCAA is about men AND women, not more so for one or the other, and this is an NCAA record that was well-earned and should be well-praised. People that shrug it off because they somehow feel that women athletes don't have to work as hard or train as hard simply because they're women, are only putting their limited perspective on display for all to see.

Personally, I'm a bit more impressed with this record being set by the womens' team, because females deal with physical and biological stresses that we men can not begin to understand, and thankfully for us, been given a detour around. Can you imagine a Kobe Bryant or LeBron James with PMS?!?

All I can say is that if men were the ones who had to give birth, the world would have no problem with over-population. Awesome record ... you GO, girls!!

Are you telling me that Kobe and LeBron do NOT suffer from PMS?  Well, there goes That excuse!   

[Rondo2287]

I just don't see them as equal.  I mean if the Bunker hill community college badmitton team won 90 straight matches would you consider it just as impressive? And would you say they broke the Uconn record? 

[Bahku]

I just don't see them as equal.  I mean if the Bunker hill community college badmitton team won 90 straight matches would you consider it just as impressive? And would you say they broke the Uconn record?  

They aren't equal, but the competitive standards that college women face aginst their fellow college women, are just as stringent, just as competitive, as what college men face against their opponents. NCAA women train just as hard, work just as hard, face the same academic challenges as men do.

Their competition, the other schools they face, have no less standards than the mens' programs do. It's not about comparing women to men, it's about comparing women to women, within the same NCAA rules, requirements, and challenges that NCAA men do.

[thirstyboots18]

Championships in any sports are still championships. Undefeated in any sport is difficult. Good is Good and Bad is Bad.  If an apple and a steak are rotten, they are not the same, but they are still both rotten.  Mittens and socks both keep your extremities warm, but even though they are knit out of yarn, you know they are different...

Some people prefer baseball to basketball.   Some people even prefer women's sports to men's sports.  I myself prefer women's tennis to men's...but NBA, in particular, the Boston Celtics, is my chosen spectator sport.  (By-the-way, how good are you at billiards or bridge?   )

Men are different than women.  Not better, different.  Accept it.  
 
Ending yet another rant!

[Chris]

I just don't see them as equal.  I mean if the Bunker hill community college badmitton team won 90 straight matches would you consider it just as impressive? And would you say they broke the Uconn record? 

Absolutely!  Do you know how competitive badmitton is? (no really, do you know?  Because I sure don't)

[Rondo2287]

I just don't see them as equal.  I mean if the Bunker hill community college badmitton team won 90 straight matches would you consider it just as impressive? And would you say they broke the Uconn record?  

They aren't equal, but the competitive standards that college women face aginst their fellow college women, are just as stringent, just as competitive, as what college men face against their opponents. NCAA women train just as hard, work just as hard, face the same academic challenges as men do.

Their competition, the other schools they face, have no less standards than the mens' programs do. It's not about comparing women to men, it's about comparing women to women, within the same NCAA rules, requirements, and challenges that NCAA men do.

With all due respect Bahku im gonna disagree with you here on two accounts. 

I just don't think the competitive balance is equal.  The reason March Madness is so great for guys is because anything can happen.  In womens basketball the talent gap is so wide that unless the top 3-4 teams are playing eachother the competition isnt there.  The gap between the first ranked team and 25th ranked team in womens bball is mind boggling.  If that same matchup were occuring in mens basketball its reasonable to assume the 25th ranked team has a chance to win. 

My second point that im going to disagree with you on is that I bet that the academic standards women have to live up to are much higher than those of the men.  For many colleges mens basketball is a revenue generator and therefor athletes will be given a free pass.  I doubt the same is true for womens basketball.

[Rondo2287]

Championships in any sports are still championships. Undefeated in any sport is difficult. Good is Good and Bad is Bad.  If an apple and a steak are rotten, they are not the same, but they are still both rotten.  Mittens and socks both keep your extremities warm, but even though they are knit out of yarn, you know they are different...

Some people prefer baseball to basketball.   Some people even prefer women's sports to men's sports.  I myself prefer women's tennis to men's...but NBA, in particular, the Boston Celtics, is my chosen spectator sport.  (By-the-way, how good are you at billiards or bridge?   )

Men are different than women.  Not better, different.  Accept it.  
 
Ending yet another rant!

Thirsty I 100 percent agree.  They are different.  So to say they hold the NCAA record for most wins in a row is incorrect unless you are willing to say a badmitton team that wins 90 games in a row trumps the uconn womens team.  They are different sports. 

And for the record I also prefer womens tennis, its a much purer form of the game, not as many Aces, much better rally's.  I also prefer watching womens golf to mens golf.

[Finkelskyhook]

Like Wooden's UCLA teams, a tribute to great coaching, long-term committment of the players.... And the residual ability to continually recruit the best players year after year.

Auriemma would be a great coach on either side of the spectrum.  Wooden would have been just as great as a women's coach.

Anybody can make a case for competition relativity...But both coaches were able to recruit the best players of their eras because they have equally great programs.  Hell, half of Wooden's roster during 73-74 played in the NBA.  Probably a greater number than any of Auriemma's rosters in the WNBA.  To say somehow that Wooden's teams weren't as dominant as Auriemma's....Or that it was more competitive because the games were closer...And somehow that lessens Auriemma's accomplishments compared to Wooden's teams is absurd.

I see the WNBA as a loss leader for the NBA and dreadfully boring basketball.  Same with college women's basketball.  But I love watching Auriemma's teams.  They may lack the athletism of men.  But every UCONN women's basketball game is the poster child of a pure basketball clinic.