Geno Auriemma wants lower rim to improve women's basketball

UConn coach Geno Auriemma thinks a lower rim would improve women's college hoops, according to the Hartford Courant:

"What makes fans not want to watch women's basketball is that some of the players can't shoot and they miss layups and that forces the game to slow down," he said. "How do help improve that? Lower the rim…. Let's lower the rim seven inches; let's say 7'2" inches to honor Title IX [instituted in 1972]. If you lower it, the average fan likely wouldn't even notice it."

Auriemma doesn't think his idea would be well-supported by other coaches because of doubts that the level of athleticism would be able to keep up with a faster game. But he made his argument using analogies to volleyball and softball:

"Do you think the average fan knows that the net is lower in women's volleyball than men's volleyball? It's about seven inches shorter so the women have the chance for the same kind of success at the net."

"Why is softball played on a different field than baseball?" Auriemma said. "Why don't they ask those women to play with 90-foot base paths?"

Reactions to the idea were mixed:

https://twitter.com/MattNorlander/status/260769368223412225

https://twitter.com/TroyMachir/status/260540075924942848