Voepel has a must-read column over at ESPN. It offers comments on Frank DeFord's must-read SI article on Geno and Taurasi.

(DeFord's article isn't available free online -- you have to be an SI subscriber. Given my lack of respect for copyright law, I was thinking of getting it off Lexis and reposting the whole thing... but that's probably a little more illegality than I'm ready for.)

Voepel objects to the article's contentions that men aren't wanted as coaches in women's hoops, that Taurasi is the best ever, and that UConn has the best fans around.

Like Mechelle, I'm pretty tired of the whining about discrimination against male coaches, and this angle of the DeFord article was annoying. Voepel also makes great points about how much of the history of the game has been forgotten -- we'll never really be able to compare Taurasi to Cheryl Miller.

But Taurasi certainly has elements of her game that I've never seen before (in men's or women's hoops). And UConn does right now have the best and largest fan base in the country. Obviously, there are great fans supporting other programs around the country. But in terms of depth and breadth of fan support, UConn is on top by a good stretch.

In short, I didn't find DeFord's article to be as hyperbolic as Mechelle did. I thought it was great -- not just because I'm happy to see SI covering the women's game, but because it was as thorough and thoughtful as DeFord's work usually is.

Still, DeFord isn't any sort of women's hoops expert. Voepel is.