by Glenn Nelson / Scout.com COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.

- Tara VanDerveer recently received an email from a recruit, informing the illustrious Stanford head women's basketball coach of a milestone achievement. The recruit had joined the recently developed ranks of girls who had dunked a basketball in competition. Part of VanDerveer wished she hadn't received the email. "I told her to keep that one play," VanDerveer said, "but to move on and work on her shot. In the long run, it will be more valuable." Whether that recruit, and the burgeoning number of girls like her, got the message is debatable. Considered by many hoops aficionados as the last bastion of fundamental play, girl's and women's basketball is starting to fall in love with the SportsCenter moment. Players also are working less on individual skills, in favor of playing games, and falling into a complacency that VanDerveer calls "metallurgy" (too many trophies). Case in point: Thirty-three of the best young girl's basketball players in the country have been assembled this weekend at the U.S. Olympic Training Center to try out for the USA Basketball U18 team. The best shooter among them arguably is Elena DelleDonne, but she has hobbled during all sessions with a walking cast to protect her severely sprained left ankle. As few have stepped up to fill the void, even more severely sprained, as a consequence, will be Team USA's perimeter game. Many of the drills during two-a-day sessions obviously were designed to unearth shooters who could fit into the international game, which features a generously short three-point arc and a trapezoidal foul lane that deemphasizes post play in favor of a more wide-open, pass-cut-and-shoot style. The constant clanging in the gym, not of a bell but of errant shots caroming off iron, told the relative futility of the search. Things got so bad that, at one point, one coach commented to another, "At least we hit a three." The "shot" was in reference to one of the players' attempt to throw a two-headed lob pass that swished through the net and counted for three points. The USA candidates were much less successful when they actually shot the ball on purpose from beyond the line. Doug Bruno, the DePaul head coach who is leading the USA coaching staff, said, guardedly, that the team "had enough shooting." VanDerveer, who has been head coach of seven USA Basketball teams, including the 1996 U.S. Olympic team, was not as charitable. "The shooting here is horrendous," she said. "It's not just bad. It's horrendous." What happened to this country's young female shooters? For starters, the situation appears more dramatically negative because, in addition to DelleDonne, two other of the best markswomen in the U.S., Angie Bjorklund (stress fracture) of Spokane, Wash., and Jacki Gemelos (knee) of Stockton, Calif., are sidelined with injuries. For another, it requires athletes a day or two to become accustomed to the Mile High altitude and legs, the foundation of any jumper, suffer.

Neither, however, accounts for the rampant lack of shooting form exhibited by many of the elite prospects. Shooting practice is mentally and physically taxing and many coaches believe it is more difficult to practice shooting than any other basketball skill. Many players also make the mistake of taking a lot of shots every day, but do not utilize an organized approach to their workouts, thus "shoot around" and seldom take the same shot more than a few times in a row. Sydney Smallbone of Gardner, Ind., and a Tennessee commit, was the most consistent shooter during the trials. She says she takes 300 to 400 shots daily, using a mechanical device to feed her balls. Of those, most are three-pointers, launched off the dribble and off picks, using different cuts. "I live in Indiana," she explained. "There are a lot of good shooters. To be one of the best there, you have to work hard on your shot." This is not a common sentiment, particularly among the more athletically gifted. Vicki Baugh of Sacramento, for example, is in many ways a sign of things to come. A 6-feet-4 wing, she talks in one breath about a new wave of bigger, more explosive players changing the women's game and, in another, admits that a consistent three-point shot would make her a better player. "Girls have so many more opportunities to play, which is good, but skills development is falling off," VanDerveer said. "When you're bigger and stronger and quicker than everyone else, maybe you don't work on your left hand because you don't need to. When you're faster than everyone, you don't work on your shooting. In a way, early success can be a hindrance to early development." This particular group's shooting woes won't likely be a factor in the FIBA Americas World Championship qualifier, a tournament the U.S. has dominated in recent years. During the last tournament, in 2004, Team USA won all five of its games by an average of a whooping 81 points. In 2002, it won all five by 50.4 points per game. Its opponents will try to zone them into submission, but the Americans will be bigger, stronger, faster, defend and rebound better and thrive in the open court. It won't be until next year, during the FIBA World Championships, when the U.S. physical advantages will be slighter and Team USA will encounter countries, such as China, which have thousands of kids launching millions of jump shots every day. VanDerveer still tries to tell young players, "The three-point line is your friend. Get out, use it and love it." But her message seems to be getting drowned out by the cacophonous world of highlight show theme songs and crossover-prompted applause, where it's OK to play games and not prepare for them, and three is no longer company, but fast becoming the sport's loneliest number. Glenn Nelson is the publisher of HoopGurlz.com and editor-in-chief at Scout.com. For more of his pieces and in-depth coverage of women's basketball recruiting, visit www.HoopGurlz.com