STORRS, Conn. — Connecticut Coach Geno Auriemma said Thursday that he wants people in women’s basketball to start talking about how to make the game more exciting and attractive to fans.

He’s trying to spark that conversation by suggesting the rims be lowered by at least 7 inches for the women’s game.

“I think if we want to get to where other sports are in terms of appealing more to more people, you have to evolve,” he said. “I’m trying to help those teams that can’t figure out why they get only 200 people to watch them play every night.”

Auriemma’s argument is the combination of shorter players, high rims and a smaller ball (which doesn’t stay on the rim as long) leads to a women’s game that is less exciting to watch.

Over the past 10 years the shooting percentage for men has hovered about 44 percent. The women have been shooting closer to 40 percent.

Auriemma said volleyball nets are lower for women, tees are placed closer to the hole for female golfers and softball diamonds are smaller than those used in baseball.

“I never said we should make it the men’s game,” Auriemma said. “All I said is I would like to have a scenario explored where women can have the same success around the rim that men have. Is that too much to ask?”

There was a mixed reaction to Auriemma’s suggestion.

“You can go to the rec center, and you can go to an elementary gym, a high school gym, you can go to an arena like American Airlines and the goals are 10-foot tall, and you can shoot on them and get better,” Oklahoma Coach Sherri Coale said. “I don’t think we want to put ourselves in a situation where we have to find a women’s goal so we can get better as players.”

Others say it’s not practical.

“I don’t see it, cost-efficient wise, I don’t see how they could do it,” Tennessee Coach Holly Warlick said. “I don’t know how you do that because from the grassroots on, you’re going to lower the goal.”

But Auriemma also has supporters, including Texas Christian Coach Jeff Mitte.

“We need to make some bold choices in women’s basketball, and I think we need to do bold things,” he said. “That is outside the box thinking.”

There was also a mixed response from players.

Brittney Griner of Baylor said she doesn’t see a need for a change, then the 6-foot-8 center joked, “I might have a couple of more injuries hitting my elbow and stuff on it.”

But UConn guard Caroline Doty said it might be fun.

“I wouldn’t be able to dunk so it wouldn’t benefit me,” she said. “But it would be cool to throw alley-oops and stuff.”