EXCLUCIVE NEWS: Fevers Rookie Star Warms Up For WNBA.
Caitlin Clark was a walking, talking, 30-foot bombing, no-look-passing cheat code at Iowa.
That she was expected to be the same thing the moment she donned an Indiana Fever jersey was at once expected and unrealistic. There’s a reason Indiana earned the No. 1 pick in the WNBA Draft for two consecutive years, and it wasn’t because they were winning championships. Hell, they rarely won games.
The Fever’s 1-8 start was somewhat predictable and, if you knew anything about basketball, realistic. Clark, Aliyah Boston, Kelsey Mitchell, and NaLyssa Smith comprise a nice nucleus. But they were also playing the first nine games of their career as teammates.
Expecting them to go out there and beat veteran teams like Connecticut and New York, who have combined to hand Indiana five losses in the first 16 games of the season, was asking girls to go and do a woman’s job.
But Clark and the Fever have shown signs lately of figuring things out. Wednesday night’s 88-81 home win over Washington was their third straight victory, one that showed the possibilities this team has with Clark – and some things they can still improve.
That being said, Clark’s fingerprints were all over the latest victory. She stuffed the stat sheet to the tune of 18 points, 12 rebounds, six assists, and four steals. And how she went about it told the tale of how she’s learning to play the professional game.
Clark torched the Mystics for 30 points on 15 shots in the teams’ first meeting on June 7, going 7 of 13 on 3-pointers. They weren’t going to let her get off the mark in the rematch. And to her credit, Clark didn’t try to force it.
Aside from one quickly-launched 3-ball in each half, Clark took what the defense gave her. She scored primarily off drives but attempted just 12 shots. Clark happily played the role of passer, getting Boston going early with a couple of transition feeds for layups that helped her score 22 points.
Clark said her rebounding made a difference in the first quarter. She grabbed six boards in the period and Indiana ran hard down the floor.
Now comes the next test for Clark and Indiana. It’s just 2-7 on the road, but has to play the next five on foreign floors. Included on this trip is a much-ballyhooed rematch with Angel Reese and Chicago, plus games with Seattle and two-time WNBA champion Las Vegas.
Can this young team and its young superstar, who’s learning on the fly, develop the consistency and toughness it takes to earn road wins?
“We’ve all kept perspective, knowing we need to get better one step at a time,” Clark said.
