Caitlin Clark’s Progress Answers Questions About How She’d Handle Transition to WNBA
INDIANAPOLIS — Caitlin Clark entered the WNBA amid myriad questions about how she would handle the transition to professional basketball.
Three months into his professional career, the answer seems clear: better than expected.
It may have taken a little longer than Clark or the Indiana Fever would have liked, but she’s having a record-breaking rookie season and building a new image along the way.
The first overall pick in the draft came to the league from Iowa, known for its NCAA scoring records, particularly its three-point shooting. She now holds records for assists.
“I’ve always been able to see something happening before it happens.” Clark said recently after the Fever beat Phoenix and completed their first season sweep against any team since 2020. “I think (Kelsey Mitchell) can tell (now) when I want her to come back out the back door, when I want her to cut the ball or something like that. It’s that chemistry you get when you’re used to playing with each other.”
“It took a while, but I think we’re really starting to get there.”
Anyone who watched – and yes, millions of fans continue to Listen up — you’ll see the difference.
After stumbling early, the Fever opened this season with nine games in 16 days, losing eight of them with Clark struggling to learn the playbook and how to fit in. His turnovers outnumbered his assists. And there were more questions than answers as frustration seemed to creep into the game.
Since then, Indiana has rebounded to a 12-7 record, solidifying its playoff position. And all the angst has been replaced with smiles and high fives.
This is no coincidence.
The tight schedule between the end of Clark’s college season and the start of the WNBA season didn’t give Indiana much time to practice, nor did the players have much time to learn each other’s nuances. So during the monthlong Olympic break, coach Christie Sides changed up the practice routine and challenged Clark.
“There were a lot of times in drills where they would use certain attacks and I would tell (Clark), and only her, so she had to tell the players what we were using or where to go,” Sides said. “I was throwing certain things out there, certain sets that we didn’t use, so she had to think about it and put people in the right position.”
Clark responded and his Teammates also seem to be following suit.
In their first two games since the break, Indiana have put on a good show, winning against Phoenix and Seattle. The Fever outscored the Storm 33-17 over the final 10 minutes.
Mitchell made 11 of 21 three-pointers and has scored 55 points since the restart, while Lexi Hull scored a season-high 22 points and made 6 of 7 three-pointers in her last game. Forward Aliyah Boston, the 2023 Rookie of the Year, also had nine assists against the Storm after outplaying Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner last Friday. Indiana plays at Minnesota on Saturday.
“You have to adapt,” Mitchell said, describing the learning process with Clark. “She had to transition to being a professional, and we had to give her what she needed, be a resource and fill those gaps. She’s one of those players whose (basketball) IQ is going to take you a lot of places, so you have to know where you’re at, be able to read and adapt to her game.”
Since Clark’s questionable debut with 10 turnovers, his assists-to-turnovers ratio has jumped from 1.23-to-1 in May and June to 2.19-to-1 in eight games since July 1. The records seem to be falling every week:
— She broke the WNBA’s single-season assists record by a rookie on Sunday, reaching No. 232 and ending Ticha Penicheiro’s 26-year streak as the record holder.
— In his final game before the break, Clark broke the league single-game record with 19 assists, capping a streak of six double-digit assists in seven games.
— If Clark continues to average 8.3 assists per game, she could break Alyssa Thomas’ single-season assists record, set last season with 316.
She needs eight 3-pointers to break Rhyne Howard’s record of 85 points set in 2022 and with 22 3-pointers in the last 12 games, she would be the seventh WNBA player with 100 points in a season.
In addition to assists, Clark is the league’s top rookie scorer with 17.8 points per game.
His performance did not quell the controversies on social media, jokes about how she is treated by her opponents or whether she should have made the U.S. Olympic team. And she continues to be a huge fan favorite. The Fever lead the league in home (16,956) and road (15,306) attendance.
Clark also remains a staple of television.
Friday night’s game on ION drew 1.21 million viewers, nearly three times as many as the Connecticut-Dallas game on the same network that night.
Sunday’s Fever game on ABC drew 2.23 million viewers, a big increase over the two games in a rare CBS broadcast Saturday — New York-Las Vegas drew 874,000 viewers while Minnesota-Washington drew 577,000.
Only Washington and Dallas have fewer wins than Indiana (13-15) among teams televised last weekend.
The scary thing for her opponents is that Clark and her teammates are still getting to know each other. But as she fuels Indiana’s push to the playoffs, her growth and versatility make playing together much easier.
“I think I just developed a chemistry with my teammates where they can see it and be on the same page,” Clark said of the change in direction. “Now you see people cutting on the counterattack or Kelsey cutting back. There’s this chemistry that’s not expressed, like I’m not telling them to do it, but they can just read my eyes and understand.”
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