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The "Welcome to the W" moment that awaits every WNBA rookie is in Caitlin Clark's rearview, and going into Year 2, there's a level of comfort she didn't have at this time last year.
She's lived in Indianapolis for more than a year, swapping the temporary hotel for permanent accommodations and seeking out her favorite spots to spend time. She understands first-hand the cadence of a professional preseason and how the regular season progresses at this level.
“Having that experience of how things operate I think has provided me with a lot of confidence,” Clark said on a video call last week with reporters.
It’s an assuredness that could give the league fits as she continues her quest to turn the Indiana Fever from has-been into title contender.
The reigning Rookie of the Year used her offseason as less of a reset than a recalibration. So, too, did the Fever organization. They are projected to contend for a top-four seed in the postseason, alongside the reigning champion New York Liberty, Finals runner-up Minnesota Lynx and recent two-time champion Las Vegas Aces.
It was only last year that the Fever played in the playoffs for the first time since 2016. Already, Clark is measuring the success of her second year in terms of a championship. Nothing less.
“We understand people expect this team to win and that’s exactly what we want to do for our fans and for this organization,” Clark said. “But I think me, personally, I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
The Fever will begin their quest for the title on Saturday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, where Clark is a year-round regular at the training facilities as well as the men’s team’s championship push. She is such an established presence that she called into the Pacers’ postgame radio show as “Caitlin from downtown.”
With a knowledge of the professional-level “Clark Effect” the league can’t deny, the Fever will open the season playing renewed Midwest rival Chicago on national television (3 p.m. ET, ABC). The Sky are seeking their own jump under second-year players Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso after missing the playoffs a year ago.
There was no shortage of learning opportunities for last year's rookies, and Clark’s were under the largest microscope. The season began and ended in Connecticut, where a veteran Sun team, led by head coach Stephanie White, flexed experience and their league-leading defense to finish third in the standings.
When White took the Fever job, Clark asked for the scouting report of her used by the Sun. Connecticut's plans changed from their first meeting to the last as Clark adjusted and the team gelled. Even between playing the first two games within a week, and a third a month later, there were adjustments made for a team finding itself.
“Everybody just needs to relax,” White recalled thinking of the outsized noise on the Fever’s losses to start the season. “They just need some time. They’re young, like chill out, let them be, let them grow, right? And they did, and she did.”
Clark’s ability to translate time into talent exhibited itself during the month-long Olympic break. She averaged 23.1 points on a 43.5 FG/37.0 3FG/92.9 FT% shooting clip after the break, up from 17.1 points shooting 40.5/32.7/89.1 in the first half of the season. She dished more assists and led the Fever, who were 11-15 at the time, to a 9-5 post-break record and the No. 6 seed in the playoffs.
She arrived at her second training camp this month fresh off more than five months of basketball work and weight training, with a necessary break from on-court competition overseas or domestically at Unrivaled or Athletes Unlimited. General manager Amber Cox said there was rarely a day she didn’t see Clark working in the gym at Gainbridge. She focused on strength to handle the physicality of the league, and drilled into the minor nuances of her game that an opponent could exploit.
White said she knew that would be the case from a player she described as an incredibly hard-working perfectionist with a high IQ who lives in the gym and wants to improve.
“There are work ethics and there are work styles,” White, who covered Clark’s Iowa career as a broadcast analyst, said. “A work style of not wasting reps, or not wasting time, of being very intentional about a growth process and very intentional about details. You can tell that in the results that she’s had in her career, but to really see that on a daily basis has been impressive.”
The caliber of player who is constantly lifting the ceiling higher, Clark is an early MVP candidate after finishing fourth in league voting a year ago. She is one of five players in WNBA history to average at least 15 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in a single season. Of that group — Candace Parker, Satou Sabally, Sabrina Ionescu and Alyssa Thomas — she ranks first in assists (8.4) and second in points (Parker averaged 19.4 in 2015).
With a raised level of talent around her — and that established confidence that comes with knowing one’s surroundings — she could touch the single-season assists record set by two-time WNBA champion Courtney Vandersloot in 2020. Vandersloot’s 9.95 in Chicago was rounded up to 10, and until Clark’s rookie season, the veteran held the top six spots in the all-time list. Clark’s average ranks fifth.
The Fever front office added championship experience in DeWanna Bonner, Natasha Howard and Sydney Colson. In trading for Sophie Cunningham, they added even more offensive firepower and spacing to a team that could have multiple Sixth Player of the Year contenders by season’s end. It’s not unreasonable to think the Fever will improve on their 104.2 offensive rating that trailed the champion Liberty (107) and former two-time champion Aces (106.2), as well as their second-ranked pace.
Bonner said at the beginning of camp the younger players, which include 2023 No. 1 overall pick Aliyah Boston, were already receptive of her leadership and knowledge.
“But also [I’m trying to] save my breath because they’re fast,” Bonner joked. “They run a lot.”
The key to the franchise living up to its talent on paper is on the other end, where Indiana ranked second-to-last a year ago in defensive rating (107.5), allowing on average 87.7 points per game. They allowed 16.7 points off turnovers (ninth), 12.2 second-chance points (11th) and 11.3 fastbreak points (10th). It’s a tall ask for an offense to outscore that every night.
In both of White’s seasons at the helm, Connecticut ranked in the top two in defensive rating. The Sun led the league defensively, allowing 73.6 points per game with a 94.1 defensive rating due in no small part to the personnel that included Alyssa Thomas, DiJonai Carrington and Bonner. Thomas negotiated a sign-and-trade to Phoenix, Carrington went to Dallas and Bonner brought the length that bothered Clark a year ago to Indiana.
“Being on this side of the ball with her is a lot more fun than guarding her, that’s for sure,” Bonner said.
Both the Fever collectively and Clark individually will have to limit the turnovers, another metric that improves with time and experience. Clark’s risk-taking passes often contribute to her high turnovers, and she ranked in the top 100 of NCAA players merely once at Iowa, as a junior (2.07 ranking 85th).
It was a pain point for Clark a year ago, as was the Fever’s schedule of the league’s best teams and most veteran players in a small time frame. After hosting the Sky, the Fever will split a home-and-away with the Atlanta Dream within the season’s first week. The Dream missed the playoffs a year ago, but retooled. By the first-month marker, Indiana’s toughest competition will have been the reigning champion Liberty (twice), plus games against the Dream (three), Sky (twice), Mystics (two) and Sun (twice).
The one thing that hasn’t changed is the pressure that outside forces have put on Clark and her team. She’s confident she’ll embrace it, as she always has before. Look no further than her 3-pointer in Iowa City earlier this month, when she hit deeper than the day she broke the NCAA scoring record.
“That’s always what I’ve tried to remind myself over the course of my career,” Clark said, “is you just rise to the occasion because you wouldn’t want it any other way.”
Continue reading...
She's lived in Indianapolis for more than a year, swapping the temporary hotel for permanent accommodations and seeking out her favorite spots to spend time. She understands first-hand the cadence of a professional preseason and how the regular season progresses at this level.
“Having that experience of how things operate I think has provided me with a lot of confidence,” Clark said on a video call last week with reporters.
It’s an assuredness that could give the league fits as she continues her quest to turn the Indiana Fever from has-been into title contender.
The reigning Rookie of the Year used her offseason as less of a reset than a recalibration. So, too, did the Fever organization. They are projected to contend for a top-four seed in the postseason, alongside the reigning champion New York Liberty, Finals runner-up Minnesota Lynx and recent two-time champion Las Vegas Aces.
It was only last year that the Fever played in the playoffs for the first time since 2016. Already, Clark is measuring the success of her second year in terms of a championship. Nothing less.
“We understand people expect this team to win and that’s exactly what we want to do for our fans and for this organization,” Clark said. “But I think me, personally, I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
The Fever will begin their quest for the title on Saturday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, where Clark is a year-round regular at the training facilities as well as the men’s team’s championship push. She is such an established presence that she called into the Pacers’ postgame radio show as “Caitlin from downtown.”
With a knowledge of the professional-level “Clark Effect” the league can’t deny, the Fever will open the season playing renewed Midwest rival Chicago on national television (3 p.m. ET, ABC). The Sky are seeking their own jump under second-year players Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso after missing the playoffs a year ago.
There was no shortage of learning opportunities for last year's rookies, and Clark’s were under the largest microscope. The season began and ended in Connecticut, where a veteran Sun team, led by head coach Stephanie White, flexed experience and their league-leading defense to finish third in the standings.
When White took the Fever job, Clark asked for the scouting report of her used by the Sun. Connecticut's plans changed from their first meeting to the last as Clark adjusted and the team gelled. Even between playing the first two games within a week, and a third a month later, there were adjustments made for a team finding itself.
“Everybody just needs to relax,” White recalled thinking of the outsized noise on the Fever’s losses to start the season. “They just need some time. They’re young, like chill out, let them be, let them grow, right? And they did, and she did.”
Clark’s ability to translate time into talent exhibited itself during the month-long Olympic break. She averaged 23.1 points on a 43.5 FG/37.0 3FG/92.9 FT% shooting clip after the break, up from 17.1 points shooting 40.5/32.7/89.1 in the first half of the season. She dished more assists and led the Fever, who were 11-15 at the time, to a 9-5 post-break record and the No. 6 seed in the playoffs.
She arrived at her second training camp this month fresh off more than five months of basketball work and weight training, with a necessary break from on-court competition overseas or domestically at Unrivaled or Athletes Unlimited. General manager Amber Cox said there was rarely a day she didn’t see Clark working in the gym at Gainbridge. She focused on strength to handle the physicality of the league, and drilled into the minor nuances of her game that an opponent could exploit.
White said she knew that would be the case from a player she described as an incredibly hard-working perfectionist with a high IQ who lives in the gym and wants to improve.
“There are work ethics and there are work styles,” White, who covered Clark’s Iowa career as a broadcast analyst, said. “A work style of not wasting reps, or not wasting time, of being very intentional about a growth process and very intentional about details. You can tell that in the results that she’s had in her career, but to really see that on a daily basis has been impressive.”
The caliber of player who is constantly lifting the ceiling higher, Clark is an early MVP candidate after finishing fourth in league voting a year ago. She is one of five players in WNBA history to average at least 15 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in a single season. Of that group — Candace Parker, Satou Sabally, Sabrina Ionescu and Alyssa Thomas — she ranks first in assists (8.4) and second in points (Parker averaged 19.4 in 2015).
With a raised level of talent around her — and that established confidence that comes with knowing one’s surroundings — she could touch the single-season assists record set by two-time WNBA champion Courtney Vandersloot in 2020. Vandersloot’s 9.95 in Chicago was rounded up to 10, and until Clark’s rookie season, the veteran held the top six spots in the all-time list. Clark’s average ranks fifth.
The Fever front office added championship experience in DeWanna Bonner, Natasha Howard and Sydney Colson. In trading for Sophie Cunningham, they added even more offensive firepower and spacing to a team that could have multiple Sixth Player of the Year contenders by season’s end. It’s not unreasonable to think the Fever will improve on their 104.2 offensive rating that trailed the champion Liberty (107) and former two-time champion Aces (106.2), as well as their second-ranked pace.
Bonner said at the beginning of camp the younger players, which include 2023 No. 1 overall pick Aliyah Boston, were already receptive of her leadership and knowledge.
“But also [I’m trying to] save my breath because they’re fast,” Bonner joked. “They run a lot.”
The key to the franchise living up to its talent on paper is on the other end, where Indiana ranked second-to-last a year ago in defensive rating (107.5), allowing on average 87.7 points per game. They allowed 16.7 points off turnovers (ninth), 12.2 second-chance points (11th) and 11.3 fastbreak points (10th). It’s a tall ask for an offense to outscore that every night.
In both of White’s seasons at the helm, Connecticut ranked in the top two in defensive rating. The Sun led the league defensively, allowing 73.6 points per game with a 94.1 defensive rating due in no small part to the personnel that included Alyssa Thomas, DiJonai Carrington and Bonner. Thomas negotiated a sign-and-trade to Phoenix, Carrington went to Dallas and Bonner brought the length that bothered Clark a year ago to Indiana.
“Being on this side of the ball with her is a lot more fun than guarding her, that’s for sure,” Bonner said.
Both the Fever collectively and Clark individually will have to limit the turnovers, another metric that improves with time and experience. Clark’s risk-taking passes often contribute to her high turnovers, and she ranked in the top 100 of NCAA players merely once at Iowa, as a junior (2.07 ranking 85th).
It was a pain point for Clark a year ago, as was the Fever’s schedule of the league’s best teams and most veteran players in a small time frame. After hosting the Sky, the Fever will split a home-and-away with the Atlanta Dream within the season’s first week. The Dream missed the playoffs a year ago, but retooled. By the first-month marker, Indiana’s toughest competition will have been the reigning champion Liberty (twice), plus games against the Dream (three), Sky (twice), Mystics (two) and Sun (twice).
The one thing that hasn’t changed is the pressure that outside forces have put on Clark and her team. She’s confident she’ll embrace it, as she always has before. Look no further than her 3-pointer in Iowa City earlier this month, when she hit deeper than the day she broke the NCAA scoring record.
“That’s always what I’ve tried to remind myself over the course of my career,” Clark said, “is you just rise to the occasion because you wouldn’t want it any other way.”
Continue reading...
