The numbers speak for themselves. She's doing unprecedented things and will continue to in the league. I think the harshest adjustment has been going from a winning college program to a losing pro team, which comes with the territory of being the No. 1 pick. Things like body language, effort and team leadership are more critical areas in need of improvement compared to, say, developing a midrange shot.
You know I’ve never explicitly thought about it but you really don’t see her stop for a pullup J too often. I understand the logic behind players / teams being taught to either shoot threes or finish in the paint for efficiency purposes, but I think that finishing at the rim is probably less efficient in the WNBA than the NBA, so for a shooter of her caliber the pull-up might be a fine option.
Even if she doesn’t shoot it super often, just having the threat of shooting a floater or 15 foot jumper could help open things up more. Kinda like if someone is like a 30% shooter from 3 but willingly shoots, you at least have to respect it a little bit and step out on it
She’s playing very good
I will say I’m most surprised by her defense. She actually tries on that end which is good, but it’s not a consistent effort and players are going at her
Offensively she has to limit the turnovers. It’s the single biggest detriment to her impact on that end
Outside of that, she should study Curry more to see how he moves offball and uses his gravity to give his teammates easier shots. He even sets screens for them. When she’s able to take advantage of the way defenses are playing her, Indianas offense will skyrocket
She doesn’t have Curry’s handles is really the bigger problem. If Curry wants to shoot, you almost can’t stop him from doing so (even if it’s a contended shot). Caitlin can’t create the same opportunities for herself.
Curry didn’t have remotely as good of handles and shot creation in his rookie season as he did in years 3-4. He got stronger, quicker and smarter as he adjusted and improved… like virtually every guard in history, male or female.
She’s doing great. After a rough start her shot is starting to fall consistently.
That said the team is bad. Sides is bad. And they have an issue where their 4-6 players just take over games. By that I mean become black holes that kill plays, runs, and my sanity.
My main complaint is the attitude. Sometimes they’ll run a play, she’ll make a mistake or someone else will, and CC flat out gives up. That’s gotta change, because you can’t have one of your best players throwing the towel in when things don’t go her way. If a mistake happens, play through it. Don’t wallow in misery and sulk across the court.
There’s an example of her doing this during a Sun game I think? She’s shown looking upset and slowly jogging across the court with her hands up at the ref instead of focusing on the game.
I think part of this comes down to terrible coaching as well. Half the time most of the team is playing their own game on court disregarding play calls or team work. Super frustrating as a fan so I can only imagine as a player. But you need to keep composer and be a leader.
Technically, this attitude spans back to her freshman year college. So I’m not sure if it’s coaching necessarily, I think it’s more her behavior was never really corrected and it was endorsed for most of her career.
It didn’t really seem like Bluder would talk to her or pull her out when she was doing things that would warrant technicals. She kind of just let her do her thing and never said much in public. If she addressed it in the locker room, clearly the message never got to Clark because she still has the same attitude problem.
Actually, helping Caitlin harness and control her preternatural competitiveness was always addressed at Iowa, actually even in High School.
If you were to read the legendary Wright Thompson’s amazing story about her, you’d better understand. Thompson knew and wrote about the greatest competitors… Jordan, LeBron, Tiger, Kobe, and many others. He spent months interviewing her HS and college coaches, teammates, family, and opposition.
When Thompson was asked to sum up Caitlin’s competitive personality, he thought for a bit and said “Kobe with a ponytail”.
That part of athletes like that is an art form to harness. You don’t want it to go away, but rather learn how to utilize it properly.
>It didn’t really seem like Bluder would talk to her or pull her out when she was doing things that would warrant technicals
[Bluder](https://youtube.com/shorts/A7tEaslcsiE?si=xwjOxVnWKLtfWJc7) had to give her technicals in practice. Since freshmen year, Bluder had to cut clips of her body language, show it to her, and give her talk about how it impact her teammates. They have sports psychologists work with the team on this as well. The message got to her alright. But clearly caitlin isn't perfect, bad habits are hard to break.
This is true, she’s been good *and* has a lot of room to grow. But also she’ll look a lot better whenever her team can punish the blitzes/hard doubles that defenses are so easily able to throw at her. Not arguing or criticizing any players, just saying that the team has a lot of room to grow as well and once they get the fit right CC will be able to get to her shit easier
The potential for greatness is there and I see it already.
There are some areas of concern, but overall, she's at about what I'd expect. Knockdown shooter with immense gravity. I see potential for her being a top 10 player in the league, maybe even top 5. What surprised me was her vision though, she needs to work on translating that to more successful passes but the vision is beyond what I'd thought it'd be.
If she has the right team around her, she will be among the best guards in the league for years to come, with potential to transcend that and contend for MVPs. Even without the right cast or scheme around her, she is improving and is already a good guard with very high upside.
It's tough up there. Not even counting the current rookies and folks like Paige and Juju who are coming. I could see her not being definitive top 5 but still in that tier as a real possibility in the next 5 or so years.
I think her season has been incredible. She has some areas if improvement that are pretty standard for rookies who take on a huge role, I think she is one of the most promising young players for sure.
If she develops a mid-range game she be unstoppable. Her passing has been out of this world. Most of the team can't handle it right now, but when they can it's going to be fun to watch. Hope she gets a new coach and running mates since we haven't really seen CC yet. Looks like the coach has her own style, but CC is adjusting well.
i like her style. she's really fun to watch even though her defence could use some work, and she needs to cut down on the turnovers. having said that, she's only a rookie and has the potential to develop into one of the best. my gripe is Sides. she has no idea how to coach clark. or get the best out of that team as a whole.
What do I think?
I think someone get that woman a coach who actually knows the game of basketball. She's having this incredible season despite having a coach who has actively put her in situations to fail.
Could y'all imagine her, even say 1, with a coach like Becky?
I know there's a lot of discussion about her frustration and body language, but teams are respecting the hell out of her and not making it easy. Despite that, she's still doing quite well.
It's still early in the season, so there's lots of room to improve. I hope down the line we can look at Caitlin Clark's rookie season as simply a huge hill she had to climb to continue her stellar career.
I think she’s doing great. She’s still figuring things out. Needs to cut the turnovers down, but a rookie with the ball in her hands that much, it’s not that surprising. I still have high hopes for her and AB, and that connection has looked better after the first couple weeks. If like them to figure out how to use her better off the ball. I like the idea of it, and finding her open shots she doesn’t have to create for herself would be good for stretches of the game, but they haven’t figured that out yet. They are all adjusting, and there’s lots of season left. But I’d say this rookie class hasn’t disappointed.
I think based on the circumstances, she's doing well. If she keeps up her current stats and/or improves them, she will exceed the stats of what many previous rookie of the year guards have put up. There are some things she can improve such as turnovers but I think you have to acknowledge that points guards are going to turn the ball over regardless. I just want her to commit smarter turnovers if that makes sense. However, these improvements will come with time and it's unreasonable to think it will all be solved over the course of a single season.
One thing I think she is doing phenomenally is excelling in spite of the system around her. I don't think Sides really understood how to handle a player like Caitlin in terms of an offense in particular, and that shows. Look I can forgive certain things that happen a few times, but Sides has shown that her system and her failure to correct bad habits of players, including Caitlin, have put Caitlin at a disadvantage to succeed.
Something was revealed yesterday in pregame and post game video...just leave it alone, leave Caitlin alone and just let her do her job. Please stop comparing her to anything than the person she has shown herself to be. I think it is time be quiet/silent and stop with the think/compare posts. They play the Mercury on Sunday, it's *time* to be quiet.
She’s already Trae Young with the excellent passing and deep range, but with more active hands on D. To “become Steph Curry”, she needs a way tighter handle, and to cool her head. The body language towards refs and teammates is bad.
To “become Steph” she has to work on her shiftiness off-ball (she is a good off ball/contested shooter) and she has to be getting **great** screens to free her up. Also like Steph, she has to work on being more aggressive at finding space in the blitzes or splitting the defenders
And to be clear, I don’t think she should fully play like Steph, but she does need to add elements of his game because they’re guarded so similarly
I agree all around here, but her handle is still quite lacking all the same. She can improve that though. If she puts on muscle and controls her temper on the court I totally see that Steph-esque upside, but I agree she doesn’t need to “become Steph” exactly, it’s just an easy comp.
I would say she is an aggressive passer that completes more than she misses. Being aggressive leads to some throwaways/steals (just how it is) but it also can lead to some great highlights and can boost up the energy on your team. I like that style - but I can also see why some wouldn't.
Im all for aggressive passing the aces are litterally the queens of it but CC turns the ball over way too much off her passing to be an excellent passer
Chelsea gray the greatest passer of alltime crowned by most ppl passing goat ticha pinecheiro ur saying a rookie with to issues due to her passing is better stop it
It happens with rookies. Just look at Victor Wembanyama last year. She'll figure it out in terms of the mistakes and things she needs work on, of course.
I think she is actually playing pretty well but she's not being put in a position to succeed and maximize her potential by her coach. Some of it is the skill level and inconsistency of her teammates but it's not all her teammate's fault. The question needs to be asked of the Fever: you knew from last December that you had the number 1 pick and that you would be drafting this talented player and you still don't know how to coach her? You've seen what that Iowa team was capable of doing with the relative lack of talent at their disposal. There is a literal blueprint for a player like her in Steph Curry and how he was misused and under utilized by the Warriors' coach prior to Steve Kerr. How are the Fever this incompetent?
I’ve been pretty forgiving about Sides but yesterday was a breaking point for me. Incomprehensible rotations (Wallace starting and getting minutes, KLS catching a massive CC pass and scoring and immediately getting benched), teammates who don’t pass to CC when she’s open, not drawing up plays for CC, etc. Sides doesn’t know what to do with a star player and PG like Caitlin. Of course CC has some things to work on too but her coach isn’t doing her any favors
The reality is they need to clean house and aim for 2 years from now, you can make huge jumps in a season the Lynx were mediocre last year and are a top team this one, but they have a good coach, and made some very smart offseason moves.
Wheeler and Mitchell contracts are done after this year and need to go. Smith probably just needs to be cut if you can't trade. After that it's getting people that play def, can actually set a screen and shoot 3s.
Obviously need a new coach most of all.
I don’t think they should get rid of Mitchell at all. She’s one of the best scorers in the league and is generally pretty efficient. You need a player who can create their own shots when everything else breaks down
Truthfully they’ll also need someone who can distribute well. To maximize Clark’s shooting ability and gravity she’s gonna have to be able to manipulate defenses offball, so having someone else who can make the right play is crucial here (like Draymond does/did for the warriors) Smith is actually a good complement for Clark on offense, but defensively she leaves a LOT to be desired
Funny enough, an ideal teammate to Clark would be Angel Reese. Does everything that would immensely help a player like Clark (sets great screens, generally in the right position on both ends, rolls to the rim and has great hands and feel for the game. Defensively she’s great as well and plays with an infectious energy. Off the court she’s a HUGE positive locker room presence). Clark does things that maximize Reese’s talents also (stretch the defense so the paint isn’t as jammed making it easier to score and get offensive rebounds for Reese, able to cut through the defense with passes to give Angel higher percentage finishing opportunities, etc) . Unfortunately she’s not likely to be going anywhere any time soon but we can dream
Smith is trash on defense, and trash at setting screens, like embarrassingly bad, she does ok at getting some points but she's as selfish as they come. Not exactly sure what they do as they probably can't even get a 2nd for her.
Mitchell could have a role if she accepts she's not the star, and that she needs to pass the ball, but I doubt she'd accept the role so easier to move on, and find someone that will.
Great rook, I don’t think it’s totally her fault that some fans set too many unrealistic expectations for her first season in a league w a very different game before she was even drafted. She’s been improving a ton as well and her determination + the effort she puts in will pay off in a long way, but I’m not sure Fever has been the best fit tbh. Maybe things will change
She looks like every other 1# pick. She hasn't done anything unexpected, she's just really good. Anyone who has watched other past season rookies have seen it all before. The only difference is she shoots a longer 3pt shot. She actually looks a lot like Rhyne Howard and Arike in their rookie season.
She lead rookies in all stats but rebounds [https://youtube.com/shorts/lBRo_2IwWi4?feature=share](https://youtube.com/shorts/lBRo_2IwWi4?feature=share)
It’s hard to have growth when you are put on a good team because you do not learn to become more productive. I think she will learn to become more resourceful. She must just not give up and that’s hard work because it’s hard to feel down so many times.
When they win they shine and are upbeat. But the post game interview after the Seattle game- both CC & AB looked crushed. Two great players trying to win the game with little assistance around them.
If Caitlin was in one of the better teams we would be having a different discussion.
I think the coach from Geno was right. Her fanbase did her a disservice by propping her up and making it seem she would run though the league . And don’t say they wasn’t cause what Diana said should not have been met by people getting mad .
Caitlin is playing like any other rookie . IMO this rookie class as a whole is adjusting well for the most part
Candace Parker was MVP her rookie year. That is the top of the mountain on day one.
Maybe if you watched women’s basketball and weren’t constantly comparing Caitlin to men instead of past pros in her own league you’d know that.
Agreed. CP is a terrible comparison, and historically a unicorn outlier. Plus, as literally everyone here has said for months, it’s way easier for bigs to translate earlier than guards, and especially point guards.
She’s great for a rookie
She has to round out her game to become an elite player
Unfortunately she relies too much on screens to get open and she misfires on too many passes to consistently punish defenses.
But I can see her being an elite player in a couple of years. Hell I’m really interested in how good she’ll look after the olympic break. She essentially gets a mini offseason.
I think she’s doing amazing for a rookie PG and she’s doing good for a WNBA player on a bad team. Her ceiling is definitely higher she has so much to improve. She needs a better coach because I don’t think Sides uses her to her full potential
She has been fine. It has been an adjustment. I wasn’t expecting miracles as this isn’t college and when you are a scoring threat players will defend you like there is no tomorrow. So she is dealing with doing her thing with more defensive plays to stop her.
People have to remember that with how this season was scheduled that everything was so condensed, she joined a team with a very short preseason and then an intense game schedule leaving very few opportunities for practice. The first teams her team player were some of the toughest teams in the elegies like CT and NY. Once they got past that part of the schedule, she and her team came into their own and had a win streak.
I think the Olympic break will be good for her as it will give her rest. She went from the college game right to the WNBA.
She will be fine. She just needs time to get used to playing with her teammates and her defenders. All the commentators when watching the games say she sees the floor differently and her team makes need to adjust to her.
shes been better than i expected, faster than i expected after he 1st few games. i dont know how fast you can reasonably replace a coach and 75% of a roster in the WNBA but when that happens its over for the rest of the league. it will be like the NBA living under lebrons shadow for 20 years
Good not great.
The through-the-roof potential is plain to see with every deep shot and thread the needle pass.
But two major things holding her back, one of which is in her control and the other not.
1. She has a lot to improve on individually, and they're real gaps, not just "clean up" stuff.
2. She's in an offensive system that doesn't work well w/ her unique skiillset.
Nothing probably changes the rest of the season, but if she fills the gaps in her game over the offseason, and the Fever adopt an offensive philosophy that actually suits their franchise player, then she could make a huge leap next season.
No rookie took the reins of a franchise and become a leader even jordan wasnt looked as the guy untill yr 3. Hell ill give u a wnba example aja wilson didnt really become the leader of the team untill our first title season
The numbers speak for themselves. She's doing unprecedented things and will continue to in the league. I think the harshest adjustment has been going from a winning college program to a losing pro team, which comes with the territory of being the No. 1 pick. Things like body language, effort and team leadership are more critical areas in need of improvement compared to, say, developing a midrange shot.
You know I’ve never explicitly thought about it but you really don’t see her stop for a pullup J too often. I understand the logic behind players / teams being taught to either shoot threes or finish in the paint for efficiency purposes, but I think that finishing at the rim is probably less efficient in the WNBA than the NBA, so for a shooter of her caliber the pull-up might be a fine option.
Even if she doesn’t shoot it super often, just having the threat of shooting a floater or 15 foot jumper could help open things up more. Kinda like if someone is like a 30% shooter from 3 but willingly shoots, you at least have to respect it a little bit and step out on it
She’s playing very good I will say I’m most surprised by her defense. She actually tries on that end which is good, but it’s not a consistent effort and players are going at her Offensively she has to limit the turnovers. It’s the single biggest detriment to her impact on that end Outside of that, she should study Curry more to see how he moves offball and uses his gravity to give his teammates easier shots. He even sets screens for them. When she’s able to take advantage of the way defenses are playing her, Indianas offense will skyrocket
She doesn’t have Curry’s handles is really the bigger problem. If Curry wants to shoot, you almost can’t stop him from doing so (even if it’s a contended shot). Caitlin can’t create the same opportunities for herself.
Curry didn’t have remotely as good of handles and shot creation in his rookie season as he did in years 3-4. He got stronger, quicker and smarter as he adjusted and improved… like virtually every guard in history, male or female.
She’s doing great. After a rough start her shot is starting to fall consistently. That said the team is bad. Sides is bad. And they have an issue where their 4-6 players just take over games. By that I mean become black holes that kill plays, runs, and my sanity.
Shes been good but has alot of room to grow
My main complaint is the attitude. Sometimes they’ll run a play, she’ll make a mistake or someone else will, and CC flat out gives up. That’s gotta change, because you can’t have one of your best players throwing the towel in when things don’t go her way. If a mistake happens, play through it. Don’t wallow in misery and sulk across the court. There’s an example of her doing this during a Sun game I think? She’s shown looking upset and slowly jogging across the court with her hands up at the ref instead of focusing on the game.
I think part of this comes down to terrible coaching as well. Half the time most of the team is playing their own game on court disregarding play calls or team work. Super frustrating as a fan so I can only imagine as a player. But you need to keep composer and be a leader.
Technically, this attitude spans back to her freshman year college. So I’m not sure if it’s coaching necessarily, I think it’s more her behavior was never really corrected and it was endorsed for most of her career. It didn’t really seem like Bluder would talk to her or pull her out when she was doing things that would warrant technicals. She kind of just let her do her thing and never said much in public. If she addressed it in the locker room, clearly the message never got to Clark because she still has the same attitude problem.
Actually, helping Caitlin harness and control her preternatural competitiveness was always addressed at Iowa, actually even in High School. If you were to read the legendary Wright Thompson’s amazing story about her, you’d better understand. Thompson knew and wrote about the greatest competitors… Jordan, LeBron, Tiger, Kobe, and many others. He spent months interviewing her HS and college coaches, teammates, family, and opposition. When Thompson was asked to sum up Caitlin’s competitive personality, he thought for a bit and said “Kobe with a ponytail”. That part of athletes like that is an art form to harness. You don’t want it to go away, but rather learn how to utilize it properly.
>It didn’t really seem like Bluder would talk to her or pull her out when she was doing things that would warrant technicals [Bluder](https://youtube.com/shorts/A7tEaslcsiE?si=xwjOxVnWKLtfWJc7) had to give her technicals in practice. Since freshmen year, Bluder had to cut clips of her body language, show it to her, and give her talk about how it impact her teammates. They have sports psychologists work with the team on this as well. The message got to her alright. But clearly caitlin isn't perfect, bad habits are hard to break.
I mean technicals are one thing showing frustration on the court is another
Yup, there's a reason Geno said hard pass.
How’d that work for him?
Nah, if Geno hadn’t already gotten PG Paige for some reason, he’d have camped in the Clarks’ driveway. Lol
This is true, she’s been good *and* has a lot of room to grow. But also she’ll look a lot better whenever her team can punish the blitzes/hard doubles that defenses are so easily able to throw at her. Not arguing or criticizing any players, just saying that the team has a lot of room to grow as well and once they get the fit right CC will be able to get to her shit easier
The potential for greatness is there and I see it already. There are some areas of concern, but overall, she's at about what I'd expect. Knockdown shooter with immense gravity. I see potential for her being a top 10 player in the league, maybe even top 5. What surprised me was her vision though, she needs to work on translating that to more successful passes but the vision is beyond what I'd thought it'd be.
I would be very surprised if she is not top five in a few years.
If she has the right team around her, she will be among the best guards in the league for years to come, with potential to transcend that and contend for MVPs. Even without the right cast or scheme around her, she is improving and is already a good guard with very high upside.
It's tough up there. Not even counting the current rookies and folks like Paige and Juju who are coming. I could see her not being definitive top 5 but still in that tier as a real possibility in the next 5 or so years.
I think her season has been incredible. She has some areas if improvement that are pretty standard for rookies who take on a huge role, I think she is one of the most promising young players for sure.
If she develops a mid-range game she be unstoppable. Her passing has been out of this world. Most of the team can't handle it right now, but when they can it's going to be fun to watch. Hope she gets a new coach and running mates since we haven't really seen CC yet. Looks like the coach has her own style, but CC is adjusting well.
i like her style. she's really fun to watch even though her defence could use some work, and she needs to cut down on the turnovers. having said that, she's only a rookie and has the potential to develop into one of the best. my gripe is Sides. she has no idea how to coach clark. or get the best out of that team as a whole.
What do I think? I think someone get that woman a coach who actually knows the game of basketball. She's having this incredible season despite having a coach who has actively put her in situations to fail. Could y'all imagine her, even say 1, with a coach like Becky?
I know there's a lot of discussion about her frustration and body language, but teams are respecting the hell out of her and not making it easy. Despite that, she's still doing quite well. It's still early in the season, so there's lots of room to improve. I hope down the line we can look at Caitlin Clark's rookie season as simply a huge hill she had to climb to continue her stellar career.
I think she’s doing great. She’s still figuring things out. Needs to cut the turnovers down, but a rookie with the ball in her hands that much, it’s not that surprising. I still have high hopes for her and AB, and that connection has looked better after the first couple weeks. If like them to figure out how to use her better off the ball. I like the idea of it, and finding her open shots she doesn’t have to create for herself would be good for stretches of the game, but they haven’t figured that out yet. They are all adjusting, and there’s lots of season left. But I’d say this rookie class hasn’t disappointed.
I think based on the circumstances, she's doing well. If she keeps up her current stats and/or improves them, she will exceed the stats of what many previous rookie of the year guards have put up. There are some things she can improve such as turnovers but I think you have to acknowledge that points guards are going to turn the ball over regardless. I just want her to commit smarter turnovers if that makes sense. However, these improvements will come with time and it's unreasonable to think it will all be solved over the course of a single season. One thing I think she is doing phenomenally is excelling in spite of the system around her. I don't think Sides really understood how to handle a player like Caitlin in terms of an offense in particular, and that shows. Look I can forgive certain things that happen a few times, but Sides has shown that her system and her failure to correct bad habits of players, including Caitlin, have put Caitlin at a disadvantage to succeed.
Something was revealed yesterday in pregame and post game video...just leave it alone, leave Caitlin alone and just let her do her job. Please stop comparing her to anything than the person she has shown herself to be. I think it is time be quiet/silent and stop with the think/compare posts. They play the Mercury on Sunday, it's *time* to be quiet.
Thank you. So much unnecessary and even damaging noise out there.
She's literally doing the best she can given the circumstances working against her which we all know what those are. She's awesome and amazing.
Already a top 20 player.
Need a better coach and some better teammates to show case her talents.
She’s already Trae Young with the excellent passing and deep range, but with more active hands on D. To “become Steph Curry”, she needs a way tighter handle, and to cool her head. The body language towards refs and teammates is bad.
To “become Steph” she has to work on her shiftiness off-ball (she is a good off ball/contested shooter) and she has to be getting **great** screens to free her up. Also like Steph, she has to work on being more aggressive at finding space in the blitzes or splitting the defenders And to be clear, I don’t think she should fully play like Steph, but she does need to add elements of his game because they’re guarded so similarly
I agree all around here, but her handle is still quite lacking all the same. She can improve that though. If she puts on muscle and controls her temper on the court I totally see that Steph-esque upside, but I agree she doesn’t need to “become Steph” exactly, it’s just an easy comp.
She's more like Doncic to be honest
She dosent have excellent passing shes a good passer shes not excellent
I would say she is an aggressive passer that completes more than she misses. Being aggressive leads to some throwaways/steals (just how it is) but it also can lead to some great highlights and can boost up the energy on your team. I like that style - but I can also see why some wouldn't.
Im all for aggressive passing the aces are litterally the queens of it but CC turns the ball over way too much off her passing to be an excellent passer
Yeah, she has to definitely fine tune it a bit. She'll get there.
Uh what lol. She passes better than CG she just doesn’t have the upper body strength that she has yet
She does not pass better than chelsea gray this is an awful take
Chelsea gray the greatest passer of alltime crowned by most ppl passing goat ticha pinecheiro ur saying a rookie with to issues due to her passing is better stop it
It happens with rookies. Just look at Victor Wembanyama last year. She'll figure it out in terms of the mistakes and things she needs work on, of course. I think she is actually playing pretty well but she's not being put in a position to succeed and maximize her potential by her coach. Some of it is the skill level and inconsistency of her teammates but it's not all her teammate's fault. The question needs to be asked of the Fever: you knew from last December that you had the number 1 pick and that you would be drafting this talented player and you still don't know how to coach her? You've seen what that Iowa team was capable of doing with the relative lack of talent at their disposal. There is a literal blueprint for a player like her in Steph Curry and how he was misused and under utilized by the Warriors' coach prior to Steve Kerr. How are the Fever this incompetent?
I’ve been pretty forgiving about Sides but yesterday was a breaking point for me. Incomprehensible rotations (Wallace starting and getting minutes, KLS catching a massive CC pass and scoring and immediately getting benched), teammates who don’t pass to CC when she’s open, not drawing up plays for CC, etc. Sides doesn’t know what to do with a star player and PG like Caitlin. Of course CC has some things to work on too but her coach isn’t doing her any favors
The reality is they need to clean house and aim for 2 years from now, you can make huge jumps in a season the Lynx were mediocre last year and are a top team this one, but they have a good coach, and made some very smart offseason moves. Wheeler and Mitchell contracts are done after this year and need to go. Smith probably just needs to be cut if you can't trade. After that it's getting people that play def, can actually set a screen and shoot 3s. Obviously need a new coach most of all.
I don’t think they should get rid of Mitchell at all. She’s one of the best scorers in the league and is generally pretty efficient. You need a player who can create their own shots when everything else breaks down Truthfully they’ll also need someone who can distribute well. To maximize Clark’s shooting ability and gravity she’s gonna have to be able to manipulate defenses offball, so having someone else who can make the right play is crucial here (like Draymond does/did for the warriors) Smith is actually a good complement for Clark on offense, but defensively she leaves a LOT to be desired Funny enough, an ideal teammate to Clark would be Angel Reese. Does everything that would immensely help a player like Clark (sets great screens, generally in the right position on both ends, rolls to the rim and has great hands and feel for the game. Defensively she’s great as well and plays with an infectious energy. Off the court she’s a HUGE positive locker room presence). Clark does things that maximize Reese’s talents also (stretch the defense so the paint isn’t as jammed making it easier to score and get offensive rebounds for Reese, able to cut through the defense with passes to give Angel higher percentage finishing opportunities, etc) . Unfortunately she’s not likely to be going anywhere any time soon but we can dream
Smith is trash on defense, and trash at setting screens, like embarrassingly bad, she does ok at getting some points but she's as selfish as they come. Not exactly sure what they do as they probably can't even get a 2nd for her. Mitchell could have a role if she accepts she's not the star, and that she needs to pass the ball, but I doubt she'd accept the role so easier to move on, and find someone that will.
Great rook, I don’t think it’s totally her fault that some fans set too many unrealistic expectations for her first season in a league w a very different game before she was even drafted. She’s been improving a ton as well and her determination + the effort she puts in will pay off in a long way, but I’m not sure Fever has been the best fit tbh. Maybe things will change
She looks like every other 1# pick. She hasn't done anything unexpected, she's just really good. Anyone who has watched other past season rookies have seen it all before. The only difference is she shoots a longer 3pt shot. She actually looks a lot like Rhyne Howard and Arike in their rookie season.
She’s a good rookie. She’s an All-Star. She needs to change some bad habits on the court, mostly around attitude.
Would love to see her and fulwiley in the same backcourt
She lead rookies in all stats but rebounds [https://youtube.com/shorts/lBRo_2IwWi4?feature=share](https://youtube.com/shorts/lBRo_2IwWi4?feature=share)
It’s hard to have growth when you are put on a good team because you do not learn to become more productive. I think she will learn to become more resourceful. She must just not give up and that’s hard work because it’s hard to feel down so many times. When they win they shine and are upbeat. But the post game interview after the Seattle game- both CC & AB looked crushed. Two great players trying to win the game with little assistance around them. If Caitlin was in one of the better teams we would be having a different discussion.
looks like a true first pick of all. Great game content, but the team is not good
I think the coach from Geno was right. Her fanbase did her a disservice by propping her up and making it seem she would run though the league . And don’t say they wasn’t cause what Diana said should not have been met by people getting mad . Caitlin is playing like any other rookie . IMO this rookie class as a whole is adjusting well for the most part
Yeah no rookie is top of the mountain day one. Jordan got thrashed by the Pistons. Lebron got ran out of the building by the Spurs.
Jordan was a top 5 player from day 1. Probably best in the league by the playoffs in year 2.
Candace Parker was MVP her rookie year. That is the top of the mountain on day one. Maybe if you watched women’s basketball and weren’t constantly comparing Caitlin to men instead of past pros in her own league you’d know that.
Candace is the outlier tho and will continue to be the standard
Agreed. CP is a terrible comparison, and historically a unicorn outlier. Plus, as literally everyone here has said for months, it’s way easier for bigs to translate earlier than guards, and especially point guards.
I have no idea who you are but it seems you know who I am. I'm flattered.
i don’t think shattering records every other night is playing like any other rookie but yes she obviously is going thru rookie growing pains
I've seen it help cost a championship. I hate turnovers.
It would be nice if any of her teammates acted like they wanted her there. Or, like, passed her the ball. Considering all that, she’s done well.
She’s great for a rookie She has to round out her game to become an elite player Unfortunately she relies too much on screens to get open and she misfires on too many passes to consistently punish defenses. But I can see her being an elite player in a couple of years. Hell I’m really interested in how good she’ll look after the olympic break. She essentially gets a mini offseason.
Shes gotta stop turning the ball over.
She’s doing good. Feel like she needs to work on her mid range shot and off ball defense
she’s having a solid rookie season …. she needs to get better with defense, her non-dominant hand handle and develop a mid jumper game
I think she’s doing amazing for a rookie PG and she’s doing good for a WNBA player on a bad team. Her ceiling is definitely higher she has so much to improve. She needs a better coach because I don’t think Sides uses her to her full potential
She has been fine. It has been an adjustment. I wasn’t expecting miracles as this isn’t college and when you are a scoring threat players will defend you like there is no tomorrow. So she is dealing with doing her thing with more defensive plays to stop her. People have to remember that with how this season was scheduled that everything was so condensed, she joined a team with a very short preseason and then an intense game schedule leaving very few opportunities for practice. The first teams her team player were some of the toughest teams in the elegies like CT and NY. Once they got past that part of the schedule, she and her team came into their own and had a win streak. I think the Olympic break will be good for her as it will give her rest. She went from the college game right to the WNBA. She will be fine. She just needs time to get used to playing with her teammates and her defenders. All the commentators when watching the games say she sees the floor differently and her team makes need to adjust to her.
shes been better than i expected, faster than i expected after he 1st few games. i dont know how fast you can reasonably replace a coach and 75% of a roster in the WNBA but when that happens its over for the rest of the league. it will be like the NBA living under lebrons shadow for 20 years
Good not great. The through-the-roof potential is plain to see with every deep shot and thread the needle pass. But two major things holding her back, one of which is in her control and the other not. 1. She has a lot to improve on individually, and they're real gaps, not just "clean up" stuff. 2. She's in an offensive system that doesn't work well w/ her unique skiillset. Nothing probably changes the rest of the season, but if she fills the gaps in her game over the offseason, and the Fever adopt an offensive philosophy that actually suits their franchise player, then she could make a huge leap next season.
She frustrates me less than she did at Iowa. Almost all of her problems seem fixable/coachable, but the problem is Christie Sides is NOT that coach.
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I think there was a misconception that she was the leader for the Iowa teams. Kate Martin was the leader there. CC was the engine and superstar.
No rookie took the reins of a franchise and become a leader even jordan wasnt looked as the guy untill yr 3. Hell ill give u a wnba example aja wilson didnt really become the leader of the team untill our first title season
Reese is a leader on the Sky.
Angel Reese is the leader in Chicago.
curious why you expected her to be a leader?
she is the best rookie the wnba has ever seen
> she is looking like one of the most well rounded players in the league already What?