After back-to-back defeats, the Indiana Fever face uncomfortable questions about their roster and star guard Caitlin Clark’s growing struggles.
Clark’s defensive shortcomings have been highlighted over the past couple of games, with teams constantly attacking her and forcing her into isolation situations, landing her in foul trouble.
Against the Portland Fire on Saturday, the star guard was more or less invisible. She was a liability on defense, and foul trouble limited her to just 21 minutes. She has also just managed a combined 22 points in the last two games on 3-12 and 1-7 shooting.
WNBA analyst Autumn Johnson said this is something she would “press the panic button on.”
“I know how it is to be coached hard… But now I’m thinking, moving forward, how are you gonna win games? Because truly defense wins games. And you could be the best offensive player, but, you don’t wanna be a liability to your team where they can attack you and get to the rim,” Autumn said on the Women’s Hoops Show with Jordan Robinson [timestamp – 6:00 onwards ]
Johnson said she wants to see if these two games will be a turning point.
“I think it very much could be. I love how she already pointed out where she needs to make these adjustments.”
She also believes the upcoming schedule is going to do Caitlin Clark and the Fever no favors.
“I think they play the Atlanta Dream next. Like, you’re gonna go up against Rhyne Howard and Allisha Gray. They’ve got the Washington Mystics, so Georgia Amoore and Sonia Citron. it doesn’t get easier. When you face New York, when you face Chicago, all of those guards have a bag of skills where they can get downhill. I think of the best downhill players like Brittney Sykes and Kahleah Copper. Those are players she’s gonna have to go up against.”
Indiana’s next games are against strong teams. Included among those are three meetings with Angel Reese and the Atlanta Dream, a back-to-back road set in which the Fever will face the New York Liberty and Washington Mystics. They also meet the Chicago Sky and Toronto Tempo on the road, and the Connecticut Sun at home.
Caitlin Clark advised to follow Sue Bird’s advice
In the same episode, Autumn Johnson advised Caitlin Clark to take Sue Bird’s advice when getting ISO’d by opponents.
Bird said she “learned every single tendency of every player” she was going to guard.
“Because everyone has one thing they don’t want to do, and you’ve got to make them do that thing.”
Johnson praised that advice, saying that applying Bird’s approach could be a huge part of Clark’s game.
“And Sue is one of the greats of this game. But learning how to adjust on the fly, so young in Caitlin’s career is gonna be a turning point that we’re gonna see in real time,” Johnson said. [timestamp – 8:00 onwards]
While Clark’s defensive game needs a bit of a makeover, her offensive production has remained the same. She’s averaging a career-high 20.1 points and 8.1 assists per game this season. The Fever are 4-4 through eight games. It isn’t the end of the world, but it is behind where they want to be.
Clark and the management are wise enough to know there is still plenty of basketball to be played and plenty of ground to make up. So there is a legitimate reason to believe she can make adjustments and get back to her absolute best.
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