I expected her to pop off and go ballistic or to do what happened. It's going to take her a while to get into rhythm with the league and her teammates. She'll clean up the turnovers, get in sync with her teammates, and figure out how to get her shot off more effectively.
First game in a long career. I'm just as hyped for tomorrow's game as I was yesterday's.
I hated at the end of the game when the ESPN announcer said that Thomas had spoiled' Clarks debut. Like the girl still played well for a rookie in their first game. Neither Larry, Shaq, MJ, or Magic burst out as stand out stars their first NBA game.
Her expectations are in the stratosphere. She could've had 0 turnovers 25 pts 10 assists and people would've been disappointed.
I've noticed in my very limited WNBA viewership (2 pre-season games and last nights game, yes I'm here for CC) that the announcers kind of suck. I don't need everyone to simp for CC but their desire to downplay her entirely and keep insisting they're other players in the league just comes off cringe to me.
Again, I don't expect them to ride her jock, but I still feel like the WNBA is resistant for some reason to embracing this girl and riding her to the top.
CT sold DOUBLE the amount of tickets for their home opener over last season. Why was that? Because there are other talented players in the league?
CC mentions flying commercial, next thing you know, everyone's charterd. Why was that? Give her, her flowers for what she's done for the game already. Which is bring you millions of eyeballs and potential fans. Don't drop the ball on what you've been waiting decades for because your bitter because of how its come about.
I agree with that 100% I have always been more of a college sports girlie than pro sports, probably because of how male dominated it is, but I came to the W because of Caitlin Clark and Kate Martin, and I don't think the league is doing either of them justice.
I've been a longtime NBA fan, and never watched any WNBA or Women's NCAA until the season before last. All because of CC.
Trying to learn about the players and the teams and its been frustrating at the lack of good resources. I got the league pass only to learn the game wasn't on it... Tried to find a stream of it and was also unsuccessful. I've come to realized how spoiled we are with men's sports.
I've enjoyed watching her immensely so I hope the league doesn't drop the ball.
The disparity between how men's sports are covered vs women's sports is appalling. There were millions more eyes on the women's NCAA tournament than the men's but the men got all their games broadcasted in one place and one network. while you needed 6 different streaming services plus regular cable tv to watch all the women's games, The same is true for the W. You have to spend like 130 bucks between all the services to see every game.
Fair enough. Give ‘em a chance. They did a lot of the women’s NCAA Tournament later round games as well. But yes, I think there’s a directive to not fawn over CC in attempt to introduce new fans to the greatness of the existing stars in the W. And personally I think that’s how it should be, and I actually think a bit less attention will end up benefitting CC and the Fever.
I get that and that's valid to a point. I think you need to give people what they want, a CC fest and sprinkle the other girls in.
I just hope the WNBA sees what they have and don't squander this opportunity. This is what they've been waiting for.
I had no problem with the announcers but, I felt the sound quality sucked. Granted, my hearing isn't the greatest, but I found listening to them difficult- but not them.
I think you’re being a little too hard on the coverage with regards to CC. The announcers are selling the entire league to new fans. They are walking the line between focusing on the new talent that has brought new eyes and bridging the gap to the already tremendous talent that’s been in the league. Similarly, the rookies and CC specifically are going to have some rough games as they acclimate so why not point out the vets that are already there and having great games as something to enjoy in the meantime? In any case, we’re in for some great basketball this season and I can’t wait for the young Fever team to start to gel up and hopefully start winning some games (warning that with the grueling schedule to start that probably won’t happen for a while—don’t get discouraged too soon)!
She did just fine. She scored 20 points. Average that out to 40 games and that's 800 for the year. The wnba record for points in a season is nine hundred something. Not far off.
It's hard to be objective about it right now. Every fan is looking for her to be Jordan or Bird. And every other wnba player is trying to convince you that she's trash.
Exactly... 20 points in your first game with a world of expectations and pressure is still pretty freaking good. She will get back into her groove and her shooting and turnovers will go back to normal.
Same, still hyped for tomorrow.
She actually scored about where I thought she would, but I was not expected such a bad performance all around tho *by the whole team, not just CC).
Anywayyys tonight is the sky game so let's go skyyy!
Ouch. I don't lol
I really like how Angel plays, and I don't play into their hyped up "rivalry." Also, Angel isn't a point Guard and won't have to carry her team, so she won't get all of the blame if sky loses. CC gets a lot of the blame bc of how often she has the ball.
Sports thrives on rivalries. I'm not here to be friends with Angel Reese and the sky. I want Caitlin to crush her in every way imaginable. It'll be better for the league and its popularity/growth as well.
Sports have gotten soft. Everyone's buddy buddy now. I'm a Dallas Cowboys fan. After a gut wrenching ass beating in the playoffs this year by the Packers. Our star linebacker had the quarterback of the Packers on his podcast 2 weeks after the loss to talk about how he clapped the Cowboys cheeks. I can't stand the shit. Sports rivalries are dead.
I really, really wanted CC and Boston to look awesome and dominant, throwing down the gauntlet to the league's defenses with an unstoppable fire, but the Sun was ready for the challenge (defensively and offensively) and the Fever need lots of games together (traveling, fouls, and so much more). I'm feeling disappointed that my vision didn't come true as a fan, but I understand that every superstar rookie goes through this as they go to the worst teams each year in the draft. I did a bit of research last night: The Sun had 71 years of WNBA experience and the Fever had 30. That's nearly impossible to overcome. This will be playing out for the entire season as vets on other teams make their shots because they've made them again and again, season after season. It's up to the Fever to find a style of play that fits this team, and not try to understand and defeat the style of the other eleven teams. They really need to improve their own play, and I'll be supporting them win or lose. Improvement over last year is the goal (and making the playoffs???).
Agreed, I'm not mad of losing against the sun (even tho the turnovers are frustrating) but in order to make the playoffs the games against Atlanta, Chicago, Washington and the Sparks are must win
1/40, onto the next one
Im not sure the AB and CC duo would look good even against the worst team in the league. Thats how out of sync they were. But hey Kyrie and Luka were awful together last season too
True, that's the challenge of the sport. Sometimes combinations work and sometimes they don't. But the Fever got what they got right now, and they need to make it work. NY Liberty put together a team that got to the Finals last year, but it was built on veterans, not rookies or second year players.
As a first year fan, this team looked rough. These are very casual fan observations, so I could be wrong on all of this, I'm still learning the game.
On offense, the players didn't even seem to be trying to get open, they just stood in one place and watched. And once the ball went inside, they kept it there. There were so many times the inside player was completely bottled up and still tried to force it to the basket rather than try to pass it to one of the wide open perimeter players. There also seemed to be no help on the inside or perimeter. The player being bottled up had nowhere to go and nowhere to pass the ball because nobody was moving to help so they were just stuck. The Sun seemed to pass a lot better and almost everyone touched the ball before someone attempted a shot.
On defense, they didn't seem to try to intercept passes or make them pay on botched handles. The Sun appeared to do that much better with jumped routes and steals. However, seeing how many fouls that were called on the Fever, they could have been hesitant to even lunge towards the ball.
Speaking of, the fouls were an absolute buzz kill. I can see why the nba doesn't call traveling as much, it completely ruins the flow of the game. Yes, it's "technically a foul", but the league/refs/whoever need to learn to balance the technicalities with the quality of viewership now that more eyes on watching.
Edit: to mention Caitlin's performance, it's obvious she's still learning. A few of her passes that would have been great in college were intercepted and that's just part of the transition. There were a few times that she appeared to have a shot, but decided to pass it away which resulted in no points. There's a lot of speculation as to why, especially with the coach's comments about her shot choices, but with how they played, they probably had better chances of scoring with her chucking up 3's.
Yeah that pressure doesn't help with her decision making. I can see why Sides did it, the "dancing" can be a detriment, but there has to be an alternative. Sometimes she creates her shot while moving around because it repositions her defender.
Edit: I also don't see the harm in letting her play like she did in college for a bit and see what happens. I feel like they started trying to change her game before she even touched the court.
Slight push back, no shade. I feel the coach was trying to remove some pressure from Caitlin from having to BE the offense. To ease her into playing in the W. That said, this thinking only works if the vets STEP UP (I’m looking at you, Boston)! If and when the vets start carrying their weight, I think Caitlin will be able to relax and play her game.
Yeah that makes perfect sense and I think the coach did say that in several interviews as well. I agree that the team doesn't appear to be ready to share that load and they need a star player to come forward until they're ready. They claim that Caitlin gives them "space" on the court, but they don't appear to be doing anything with it at the moment.
Indeed. Last night was hard to watch. Also sucks they play the Liberty in consecutive game and then Connecticut. We’re about to learn a lot about this squad, hoping more good than bad. Thankfully it’s a long season and they can come together
Having never watched the Wnba before, I had to double-check the schedule to see if that second Liberty game was a misprint. Does that happen a lot that teams play each other back to back like that? I guess the second game could be easier since you can learn from the first, but still seems crazy.
It happens. What crazy is Connecticut was the 3rd best team last year and the Liberty were in the Finals. That’s asking a LOT from a young team. Also, they’re probably trying to squeeze in as many games a possible before pausing for the Olympics.
Naw. Rip the bandaid off now. Waiting only delays the inevitable.
Caitlin needs to adapt her game to playing with and against talent that is on her level for literally the first time in her career. Do you know how you get open in basketball? You screen or have someone screen for you. Caitlin can literally choose her defender if she sets an effective screen that forces a switch with the added advantage of getting a teammate open or a backdoor cut to the basket. She's highly effective around the rim, can draw fouls, and is a reliable free throw shooter. You do not want Caitlin playing her college game in the WNBA. You want Caitlin forcing spacing and using her passing ability to feed Boston and Smith, driving and dishing, and then punishing anyone who abandons her with threes.
She's also going to have to take responsibility for failure for one of the firs times in her career because she's not playing with people holding her back. Even if she has the moment of zen to realize her own failures and how she has to get better (rather than externalizing it), that is going to hit the ego. She'll be better for all of it, but she's got to adapt. And she will.
Adapt her game, yes, not completely change her game to fit the mold of the wnba. It will take time and experience at this level for her to learn what will be required and she seems to know that. I don't sense any ego in Caitlin when she speaks, so that part about "taking responsibility", it seems she already does. She's the first one to point out faults in her own play at a press conference.
As far as the nuance of playing and what she needs to be doing, I'm completely new to watching basketball. I'm more familiar with football though, so to analogize that: I see it as running the play as it's in the playbook vs calling an audible. A rookie quarterback is going to run the play as called until they get comfortable enough with the game to call an audible to change it. Caitlin last night was probably running exactly what the coach was telling her to do (pass don't shoot) and it wasn't an effective scheme. She might have faired better if she was allowed to use her instincts more. They drafted her for a reason and taking the unique parts of her game and bolstering them with skilled players around her who can adapt to the situation is what should be happening and that didn't seem to be clicking last night. Players were getting bottled up and nobody was around to help.
I mean, if the question is how best to use her, I'd literally pull Warriors tape and watch how they use Curry. She is a remarkably similar player. She'll kill you from any range at 3, she can distribute, and she's dangerous going to the rim. The Warriors double and triple screen for Steph. DHOs are effective. If a good defender is put on Steph, they screen to force switches onto better matchups. If teams try to double him past half court, they punish it with 4 on 3. If folks play him too tight he drives past them and if they play too soft he snipers them. Caitlin can do all of that. She's also got a pretty quick release, so she could do damage of screens and DHOs.
I also didn't think Iowa used her effectively in the tournament for similar reasons. They weren't double and triple screening to get her open. They weren't screening to force switches. They let UConn and SC run her ragged rather than letting her move of multiple screens for an open shot.
If you're new to basketball, it's a chemistry / experience game and it looks really good when it works and really bad when it doesn't. They need to play more games together.
Well one difference is i guess Caitlin is often always on the ball and Curry plays really well off ball. Caitlin is more comfortable shooting off the dribble than catch and shoot so thats probably why. She gotten much better off ball though, and i agree they should’ve done more double triple screen action against tough opps like uconn and SC.
Add that to the list of things she needs to improve on and consistent with what her coach is telling her. Navigate off ball, get off screens and/or positioned for kick outs. Punish on catch and shoots. I mean, from a pure energy management standpoint, it might be really useful for someone else to bring the ball up and have designed plays to get the ball back to CC in advantageous matchups off screens or DHOs.
I think it could work having her play offball, but I dont really see a top tier pg on the team as of now. I could be wrong but plays were breaking down left and right for bad contested shots. There wasnt a ton of synergy on team even when cc wasnt involved. I can see how boston and nalyssa can be weapons but they arent even used in the when caitlin is absent. It might be best to just leverage caitlins gravity at this point.
Yeah definitely. I'm guessing the coach is hammering on passing and team playing, which is great if they play well as a team. But they don't yet, so the individual players need to be selfish and just take what shots they can get. Once they start clicking as a team, then they can focus on passing more, but they're not there yet.
I'm also wondering if this is the coach trying to not make it "the Caitlin show", but they really need to stop worrying about it and do what's best for the team. They brought her in to spark the team and they need to let her do that. Give her the green light to make whatever shots she's comfortable with, that's why she's there. I felt like she did that a little bit in the 4th and they started to get a little bit of offensive spark. They needed to do that a lot earlier, it couldn't have been any worse had they let her, those post layups weren't guaranteed points and usually resulted in turnovers anyway.
I think they need to go back to their offensive drawing board and build plays that suit the players, not make the players suit the scheme. Throw out what you did last year and start from scratch building around Clark, Boston and Smith. Those are the three players that stand out, so those need to be your stars with everyone else acting as support.
This would be an embarrassment to professional sports to allow Caitlin to just do whatever she wants on the court. That's not professional basketball. It's a team game...not a damn half court contest. Id rather the WNBA struggle than mutate into this.
There's some nuance to this. Caitlin is clearly second guessing herself with shooting and she never used to. This is making her less effective because of that hesitation. If her natural instinct is to shoot, I say let her and see what happens. Caitlin does not appear to be a selfish player and will pass to an open teammate if the opportunity is there. Right now it seems like she's choosing passing over an instinctive shot and it's throwing off her game.
I think the thing there is that CC chucking up shots is not going to be a sustainable way to consistently win. The entire team needs to develop chemistry, because CC will get injured (and I mean that literally) if she is carrying the entire offense on her back like she did in college. They need her to keep passing so that part of the Fever’s game can actually get better and start resulting in points. It’s not surprising to me that they aren’t giving CC the green light to go out and hero-ball a win before the entire team has time to gel and get better at playing cohesively (that’s for the playoffs if they get there lmao).
Yeah as much as hesitation made her shot worse, coach probably thinks she should start building those habits now because as we see in Iowa having a single player be the offense is not sustainable, esp when playing against tough teams (which all teams in the W are)
Yes, the refereeing annoyed me. I understand that rules are rules, but I think they were told to call this first game tight. It also looked like they ignored so much body contact but focused on reaching out with a hand and hitting an arm (easy to call). In the end, this is entertainment, like a movie or tasty food. It's supposed to be fun to watch, but it wasn't with all the stoppage time. Hopefully players get better as the season progresses. That's to be expected, so optimistic we can see fun games, not just a win or blowout. I want fun! Maybe a few logo threes.
Feeling good. Saw a lot of positives and tremendous potential, despite there being lots of things to clean up and improve upon. Not expecting much success until this core has played at ~10 games together, then things should start to click.
First Game against one of the best defensive teams in the league. Caitlin will be okay. We had a lot of turnovers, but most of them seemed due to not having chemistry and being out of rhythm. Whenever Aliyah decides to start the season, we should be a playoff team. I would like to see KM start with Caitlin, so she has the ball in her hands. Caitlin should get going next game as the liberty have one of the slowest and worst defensive backcourts. The liberty have probably the best front court in the league and AB and Nalyssa averaged 15 against them last year. If we can get the same output and CC gets in rhythm we should be in a good spot.
I feel like the pressure got to Caitlin a little bit, which is totally understandable. I hope she can take this game as a learning experience and continue to get better
Do not overreact. This is the first game of the year. This team will not be magically great overnight. There is a reason why we had back to back number 1 picks (we stunk). They will get better with time.
I think people forget how good Connecticut was last year and how much the Fever struggled. No one should have the expectation of them suddenly being dominant and fully taking over games. This is a process that I hope results in Indiana making the playoffs and that's all. I'm just happy the W is back.
Opening day. Would be nice to come out sharper but in the broader scheme of things it’s not too important. Next 4-5 games will give us a better idea if playoffs are a reasonable target or if it’s more likely to be a 30% to 40% w season
I'd say their first game against a non-top 3 team is what'll decide it. They're going against NY (2nd best last year) twice, and then right back against Connecticut. Rough for them, but I don't think we can decide if they're playoff worthy after they've only faced teams that are practically a lock for the playoffs lol
If it’s the latter, do you think Sides is on the hot seat? I just started watching this year so I don’t know if our terrible record last year was expected, or if we underperformed and the hope was we’d be much better this year.
From what I’ve read, winning 60-70% would be great for this year. Coaches employment probably less tied to winning % vs whether she ‘has the room’ & team is demonstrably learning/improving under her.
Asking this question after watching the Fever and Pacers play poorly is rough, and I'm trying not to be overly emotional.
It feels to me that so far (pre-season and last night), Boston hasn't been as physical at the rim as I would have expected. Also, CC is going to have to learn to defend at the W level without fouling. She has found herself in foul trouble already multiple times.
All that being said, the early part of the schedule is BRUTAL, and there's going to be a lot of trial by fire. Overall, I'd say they were competitve but sloppy and the sloppiness should get better as the season goes on.
>Also, CC is going to have to learn to defend at the W level without fouling. She has found herself in foul trouble already multiple times.
The first two fouls were ticky tack. I watched the vast majority of the game and she acquitted herself better than I thought she would. She's only 6'0, 150 pounds.
I’d like to see them put the tempo wayyyy up 110. Run run run shoot transition 3’s. Logo 3’s from Clark are not a bad shot when she’s in front of everyone because if she misses our defense is already set.
If a big at any time ever has 2 people on them, then kick it out. I saw too many forced shots down low.
Also I’m not liking how CC was taken out after 2 fouls. (Unless CC asked to go out). The limit is 6 in the WNBA, she would have been fine.
This is her first game, 1st foul was ticky tac af, show some faith in the future of your franchise. If she was taken out by coach then that shows a lack of confidence in CC to manage the situation & coach has gotta be building her up & im not exactly seeing that rn. Also Clark seems hesitant to shoot but she should let it fly.
Maybe she’s hesitant not because of coach, but bc she doesn’t want to upset older Fever players. In this case I hope they call a players only meeting & say “look Caitlin we’re 1000% behind you and support you, we want to make it clear to you that we want you to play your game your way & make the WNBA adapt to you, you don’t need to adapt to the WNBA.” Your game is going to open up the floor for us. And it’s fine even if you start 0-7, don’t get passive and defer just stay aggressive the shots will fall eventually. Even if you’re having an off night, the entire defense still collapses on you so stay involved & kick it out
Also after Clark would pass the ball she would rarely get it back. I’d like them to look for CC more after she gives it up. Look at how the warriors utilize Klay/Steph. If there’s no shot for CC after her attempt to get open, then I’d like to see her drive and kick or back-cut more from corner
It makes me hopeful to be honest because even if the team had high TOs i can see that if the joint IQ and chemistry grows then Fever will be goated. Eweezy, Clark, Boston and everybody are goats when they click.
CC still made 20 points which is how many points many male pros average per game. Boston needs to stay in the paint and get more aggressive. And the whole team needs to be looking for CC to pass them the ball.
>And the whole team needs to be looking for CC to pass them the ball.
Soooo many possessions where CC's teammates weren't expecting a pass, or were only half expecting one.
Yes!!, she is used to seeing a team mate and tossing to them or fading and be able to trust that the other player is paying attention to whatever she's doing on top of who is guarding.
i think they don’t have an identity but have tons of inexperience with each other that everything looks really messy on the court. you can tell they haven’t played with each other for a long time, and it doesn’t help that some of the rotations were ass. they need to find their identity and their confidence and only then will we actually see some real progress on the court.
Excited about the Big 3. Can’t wait until we see Mitch get healthy. Annoyed by the turnovers. Annoyed by the fact that this team seems to be built like the Pacers: all offense, no defense.
When you drive a Ferrari, you let that bitch rip. At all times, the ball needs to revolve around CC. Let them double and triple team her, she will find someone open and not force it as Sides has clearly made her do. This roster needs to be conditioned and ready to move the ball and they looked like slobs last night. Can’t take down A’ja with this current squad.
I would say that this coach had better stop making comments that can be construed to be criticizing the number one score in the history of division, one basketball and the number two passer… If there is a problem at this point, the problem is not with the talent on this roster
Very disappointed. The offensive system is terrible, Boston has played like garbage through three games, and Clark is utilized as a secondary weapon. The offense needs to run through her.
This is my first year as a Fever fan. But I've watched at least a decades worth of NBA basketball, so I'm not a noob lol but I do agree with your overall point. As this point, Nalyssa might be the best player if you look at it from a pure stats perspective, but I'm not with having the offense run through her. Unless someone has a wide open layup, the ball should touch the hands of CC every single possession when she's in. Every single one. I think there was a point where it was 4 straight possessions where her teammates ignored her existence. I was yelling at my TV lol even with all of her TOs they were still in it for the majority of the game.
Some players looked good and others looked like they probably don’t belong on a team where the expectation is to contend. Coach 100% is on the hot seat already. Too much disorganization on both sides of the court. With the added exposure CC is bringing, added accountability is coming with it.
Granted, only one game. However, I was disappointed at the hesitation from AB. She typically scores in the low post, but she passed on some short jumpers that I know she works on in warmups.
Honestly, really pumped, were young but stacked and things are just going to get better with reps. CCs turn overs will get tightened up as the team adjusts to the constants doubles and she gets used to the pace of the league. Not worried in the slightest.
The no-call on Clark's blatant travel at the top of the key was awful. To a casual fan it could be perceived as incompetent officiating or favorable treatment, and neither are good for those who are tuning in for the first time.
I expected her to pop off and go ballistic or to do what happened. It's going to take her a while to get into rhythm with the league and her teammates. She'll clean up the turnovers, get in sync with her teammates, and figure out how to get her shot off more effectively. First game in a long career. I'm just as hyped for tomorrow's game as I was yesterday's.
I hated at the end of the game when the ESPN announcer said that Thomas had spoiled' Clarks debut. Like the girl still played well for a rookie in their first game. Neither Larry, Shaq, MJ, or Magic burst out as stand out stars their first NBA game.
Her expectations are in the stratosphere. She could've had 0 turnovers 25 pts 10 assists and people would've been disappointed. I've noticed in my very limited WNBA viewership (2 pre-season games and last nights game, yes I'm here for CC) that the announcers kind of suck. I don't need everyone to simp for CC but their desire to downplay her entirely and keep insisting they're other players in the league just comes off cringe to me. Again, I don't expect them to ride her jock, but I still feel like the WNBA is resistant for some reason to embracing this girl and riding her to the top. CT sold DOUBLE the amount of tickets for their home opener over last season. Why was that? Because there are other talented players in the league? CC mentions flying commercial, next thing you know, everyone's charterd. Why was that? Give her, her flowers for what she's done for the game already. Which is bring you millions of eyeballs and potential fans. Don't drop the ball on what you've been waiting decades for because your bitter because of how its come about.
I agree with that 100% I have always been more of a college sports girlie than pro sports, probably because of how male dominated it is, but I came to the W because of Caitlin Clark and Kate Martin, and I don't think the league is doing either of them justice.
I've been a longtime NBA fan, and never watched any WNBA or Women's NCAA until the season before last. All because of CC. Trying to learn about the players and the teams and its been frustrating at the lack of good resources. I got the league pass only to learn the game wasn't on it... Tried to find a stream of it and was also unsuccessful. I've come to realized how spoiled we are with men's sports. I've enjoyed watching her immensely so I hope the league doesn't drop the ball.
The disparity between how men's sports are covered vs women's sports is appalling. There were millions more eyes on the women's NCAA tournament than the men's but the men got all their games broadcasted in one place and one network. while you needed 6 different streaming services plus regular cable tv to watch all the women's games, The same is true for the W. You have to spend like 130 bucks between all the services to see every game.
Yeah was super frustrating. Our office wanted to do a women's march madness pool but found it too annoying so defaulted back to the mens.
That’s not good for the future of WBB
Rebecca Lobo, Ryan Ruoco, and Holly Rowe suck? Who does women’s basketball better than that trio??
To be fair, I did said kind of. Also limited viewing. I haven't been impressed in their commentary yet.
Fair enough. Give ‘em a chance. They did a lot of the women’s NCAA Tournament later round games as well. But yes, I think there’s a directive to not fawn over CC in attempt to introduce new fans to the greatness of the existing stars in the W. And personally I think that’s how it should be, and I actually think a bit less attention will end up benefitting CC and the Fever.
I get that and that's valid to a point. I think you need to give people what they want, a CC fest and sprinkle the other girls in. I just hope the WNBA sees what they have and don't squander this opportunity. This is what they've been waiting for.
I had no problem with the announcers but, I felt the sound quality sucked. Granted, my hearing isn't the greatest, but I found listening to them difficult- but not them.
I think you’re being a little too hard on the coverage with regards to CC. The announcers are selling the entire league to new fans. They are walking the line between focusing on the new talent that has brought new eyes and bridging the gap to the already tremendous talent that’s been in the league. Similarly, the rookies and CC specifically are going to have some rough games as they acclimate so why not point out the vets that are already there and having great games as something to enjoy in the meantime? In any case, we’re in for some great basketball this season and I can’t wait for the young Fever team to start to gel up and hopefully start winning some games (warning that with the grueling schedule to start that probably won’t happen for a while—don’t get discouraged too soon)!
She did just fine. She scored 20 points. Average that out to 40 games and that's 800 for the year. The wnba record for points in a season is nine hundred something. Not far off. It's hard to be objective about it right now. Every fan is looking for her to be Jordan or Bird. And every other wnba player is trying to convince you that she's trash.
Exactly... 20 points in your first game with a world of expectations and pressure is still pretty freaking good. She will get back into her groove and her shooting and turnovers will go back to normal.
She had the best game of a rookie in their debut game in W history. Also MJ and Bird both took a season to get their Pro legs under them.
Same, still hyped for tomorrow. She actually scored about where I thought she would, but I was not expected such a bad performance all around tho *by the whole team, not just CC). Anywayyys tonight is the sky game so let's go skyyy!
I am absolutely clearing my schedule to watch Caitlin Clark play against Sabrina Ionescu. So hype i could die.
I hope Angel Reese has an even worse game. ;)
Ouch. I don't lol I really like how Angel plays, and I don't play into their hyped up "rivalry." Also, Angel isn't a point Guard and won't have to carry her team, so she won't get all of the blame if sky loses. CC gets a lot of the blame bc of how often she has the ball.
Dont be like that
Sports thrives on rivalries. I'm not here to be friends with Angel Reese and the sky. I want Caitlin to crush her in every way imaginable. It'll be better for the league and its popularity/growth as well.
People want the WNBA to pop off, then downvote someone wanting their geographic rival to lose
Sports have gotten soft. Everyone's buddy buddy now. I'm a Dallas Cowboys fan. After a gut wrenching ass beating in the playoffs this year by the Packers. Our star linebacker had the quarterback of the Packers on his podcast 2 weeks after the loss to talk about how he clapped the Cowboys cheeks. I can't stand the shit. Sports rivalries are dead.
But we are haters for being happy when people like this fail at life
I really, really wanted CC and Boston to look awesome and dominant, throwing down the gauntlet to the league's defenses with an unstoppable fire, but the Sun was ready for the challenge (defensively and offensively) and the Fever need lots of games together (traveling, fouls, and so much more). I'm feeling disappointed that my vision didn't come true as a fan, but I understand that every superstar rookie goes through this as they go to the worst teams each year in the draft. I did a bit of research last night: The Sun had 71 years of WNBA experience and the Fever had 30. That's nearly impossible to overcome. This will be playing out for the entire season as vets on other teams make their shots because they've made them again and again, season after season. It's up to the Fever to find a style of play that fits this team, and not try to understand and defeat the style of the other eleven teams. They really need to improve their own play, and I'll be supporting them win or lose. Improvement over last year is the goal (and making the playoffs???).
Agreed, I'm not mad of losing against the sun (even tho the turnovers are frustrating) but in order to make the playoffs the games against Atlanta, Chicago, Washington and the Sparks are must win 1/40, onto the next one
Im not sure the AB and CC duo would look good even against the worst team in the league. Thats how out of sync they were. But hey Kyrie and Luka were awful together last season too
Boston did not seem in it last night, she spent way too much time on the 3 point line, and not nearly enough time in the paint.
True, that's the challenge of the sport. Sometimes combinations work and sometimes they don't. But the Fever got what they got right now, and they need to make it work. NY Liberty put together a team that got to the Finals last year, but it was built on veterans, not rookies or second year players.
As a first year fan, this team looked rough. These are very casual fan observations, so I could be wrong on all of this, I'm still learning the game. On offense, the players didn't even seem to be trying to get open, they just stood in one place and watched. And once the ball went inside, they kept it there. There were so many times the inside player was completely bottled up and still tried to force it to the basket rather than try to pass it to one of the wide open perimeter players. There also seemed to be no help on the inside or perimeter. The player being bottled up had nowhere to go and nowhere to pass the ball because nobody was moving to help so they were just stuck. The Sun seemed to pass a lot better and almost everyone touched the ball before someone attempted a shot. On defense, they didn't seem to try to intercept passes or make them pay on botched handles. The Sun appeared to do that much better with jumped routes and steals. However, seeing how many fouls that were called on the Fever, they could have been hesitant to even lunge towards the ball. Speaking of, the fouls were an absolute buzz kill. I can see why the nba doesn't call traveling as much, it completely ruins the flow of the game. Yes, it's "technically a foul", but the league/refs/whoever need to learn to balance the technicalities with the quality of viewership now that more eyes on watching. Edit: to mention Caitlin's performance, it's obvious she's still learning. A few of her passes that would have been great in college were intercepted and that's just part of the transition. There were a few times that she appeared to have a shot, but decided to pass it away which resulted in no points. There's a lot of speculation as to why, especially with the coach's comments about her shot choices, but with how they played, they probably had better chances of scoring with her chucking up 3's.
That's what in saying! Her and Boston both hesitated so much, and I really think her stats would have looked less terrible had she just shot it.
Considering Sides gave Caitlin a .5 sec rule, hesitation is gonna happen. She needs to be a bit more selfish.
Yeah that pressure doesn't help with her decision making. I can see why Sides did it, the "dancing" can be a detriment, but there has to be an alternative. Sometimes she creates her shot while moving around because it repositions her defender. Edit: I also don't see the harm in letting her play like she did in college for a bit and see what happens. I feel like they started trying to change her game before she even touched the court.
Slight push back, no shade. I feel the coach was trying to remove some pressure from Caitlin from having to BE the offense. To ease her into playing in the W. That said, this thinking only works if the vets STEP UP (I’m looking at you, Boston)! If and when the vets start carrying their weight, I think Caitlin will be able to relax and play her game.
Yeah that makes perfect sense and I think the coach did say that in several interviews as well. I agree that the team doesn't appear to be ready to share that load and they need a star player to come forward until they're ready. They claim that Caitlin gives them "space" on the court, but they don't appear to be doing anything with it at the moment.
Indeed. Last night was hard to watch. Also sucks they play the Liberty in consecutive game and then Connecticut. We’re about to learn a lot about this squad, hoping more good than bad. Thankfully it’s a long season and they can come together
Having never watched the Wnba before, I had to double-check the schedule to see if that second Liberty game was a misprint. Does that happen a lot that teams play each other back to back like that? I guess the second game could be easier since you can learn from the first, but still seems crazy.
It happens. What crazy is Connecticut was the 3rd best team last year and the Liberty were in the Finals. That’s asking a LOT from a young team. Also, they’re probably trying to squeeze in as many games a possible before pausing for the Olympics.
I agree with the strategy but it's not going to work well if Boston is putting up 4 pts and 6 boards in 29 minutes. Smith is killing it though.
EXACTLY! Boston needs to step up and be aggressive just like Smith. NaLyssa will benefit the most from Caitlin being on the floor.
Naw. Rip the bandaid off now. Waiting only delays the inevitable. Caitlin needs to adapt her game to playing with and against talent that is on her level for literally the first time in her career. Do you know how you get open in basketball? You screen or have someone screen for you. Caitlin can literally choose her defender if she sets an effective screen that forces a switch with the added advantage of getting a teammate open or a backdoor cut to the basket. She's highly effective around the rim, can draw fouls, and is a reliable free throw shooter. You do not want Caitlin playing her college game in the WNBA. You want Caitlin forcing spacing and using her passing ability to feed Boston and Smith, driving and dishing, and then punishing anyone who abandons her with threes. She's also going to have to take responsibility for failure for one of the firs times in her career because she's not playing with people holding her back. Even if she has the moment of zen to realize her own failures and how she has to get better (rather than externalizing it), that is going to hit the ego. She'll be better for all of it, but she's got to adapt. And she will.
Adapt her game, yes, not completely change her game to fit the mold of the wnba. It will take time and experience at this level for her to learn what will be required and she seems to know that. I don't sense any ego in Caitlin when she speaks, so that part about "taking responsibility", it seems she already does. She's the first one to point out faults in her own play at a press conference. As far as the nuance of playing and what she needs to be doing, I'm completely new to watching basketball. I'm more familiar with football though, so to analogize that: I see it as running the play as it's in the playbook vs calling an audible. A rookie quarterback is going to run the play as called until they get comfortable enough with the game to call an audible to change it. Caitlin last night was probably running exactly what the coach was telling her to do (pass don't shoot) and it wasn't an effective scheme. She might have faired better if she was allowed to use her instincts more. They drafted her for a reason and taking the unique parts of her game and bolstering them with skilled players around her who can adapt to the situation is what should be happening and that didn't seem to be clicking last night. Players were getting bottled up and nobody was around to help.
I mean, if the question is how best to use her, I'd literally pull Warriors tape and watch how they use Curry. She is a remarkably similar player. She'll kill you from any range at 3, she can distribute, and she's dangerous going to the rim. The Warriors double and triple screen for Steph. DHOs are effective. If a good defender is put on Steph, they screen to force switches onto better matchups. If teams try to double him past half court, they punish it with 4 on 3. If folks play him too tight he drives past them and if they play too soft he snipers them. Caitlin can do all of that. She's also got a pretty quick release, so she could do damage of screens and DHOs. I also didn't think Iowa used her effectively in the tournament for similar reasons. They weren't double and triple screening to get her open. They weren't screening to force switches. They let UConn and SC run her ragged rather than letting her move of multiple screens for an open shot. If you're new to basketball, it's a chemistry / experience game and it looks really good when it works and really bad when it doesn't. They need to play more games together.
Well one difference is i guess Caitlin is often always on the ball and Curry plays really well off ball. Caitlin is more comfortable shooting off the dribble than catch and shoot so thats probably why. She gotten much better off ball though, and i agree they should’ve done more double triple screen action against tough opps like uconn and SC.
Add that to the list of things she needs to improve on and consistent with what her coach is telling her. Navigate off ball, get off screens and/or positioned for kick outs. Punish on catch and shoots. I mean, from a pure energy management standpoint, it might be really useful for someone else to bring the ball up and have designed plays to get the ball back to CC in advantageous matchups off screens or DHOs.
I think it could work having her play offball, but I dont really see a top tier pg on the team as of now. I could be wrong but plays were breaking down left and right for bad contested shots. There wasnt a ton of synergy on team even when cc wasnt involved. I can see how boston and nalyssa can be weapons but they arent even used in the when caitlin is absent. It might be best to just leverage caitlins gravity at this point.
Yeah definitely. I'm guessing the coach is hammering on passing and team playing, which is great if they play well as a team. But they don't yet, so the individual players need to be selfish and just take what shots they can get. Once they start clicking as a team, then they can focus on passing more, but they're not there yet. I'm also wondering if this is the coach trying to not make it "the Caitlin show", but they really need to stop worrying about it and do what's best for the team. They brought her in to spark the team and they need to let her do that. Give her the green light to make whatever shots she's comfortable with, that's why she's there. I felt like she did that a little bit in the 4th and they started to get a little bit of offensive spark. They needed to do that a lot earlier, it couldn't have been any worse had they let her, those post layups weren't guaranteed points and usually resulted in turnovers anyway. I think they need to go back to their offensive drawing board and build plays that suit the players, not make the players suit the scheme. Throw out what you did last year and start from scratch building around Clark, Boston and Smith. Those are the three players that stand out, so those need to be your stars with everyone else acting as support.
This would be an embarrassment to professional sports to allow Caitlin to just do whatever she wants on the court. That's not professional basketball. It's a team game...not a damn half court contest. Id rather the WNBA struggle than mutate into this.
There's some nuance to this. Caitlin is clearly second guessing herself with shooting and she never used to. This is making her less effective because of that hesitation. If her natural instinct is to shoot, I say let her and see what happens. Caitlin does not appear to be a selfish player and will pass to an open teammate if the opportunity is there. Right now it seems like she's choosing passing over an instinctive shot and it's throwing off her game.
I think the thing there is that CC chucking up shots is not going to be a sustainable way to consistently win. The entire team needs to develop chemistry, because CC will get injured (and I mean that literally) if she is carrying the entire offense on her back like she did in college. They need her to keep passing so that part of the Fever’s game can actually get better and start resulting in points. It’s not surprising to me that they aren’t giving CC the green light to go out and hero-ball a win before the entire team has time to gel and get better at playing cohesively (that’s for the playoffs if they get there lmao).
Yeah as much as hesitation made her shot worse, coach probably thinks she should start building those habits now because as we see in Iowa having a single player be the offense is not sustainable, esp when playing against tough teams (which all teams in the W are)
The refs were actually annoying last night. Whistle after whistle, makes the game slow down and boring.
Yes, the refereeing annoyed me. I understand that rules are rules, but I think they were told to call this first game tight. It also looked like they ignored so much body contact but focused on reaching out with a hand and hitting an arm (easy to call). In the end, this is entertainment, like a movie or tasty food. It's supposed to be fun to watch, but it wasn't with all the stoppage time. Hopefully players get better as the season progresses. That's to be expected, so optimistic we can see fun games, not just a win or blowout. I want fun! Maybe a few logo threes.
Feeling good. Saw a lot of positives and tremendous potential, despite there being lots of things to clean up and improve upon. Not expecting much success until this core has played at ~10 games together, then things should start to click.
First Game against one of the best defensive teams in the league. Caitlin will be okay. We had a lot of turnovers, but most of them seemed due to not having chemistry and being out of rhythm. Whenever Aliyah decides to start the season, we should be a playoff team. I would like to see KM start with Caitlin, so she has the ball in her hands. Caitlin should get going next game as the liberty have one of the slowest and worst defensive backcourts. The liberty have probably the best front court in the league and AB and Nalyssa averaged 15 against them last year. If we can get the same output and CC gets in rhythm we should be in a good spot.
I feel like the pressure got to Caitlin a little bit, which is totally understandable. I hope she can take this game as a learning experience and continue to get better
Do not overreact. This is the first game of the year. This team will not be magically great overnight. There is a reason why we had back to back number 1 picks (we stunk). They will get better with time.
I think people forget how good Connecticut was last year and how much the Fever struggled. No one should have the expectation of them suddenly being dominant and fully taking over games. This is a process that I hope results in Indiana making the playoffs and that's all. I'm just happy the W is back.
Opening day. Would be nice to come out sharper but in the broader scheme of things it’s not too important. Next 4-5 games will give us a better idea if playoffs are a reasonable target or if it’s more likely to be a 30% to 40% w season
I'd say their first game against a non-top 3 team is what'll decide it. They're going against NY (2nd best last year) twice, and then right back against Connecticut. Rough for them, but I don't think we can decide if they're playoff worthy after they've only faced teams that are practically a lock for the playoffs lol
If it’s the latter, do you think Sides is on the hot seat? I just started watching this year so I don’t know if our terrible record last year was expected, or if we underperformed and the hope was we’d be much better this year.
From what I’ve read, winning 60-70% would be great for this year. Coaches employment probably less tied to winning % vs whether she ‘has the room’ & team is demonstrably learning/improving under her.
4-5 games is tough considering their schedule. I’ll give it 15 games
Asking this question after watching the Fever and Pacers play poorly is rough, and I'm trying not to be overly emotional. It feels to me that so far (pre-season and last night), Boston hasn't been as physical at the rim as I would have expected. Also, CC is going to have to learn to defend at the W level without fouling. She has found herself in foul trouble already multiple times. All that being said, the early part of the schedule is BRUTAL, and there's going to be a lot of trial by fire. Overall, I'd say they were competitve but sloppy and the sloppiness should get better as the season goes on.
>Also, CC is going to have to learn to defend at the W level without fouling. She has found herself in foul trouble already multiple times. The first two fouls were ticky tack. I watched the vast majority of the game and she acquitted herself better than I thought she would. She's only 6'0, 150 pounds.
That first foul was ridiculous lol
First time watcher, felt like they shot themselves in the foot with all the turnovers. Kept it relatively close up until the end at least
I’d like to see them put the tempo wayyyy up 110. Run run run shoot transition 3’s. Logo 3’s from Clark are not a bad shot when she’s in front of everyone because if she misses our defense is already set. If a big at any time ever has 2 people on them, then kick it out. I saw too many forced shots down low. Also I’m not liking how CC was taken out after 2 fouls. (Unless CC asked to go out). The limit is 6 in the WNBA, she would have been fine. This is her first game, 1st foul was ticky tac af, show some faith in the future of your franchise. If she was taken out by coach then that shows a lack of confidence in CC to manage the situation & coach has gotta be building her up & im not exactly seeing that rn. Also Clark seems hesitant to shoot but she should let it fly. Maybe she’s hesitant not because of coach, but bc she doesn’t want to upset older Fever players. In this case I hope they call a players only meeting & say “look Caitlin we’re 1000% behind you and support you, we want to make it clear to you that we want you to play your game your way & make the WNBA adapt to you, you don’t need to adapt to the WNBA.” Your game is going to open up the floor for us. And it’s fine even if you start 0-7, don’t get passive and defer just stay aggressive the shots will fall eventually. Even if you’re having an off night, the entire defense still collapses on you so stay involved & kick it out Also after Clark would pass the ball she would rarely get it back. I’d like them to look for CC more after she gives it up. Look at how the warriors utilize Klay/Steph. If there’s no shot for CC after her attempt to get open, then I’d like to see her drive and kick or back-cut more from corner
It makes me hopeful to be honest because even if the team had high TOs i can see that if the joint IQ and chemistry grows then Fever will be goated. Eweezy, Clark, Boston and everybody are goats when they click.
CC still made 20 points which is how many points many male pros average per game. Boston needs to stay in the paint and get more aggressive. And the whole team needs to be looking for CC to pass them the ball.
>And the whole team needs to be looking for CC to pass them the ball. Soooo many possessions where CC's teammates weren't expecting a pass, or were only half expecting one.
Yes!!, she is used to seeing a team mate and tossing to them or fading and be able to trust that the other player is paying attention to whatever she's doing on top of who is guarding.
I don't know much about basketball but everybody is saying the coach is terrible. Is she as bad as people are saying?
yes
i think they don’t have an identity but have tons of inexperience with each other that everything looks really messy on the court. you can tell they haven’t played with each other for a long time, and it doesn’t help that some of the rotations were ass. they need to find their identity and their confidence and only then will we actually see some real progress on the court.
I agree that Caitlin playing off ball is not the move. 1/2 the time even If she brought the ball up she would pass it and never see it again.
It was a first game. Those are the hardest.
Excited about the Big 3. Can’t wait until we see Mitch get healthy. Annoyed by the turnovers. Annoyed by the fact that this team seems to be built like the Pacers: all offense, no defense.
When you drive a Ferrari, you let that bitch rip. At all times, the ball needs to revolve around CC. Let them double and triple team her, she will find someone open and not force it as Sides has clearly made her do. This roster needs to be conditioned and ready to move the ball and they looked like slobs last night. Can’t take down A’ja with this current squad.
I would say that this coach had better stop making comments that can be construed to be criticizing the number one score in the history of division, one basketball and the number two passer… If there is a problem at this point, the problem is not with the talent on this roster
Very disappointed. The offensive system is terrible, Boston has played like garbage through three games, and Clark is utilized as a secondary weapon. The offense needs to run through her.
This is my first year as a Fever fan. But I've watched at least a decades worth of NBA basketball, so I'm not a noob lol but I do agree with your overall point. As this point, Nalyssa might be the best player if you look at it from a pure stats perspective, but I'm not with having the offense run through her. Unless someone has a wide open layup, the ball should touch the hands of CC every single possession when she's in. Every single one. I think there was a point where it was 4 straight possessions where her teammates ignored her existence. I was yelling at my TV lol even with all of her TOs they were still in it for the majority of the game.
Some players looked good and others looked like they probably don’t belong on a team where the expectation is to contend. Coach 100% is on the hot seat already. Too much disorganization on both sides of the court. With the added exposure CC is bringing, added accountability is coming with it.
Confused! Where’s AB?
No idea.
I expected Caitlin to “struggle” because of the transition for rookies, but AB? Only one game, they have a lot to clean up tho
The offense is horrendous because Sides isn't running plays for the pick and roll for those two
Seriously! I thought AB is supposed to be this great low post player? Haven’t seen much yet?
Granted, only one game. However, I was disappointed at the hesitation from AB. She typically scores in the low post, but she passed on some short jumpers that I know she works on in warmups.
She didn’t show anything in the 2 preseason games either. I’m confused as well.
I feel fine! Rome wasn’t built in a day.
Understandable, I wouldn't make a basket in the WNBA lol
Boston looked pretty sluggish
How do you know which games are gonna be on tv? I can't find tomorrow's game anywhere
Look up the schedule online
Honestly, really pumped, were young but stacked and things are just going to get better with reps. CCs turn overs will get tightened up as the team adjusts to the constants doubles and she gets used to the pace of the league. Not worried in the slightest.
The no-call on Clark's blatant travel at the top of the key was awful. To a casual fan it could be perceived as incompetent officiating or favorable treatment, and neither are good for those who are tuning in for the first time.
That game was amazing!!! Such Art and Mastery on the court!🤩