Despite an 0-5 start to her WNBA career, Caitlin Clark has shown promise and improvement since her college days.
That’s the message from ESPN’s Andraya Carter, who has been following Clark’s career for years.
In a phone interview with the New York Post, Carter praised Clark’s transition to the professional ranks just five games later.
‘I think Caitlin is doing a phenomenal job. “She came into the league with a lot of pressure, like literal pressure from the defense, which is dedicated to stopping her, and with eyes on her,” Carter began.
“In every game except the first, he’s had at least five assists, so I’ve been really impressed with his ability to find his teammates.
Still searching for her first professional victory, Caitlin Clark has shown growth in her game.
One person who noticed is ESPN’s Andraya Carter, who monitored and covered Clark’s career.
“His ability to read the defense and put the ball where it needs to be is only going to get better.”
Clark struggled in her first two games (a 92-71 blowout at the Connecticut Sun and a 102-66 blowout at the New York Liberty), but has since seemed to come into her own in games.
“Obviously the turnovers are alarming at first when you look at the numbers, but the improvement he made from the first time against the Connecticut Sun to the rematch was remarkable,” Carter said.
‘She faced one of the best defenses, if not the best defense, in the WNBA in two of her first four games. It’s a really difficult sample size to judge because four of their first five games were against the Sun and Liberty, two of the best franchises in the league.
So far, in just five games of his career, Clark is averaging 17.8 points, 5.8 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game. He is top 15 in scoring (15th) and top 10 in assists (8th).
Carter said he is “hanging his hat” on Clark’s “improvement,” her connection with her teammates, her ability to get back up when knocked down and her ability to literally get back on the court when she was injured and sprained her ankle against Sun. .’
“Her stamina, her fight and her competitive spirit — she’s out there and she wants to win,” Carter said.
“She could easily be there with the attitude that ‘no one expects us to win, we’re not a talented team from top to bottom, we’re building for the future,’ but it seems like she wants to win right now.
Carter says he’s “hanging his hat” on Clark’s ability to improve in the coming months
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark questions a first-half call against the Connecticut Sun
“She’s frustrated because it’s not happening and that’s okay.” “That competitive spirit is what will lead to the success of this team.”
Clark has shown some signs of frustration, such as when he received a technical foul in Monday’s loss to the Sun for yelling at the referees.
Carter isn’t worried: “That happens to a lot of players.” Players commit technical fouls in the heat of the moment. He wouldn’t even say it’s a rookie mistake. That is a mistake that veterans make,” said the analyst.
“For me, I think her resilience and her improvement when she sees a team for the second time, her fight and the way her teammates rally around her, Caitlin will continue to build on all of those things.”
But one thing Clark has struggled with is adjusting to defenses, including many times where she’s been blown away on screens.
Carter doesn’t think Clark is being targeted, per se: “I think that’s just the WNBA, to be honest.
“In this league there is always physicality. People control each other and beat each other. That Sparks-Aces game was extremely physical. Checking the screens, hitting the screens.
“You have to think about it: there are only 12 teams in the league, so there comes a time when these teams are very competitive with each other. That’s how it is when you see teams over and over again.
But there is a lot of room for adjustment, like on defense, where he has had problems with screens.
Carter highly praised Clark’s “stamina, fight and competitive spirit.”
“There’s a lot more eyes on what’s going on with Caitlin because there’s a lot more eyes on her in general, but the screen Breanna Stewart focused on her: she didn’t lean in or move toward her or extend her arms.
‘It was literally just a screen. The speed at which you encounter a screen will also determine its impact. If she has no idea that a screen is coming, because her teammates didn’t warn her and her head wasn’t turning, she’ll run into it very hard.’
Carter believes this is an area where Clark would improve the longer she plays in the WNBA.
“When you’re in the league longer, you learn to avoid screens. And when you play with your team longer, the chemistry comes when the communication is at a high level, where you can avoid screens and they don’t come,” Carter said.
‘To me (reaction to Stewart’s screen on Clark) was people making something out of nothing. I don’t think anyone went out of their way to hit Caitlin.
‘Do I think people put all their effort into defending Caitlin? Yes. But the idea that they’re being more physical with her than with someone else, I think this league is just physical.”