Christy Sides asked Caitlin Clark to tone it down to the umpires, pleading instead to “leave the technical stuff to me.”
On Thursday night, Sides did his part.
Sides was given a technical foul during the Fever’s blowout loss to the Storm after lashing out at the officials for no call on a missed shot on Clark’s drive to the basket.
The second-year head coach had to enlist the help of his assistants to stop the play during the 103-88 loss.
“We need to improve our refereeing skills. We need to make better calls.” Said says “I feel like they’re getting the kind of calls that are happening on our side, and we’re not getting those calls,” he said after the Fever fell to 1-8.
Some of Clark’s early stories involved how WNBA referees called games against her while she was adjusting to the league, with opponents getting physical with her and even Breanna Stewart taking her down with a screen.
Even during Thursday’s game, Clark and Victoria Bivens each received technical fouls for getting in each other’s faces in an altercation after Clark was starting to get her groove back.
Clark is known for his vocal arguments with officials and earlier this year he received a technical foul after explicitly telling an official, “That’s definitely a foul.”
Sides had hoped to see less of that kind of play from her star player, but even she couldn’t contain her anger Thursday night after the officials swallowed their whistles on a third-quarter attack.
Seattle’s Sami Whitcomb appeared to foul Clark multiple times during the play, both before and after the shot, but the officials allowed the play and Clark missed.
“That’s a foul,” announcer Debbie Antonelli said.
That’s when Sides lost his cool, yelled at the official and was called for a technical foul, leaving the Fever trailing 71-52 with 2:28 left in the quarter.
The technical play had little impact on the match, as the Storm won handily.
Clark finished with 20 points on 6-of-17 shooting and thanked his coach for his defense.
“I feel like I’m being slapped, I don’t know,” Clark said. “I’m also grateful that Christie got the technology, I don’t know.”
