Ninety games in 11 months: is the Caitlin Clark Experience sustainable? | Caitlin Clark

TThe Caitlin Clark Experience passed through Brooklyn on Saturday afternoon and did not disappoint. After a rocky start to her professional career, the Indiana Fever rookie showed a glimpse of why she turned women’s basketball into designated television during her record-breaking run at the University of Iowa.

She was all over the court against the New York Liberty, scoring 10 of her team’s first 19 points with back-to-back pull-up threes and innovative layups, and skipping one-handed passes to create opportunities for teammates. It made an ear-splitting roar from all around it. The packed crowd drowned out the scattered boulevards. After leading all scorers with 15 points at halftime, she was cooled by a platoon of defenders led by Betoniya Rainey-Hamilton, a crafty veteran eight years older than Clark, but not in front of goal. . One of her signature 30-footers.

“I just play with an aggressive mindset,” said Clark, who finished with 22 points, eight assists and six rebounds on 9-of-17 shooting and 4-of-10 from 3-point range. “That’s going to be my biggest focus going forward, just going out and playing hard. I thought our whole group did that.”

It was Clark’s best performance of his entire week in the WNBA. In his pro debut against Connecticut on Tuesday night, 10 turnovers (he gave up the ball eight times on Saturday) offset 20 hard-earned points, giving the Fever a 21-point lead. I was defeated. And they lost by 36 points to New York on Friday. At home, he scored just nine points on 2-of-8 shooting, the first time he was held to single digits since January 2021, his first season at Iowa.

But in Saturday’s nationally televised final, Indiana won for the third time in three games, showing just how far the Fever and 22-year-old phenom have to go.

Until Saturday afternoon, Clark had never played a game in New York City — not during her four years at the University of Iowa, nor with her high school or AAU teams — and a sense of timing in America’s largest media market. was obvious. The sold-out, celebrity-studded crowd of 17,735 set a Liberty Series record. report The home team collected more than $2 million in ticket revenue for the contest, the largest live gate in the WNBA’s 28-year history. The crowds of enthusiastic people outside the main entrance to the Atlantic and Flatbush arenas were so dense that many late-arriving fans were not allowed inside until halftime.

The intense media scrutiny Clark has been under in recent months has only been amplified in New York, making her graceful handling of the attention all the more impressive. She spent 10 minutes after warming up signing autographs for a crowd of young fans, and her responses to multiple media outlets were polished and thoughtful.

It’s hard to believe that Saturday’s game took place less than six weeks after Clark’s last collegiate appearance in the NCAA Championship Game (against Iowa). The game was the finale of a grueling 39-game season in which Clark led the nation in scoring and assists while playing nearly every minute of every contest.

Since then, she was drafted No. 1 overall by the Fever and signed a record $28 million contract with Nike. Saturday Night Live walk-on part In between commercial shoots for a growing portfolio of corporate sponsors. Due to its growing popularity, the WNBA committed $50 million to provide teams with full-time charter flight service, resolving a long-standing impasse involving concerns about player safety. Additionally, several teams have moved their games against Indiana to larger venues to accommodate increased demand.

In terms of rest, the 38 days between her Iowa swansong and her WNBA debut were the exact opposite of her trip to Cabo. And that was before the game even started. While it’s true that the Fever had the misfortune of opening with the toughest three games on the schedule, the reality is that in a league with just 12 teams and a maximum of 144 roster spots, every team has elite talent. There is. “People are chasing me, chasing me up to 94 feet,” Clark said Saturday. “Trapped on every ball screen, blocked on every stagger screen.”

After everything seemed easy at Iowa, even the simplest basketball tasks became hard work. “I think it’s the physicality, the way he guards the team,” she said. “When I go back and watch the movie, I’m so far removed from the play that I’m still wearing a face guard.”

All of this raises questions about sustainability. If Clark can play the entire regular season schedule for Indiana University, he will play in 79 games in less than 11 months. If this heat reaches the playoffs and she is selected to the U.S. Olympic team in Paris, her number could surpass 90. When asked what she does to herself to prevent her seemingly inevitable burnout, Clark speaks of her healthy outlook and her awareness of the big picture. Ta. photograph.

“I think you just have to take care of your body and take care of your mind.” [is important]” Clark said. “But I just want to tell myself, I know this is my job now, but I enjoy playing this game and I think that’s what I need to focus on throughout this year. Just have fun.” That was the best time for me, and it was also the best time in college. ”

Indiana’s early struggles and Clark’s learning curve are in some ways a positive for the WNBA, showing how competitive the league is with the large influx of new fans. The New York Liberty, a super team that returns all five starters from a group that came within two wins of a championship last October, is the first team, second team, and Indiana, which is leading the team. It is not surprising that they are showing their fangs. The third-year player hasn’t made the playoffs since 2016.

If Clark doesn’t take care of himself, both physically and mentally, they won’t get far. But her point guard’s even keel seems to be preparing her for her long haul.

“It’s the same situation for any rookie that comes here,” Clark said. “You can make all the excuses you want, but there are no excuses. The players in this league were once rookies. They dealt with the same thing, and everyone goes through it. It’s obviously your body. It’s not ideal for, but I think it makes you grow a little bit. It makes you mature a little bit and make you a true professional athlete and find ways to take care of your mind and take care of your body. .

“But at the same time, it shouldn’t be hard to get up in the morning and play a basketball game if that’s what you do for a living.”