Inside Caitlin Clark’s Early Adjustment to ‘Physical’ WNBA; Analyzing Her Debut

In her highly anticipated WNBA debut, Caitlin Clark flashed brilliance, scoring 21 points on 6-15 shooting from the floor, including 5-13 from 3-point range, in 28 minutes of action. Despite the Indiana Fever’s 79-76 loss to the Dallas Wings, Clark’s performance was a promising sign of things to come.

Clark commanded significant defensive attention from the Wings, a testament to her reputation as a threat on the court. She also experienced her first WNBA jump ball tip, which she didn’t win but showed determination and competitiveness.

The rookie sensation quickly adapted to the WNBA’s physicality, showcasing her signature 3-point shooting and step-back jumpers. Her first shot was a 3-pointer, which went through the net to loud cheers from the crowd. She also nailed a step-back 3-pointer over Natasha Howard, the 2019 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year.

Clark’s biggest adjustment was the physicality of the league, which she acknowledged differed from her stint in college. She attempted 93.3% of her shots as jump shots— flashing the continued dynamic perimeter shot creation she often punished rivals with, in Iowa. Her only attempt at the rim occurred against a switch that resulted in her turning the corner to get downhill, but ultimately getting blocked with a 76-76 tied score and under 30 seconds remaining in regulation.

Caitlin Clark is finding a balance between creating for teammates and looking to score, whether a layup or a floater, when attacking the paint, which will be another adjustment, potentially getting downhill more altogether. Part of the process is navigating the WNBA’s physicality and officiating approach. 

“Everybody’s super physical. It doesn’t always get called…The talent level is very different than in college,” Clark said. However, she was proud of her performance, saying, “I thought I did it pretty well. I could have taken care of the ball a bit better. All of us could have done a better job with that.”

Clark’s debut left her teammates, and her coaches impressed. They praised her work ethic and ability to execute plays. “She’s a game-changer,” said coach Christie Sides. “She’s got a lot to learn, but she’s willing to put in the work.” As she attempts to take over the WNBA world, her adjustment isn’t only on her, her teammates too have to continue to familiarize themselves with their new star’s passing tendencies, ideally resulting in greater execution as play finishers.

“I think we only had 14 assists, which can’t happen. We missed some easy buckets, which would have put us at around 20 or 21 assists, where we want to be,” Sides said. Having her first WNBA game under her belt, Caitlin Clark is ready to take on the league’s challenges to prove herself as a force to be reckoned with.

“I came in here and just played really hard, and that’s always something you can be proud of”, Clark said. Sides was satisfied with Clark’s performance but acknowledged that everyone continues to find a collective rhythm as they learn each other’s skill sets. However, Clark could benefit from simplifying her shot profile compared to how she had to attack at Iowa, given there is more talent around her to do so.

“Overall, I thought Caitlin played well. She got some shots up and hit some big ones”, Sides said. “We’re still finding our rhythm, and they’re still learning each other’s game. Caitlin works hard to get her shots, but she doesn’t have to work that hard anymore”.

Already on the same page, Clark echoed the sentiment that she could use off-ball movement or screens more to simplify her scoring approach when possible. “It’ll still be a learning thing for me,” Clark said. “You don’t have to dribble and create everything for yourself; use screens, use your teammates. I think that’ll be an adjustment over the course of the first couple weeks and first couple months for myself.”

After generating 1.154 points per possession as a pick-and-roll ball handler, Clark felt she could have been more intentional about running more of those actions. Still, she appreciated her teammates creating quality looks for her when she was deployed in off-ball screening actions. Continuing to move the ball and maximize the value of playing out of screens were themes in her self-reflection.

“I thought our pick-and-roll was really good. We could have gotten more pick-and-roll stuff. I came off screens well, and my teammates found me for some good looks”, Clark said. “Those were kind of the biggest things. At times, I don’t need to dribble so much. Just move the ball, reverse the ball, and use screens better. I think that’ll help me conserve some of my energy.”

Another adjustment for Clark will be managing her minutes. This will differ from her time at Iowa, where she mostly played the entire game. At one point, Sides revealed that Clark asked to be substituted and appreciated her doing so.

“That’s just learning her,” Sides said. “She got winded early in the first quarter and asked for a sub. I thought it was awesome that she recognized her limits. A lot of players try to fight through it, but I need to recognize it sooner to prevent her from getting too exhausted. If I keep letting her get too exhausted, she’ll lose her energy in the fourth quarter. It’s just a learning process – learning her and the rest of the team and figuring out who’s playing well in which rotation.”

Caitlin Clark highlighted one lesson she learned: ‘the inability to take any plays off by relaxing at the WNBA level’. Understandably, she asked for a sub. “There’s definitely going to be a lot to learn”. She followed it with, “It comes down to every single possession. When you’re on the court with this much challenge, you can’t take a second off. You relax for one second, and they’re going to beat you on a screen or something. You can’t relax in this league for one second.”

By being able to sub out of games more often, Clark is looking forward to being more aggressive when she’s on the court. “It’s probably going to be nice,” she said. “I can play a lot harder when I’m in. At Iowa, I had to find moments within the game to reset and take a break, whether that was on offense or defense. We have so much talent on our roster; I don’t need to play 40 minutes. This will allow me to produce an even better product and play even harder when I’m in the game.”

Looking ahead, Clark wants the Fever to continue building chemistry to maximize their efficiency when running half-court sets. One way to do so could involve slowing it down more and being patient to get into what they want to run. “I thought we could have done a better job slowing it down a bit in the second half and getting into our sets better”, she said. “But overall, we hit the floor really well.”

From a personal standpoint, Clark is eager to review her film and tighten things up where she can. Whether it is taking care of the ball more, continuing to refine her technique, or further familiarizing herself with the nuances of the Fever’s scheme.

“I thought I did it pretty well,” Clark said. “I could have taken care of the ball a bit better. All of us could have done a better job with that. But overall, I played really hard, executed, and there’s going to be a lot to go back to the film and look at and learn from because a lot of it is different from college, just from a technique standpoint or scheme standpoint of what we do. But I came in here and just played really hard, and that’s always something you can be proud of.”

The Fever’s next game is against the Atlanta Dream on Friday, May 10, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. With plenty of time to continue getting reps in with teammates and applying what they learn in film sessions, Clark’s next WNBA performance should be highly anticipated.