Out of nothing but curiosity, I watched Caitlin Clark's first two WNBA games.
Very unimpressive considering the hype.
She doesn't look like anything special. Of course, true, she is a rookie. I guess I was expecting a bit more due to the hype. At this point, she looks overmatched.
One was very impressed with Breanna Stewart. Excellent player. Great moves, great passer, great shooter.
KOBE LOOKED LIKED A BALLHOG FLAMEOUT FOR MOST OF HIS ROOKIE SEASON...CLARK WILL BE FINE...JUST HAS TO FIND HER PRO LEGS.
shareMaybe, I'm not saying Caitlin has no chance. One thing isn't going to change - she looks overmatched strength wise. She looks small and weak on the WNBA floor. What I can see, and what I would count on, is she'll continue to improve her passing game. She made some real nice passes, some turnovers, yes, but you can see that skill.
Her shooting, for lack of a better word, was average at best. Maybe even below average.
Anyway, she might end up being a decent point guard - we'll see.
A couple of questions (not an ambush I promise).
1) are you male or female?
2) have you been a regular watcher of the WNBA or did you start following recently because of Clark's notoriety?
Male.
No, not a regular watcher. Really only interested in the Phoenix Mercury because I'm a Diana Taurasi fan (born and raised in CT). If a Mercury game happened to be on, I'd watch it.
Diana is way passed her prime now. I only watched these last two games to check out Caitlin Clark.
I called this. I don't watch the WNBA, but I watched Clark's career at Iowa pretty closely and I knew it would be an adjustment for her to transition to the WNBA, because she was pretty much given "free reign" at Iowa and the ball was in her hands pretty much every possession. It's not going to be like that for her in the WNBA.
She has skills, but, as you mentioned, she's not overly strong and not overly fast. I didn't like how she really turned into a "flopper" this season (and she pushes off with her off-hand a lot when she dribbles) and her attitude (not to mention her shot selection and decision making) can be pretty horrible at times. Even with some of her great passes at Iowa, she still turned the ball over a lot. She had 10 turnovers her first regular-season WNBA game... that's a ton!
Her challenge (besides getting stronger and quicker) is going to be fitting into a "team concept" with her style of play. It's not going to be like Iowa, where the ball is in her hands every possession and she can pretty much take any shot and attempt any pass without repercussions. We'll see if she can eventually make the adjustments necessary to be successful in the WNBA.