There are people in the broad internet world who are quite quick to respond with obscene aggression to descriptions of Caitlin Clark that are not at least 95 percent positive. If I had to guess what percentage of lines in this article are Caitlin-Clark-positive, I’d say maybe about 80? So these people may not be happy. Luckily, these people are just the basic evolution of message board keyboard warriors from 20 years ago. None of this behavior is new; it’s just new to certain people.
People do grow out of it about half the time in my experience. The ones that do often become some of the most self-aware, sweetest people you will ever meet. They’re also a little fragile due to being introduced to reality outside of their own head, maybe for the first time. It can be a painful process. Be nice to them.
The other half of the time … well … they just regress further into miserable, self-loathing shells who think obsequience is an identity. I’d like to think there’s no point too deep to extricate people from this mindset, but I really don’t know. Maybe one day I’ll find out, but it’s not today. In either eventuality, I’m not bothered. I’m wishing everyone well.
So Caitlin Clark returned from injury and put up a 10-point, five-rebound, six-assist game in under 25 minutes. It’s worth noting she also had four turnovers. People expecting an MVP-level return might have been a little let down, but it’s impossible to predict how one’s body is going to feel the first time you return to game speed.
However, Stephanie pointed out, per Alexa Philippou’s report, that Clark “really looked good.” She went on to say, “Maybe I’m naive, but I don’t worry about Caitlin getting back into the flow offensively.”
If White had anything negative to say about Clark, it was the following: “I was a little bit concerned defensively, just lots of movement, lots of lateral movement. I thought she looked good at times, and I think that that's just building consistency and building her endurance and all of that.” And that’s not negative. That’s a statement of fact as someone returns to form following a physical setback.
If Caitlin Clark isn’t the problem, then what is?
White’s main problem with the team was what she described as a “lack of competitive fire.” She continued: “I'm not sure if it's not knowing the game plan ... as much as not executing the game plan. Our attention to detail, our discipline. I felt like our energy and our competitive fire was not there, and that's disappointing.”
Clark herself echoed this idea, saying, “We struggled scouting-report wise. We struggled [with] personnel. We struggled to do what the coaches asked of us, and then overall, they just played with more energy and effort, and those are the things that just can't happen.”
So, well, it’s hard to blame Clark for that coming off an injury. Sure, one could make a weird wraparound point that says a team’s energy feeds off of what their best player is doing, but when your best player is limited, then there is only so much return you can find through that concept. You have to find something else.
The Fever do have a lot to play for this year. One imagines they will find their fire again. It still boggles my mind the amount of attention they get and the kind of attention they get. But, at the same time, it’s so cool to see so many people get passionate about women’s sports. I’m happy for most of the people in that group, specifically the ones who know how to interact with other people.