The Fever entered their first preseason game with a familiar issue: injuries. Aliyah Boston, Ty Harris, and Lexie Hull were all out. Nevertheless, the Fever secured a 109-91 win over the also short-handed New York Liberty and saw nice debuts from Raven Johnson, Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, and Monique Billings.
Caitlin Clark didn’t look her best quite yet. She went 2-10 from the floor and 1-5 from three on her way to 7 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 block in 17 minutes. Nevertheless, Stephanie White isn’t concerned about Clark’s shooting and praised her intention and communication.
“If we’re talking about the shotmaking, that’s going to come,” White said in the postgame media availability. “They play her differently in the W than they do in international basketball. So, we’ve just gotta find ways to free her up to get some easy looks.”
Clark struggled with her 3-point shot when she was available last season
After shooting a respectable 34.4% on 8.9 3-point attempts per game as a rookie, Clark’s shooting dropped to 27.9% on 8 attempts in the 13 games that she played last season. She also shot only 36.7% from the field. That drop off isn’t overly concerning considering that Clark dealt with some leg injuries, which impact players’ shots.
As she’s fully recovered now, her first preseason outing can probably just be attributed to a bad night and should be no reason for panic.
She will be able to alleviate any concerns later this week when the Fever take on Paige Bueckers and the Dallas Wings for their second preseason game of the year.
Clark’s shot looked good with Team USA
Clark was part of the team that Sue Bird sent to Puerto Rico for the World Cup Qualifying Tournament in March, and her shot was not a problem. She finished fourth in points per game behind Megan Gustafson, Cecilia Zandalasini, and Kahleah Copper, and went 10-25 from behind the arc over the course of the tournament.
Rhyne Howard was the only player who made more threes with 15 and Kelsey Plum tied Clark’s number.
The international game is different, and Clark was on a stacked team, so opponents couldn’t focus as much on her as they often can in the W, but her efficiency in that tournament is still an encouraging sign.
Moreover, Stephanie White still has plenty of time to figure out schemes and sets to create some easy looks for Clark that she wasn’t able to experiment with last season.
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