Caitlin Clark is in her second year in the WNBA, and by now, there’s a long list of things to praise—basketball IQ? Check. Talent? Check. Championship potential? Big check. Defense? Well… that’s still under review. And offense? Normally, that’s her strong suit, but after the recent Liberty game, we might need to hit the pause button. That green check turned into a red flag real quick, and no one saw it coming. Worse still, this inconsistency isn’t limited to one player; it’s a Fever thing. Their matchup against New York made one thing painfully obvious: Indiana might have all the talent, but there is still a long way to go before a championship potential team becomes championship-ready.
Turnovers, inconsistency, and a general “wait, what are we doing?” vibe are bound to give head coach Stephanie White a few sleepless nights. But the biggest concern? Caitlin Clark herself, who had a rough shooting night and needs to bounce back—fast. Because when your star’s shots go missing, so does your shot at winning.
Guarded by one of the premier defenders of the league in Natasha Cloud, Clark knew she would be in for a pestering. CC struggled to get going from the jump, and while the stat sheet shows an 18 points, 10 assists double-double at first glance, moving your gaze to the right reveals her 10 turnovers. Liberty’s defensive tenacity and ball pressure threw Clark off her game, concealing her biggest weapon, her 3-point shot.
Clark missed seven straight 3s in the game before she made her first with 1:04 left in the third quarter, after which she hit a buzzer-beater step-back 3 to end the quarter. These were the only 3s Clark made during the game as she finished 2/11 from beyond the arc. While Sandy Bronello’s side surely handled the assignment very well, it appears this has more to do with CC, who looks to have found herself in a shooting slump.
The Fever guard had an unusual game in their win against the Dream as she didn’t make a single 3 the entire game. Yep, you read that right. The last time this happened, the year was 2022, and Clark was a sophomore at Iowa. And while a couple of missed shots aren’t a cause of worry, her 12 straight missed shots across the games against Dream and Liberty have become a grave concern, at least for national analyst Rachel DeMita.
“She was missing these threes like we haven’t seen her miss threes, like bricks off the opposite side of the rim. So I don’t know if it was mental. I don’t know if she just had a cold streak” she said. “It happens with shooters. Like once you get cold and once you get cold for that long, it starts to get mental and you could definitely see it in her body language,” DeMita said.
With the season gearing up to be highly competitive, Clark must snap out of it quickly. “She has to find a way [out of the slump]. I also would turn to the coaches for this as well, because they also need to figure out what buttons to push with her to help her snap out of it,” said DeMita. While Clark might only be in her sophomore year, she is still a leader for this squad, with her teammates trusting her in the big moments. The Fever has a lot of depth and quality for sure, but Clark is arguably the best player in the WNBA with the ball in her hands. And the Fever must do everything in their power to help CC get back to her ways.
Anyway, it is most probably a phase because Clark is undoubtedly one of the best shooters in the league, and it won’t be too long before she figures out what’s throwing her shot off. But as DeMita indicated, White might want to introspect as well.
Clark’s better as the conductor
As Coach White had discussed in the offseason, she has been experimenting with playing Clark off the ball in order to take the defensive pressure off of her. But in their game against the NY Liberty, the game plan backfired as it threw Clark off her rhythm. While versatility is a prized asset in any WNBA player, and Caitlin Clark certainly possesses the shooting prowess to be effective off the ball, Indiana Fever Head Coach Stephanie White needs to realize that Clark feels a lot more comfortable when she has the ball in her hands. As has been evident since her time at Iowa.
Clark’s primary strength lies in her extraordinary court vision and her innate ability to manipulate defenses with the ball in her hands. We saw this repeatedly in her rookie season. Her league-leading assist numbers in 2024, averaging 8.4 assists per game, weren’t just a product of good passing; they were a testament to her capacity to read multiple defensive layers, anticipate rotations, and deliver pinpoint passes to teammates in tight windows. Clark’s scoring is historic, but her playmaking is what truly elevates the entire team.
The offensive gravity that comes along with a scorer like Clark is another critical factor. Her limitless range forces defenses to engage her the second she crosses half-court, which creates immense space for teammates to cut and drive. This defensive distortion is most effective when she has the ball, as she presents a live threat to pass, drive, or shoot at any moment. When she is orchestrating the offense, she is not just a scorer but an engine who can dissect a defense with her decision-making.
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