04/28/24 02:54:00
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04/28 14:52 CDT Caitlin Clark turns focus back to basketball as training camp
opens for Indiana Fever
Caitlin Clark turns focus back to basketball as training camp opens for Indiana
Fever
By MICHAEL MAROT
AP Sports Writer
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) --- Caitlin Clark got back to the basics Sunday --- working
out on a basketball court.
Here, as the newest member of the Indiana Fever, she's learning how she'll fit
into this new offensive system, building chemistry with her new teammates and
learning the nuances of what it means to be the WNBA's highest-profile rookie.
Sure, Clark anticipates some bumps this season; she wouldn't expect anything
less. But giving the sport she loves her full attention is really all Clark
ever wanted.
"I think that's what I was most excited for, getting all that other stuff out
of the way," the former Iowa star said as Indiana's training camp opened. "The
draft was amazing, New York City was amazing, Los Angeles was amazing, but I
was excited to get here and get back to playing basketball, you know, doing my
job."
Over the past two seasons, these WNBA rookies have created the kind of buzz
around women's basketball most fans only dreamed about, and Clark is
undisputedly at the head of the class.
Ticket sales increased at every venue she appeared and when Clark's games were
televised, ratings spiked. Her chase of the Division I career scoring record
captivated basketball fans across America and she even appeared on "Saturday
Night Live."
Perhaps even more fittingly, the transition from the established stars to
newcomers such as Clark officially started the same day another trailblazing
performer, Candace Parker, announced her retirement.
But, like Parker, Clark enters this season with one primary goal: Winning games.
"I think no matter what happens there's going to be expectations and pressure
on my shoulders and pressure on this team to be really good. That's how you
want it," Clark said. "We wouldn't want anything else. We want people showing
up to our games, people expecting us to win a lot of basketball games this year
and I'm expecting myself to play really well. I don't think it's anything
that's ever been different for me."
That kind of talk certainly is new to the Fever.
Indiana hasn't reached the playoffs since 2016, hasn't posted a winning season
since 2015 and has been mostly irrelevant nationally since Hall of Famer Tamika
Catchings' retirement. Over the past five seasons, the Fever won 28 games.
Iowa, meanwhile, went 65-12 and with two national runner-up finishes in Clark's
final two college seasons.
But the pairing of Clark and Aliyah Boston, the WNBA's unanimous rookie of the
year last season, has turned Indiana into one of the league's hottest tickets.
Several opponents already have moved games to larger arenas and Boston, for
one, is eager to see how quickly Indiana's new lineup will mesh. Clark arrived
in town early this past week and has been turning heads with her workouts ever
since.
"I think Caitlin has a different eye for the game. You're able to see how well
she passes the ball and how well she shoots it," Boston said. "You see her
communicating, you see the way she can find you, I mean her passes are
tremendous. I'm like ?OK, I'll get a touch, just let me get down there' just
because of how well she passes it."
Clark's transitioning from college ball to the pro level may speeding up, too.
For most of the 2 1/2-hour practice open to the media, Clark worked with
Indiana's starters and true to form, Clark lined up one 3-pointer after another
including some of those trademark logo 3s.
Still, it was Clark's crisp passes that took teammates and even second-year
coach Christie Sides by surprise.
"Her ability to space the floor for us is just incredible," Sides said. "We're
going to have five players on the court that can shoot it, but her passing
ability --- you saw some of the passes she made. I'm more mad at the how many
missed layups we had. I think we're just not used to having those, someone who
can make those passes."
Clark can make them and will make them, and how the Fever responds to her
presence will largely dictate how successful Indiana will be this season.
But the key for Clark will be getting acclimated quickly to a new team, a new
home and a new style of play by Friday's preseason opener in Dallas.
"It's definitely different, but that's what you expect when you start a new
chapter in your life, she said. "It's fast, fast shot clock, but I think all of
you know that's how I like to play. So I think it suits my game pretty well.
It's a fast pace, a lot faster than college and you've to learn quicker because
you've got to get your mind on Friday."
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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
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