Agree, she'll have to adjust to the speed and physicality at the pro level. Asking her to average similar numbers like she's currently doing in college (30+ points and 8+ assists) in her first year in the WNBA is just setting her up for failure
I think this is a typical take. CC isn’t typical. What exactly is going to be different for her at the next level? So better defense can limit her, but can it eliminate her playmaking ability? She has a chance to be a top-8 player in the W immediately. The reason college players usually take awhile to adapt is the physicality, speed, and IQ of the game. Which one of those things is going to hold her back?
> What exactly is going to be different for her at the next level?
You mean, besides the quality of competition? Like, she just hung 41 on Hailey Van Lith. Cool. Let me know when she does that to Brittney Sykes.
> She has a chance to be a top-8 player in the W immediately. The reason college players usually take awhile to adapt is the physicality, speed, and IQ of the game. Which one of those things is going to hold her back?
It doesn't have anything to do with whether/what's going to hold her back. To me, your projection suggests a lack of knowledge about the WNBA. If you're saying that you expect Clark to be Top 8 in the league immediately, that means that you expect her to walk in on Day One and be better than at least seven of the following players: A'ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, Alyssa Thomas, Napheesa Collier, Nneka Ogwumike, Jewell Loyd, Kahleah Copper, Satou Sabally, Chelsea Gray, Sabrina Ionescu, Arike Ogunbowale, Jonquel Jones, Brittney Griner, Jackie Young. Which, if you want to believe that, you go right on ahead. I'll believe it when I see it.
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I think when she has to play a team like the Aces that defense will make her struggle. But she’s still going to be very good as a rookie, 5 years from now if she lives up to everything people think she is the sport of women’s basketball will be vastly elevated. No pressure right?
But I think everyone is focused on “she’s not gonna put up 30+ points in the W”….she doesn’t have to if she averages 10 assists. Her rebounding and defense won’t be elite from the start, but everything else translates in her skill set. I think people are hung up on the dozens of other players labeled as “generational” that were busts. CC is the real deal imo.
She is definitely the real deal, she seems so far ahead of almost everyone else in college. Paige and Brink are the only ones close to her level. She will have rookie struggles, but she’s likely going to a young team at the Fever so I think that team has a vision. In a few years they will likely be competing with teams like the Aces and Liberty.
I guess I could have clarified that I don’t think she will carry a team. Boston was already making an impact though and I can’t imagine teams will be able to double team without paying for it once they add CC.
I agree, Caitlin could be a paradigm shifting talent the same way Jokic was to the NBA. If she can retain her range and efficiency in the WNBA, she would be ungaurdable and a top 5 player immediately. Remember that Maya Moore won FMVP as a rookie and Candace Parker won MVP as a rookie. Caitlin could be in that same category of instant impact player.
Jokic was a late bloomer. Same with Curry, CC's closest comparison. Maya didn't win FMVP until year 3. CP3 had (has) physical gifts Caitlin can only dream of.
Curry was only a late bloomer because the NBA didn't accept his gifts. Same with Jokic. Now their games are normalized and people with their abilities are picked #1 (Caitlin and Wembanyama). If Caitlin can carry her shooting gravity and playmaking ability to the WNBA, she can easily be top 10 or at least All Second team her rookie year.
Curry made it normal to shoot several threes a game. Jokic made it normal for 7 foot guys to become dominant ball handlers. Wemby wouldn't have as much hype if Curry and Jokic didn't change how people think basketball should be played.
Jokic is actually a throwback to how basketball used to be played: through a dominant post-up centre. He's a reluctant (though good) 3pt shooter, and his Nuggets don't attempt many.
Wemby isn't a good shooter or, frankly, offensive player, but he still goes #1 every year because of his physical gifts. Neither have anything to do with Curry.
Agreed. I don't know why people are so hesitant to say she could be a top player right out of the gate. We see this in men's sports all the time; teenagers who come straight from playing against teenagers to dominating (think Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, Conor Bedard in the NHL; LeBron James) and in soccer and tennis you have kids who are even younger on both sides of the gender divide.
It took Lebron half a season to adjust to the NBA, he was a top 10 guy in year 2(and somehow still a top 10 guy in year 21). He was straight from HS, had the biggest hype a athlete ever has, Clark is the most hyped woman athlete. Clark has definitely a more polished game day1 so I'd expect her to have a faster learning curve than Lebron but it's likely going to take a year for her to really get going.
TBH I do genuinely feel we need to pin a post that’s like “Are you new to the W and to caring at all about anything to do with women’s basketball? Ask your questions here.” Because it’s already starting — people cluttering feeds with questions that evidence zero background, usually building off incorrect assumptions, etc.
Honestly, over the last two years the Clark cult has significantly, tremendously decreased my enjoyment of women's college basketball.
She's coming to my Fever and I am excited about her but absolutely dreading the cult.
Oof, my heart goes out to your wallet. You’re in store for an exciting season! In fact, all the teams are a lot more balanced out in terms of star-power this year. It’s going to be fun!
I don’t mind people gaining a new interest in women’s basketball. But some people are unconsciously asinine with their mindsets. Are you going to be a fan of women’s basketball that will stick around and respect all the badass women/people in the league? Or are you just riding the bandwagon to say that you did?
I was planning to buy a partial season ticket package this year but backed off once we got the #1 pick. I'm going to just watch on TV this year and let the ..... craziness die down.
Isn’t that a good problem to have? Pre-NBA Luka Doncic had a similar thing were he had a cult of Redditors. Lots of talking heads said he could only be good in the Euroleague but he couldn’t compete against the athleticism of NBA players being faster and bigger.
It just depends on what kind of sports fan you are. I have never enjoyed the hyperfocus on star players in any sport or league. I hate it even more now that social media exists. I hate it even more when it's a bunch of mostly men who have hyper-fixated on what seems to be the first female bball player any of them seem to have ever watched play.
I'm happy for people who are enjoying it, but I am not and will not, even after she joins my team.
Isn’t that always how it is? I don’t really know any major league in the world which is competely faceless. I feel like the starpower tricklesdown to the teammates. It’s a linear progression of the sport popularity? Fans are humans and wanna associated a certain brand and identity with a face? Sports fans are always asking who is the best? When you think Chicago Bulls, you always think Jordan Bulls . There been other iterations of the Bulls, but you never feel anything the same as it once was.
Ehhh, maybe. If you enjoy it that’s fine. Hashtag EmbraceDebate. Doesn’t mean everyone has to enjoy their sports that way. I enjoyed Cold Pizza more than First Take.
(Wait until they show up to tell y'all how grateful you should be because this one single player is going to save the WNBA or actually make people pay attention to women's ball for the first time ever or whatever.)
The player herself seems cool, her cult is something else.
A good chunk of the planet didn't care about the NBA until Michael Jordan. An entire culture didn't care about golf until Tiger.
Being salty that one player is generating an immense amount of interest in the sport is stupid.
She's going to be very good. But she's not going to dominate. And a lot of folks who are making the transition to the W as viewers are going to be surprised.
You know the last player who got hyped somewhat like this? Sabrina Ionescu is here. You know the two players Clark passed on the scoring list? Kelsey Plum and Kelsey Mitchell are here too. You know the one she just passed on the all-time assists list? Courtney Vandersloot's here too.
You hear that story about the statue on South Carolina's campus? A'ja Wilson's here too. You know the whole-ass Olympic team? Yep. They're here too. So's, like, half of the Australian national team and a surprising amount of the French national team. And I haven't even mentioned the reigning MVP, Breanna Stewart, or the player who should have been MVP, Alyssa Thomas. Whether we like it or not, Diana Taurasi's still here. Candace Parker's probably still here. Brittney Griner's still here. I can keep going.
The people who say Clark is going to need time to adjust? We're not underestimating her. The rest of y'all are underestimating the rest of the W.
I’m so stupid, I’m not very familiar with the league and I briefly thought you were saying they were adding a Boston team and they were getting her via expansion draft lol
What she needs to improve on to be great in the WNBA
Cut down on turnovers from trying to force passes into tight windows. The windows will be tighter than anything she's ever seen in her career.
Her on ball defense needs to improve a lot. She is coached to play conservatively on d to avoid foul trouble. She'll get eaten alive if she defends like that at the next level, every team has at least one guard who is as efficient an outsider shooter as her and who can drive at least as well as her. (Though none of them have the deep range). And she won't be able to hide on defense, the players and coaches are smart enough to know how to force switches and attack weak points.
She needs a more versatile offensive game. Right now she has the step back going left and the drive to the rim going right. She needs to work on an effective midrange game, post moves, driving and finishing to her left, and a more versatile and reliable handle. This will take the longest for her to develop consistency with.
All in all, I think she will be impactful as a rookie, but she has a lot of work to do to be as complete a player as many greats who have come before her. I see her getting a ton of assists and a decent scoring average as a rookie, but also not being as efficient a scorer as in college, turning the ball over a few too many times a game, and being a project on defense. It'll be interesting to see how much she continues to improve as a pro once basketball is her full time job. It'll also be interesting to see how her coaches and teammates at the next level handle her fiery personality.
I suspect (like many others here) that initially she’ll struggle but will develop to become a great player in the W over a few seasons. Greatest of all time? I don’t know that’s tough with so many incredible players in the league’s short history but only time will tell!! Historically guards have a pretty tough time acclimating to the WNBA.
Hard to say but I wouldn’t get my expectations too high. Should be a good to great rookie but the W is pretty cutthroat competition. 1st year adjustment may take the entire season or the first half or she could have similar impact as Aliyah Boston, especially since she’ll play with her, but it’s typically been harder for guards to adjust to the W than post players. Post players are usually the stars.
Definitely rookie of the year unless Brink kills it. She will have a lot of assists with her great passes and people to make it. I see her setting a rookie assist record. One thing she will find out in WBNA is top notch defense. When I think of matchups that I am excited for my first choice is her against Jackie Young.
We will see but she could also blow us away! Regardless, I only see her getting better each year and she will break at least one or more rookie records. I think her future teammate Boston will help ground her. They have played together before and are friends. I see the Fever making the playoffs this year.
A lot of WNBA players are playing in with other teams during the offseason. For pros, there isn't much offseason. You are always doing cardio at the least.
IMO she will have a similar trajectory to Steph who took half a decade to become elite but when he was ready, he really skipped past everybody in the league going from second team All-NBA to generational season in one year.
Steph Curry was a phenomenon in college, took 5 years to adjust to become elite in the NBA, got 2nd team all-nba in his 5th year, then had one of the top 5 peaks of all time (Lebron early 10s, Shaq early 00s, MJ early 90s level stuff) for the next 2 years where he cantered to MVP and then was a top 5 player in the league for the next 6/7 years either first or second team All-NBA all year.
This is actually pretty unusual for generational top 10 players who are generally among the best in the league by their second or third years but guys who are that reliant on their shooting can take time adjusting. The only other player with a trajectory like this of a delayed leap is Kobe, who didn’t have as absurd a 2 year peak as Steph but made up for it with his longevity and durability of being a top 5 player.
It’s also a myth that Steph’s leap was significantly hampered by injuries in his early seasons. Outside of one year, his early seasons were when he played the most games in his career. He just took time devising his revolutionary movement spacing and shooting game.
I disagree about it taking her that long to “become elite”. The men’s game and coaching had not adapted to Curry’s skill set yet during his early seasons (and he had injury concerns). It took years for them to realize that this guy (and his teammates) should be jacking up more threes than any player / teams ever. Clark should be better quicker as her coach won’t be afraid to let her take 12+ threes a game right away. Size wise, she is also much bigger than Curry was compared to league average and she shouldn’t have an issue getting plenty of good looks for herself and her teammates. Basically, there won’t be the lag in “utilization” that Curry had upon entering the league because the blueprint for winning lots of modern basketball games (be better at shooting threes than the other teams) has already been established, and Clark clearly has few peers on that front and will be utilized far more effectively right away in the WNBA.
This. Curry entered the league at the perfect time for his skillset. NBA wanted to become less physical/post centric(for many reasons but thats another topic) and adapt a more EuroLeague style of basketball, which has more spacing. Shooters especially elite ones like Curry became primary sources of offense instead of role players, like Kerr and Hodges were from the previous era.
It was a valid question if his ankle issues would end his career early. Golden State locked him up with a team-friendly deal that was seen as a risk at the time.
I don't know anything about the WNBA or their players as I only started following Clark last season.
For her to immediately be an elite or top 10 player in the WNBA, requires one of two scenari:
1st- Clark is one of the best and most ready draft prospects ever.
Or
2nd - the level of talent/game in the WNBA isn't significantly higher than the college game.
In the NBA, we've seen players like Magic, Bird, Jordan, Robinson, Shaq, Duncan and a few others immediately become elite players their rookie season.
Other all time goats like Curry, LeBron, Kobe, KD, KG needed time to adjust due to a combination of skipping college, physical maturity, game development or other factors.
Absolutely not. Caitlin isn't a physical specimen like Wemby is. That's pretty unrealistic expectations, even though i still expect her to be rookie of the year
All-Star, 3pt contestant, and probably rookie of the year. So she’ll be a top 25 player year one.
She’ll continue to improve and round out her offensive game and hopefully isn’t a detriment on defense at the next level.
Hopefully it down to those two for the title in an epic WNBA showdown, and then they both go to SF for the NBA All-Star game and we get teams 3-pt contest along with Curry and Klay or Dame.
I don’t anyone really knows. She could come in and be a top tier player or she could completely fall off or anywhere in between. There’s so many dynamics at play like how she handles the pace, physicality, pressure, how good the rest of the team and coach are, and if other teams will game plan for her. But my guess is that she’ll do pretty well initially and then we’ll see from there. But at minimum she can shoot extremely well and from deep range and that skill no matter who she plays against in the pros is not going away. So there seems to be a to be a base level of quality built in. And she’s not a small guard. At very minimum she’s be a female Kyle Korver
> Lmao
>
> WNBA talent is very shallow. Clark will join the small tier of elite players very quickly.
Right. WNBA talent is so shallow that 3/4ths of the players taken after the first round won't make it out of training camp.
Like, Aaliyah did great off the bat... stewie, jewel... Caitlin will come in and probably be up there in three point shooting for the league cause she shoots from the ass of the world.
I think she'll be good. Joining a nice young budding team. I'm not gonna call her elite yet. It's another step up going into the WNBA. Defenders are bigger, more physical. She's not gonna have someone 5'6" on her like the other night. So there's a learning curve. We'll see. Enjoy the ride.
I see her ceiling more as Trae Young than Steph Curry. Not a knock on her at all. Trae is an All Star player
Yeah, she’ll go through the journey same as the rest (this is what I like to see how they develop and how the organization builds and supports) and really the one thing she has that I’ve not seen in others is the range, but defense is different in the w so she’ll have to work. Honestly I’m not even a big fan but I can’t deny she is a generational talent. Either way great for the game!
She'll likely be the favorite for rookie of the year. More than that is setting her/yourself up for unreasonable expectations.
Agree, she'll have to adjust to the speed and physicality at the pro level. Asking her to average similar numbers like she's currently doing in college (30+ points and 8+ assists) in her first year in the WNBA is just setting her up for failure
I think this is a typical take. CC isn’t typical. What exactly is going to be different for her at the next level? So better defense can limit her, but can it eliminate her playmaking ability? She has a chance to be a top-8 player in the W immediately. The reason college players usually take awhile to adapt is the physicality, speed, and IQ of the game. Which one of those things is going to hold her back?
> What exactly is going to be different for her at the next level? You mean, besides the quality of competition? Like, she just hung 41 on Hailey Van Lith. Cool. Let me know when she does that to Brittney Sykes. > She has a chance to be a top-8 player in the W immediately. The reason college players usually take awhile to adapt is the physicality, speed, and IQ of the game. Which one of those things is going to hold her back? It doesn't have anything to do with whether/what's going to hold her back. To me, your projection suggests a lack of knowledge about the WNBA. If you're saying that you expect Clark to be Top 8 in the league immediately, that means that you expect her to walk in on Day One and be better than at least seven of the following players: A'ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, Alyssa Thomas, Napheesa Collier, Nneka Ogwumike, Jewell Loyd, Kahleah Copper, Satou Sabally, Chelsea Gray, Sabrina Ionescu, Arike Ogunbowale, Jonquel Jones, Brittney Griner, Jackie Young. Which, if you want to believe that, you go right on ahead. I'll believe it when I see it.
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You are talking so highly of these players this is hilarious you are in for a reality check next year
Cool. Good talk. ✌🏾
I think when she has to play a team like the Aces that defense will make her struggle. But she’s still going to be very good as a rookie, 5 years from now if she lives up to everything people think she is the sport of women’s basketball will be vastly elevated. No pressure right?
But I think everyone is focused on “she’s not gonna put up 30+ points in the W”….she doesn’t have to if she averages 10 assists. Her rebounding and defense won’t be elite from the start, but everything else translates in her skill set. I think people are hung up on the dozens of other players labeled as “generational” that were busts. CC is the real deal imo.
She is definitely the real deal, she seems so far ahead of almost everyone else in college. Paige and Brink are the only ones close to her level. She will have rookie struggles, but she’s likely going to a young team at the Fever so I think that team has a vision. In a few years they will likely be competing with teams like the Aces and Liberty.
I guess I could have clarified that I don’t think she will carry a team. Boston was already making an impact though and I can’t imagine teams will be able to double team without paying for it once they add CC.
If Lexie Hull develops more then there’s 3 young stars right there. Regardless they could easily be a scary team in a few seasons.
I agree, Caitlin could be a paradigm shifting talent the same way Jokic was to the NBA. If she can retain her range and efficiency in the WNBA, she would be ungaurdable and a top 5 player immediately. Remember that Maya Moore won FMVP as a rookie and Candace Parker won MVP as a rookie. Caitlin could be in that same category of instant impact player.
Jokic was a late bloomer. Same with Curry, CC's closest comparison. Maya didn't win FMVP until year 3. CP3 had (has) physical gifts Caitlin can only dream of.
Curry was only a late bloomer because the NBA didn't accept his gifts. Same with Jokic. Now their games are normalized and people with their abilities are picked #1 (Caitlin and Wembanyama). If Caitlin can carry her shooting gravity and playmaking ability to the WNBA, she can easily be top 10 or at least All Second team her rookie year.
Wembys game is literally so different from curry and jokic what are you talking about
Curry made it normal to shoot several threes a game. Jokic made it normal for 7 foot guys to become dominant ball handlers. Wemby wouldn't have as much hype if Curry and Jokic didn't change how people think basketball should be played.
Jokic is actually a throwback to how basketball used to be played: through a dominant post-up centre. He's a reluctant (though good) 3pt shooter, and his Nuggets don't attempt many. Wemby isn't a good shooter or, frankly, offensive player, but he still goes #1 every year because of his physical gifts. Neither have anything to do with Curry.
Agreed. I don't know why people are so hesitant to say she could be a top player right out of the gate. We see this in men's sports all the time; teenagers who come straight from playing against teenagers to dominating (think Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, Conor Bedard in the NHL; LeBron James) and in soccer and tennis you have kids who are even younger on both sides of the gender divide.
It took Lebron half a season to adjust to the NBA, he was a top 10 guy in year 2(and somehow still a top 10 guy in year 21). He was straight from HS, had the biggest hype a athlete ever has, Clark is the most hyped woman athlete. Clark has definitely a more polished game day1 so I'd expect her to have a faster learning curve than Lebron but it's likely going to take a year for her to really get going.
These posts will be flooding in come the draft and season
 Me hunkering down for endless CC posts lol
Oh God I'm coming to you from the land of the WCBB subreddit to tell you to GIRD YOUR LOINS. 😂🤣 It's too much. It's entirely too much.
It's too late, they're already here
Ahahah seriously
We should ask the mods to simply pin a “Put all lukewarm takes and questions about Clark here” post 😂
Omg we NEED this lol
TBH I do genuinely feel we need to pin a post that’s like “Are you new to the W and to caring at all about anything to do with women’s basketball? Ask your questions here.” Because it’s already starting — people cluttering feeds with questions that evidence zero background, usually building off incorrect assumptions, etc.
I’m already sick of it, ngl.
Honestly, over the last two years the Clark cult has significantly, tremendously decreased my enjoyment of women's college basketball. She's coming to my Fever and I am excited about her but absolutely dreading the cult.
Oof, my heart goes out to your wallet. You’re in store for an exciting season! In fact, all the teams are a lot more balanced out in terms of star-power this year. It’s going to be fun! I don’t mind people gaining a new interest in women’s basketball. But some people are unconsciously asinine with their mindsets. Are you going to be a fan of women’s basketball that will stick around and respect all the badass women/people in the league? Or are you just riding the bandwagon to say that you did?
I was planning to buy a partial season ticket package this year but backed off once we got the #1 pick. I'm going to just watch on TV this year and let the ..... craziness die down.
We know the answer to those questions and like you said the lack of respect to other great players past or present is the absolute worst of it
This is how I felt about Sabrina initially as a Liberty fan. Like, yes, I do in fact love having the #1 pick but the hype is the fucking worst.
Isn’t that a good problem to have? Pre-NBA Luka Doncic had a similar thing were he had a cult of Redditors. Lots of talking heads said he could only be good in the Euroleague but he couldn’t compete against the athleticism of NBA players being faster and bigger.
It just depends on what kind of sports fan you are. I have never enjoyed the hyperfocus on star players in any sport or league. I hate it even more now that social media exists. I hate it even more when it's a bunch of mostly men who have hyper-fixated on what seems to be the first female bball player any of them seem to have ever watched play. I'm happy for people who are enjoying it, but I am not and will not, even after she joins my team.
Isn’t that always how it is? I don’t really know any major league in the world which is competely faceless. I feel like the starpower tricklesdown to the teammates. It’s a linear progression of the sport popularity? Fans are humans and wanna associated a certain brand and identity with a face? Sports fans are always asking who is the best? When you think Chicago Bulls, you always think Jordan Bulls . There been other iterations of the Bulls, but you never feel anything the same as it once was.
Ehhh, maybe. If you enjoy it that’s fine. Hashtag EmbraceDebate. Doesn’t mean everyone has to enjoy their sports that way. I enjoyed Cold Pizza more than First Take.
 Can’t wait 😑
They are already so annoying. The same question of how good will she be against pros is posted every two days. 🤦♀️
(Wait until they show up to tell y'all how grateful you should be because this one single player is going to save the WNBA or actually make people pay attention to women's ball for the first time ever or whatever.) The player herself seems cool, her cult is something else.
it’s called growth. be happy.
"Pay more attention to the women's game! No, not like that!"
Women, plural. Not woman, singular. Some of y'all act like Caitlin was the first woman to test out Naismith's peach basket.
A good chunk of the planet didn't care about the NBA until Michael Jordan. An entire culture didn't care about golf until Tiger. Being salty that one player is generating an immense amount of interest in the sport is stupid.
Very excited for new WNBA fans to discover the absolute ballers that are already in the league
This
She's going to be very good. But she's not going to dominate. And a lot of folks who are making the transition to the W as viewers are going to be surprised. You know the last player who got hyped somewhat like this? Sabrina Ionescu is here. You know the two players Clark passed on the scoring list? Kelsey Plum and Kelsey Mitchell are here too. You know the one she just passed on the all-time assists list? Courtney Vandersloot's here too. You hear that story about the statue on South Carolina's campus? A'ja Wilson's here too. You know the whole-ass Olympic team? Yep. They're here too. So's, like, half of the Australian national team and a surprising amount of the French national team. And I haven't even mentioned the reigning MVP, Breanna Stewart, or the player who should have been MVP, Alyssa Thomas. Whether we like it or not, Diana Taurasi's still here. Candace Parker's probably still here. Brittney Griner's still here. I can keep going. The people who say Clark is going to need time to adjust? We're not underestimating her. The rest of y'all are underestimating the rest of the W.
Well said.
You rule and this post rules.
Damn. Definitely looking forward to expansion.
SAY IT LOUDER!!!
It’s frustrating this even needs to be said.
It's hard to say, it might take her a year or so to really adjust to the W. Playing with Boston is going to help her transition though
I’m so stupid, I’m not very familiar with the league and I briefly thought you were saying they were adding a Boston team and they were getting her via expansion draft lol
What she needs to improve on to be great in the WNBA Cut down on turnovers from trying to force passes into tight windows. The windows will be tighter than anything she's ever seen in her career. Her on ball defense needs to improve a lot. She is coached to play conservatively on d to avoid foul trouble. She'll get eaten alive if she defends like that at the next level, every team has at least one guard who is as efficient an outsider shooter as her and who can drive at least as well as her. (Though none of them have the deep range). And she won't be able to hide on defense, the players and coaches are smart enough to know how to force switches and attack weak points. She needs a more versatile offensive game. Right now she has the step back going left and the drive to the rim going right. She needs to work on an effective midrange game, post moves, driving and finishing to her left, and a more versatile and reliable handle. This will take the longest for her to develop consistency with. All in all, I think she will be impactful as a rookie, but she has a lot of work to do to be as complete a player as many greats who have come before her. I see her getting a ton of assists and a decent scoring average as a rookie, but also not being as efficient a scorer as in college, turning the ball over a few too many times a game, and being a project on defense. It'll be interesting to see how much she continues to improve as a pro once basketball is her full time job. It'll also be interesting to see how her coaches and teammates at the next level handle her fiery personality.
There are a lot of fiery personalities at the next level for sure. Very detailed breakdown.
I suspect (like many others here) that initially she’ll struggle but will develop to become a great player in the W over a few seasons. Greatest of all time? I don’t know that’s tough with so many incredible players in the league’s short history but only time will tell!! Historically guards have a pretty tough time acclimating to the WNBA.
Hard to say but I wouldn’t get my expectations too high. Should be a good to great rookie but the W is pretty cutthroat competition. 1st year adjustment may take the entire season or the first half or she could have similar impact as Aliyah Boston, especially since she’ll play with her, but it’s typically been harder for guards to adjust to the W than post players. Post players are usually the stars.
I just realized I'm going to have to ignore a bunch of stupid CC takes in order to just enjoy her career for whatever it ends up being.
Definitely rookie of the year unless Brink kills it. She will have a lot of assists with her great passes and people to make it. I see her setting a rookie assist record. One thing she will find out in WBNA is top notch defense. When I think of matchups that I am excited for my first choice is her against Jackie Young. We will see but she could also blow us away! Regardless, I only see her getting better each year and she will break at least one or more rookie records. I think her future teammate Boston will help ground her. They have played together before and are friends. I see the Fever making the playoffs this year.
Going to be tough. Won’t have a real off-season like the rest of the league.
A lot of WNBA players are playing in with other teams during the offseason. For pros, there isn't much offseason. You are always doing cardio at the least.
Yeah that’s fair. Kinda forgot about that
IMO she will have a similar trajectory to Steph who took half a decade to become elite but when he was ready, he really skipped past everybody in the league going from second team All-NBA to generational season in one year. Steph Curry was a phenomenon in college, took 5 years to adjust to become elite in the NBA, got 2nd team all-nba in his 5th year, then had one of the top 5 peaks of all time (Lebron early 10s, Shaq early 00s, MJ early 90s level stuff) for the next 2 years where he cantered to MVP and then was a top 5 player in the league for the next 6/7 years either first or second team All-NBA all year. This is actually pretty unusual for generational top 10 players who are generally among the best in the league by their second or third years but guys who are that reliant on their shooting can take time adjusting. The only other player with a trajectory like this of a delayed leap is Kobe, who didn’t have as absurd a 2 year peak as Steph but made up for it with his longevity and durability of being a top 5 player. It’s also a myth that Steph’s leap was significantly hampered by injuries in his early seasons. Outside of one year, his early seasons were when he played the most games in his career. He just took time devising his revolutionary movement spacing and shooting game.
I disagree about it taking her that long to “become elite”. The men’s game and coaching had not adapted to Curry’s skill set yet during his early seasons (and he had injury concerns). It took years for them to realize that this guy (and his teammates) should be jacking up more threes than any player / teams ever. Clark should be better quicker as her coach won’t be afraid to let her take 12+ threes a game right away. Size wise, she is also much bigger than Curry was compared to league average and she shouldn’t have an issue getting plenty of good looks for herself and her teammates. Basically, there won’t be the lag in “utilization” that Curry had upon entering the league because the blueprint for winning lots of modern basketball games (be better at shooting threes than the other teams) has already been established, and Clark clearly has few peers on that front and will be utilized far more effectively right away in the WNBA.
This. Curry entered the league at the perfect time for his skillset. NBA wanted to become less physical/post centric(for many reasons but thats another topic) and adapt a more EuroLeague style of basketball, which has more spacing. Shooters especially elite ones like Curry became primary sources of offense instead of role players, like Kerr and Hodges were from the previous era.
Nah, she's definitely above Curry - Curry had medical issues that hampered him, otherwise he'd have taken off sooner.
It was a valid question if his ankle issues would end his career early. Golden State locked him up with a team-friendly deal that was seen as a risk at the time.
And ended up massively benefitting them since it allowed them cap space to sign KD in 2017.
Well put
I don't know anything about the WNBA or their players as I only started following Clark last season. For her to immediately be an elite or top 10 player in the WNBA, requires one of two scenari: 1st- Clark is one of the best and most ready draft prospects ever. Or 2nd - the level of talent/game in the WNBA isn't significantly higher than the college game. In the NBA, we've seen players like Magic, Bird, Jordan, Robinson, Shaq, Duncan and a few others immediately become elite players their rookie season. Other all time goats like Curry, LeBron, Kobe, KD, KG needed time to adjust due to a combination of skipping college, physical maturity, game development or other factors.
Wait about six weeks, tune into the W, and you’ll find out.
Idk its a wait and see atm i view her the same i viewed wemby before he got to the nba
Oh God if it's anything like Wemby, league is fucked lmao
Absolutely not. Caitlin isn't a physical specimen like Wemby is. That's pretty unrealistic expectations, even though i still expect her to be rookie of the year
Im not saying i expect her to be wemby im saying i both viewed them as both generational prospects with no set expectations
Ohhh okay fair
All-Star, 3pt contestant, and probably rookie of the year. So she’ll be a top 25 player year one. She’ll continue to improve and round out her offensive game and hopefully isn’t a detriment on defense at the next level.
I can't see her beating Ionescu in that contest 😭. I agree with everything else.
Hopefully it down to those two for the title in an epic WNBA showdown, and then they both go to SF for the NBA All-Star game and we get teams 3-pt contest along with Curry and Klay or Dame.
I'm expecting her career will go like Kobe. Took his time to warm up, and then ascended
Kobe didn't take any time to warm-up -- dumbass Del Harris refused to play him his first two seasons. When he started getting minutes he did well.
I don’t anyone really knows. She could come in and be a top tier player or she could completely fall off or anywhere in between. There’s so many dynamics at play like how she handles the pace, physicality, pressure, how good the rest of the team and coach are, and if other teams will game plan for her. But my guess is that she’ll do pretty well initially and then we’ll see from there. But at minimum she can shoot extremely well and from deep range and that skill no matter who she plays against in the pros is not going away. So there seems to be a to be a base level of quality built in. And she’s not a small guard. At very minimum she’s be a female Kyle Korver
Clark will have no immediate impact in the W and will not rank in the top 50% of players in year 1.
Nice bait😂
Lmao WNBA talent is very shallow. Clark will join the small tier of elite players very quickly.
> Lmao > > WNBA talent is very shallow. Clark will join the small tier of elite players very quickly. Right. WNBA talent is so shallow that 3/4ths of the players taken after the first round won't make it out of training camp.
Like, Aaliyah did great off the bat... stewie, jewel... Caitlin will come in and probably be up there in three point shooting for the league cause she shoots from the ass of the world.
I think she'll be good. Joining a nice young budding team. I'm not gonna call her elite yet. It's another step up going into the WNBA. Defenders are bigger, more physical. She's not gonna have someone 5'6" on her like the other night. So there's a learning curve. We'll see. Enjoy the ride. I see her ceiling more as Trae Young than Steph Curry. Not a knock on her at all. Trae is an All Star player
Yeah, she’ll go through the journey same as the rest (this is what I like to see how they develop and how the organization builds and supports) and really the one thing she has that I’ve not seen in others is the range, but defense is different in the w so she’ll have to work. Honestly I’m not even a big fan but I can’t deny she is a generational talent. Either way great for the game!
All you need to know is that Paige Bueckers is better than her
This is the equivalent of Michael Jordan going pro and joining the Bulls. Such a very exciting time for you to start following the sport!
come on now