Caitlin Clark Gets Clear on Where Fever 'Struggled' in Loss to Valkyries
Indiana Fever fans experienced a rollercoaster of emotions on July 9. This Wednesday started off swell, with fans believing that Caitlin Clark competing again (after missing the past five games with a groin injury) would kickstart Indiana's run to the top of the WNBA standings, starting with their home game against the Golden State Valkyries.
Then the Fever produced a dud, losing to Golden State by a score of 80-61 in what was one of their worst overall performances this season, especially when Clark is playing. Now the vibes are as low as they've been in some time for the Fever community, with many wondering what went wrong on Wednesday.
Clark spoke to this during her July 9 postgame press conference, saying, "When they went on their first run, it kind of deflated us a little bit, which I'm not really sure why," of the Valkyries, per the Fever's YouTube account.
"The offense, I think for us, it starts with our defense. And we struggled scouting-report-wise, we struggled with personnel, we struggled to do what the coaches asked of us. And then overall, [Golden State] played with more energy and effort. Those are the things that just can't happen," she added.
"It's every single person on our team, and nobody played well today. You should look yourself in the mirror and find ways you can get better, and then come back to practice tomorrow and play again on Friday."
The Fever face the 12-7 Atlanta Dream on Friday, which is one of their toughest matchups out of any WNBA team.
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Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the Indiana Fever and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.
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