Indiana Fever Coach Names One Concern With Caitlin Clark's Return
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark returned from a five-game groin injury absence on Wednesday afternoon. Facing the Golden State Valkyries at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indiana, Clark finished with 10 points to go along with five rebounds and six assists.
Fever head coach Stephanie White made a change in this game, keeping point guard Aari McDonald in the starting lineup to play alongside Clark. White admitted after the game there were things she liked about that, and others she feels the team can improve upon.
“I like the ability to have two primary ball-handlers on the floor, particularly with a team that comes aggressively in the two-man game,” White said (via Chloe Peterson of IndyStar). “... There were some things that we liked about it, there are some things that we don't. So we'll continue to work with that.”
When asked specifically about Clark postgame, White revealed the one concern she had with the star guard returning.
“I thought there were periods of time she really looked good,” White said. “I was really pleased, especially the first play of the game. I think she had two or three deflections on that first possession defensively. Maybe I’m naive, but I don’t worry about Caitlin getting back into the flow offensively. I worry about — I wouldn’t say worry, but my biggest concern is when we reintegrate her, how do we continue to keep our ball movement?”
White expanded on this statement, saying she wasn’t just concerned with the ball moving side-to-side, but also baseline-to-baseline. The Fever coach also had some defensive concerns, but was pleased overall with how her star guard looked.
“I was a little bit concerned defensively,” White added. “Lots of movement, lots of lateral movement. I thought she looked good at times… I was pleased.”
It was a blowout defeat for the Fever, who fell 80-61 to Golden State. Now 9-10 on the season, Indiana will look to get back in the win column on Friday against the Atlanta Dream.
Joey Linn is a credentialed writer covering the NBA and WNBA for On SI. Covering the LA Clippers independently in 2018, then for Fansided and 213Hoops from 2019-2021, Joey joined On SI to cover the Clippers after the 2020-21 season. Graduating from Biola University in 2022 with a Communication Studies degree, Joey served as Biola's play-by-play announcer for their basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. Joey's work on Biola's broadcasts and in the classroom earned him the Outstanding Communication Studies Student of the year award in 2022. Joey covers the NBA full-time, primarily serving as a Clippers beat writer.