Christie Sides Wants Caitlin Clark to Shoot More For Indiana

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark is the pinnacle scorer among all WNBA freshmen, averaging 16.2 points according to sport. She also leads in assists with 6.6 in step with recreation and in subject dreams made and attempted, averaging 4.9 and 12.2 in line with sport respectively.

Despite her fantastic performance, after Thursday night’s 89-77 loss to Seattle, Fever train Christie Sides said she needs Clark to take even greater pictures.

Caitlin Clark wishes to shoot at least 15 instances a recreation for us, said Coach Christie Sides. She has to take extra pictures, and we need to do a higher job of putting her up. We want to set suitable displays to assist her get open.

On Thursday, Clark became the top scorer for the Fever with 15 factors. She made 4 out of 9 pictures from the sphere, which include three out of 7 from three-factor variety, and four out of 5 loose throws. She additionally had 7 assists and 6 rebounds.

Against the Storm, submit players Aliyah Boston and NaLyssa Smith took the most shots for the Fever. Boston made 5 out of sixteen attempts, scoring eleven factors, on the same time as Smith made five out of eleven tries, scoring 12 factors. Guard Kelsey Mitchell additionally had a robust undertaking, making five out of 10 photographs and scoring 14 elements.

This season, Caitlin Clark is second in shot attempts at the Fever, with Kelsey Mitchell main at 13.Four pix consistent with recreation. In her four years at Iowa, Clark averaged 20.1 pictures in keeping with recreation, with a excessive of twenty-two.7 in her senior year.

Although Clark leads all WNBA beginners in shot attempts, she ranks 22nd normal within the league. Dallas shield Arike Ogunbowale leads the WNBA with 21.8 shot tries per recreation.

Clark Urged to Shoot More by Coach Sides:

Other true guards who take more shots than Caitlin Clark include:

• Jewell Loyd from Seattle (17.5 photographs consistent with game)
• Skylar Diggins-Smith (13.5)
• Kelsey Plum from Las Vegas (15.9)
• Jackie Young from Las Vegas (14.7)
• Sabrina Ionescu from New York (15.3)
• Diana Taurasi from Phoenix (13.7)
• Marina Mabrey from Chicago (13.6)
• Ariel Atkins from Washington (13.0)
• Rhyne Howard from Atlanta (12.5)
• Allisha Gray from Atlanta (12.4)

Out of these 12 guards, simplest Ogunbowale, Mabrey, and Mitchell aren’t Olympians for the imminent Paris Games or have no longer competed in past Olympics.

Jewell Loyd, who is going to her second Olympics next month, had an impressive overall performance on Thursday night time, scoring 34 points on 10-of-15 capturing. Loyd, the No. 1 draft select in 2015, has gained WNBA titles with the Storm and became closing season’s pinnacle scorer with 24.7 points in step with sport.

Caitlin Clark is joining an elite organization of guards simply 19 video games into her WNBA profession. After Thursday’s loss, where the Fever had 20 turnovers, including six by Clark, to 21 assists, she talked about the offensive challenges Indiana is facing.

We used a lot of ball screens tonight, Clark said. When you get double-teamed on a ball screen, you have to pass the ball. This should give us a 4-on-3 advantage to attack the basket, but I don’t think we played well off our ball screens tonight.

I could definitely be more aggressive going to the basket. But I also want to take what the defense gives me and set my teammates up for success.

Clark has encountered a lot of defensive pressure on ball screens this season, which Coach Sides recognized.

The way teams defend her is challenging, Christie Sides said. Once she passes, she sets up our team for good scoring chances. She also finds scoring opportunities for herself when she’s off the ball. We prefer her as our main ball handler, so we need to find a way to manage both aspects effectively.