Exploring Caitlin Clark's Stellar Season in the WNBA
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00:00Coach James Young is our hoop analyst extraordinaire on SportsGrid and on Coast2Coast.
00:10He's always in the gym, but then again, who isn't?
00:13I was in the gym today, knocking it down per usual, but not like Kaitlin Clark yesterday,
00:21coach, with a 35 burger.
00:24And the only time I've had 35, I had 36 and I lost the game and my son told me I suck.
00:30When you lose, but she won that game by one and she's something else.
00:34Let's see, assist record in the WNBA all time and a 35 burger.
00:42I mean, she is a savage bee.
00:46She's a savage bee and Pharrell, always a pleasure to be on with you and listen, she
00:50has gone on an absolute heater since coming back from the Olympic break and I think this
00:58is what I try to explain to people, is the break that she needed to kind of get going.
01:03So you kind of look at what she's done, Pharrell, since the Olympic break, the least amount
01:07of points that she's had is 18.
01:10She's got 20 or more in the majority of the games.
01:13She's gotten eight to nine assists almost every night, a bunch of rebounds.
01:18I said on my podcast last week, I thought that Kaitlin, or I said it last week, Kaitlin
01:23Clark is the third best player in the WNBA.
01:26It's Asia Wilson, Brianna Stewart, Kaitlin Clark.
01:31They will not, and Carver High and I were talking during the break.
01:34I know they will not give it to her because of the season Asia Wilson has, over a thousand
01:40points, broke the scoring record.
01:43But if this lady was not on the Indiana Fever, where would they be?
01:50I mean, where would this team be?
01:53She's spearheaded this team that lost, what, their first five or six games to the number
01:58six seed.
01:59And I will say this right now, if they draw Connecticut in the first round, Pharrell,
02:05even as underdogs, I'm taking them to win this series because she is playing that good
02:12of basketball.
02:13Well, you know, look, I respect everything you say always with hoops in regards to that,
02:19but I think they'd be basically Dallas or L.A. without her.
02:23They'd be seven to nine wins.
02:25I think, you know, for my money, and I hate to dispute, but I would say for my money that
02:31Connecticut defense still, to me, is superior to anything that I've seen from the Fever.
02:37And I mean, when it's playoff time, they're going to ratchet it up and they already have
02:40a great defense that we've seen, you've seen.
02:43I think they can cause problems if they were to play them, whatever it is.
02:47But the fact that they're a six is all because of her.
02:51Now, I think Ali is a really good player and I think she's even better because of this
02:56girl.
02:57Clark has made her a way better player than we ever have seen her at the pro level.
03:02You've seen her great in college and she played on a team loaded with great players.
03:08She plays on this indie team with crap players without her.
03:12And then with her, you see the magic they got on the floor to get her all tanks is two
03:16really good players.
03:18And you got a team in this league.
03:20Well, I'll push back a little bit, Pharrell, because you're forgetting the third piece
03:24of the puzzle.
03:25And that's Kelsey Mitchell, who has been on an absolute heater since the Olympic break.
03:32She has gone over 20 points in every game but one.
03:38She had 30 points, so between CC and her, they had 68 points.
03:42She had six threes.
03:43I'm going to say this right now.
03:46Top three.
03:47Four if you add Alyssa Smith, but that top three of Clark, of Mitchell, and of Boston
03:55is really, really good, Pharrell.
03:57And here's the reason why I think they have a chance against Connecticut.
04:00Number one, Pharrell, they have beaten Connecticut I think once or twice this year.
04:07Once they've lost three games, two of the games were in their losing streak the start
04:11of the season, including a four point loss.
04:14Scotty, they're playing a lot better basketball, and what is the one thing that Connecticut
04:18can't do?
04:19Shoot the three.
04:22And when you got Mitchell, and you got Clark, Pharrell, they're a heater away from stealing
04:28a game.
04:29I think they could be in a series versus Connecticut.
04:32Well, my thing is, and again, I respect everything you're saying, and you certainly know more
04:37than I do, but I'll say this.
04:39When I look at all those teams at the top of that league, they all are better than Indy
04:43on the road.
04:45They all win a lot of games on the road, and Indy doesn't.
04:49And I think it's going to catch up with them in the playoffs.
04:52Connecticut wins on the road all the time.
04:54They have 27 wins.
04:55They got 14 road wins.
04:57I mean, what do you need to know?
04:59And the Fever don't win on the road.
05:01Now, those teams, all that win, I mean, even Vegas, let me ask you about them really quick.
05:06So the Fever can't beat them, and I hear about how they keep getting closer and closer.
05:12Fair enough.
05:13But in a series, I don't think they can beat them.
05:18Do you think that the Aces have just been lollygagging because they've won back-to-back
05:22titles, knowing that, can they flick a switch and be as good as they want to be with Wilson
05:28in the postseason?
05:29If you look at the back of the basketball card, the answer is yes.
05:36When you look at their play, it's really the play of Gray, of Young, and of Plum, particularly
05:43shooting the ball from three.
05:44That is going to be the difference because, Scotty, the game is going to slow down.
05:48You know this.
05:49I know this.
05:50Half-court basketball, playoff time.
05:51They're going to crowd Asia Wilson's space.
05:55Those other three can go up.
05:57I know that the New York Liberty right now have the best record in the WNBA.
06:01But I've been telling people all season, all season, watch out for Minnesota.
06:08They have to defend.
06:10They have to arguably forget what you did in the Olympics.
06:12They may have the best coach in the world, Cheryl Reeve, and they got Nafisha Collier
06:16and Kayla McBride.
06:17And they went to New York, they beat New York again, and they won the series, series, series,
06:23series, series, if I got that right, and the Commissioner's Cup.
06:27That team's going to be dangerous, too.
06:29Got to watch out for Minnesota.
06:30Well, they're both great at home.
06:32They're both 16-3 at home, and Minnesota's clearly, you know, based on record, the second
06:40best team in the league, but they've beaten them, like you said.
06:42So those are teams, frankly, in my opinion, that Indy can't beat.
06:47And I think Vegas knows how to beat them.
06:50But those top-heavy teams are all really good, including Connecticut and, you know, the champs,
06:55the two-time champs.
06:57So I think it's going to be incredible to see what happens.
07:00Watching Clark, what she's done this year, not a surprise to you and I, this is the same
07:05girl that did this in the NCAA tournament, in the NCAA season, the last few years at
07:12Iowa.
07:13This is who she is.
07:14She is a dominant, savage bee.