On Tuesday night, No. 1 overall pick Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever faced off against the Las Vegas Aces for the second time this season.
In their previous encounter, the back-to-back WNBA champions trounced the Fever 99-80. While tonight’s game was closer, fans still had one major complaint: Clark’s shooting.
With 12 shot attempts for the night—seven by halftime—fans felt Clark needed to be more aggressive. They criticized her for being too “passive” with the ball.
“They seriously must tell Caitlin Clark not to shoot, while all her teammates miss layups all the time. Honestly, how this team has won eight games is a mystery to me!” one fan said.
“Why is Caitlin Clark being so [expletive] passive? Shoot the [expletive] ball,” added another.
“It amazes me how little Caitlin Clark, the greatest college scorer ever, hunts/creates her own shot, how quickly she defers, how unselfish to a fault she is. She just went 1-7 in the 1st half partly because she wasn’t sure when to shoot. Yes: 6 assists, 6 rebounds. BUT WE NEED HER TO SCORE,” added Fox Sports host Skip Bayless.
This isn’t the first time Clark’s reluctance to shoot has been a topic of discussion. Over the weekend, Fever head coach Christie Sides echoed the same sentiment.
“Caitlin Clark needs to shoot a minimum of 15 shots a game for us,” Sides said. “She’s got to get shots, and we’ve got to do a better job of setting her up, setting some really good screens for her to get her open.”
Despite the criticisms, Clark managed to tally 13 points, eight assists, and six rebounds by the end of the game. The Indiana Fever and their fans are hoping she can find the right balance between playmaking and scoring to help the team succeed in future matches.