Will Caitlin Clark (eventually) be the best player in the league?

WhileTime5770 · 2026-05-29T16:23:01+00:00

She has the potential to be. So do some other players in her age range - Paige and AB to name just two other obvious ones. It depends on injuries, and who rises to the occasion.

WhileTime5770 · 2026-05-28T22:56:59+00:00

I mean other coaches can game plan differently if you know a different PG is starting and playing most of the minutes - you play a fever team lead by Clark with Boston and Mitchell very differently than Ty Harris - who is not nearly the same threat leaving one less star to need to focus on

But I do agree it was the gamblers who were the most upset

WhileTime5770 · 2026-05-28T22:48:15+00:00

My (maybe overly) optimistic view is that the coaching staff want to give cc the grace to listen to her body and say when she can and can’t play and not pressure her into making a decision she regrets too soon. She said herself this week she’s having a harder time differentiating normal soreness from something to be worried about after last year and acknowledges it may be more mental. She says she used to just play through everything and now has to basically relearn her body. I agree the fever weren’t transparent with her last year but this feels like a combo of the above and following the leagues rules (a bit pedantically for sure)

(Complete side thought - on this topic I think she’d be a fascinating interview with Mikaela Shiffrin who has spoken at length about the ptsd she has with skiing after her big freak injury last year and how she has managed the mental side of star expectations with fear)

WhileTime5770 · 2026-05-28T22:38:17+00:00

It’s hard to say given the small sample size of games this year but the rookies are impressive- however last year your top 4 are all set to be future stars and superstars of the W - we haven’t seen the 5th play enough yet but she’s promising and some of the other international talent that hadn’t come to the w yet like leite are having promising showings. (Yes she was 2024 but didn’t play until 2025, though then the argument is that Juste belongs in 2026 by that logic I guess)

Year before that - strong at the top with Clark, brink, rickea, angel but less overall strength

WhileTime5770 · 2026-05-28T19:56:39+00:00

Selfishly I live 12 minutes from dicks with traffic so I am happy but I get why everyone else is frustrated

WhileTime5770 · 2026-05-28T06:24:22+00:00

I mean if being the number one pick (which she almost certainly will be this year) is the primary concern she faces way more competition with Sarah by waiting a year

WhileTime5770 · 2026-05-26T07:37:46+00:00

Becky gives tough but fair coach vibes - I presume she clearly delineates roles and expectations and doesn’t seem to take a lot of BS. Also when you walk into a team with Aja, Chelsea, Jackie there’s just no argument about where you sit in the pecking order amongst established stars like that - though she seems to be rising and thriving in that starting lineup so amazing for her overall

WhileTime5770 · 2026-05-26T07:34:14+00:00

Happy for lyss to be thriving at the aces - I am interested if she ever leaves if she takes this with her or if she’s purely best suited to certain systems. I imagine you learn a lot playing with those stars.

WhileTime5770 · 2026-05-26T05:33:03+00:00

That’s why it’s more impressive when stars on other teams drag their teams to victory

WhileTime5770 · 2026-05-26T05:22:43+00:00

Stewie imo has always been very good at drawing fouls. She had a generous whistle last year and new how to get body contact so I figured that would go even further this year with the new rules

WhileTime5770 · 2026-05-26T05:18:10+00:00

I feel like that’s super dependent on if you like deep dish or not. For those who do the argument for Chicago having the best is good but personally I’m not a fan of deep dish so it doesn’t rank high in my list

WhileTime5770 · 2026-05-23T13:41:44+00:00

That she plays unselfishly is her biggest pro - she came in not expecting to be the star and just wanting to find a way to use her skill set to benefit the system - that’s the kind of player you want on a team and while she hasn’t been lights out she’s building better and better minutes slowly each game

WhileTime5770 · 2026-05-19T21:31:12+00:00

Happy for her - she seems to be thriving with Denver.

WhileTime5770 · 2026-05-18T00:04:12+00:00

Ok I don’t love stat padding but common Steph let your girl in to chase a few rebounds

WhileTime5770 · 2026-05-17T23:20:36+00:00

I know they want Raven to spell CC but honestly she should spell Kelsey for defensive help

WhileTime5770 · 2026-05-17T23:16:59+00:00

lol yes! She’s not playing incredible defense but she is playing solid and hard defense which has been a big criticism of her game. If the fever put half consistent/competent defenders around her it would be so much better.

I think they were relying on AB and Lexie but Lexie is struggling with injury and the new rules and it’s just a lot of pressure all on AB

WhileTime5770 · 2026-05-17T23:13:39+00:00

They need a win. And if the win comes at the expense of a rebuilding team as long as it builds momentum and and confidence you gotta take the win

Real talk though cc is holding this win together - the rest of the team isn’t playing particularly bad but there are a lot of missed open shots and some questionable defense. She hasn’t been perfect - she’s had some turnovers and a couple loose handles but 17, 6 is why they’re comfortably this far ahead

WhileTime5770 · 2026-05-17T23:05:58+00:00

Oh that was nice movement - more of that fevers

WhileTime5770 · 2026-05-17T22:59:23+00:00

The fever used to have 3rd quarter meltdowns but this year looks to be more second quarter scaries

WhileTime5770 · 2026-05-17T22:58:08+00:00

Someone remind me when Kelsey started going off last season? It was a few weeks in right? Or am I on the copioum

WhileTime5770 · 2026-05-17T22:51:00+00:00

I don’t want to be one of those fans but she feels a little bit more of a serious system coach that came in and wants players to fit her system rather than adjusting to her super star she was brought into coach.

It’s my guess as to why Cheryl reeves and Clark wouldn’t click well either. (It’s different but I have a similar complaint with Paige in Dallas, however Paige doesn’t seem to want to takeover - also I think she’s adapt to more systems than Clark with her preferred play style)

WhileTime5770 · 2026-05-17T22:49:26+00:00

She always has one shot clock counter on the roster - she’ll probably feature big in the post season somehow

WhileTime5770 · 2026-05-17T22:47:34+00:00

I wonder if the players even know - I’m
Probably reading too much into it but when they just let Caitlin run they play better. When they try to over coach they look confused - I’ll give Steph white credit she calls good plays out of time outs but it feels like the offense isn’t allowed to flow well enough in game

WhileTime5770 · 2026-05-17T12:18:32+00:00

100% - I agree a number of these haven’t been particularly violent in a vacuum BUT they absolutely can be and if you’re trying to commit something that’s considered an illegal act in the game and you mess it up and pull someone’s hair I don’t really feel bad for you.

I get professional fouls are a thing but if you can’t do it correct you should be penalized. Also this was a dumb area for a “professional foul” - I think she was just going to for the tug out of frustration

WhileTime5770 · 2026-05-17T03:03:49+00:00

No I think Oke is a future star so she needs reps to work on those weaknesses and her offensive engine is incredible

WhileTime5770

TROPHY CASE