🔴Caitlin Clark reacts to initial taste of WNBA in Fever’s first practice: ‘A lot faster’🔴
0Caitlin Clark reacts to initial taste of WNBA in Fever’s first practice: ‘A lot faster’
Caitlin Clark’s welcome to the WNBA continued Sunday, with the Indiana Fever opening training camp.
And the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer is already noticing how much different the pros are compared to college.
"It's definitely different, but that's what you expect when you start a new chapter in your life," Clark said. "It's fast, fast shot clock, but I think all of you know that's how I like to play. So, I think it suits my game pretty well. It's a fast pace, a lot faster than college, and you've to learn quicker because you've got to get your mind on Friday."
Getting acclimated to any league takes time for rookies, even those that are good, as Clark was, at the collegiate level. She fully expects to need to work through some things before feeling comfortable with her new team.
But now that the fanfare of the Fever picking her is over and basketball is starting, she’s ready to make that learning curve as short as possible.
"I think that’s what I was most excited for, getting all that other stuff out of the way," Clark said. "The draft was amazing, New York City was amazing, Los Angeles was amazing, but I was excited to get here and get back to playing basketball, you know, doing my job."
All focus when Clark takes the court will be on her ability to shoot the ball from virtually anywhere, but head coach Christie Sides loves another part of her game that strikes fear into opponents.
"Her ability to space the floor for us is just incredible," Sides explained after running practice, where Clark was running with the starters. "We're going to have five players on the court that can shoot it, but her passing ability – you saw some of the passes she made. I'm more mad at the how many missed layups we had. I think we're just not used to having those, someone who can make those passes."
It's just one practice, but Clark is turning heads as expected. She’s among some of the best women in the world with a basketball in their hands, yet she’s surprising her teammates and coaches with how she’s playing.