05/09/24 09:46:00
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05/09 21:45 CDT Raucous crowd roars its approval for Caitlin Clark in her home
debut with Fever, an 83-80 win
Raucous crowd roars its approval for Caitlin Clark in her home debut with
Fever, an 83-80 win
By MICHAEL MAROT
AP Sports Writer
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) --- Caitlin Clark walked into her new home arena Thursday
night with No. 22 shirts and jerseys peppered from floor to ceiling.
She left as a first-time WNBA winner.
A late-arriving but louder-than-usual crowd roared during her official
introduction to Fever fans and again when Clark made her first basket, a layup
with 7:00 left in the first quarter. The cheers grew when she completed a
three-point play a few minutes later and hit a crescendo when she finally made
a long 3-pointer from the edge of the fieldhouse logo late in the third quarter.
Yes, Clark successfully navigated the city's most anticipated rookie debut
since Peyton Manning played for the NFL's Indianapolis Colts in 1998 even
though it wasn't quite the start most expected.
In an 83-80 preseason victory over the Atlanta Dream, Clark had 12 points,
eight rebounds, six assists and six turnovers, going 4 of 12 from the field and
2 of 9 on 3s in 31 minutes.
"It was a lot of fun, I thought they were loud, I thought they were into it. It
was fun to see," Clark said following her home debut. "This is a preseason game
on a Thursday night and there's 13,000 people here. I think that just shows you
what it's going to be like for us all season. It's going to help us."
The crowd certainly made a difference Thursday as Clark helped the Fever rally
from an early double-digit deficit following last week's preseason opening loss
at Dallas.
One girl held a sign that read "Welcome to Indy Caitlin! --- Caitlin M."
Officially, the attendance came in at 13,028 --- nearly three times larger than
the slightly more than 4,000 per game Indiana averaged for its 20
regular-season home games in 2023. Afterward, Clark found close friend and
former college teammate Gabbie Marshall and the two took a photo together.
Most of the fans came to see Clark --- even for a rescheduled contest.
Indiana was initially scheduled to play Friday but moved the game when the NBA
announced the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks would play Game 3 of their
best-of-seven series in that time slot.
For Clark, the WNBA's overall No. 1 draft pick, it's been a quick transition
from playing college ball a month ago to the pro style. And this game didn't
come with as much pomp and circumstance as might have been expected.
Clark went through her pregame warmups quietly and focused as music blared and
the stands started filling up. But once the game started, Clark & Co. were all
business.
"I don't think I was that effective, honestly," Clark said. "I thought more
than anything I did a really good job of passing the ball, finding my
teammates. Obviously, I would have liked to have made a couple more 3s, but
sometimes that's how you shoot it."
The fault didn't fall entirely on Clark's shoulders.
Opponents are naturally game-planning to slow down the top scorer in NCAA
Division I history. Atlanta's ploy was to challenge Clark with hard closeouts,
multiple defenders forcing the ball out of her hands and physical play intended
to get Clark off her spot.
The result: Clark struggled early as the Fever fell behind, and her teammates
struggled to convert her crisp passes into points. But they also got a glimpse
into what this season could be.
"She pushes the pace for us, she gets the ball where it needs to be, if you run
the floor you've got to look up because the ball is coming," said Nalyssa
Smith, who had a game-high 21 points. "She can spread the floor, everybody can
score and she's looking to pass the ball."
Through it all Clark was both a big hit and a welcome change for a franchise in
search of a turnaround. She's generated more interest and attention in women's
basketball than most of her predecessors, giving her a platform few others
possess and she's taking full advantage of it.
Her presence, coupled with others in perhaps the most heralded rookie class in
WNBA history, prompted league commissioner Cathy Engelbert to announce earlier
this week she's poised to spend $50 million on charter flights over the next
two seasons.
Meanwhile, the curiosity surrounding Clark has some opponents moving games to
larger venues to accommodate ticket sales and a team that hasn't been to the
playoffs since 2016 will now have 36 of its 40 regular-season games on national
television.
For Clark, playing in front of full arena has become the norm. For her
teammates and coaches, this could be the start of something bigger than they
could have imagined. Especially when it comes to a generational-type player
such as Clark, who has fully embraced her new home city.
"For me, this is the best part of it," Clark said. "You've got to go out and
compete every single night and if one night is not good for us, you have an
opportunity to come back a couple days later and respond. I think this group
will be ready (for the regular season) and everybody's excited."
___
AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
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