Diana Taurasi on Caitlin Clark, who will probably miss the Olympic Games in Paris
WNBA veteran Diana Taurasi talks to Mackenzie Salmon about the U.S. women’s basketball team’s roster and the uproar that accompanied the news that Caitlin Clark likely wouldn’t go to Paris.
SEATTLE — The WNBA’s Olympic break begins in 24 days. For the Indiana Fever and Caitlin Clark, it can’t come soon enough.
If you’ve wondered why the Fever have had so many top picks in recent years – Clark at No. 1 in 2024, Aliyah Boston at No. 1 in 2023, NaLyssa Smith at No. 2 in 2022 – it was obvious Thursday. Indiana looked like a bottom-of-the-table team, with a roster full of frustrated players. Seattle’s 89-77 victory wasn’t nearly as close as the score suggested.
The Storm have Jewell Loyd, a five-time All-Star and last season’s leading scorer. The Storm are talented, but their roster has been almost completely overhauled.
For much of Thursday, Seattle looked like a group that has played together for years — Indiana’s defense makes that possible. Seattle shot 47.5 percent from the field and an incredible 57.1 percent from three-point range in the first half. The Fever allowed Loyd to score 23 points in 15 minutes. Nneka Ogwumike nearly had a double-double — nine points, 10 rebounds — also in 15 minutes. (Her double-double came within the first 36 seconds of the second half.) Two other Storm players scored in double figures.
And that was only the first 20 minutes.
“It never really felt good out there,” Clark admitted. “It just didn’t feel like it was flowing well.”
Loyd finished with 34 points, hitting 6 of 9 shots from beyond the arc. Four other Storm players scored seven or more points.
The fever urgently needs practice.
“We have a lot more growing up to do,” Indiana coach Christie Sides said. “That’s just the way it is. The expectations from outside, the noise from outside, don’t help, but we have to stay connected, keep growing and keep finding ways to improve.”
There were positives for Indiana on Thursday. Temi Fagbenle, who missed the last 11 games after suffering a foot injury on May 28, returned and even in her limited playing time (19 minutes) looked like the player who quickly built promising chemistry with Clark in the early weeks of the season. (Fagbenle finished the game with eight points and seven rebounds.)
Boston was a monster at the basket and got 14 rebounds.
And Clark (15 points, seven assists and six rebounds) was in her usual form, hitting a logo three-pointer, throwing a nifty behind-the-back pass – Smith couldn’t convert it – and overall wowing another sold-out crowd with her game.
But she was also pushed around a lot and spent much of the first quarter on the field, visibly frustrated by the lack of calls and the lack of team cohesion.
“Nobody likes to lose,” Clark said somberly afterward. “We’ve lost 12 games and we’re not even halfway through our season. We’re not going to walk around the field smiling. It’s hard to find that competitive edge and stay positive at the same time. We can definitely do better.”
The Fever allowed too many chances and failed to capitalize on any of them. They lost the ball 22 times, which Seattle converted into 27 points. The Storm scored 17 fast break points, while Indiana only managed four.
Clark said before the game that she felt the Fever had improved significantly since their last visit to the Emerald City, an 85-83 loss on May 22 that came down to the last shot (Indiana botched the throw to Clark and was not used). But everyone else has improved, too.
The Fever are still far behind with their young core and have not yet figured out how to win against the best in the league.
The WNBA will be off for a full four weeks while the U.S. team tries to win its eighth consecutive gold medal in Paris. Most teams give their players a week to 10 days off, after which they head to the gym and start training.
The fever counts down the days.
Email Lindsay Schnell at [email protected] and follow her on social media @Lindsay_Schnell
