Caitlin Clark had an unusual perspective during much of the Indiana Fever’s Monday night loss to the Connecticut Sun. She was on the bench for more than 14 minutes.
Fever coach Christie Sides said after the game that she “couldn’t coach the effort,” prompting him to bench Clark and three other starters midway through the third quarter.
Clark played just under 22 minutes, the fewest over 5 minutes in her 13 WNBA games.
Here’s how Clark responded.
What did Caitlin Clark say about being benched?
“I think we just went with the bench group that honestly was pretty solid when they came in. There was no talking or anything.”
Reserve guards Lexie Hull (10 points, 4 rebounds) and Erica Wheeler (9 points, 4 assists) took advantage of their opportunity.
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“I think (the message) was, ‘You can’t coach effort.’ (The Sun are) a team (against) you can’t be indifferent, they’re so good they’re going to punch you in the mouth, I think we just didn’t do it, and obviously that. was a little disappointing, but that’s something they can’t coach.”
The Fever led briefly in the first two minutes before the Sun took the lead for good. Connecticut led 26-15 after the first quarter.
“Like coach said, I thought we should have played with a lot more energy. I thought we let the little offensive things frustrate us, and we didn’t play good defense. It seemed like everything they got was easy.”
Connecticut held a 41-26 rebounding advantage and contributed to 22 of its 30 baskets.
The Fever’s last three opponents have delivered 75% assists on their baskets. Their last four opponents have an average advantage of 11 rebounds.
How many points did Caitlin Clark score?
Caitlin Clark scores 10 points in 22 minutes, making 3 of 8 shots, 2 of 5 3-pointers and 2 of 2 free throws. He also has 2 assists and 3 turnovers.
