The Indiana Fever thought Caitlin Clark’s return might solve their wild first-half ride. They were getting healthy, beating good teams and starting to meet expectations.
Then the two-time All-Star got hurt again in the final minute of last Tuesday’s game at Connecticut. Indiana lost by double digits the next night to defending champion New York.
Clark missed last weekend’s All-Star festivities in Indianapolis and is likely to sit out Tuesday night when the Fever again play the Liberty. It’s all creating uncertainty about Clark and Indiana’s championship aspirations.
“These soft tissue injuries sometimes nag until you can actually have time to really allow them to heal in the offseason,” Indiana coach Stephanie White said after Sunday’s practice. “So we’ll just take it one day at a time and we’ll continue, as a group, to progress together.”
Neither White nor Clark have provided a timetable for Clark’s return.
As a rookie, Clark helped the Fever snap a six-year playoff drought, and she had 40 points, 29 assists, six steals and 10 turnovers in 79 minutes during the three-game winning streak before her latest injury.
Her name and that of the league’s other superstars have packed arenas and been the focal point of broadcast deals.
Amid a rash of injuries, the WNBA needs its top players on the court more than ever. According to The Next, which tracks injuries in the league, there have been more than 140 injuries so far this season.
Those numbers fed into last weekend’s debate over whether league officials should consider extending the season next year now that teams are playing 44 games instead of 40.
“I feel there [HAS] been fairly a number of accidents over the course of the start of this season for fairly a number of folks,” Clark stated Saturday, noting some accidents created minutes restrictions for different All-Star picks. “Lots of people have been in the identical boat as myself.”
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Merely extending the season creates one more drawback — competing in opposition to the NFL and faculty soccer telecasts deeper into September. That is one thing that could possibly be resolved in a brand new collective bargaining settlement.
Till then, although, Indiana should study to cope with Clark’s third absence this season, to this point leading to 10 missed video games. Clark didn’t miss a single sport in faculty or her rookie season with the Fever.
Indiana has maintained a profitable document (12-11) and playoff positioning regardless of the accidents. The Fever had been additionally capable of win the Commissioner’s Cup over Minnesota with a 74-59 win with out Clark.
The group additionally overcame the departure of DeWanna Bonner, who misplaced her beginning job after three video games and performed in solely 9 earlier than being waived and returning to Phoenix.
And, in fact, it took time for everybody to get on the identical web page following an enormous offseason overhaul that included the hiring of a brand new common supervisor, Amber Cox; the return of White — Indiana’s unique No. 22; and the addition of different gamers with title-winning expertise.
“I believe it’s been a rollercoaster experience with peaks and valleys, accidents, switching lineups,” three-time All-Star guard Kelsey Mitchell stated. “I believe that’s a part of being knowledgeable athlete, however I believe it’s worthwhile to undergo issues like this to be one of many groups they discuss on the finish of the season.”
The Fever consider they’ll nonetheless be a kind of groups.
With Mitchell main Indiana in scoring at 19.1 factors per sport and All-Star heart Aliyah Boston showcasing a niftier passing sport to associate with averages of 15.8 factors and seven.6 rebounds, Indiana nonetheless has two of its foundational pillars on the courtroom.
Indiana additionally has extra choices, corresponding to ahead Natasha Howard and backup guard Sophie Cunningham to assist fill within the gaps till Clark returns.
“Consistency, consideration to element, ensuring defensively we’re a beast unit,” Cunningham stated as she recognized different wanted fixes. “I believe all of it begins on the defensive finish with our depth and our aggressiveness. After we try this, we are likely to win these ballgames. You are going to have just a little little bit of slippage once in a while, however you possibly can’t have landslides.”
Finally, although, the lingering query is whether or not Clark can keep wholesome lengthy sufficient to push Indiana into championship place.
“Working your approach again into it’s actually tough,” White stated. “She has to provide herself some grace. She’s getting back from an damage.”
Reporting by The Related Press.
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