Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark is notorious for her three-point shooting ability, holding several records at both the WNBA and collegiate levels for her performance from beyond the arc. Lately, though, she cannot seem to find the bottom of the net from deep.
In Indiana’s season-opening showdown with the Dallas Wings on Saturday, Clark put up 20 points in the 107-104 loss, but she was not hitting her shots from deep. She finished the game just 2 of 9 from beyond the three-point line. Clark was obviously still a significant factor in the game with her scoring as well as seven assists and five rebounds, but the three-point shots simply were not falling.
Unfortunately, things did not get any better for her in the second game of the season.
On Wednesday night, the Fever headed west to take on the Los Angeles Sparks. While the Fever were able to notch a victory, defeating the Sparks by a final score of 87-78, Clark’s three-point shot was still not falling. The Fever star missed her first six shots from beyond the arc before finally connecting on her seventh, finishing 1-for-7 from three-point range on the day.
Through her first two games of the season, Clark is just 3-for-16 from beyond the arc – a dismal 18.75% from three-point territory. And it’s not just this year, either. Clark struggled from three-point range last year, too. In her last nine games, Clark is just 10-of-65 from deep, for 15.38%.
It’s been a jarring slump for Clark, given how important her three-point shot is to her game, and her struggles have sparked a lot of criticism from both fans and members of the media.
“It pains me to say this, but Caitlin Clark has the yips. Not good,” one fan wrote in a post on X.
“Caitlin Clark hit a 3 challenge: impossible,” another fan commented.
“Caitlin Clark’s 3 ball really died. It’s mental,” someone else wrote.
“Since last szn & currently Caitlin Clark isn’t a great shooter,” another fan added.
“Caitlin Clark 0/5 from 3. She lost her superpower?” another commented.
Of course, it’s certainly worth noting that Clark has been able to impact the game in other ways, even though her three-point shot has not been falling. In Wednesday night’s game against the Sparks, Clark still scored 24 points in the game and actually shot better than 50% from the floor on the day, making 9-of-17 shots. She also had nine assists and four rebounds as she helped lead her team to victory.
Still, Clark would obviously like to see those three-point shots start to fall sooner rather than later, but there’s plenty of reason to believe that will happen. After all, Clark was the most prolific three-point shooter in NCAA history at the college level and set a number of three-point shooting records in her rookie season in the WNBA, as well.
If there’s any silver lining here, it’s that Clark has been so successful without being able to hit a shot from three-point range that she should be nearly unstoppable when those shots inevitably begin to fall again.
About Dave Kelsey
Bets on sports stuff.