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Okay, maybe this whole WNBA thing isn’t immediately going to be a walk in the park for Caitlin Clark anyway.
The superstar rookie struggled in her second career (preseason) game on Thursday night, scoring just 12 points on 4-of-12 shooting and 2-of-9 from beyond the arc. However, she did add eight rebounds and six assists in an 83-80 win.
Clark’s difficult night showed that maybe WNBA superstar Diana Taurasi knew what she was talking about when she claimed there would be an adjustment period.
Normally Caitlin Clark might deserve some time to allow for a WNBA learning curve because the WNBA is a lot harder than college, some might say it can be a “dose of reality”
But Diana Taurasi already tried to help CC and give you all a heads up but you just called her jealous pic.twitter.com/4oyMqwRsi0
— Bubbles (@Bubbless2k22) May 10, 2024
12 pts tonight and 33 pts in 2 games, no championships, and faults that are not caught. Played 2 very weak teams first one she lost second they one by 3 pts not from Clark (miserable night for her, lost of adversity). Taurasi was right she is going to go through adjustment.
— Santa Monica🇺🇸Boosted~#StandwithUkraine🇺🇦 (@Kurababou) May 10, 2024
yep. exactly what diana taurasi said would happen with rookies and ya’ll cooked he for saying it
— KJinAmes (@KJinAmes) May 10, 2024
“Reality is coming, there’s levels to this thing…,” Taurasi said after Clark led Iowa to Final Four victory over UConn. “You look superhuman playing against some 18 years olds but you’re going to come play with some grown women that have been playing professional basketball for a long time. not saying that it’s not going to translate, when you’re great at you do you’re just going to get better, but there is going to be a transition period when you have to give some grace as a rookie, it make take a little bit longer for some people”
Taurasi could probably have been a bit more tactful. And Clark did excel in her debut. But there’s definitely something to her point. The WNBA is the best of the best and it’s probably going to take time for Clark to come in and dominate the way she did at the college level.
“It’s kind of like when you go from kindergarten to first grade there’s a learning adjustment,” Taurasi tried to clarify. “When you go from high school to college there’s a learning adjustment. I don’t think I said anything that wasn’t factually correct. Like anything, greatness is going to translate and she’s proven that in every level and I don’t see that being any different in the WNBA.”
It’s hard to argue with her point.