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Indiana Fever head coach Christie Sides drew the ire of WNBA fans on Thursday night when she suggested that star rookie Caitlin Clark needs to shoot the ball more.
Her comments came after Clark shot the ball just nine times in an 89-77 loss to the Seattle Storms. Just two of her field goal attempts came in the second half.
Christie Sides on if she wants CC to shoot more: "Caitlin Clark needs to shoot at minimum 15 shots a game for us. She's gotta get shots, we got to do a better job of setting her up and setting some really good screens for her to get her open." (Clark took nine shots tonight).
— Matthew Byrne (@MatthewByrne1) June 28, 2024
“Caitlin Clark needs to shoot at minimum 15 shots a game for us. She’s gotta get shots, we got to do a better job of setting her up and setting some really good screens for her to get her open.”
Clark has taken 223 field goal attempts thus far this season. That ranks 11th in the WNBA. But her 11.7 field goal attempts per game ranks outside the top 15 in the league.
Meanwhile, teammate Kelsey Mitchell has taken 245 shots, an average of 13.6 attempts per game.
Fans placed blame on both Clark’s teammates and Sides for the lack of shots from the superstar rookie.
“Between Aliyah Boston’s best friend throwing shade at CC’s play style and NaLyssa screaming ‘everyone eats’ idk why we are shocked. Her teammates have neutered her game. All their complaining has turned into this passive play style,” one fan tweeted.
“She was doing that early in the season then you decided it was all about ‘paint touches’ and you turned her into Evolutionary Steve Nash, now you want her to go back to the first 9 games? Shaddup,” said another.
Clark averaged 13.6 field goal attempts per game over the first nine games of the season. Though Indiana won just one of those games. Indiana is 6-4 in its last 10 games, but Clark is averaging just over 10 field goal attempts per game in that stretch.
Something has got to give. And it appears that Sides isn’t exactly sure what that “something” is.