Caitlin Clark is a very good player -- but at this point, she needs the ball in her hands pretty much all the time.
She's a great passer but has to learn how to cut down on turnovers.
At the international level, the U.S. has always had two problems: Shooting threes well enough, and not turning the ball over. Since the roster is packed with three-point shooters, including Taurasi, that's not an issue. Being efficient on offense is, however, still critical.
Clark is very fun to watch but not particularly efficient. She will be, no doubt, but let's also keep in mind that those 19 assists came in a very fast-paced game against a team that doesn't defend well at all. Oh, and Indiana lost.
From a basketball standpoint, the 12-woman Olympic team has never consisted of the best 12 players, but rather the 12 who fit together best as a team. At this point, Clark would need the ball too much to make that work, and she is a defensive liability.
From a marketing standpoint, I don't think Clark matters. NBC is not going to make its Olympic money from women's basketball. The ads are already sold, and were sold, for the most part, before Clarkmania became real.
Fans who are only interested in Caitlin Clark are not the future of women's basketball. If they don't watch the Americans roll over outmatched opponents in Paris, not much has been lost. Clark will hopefully be around for a long time, and her fans presumably won't go away. If they do go away, having her on this year's Olympic team would have made no difference.
She's a great passer but has to learn how to cut down on turnovers.
At the international level, the U.S. has always had two problems: Shooting threes well enough, and not turning the ball over. Since the roster is packed with three-point shooters, including Taurasi, that's not an issue. Being efficient on offense is, however, still critical.
Clark is very fun to watch but not particularly efficient. She will be, no doubt, but let's also keep in mind that those 19 assists came in a very fast-paced game against a team that doesn't defend well at all. Oh, and Indiana lost.
From a basketball standpoint, the 12-woman Olympic team has never consisted of the best 12 players, but rather the 12 who fit together best as a team. At this point, Clark would need the ball too much to make that work, and she is a defensive liability.
From a marketing standpoint, I don't think Clark matters. NBC is not going to make its Olympic money from women's basketball. The ads are already sold, and were sold, for the most part, before Clarkmania became real.
Fans who are only interested in Caitlin Clark are not the future of women's basketball. If they don't watch the Americans roll over outmatched opponents in Paris, not much has been lost. Clark will hopefully be around for a long time, and her fans presumably won't go away. If they do go away, having her on this year's Olympic team would have made no difference.
