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Indiana Fever rookie superstar Caitlin Clark has truly entered the national sports microscope if she hadn’t already amid a critique of her shooting mechanics, which went viral this week.
FOX Sports’ Doug Gottlieb pointed out a flaw in Clark’s shooting form with a picture of her hand not straight under the ball and with the ball off to her left. Gottlieb acknowledged Clark’s scoring prowess but tagged Mike Procopio of @HoopConsultants for input on Clark’s mechanics in the post on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday. Procopio formerly served as a video scout for late NBA legend Kobe Bryant.
“The amount of work it takes to be consistent through her mechanical flaw is really impressive. If you were advising her, would you fix it in the offseason?,” Gottlieb wrote to @HoopConsultants.
The post, which soared to 10.5 million views this week as of Thursday, elicited strong reaction from fans. Reaction ranged from directly attacking Gottlieb to defending Clark with other examples of less-than-perfect shooting forms. Gottlieb responded to some of the fan comments regarding player mechanics itself.
While Clark hit the NCAA’s all-time scoring record amid 3,951 career points in four years, she only had a career two-point shooting percentage of 46.2% and a three-point shooting mark of 37.7% for her career. That said, she maintained an 85.8% free-throw shooting percentage.
“She is a great player, scorer, but 37.8% from 3 isn’t elite. Better comp [competition], better scouting, bigger defenders, [and] more space,” Gottlieb wrote regarding Clark’s WNBA transition, “will be interesting.”
Caitlin Clark About to Face Live WNBA Competition
The experience level and speed will be two of the main differences Clark will face in her WNBA rookie season. Clark has already acknowledged that the speed of the game is different just from training camp.
“It’s a fast, fast shot clock, but I think all of you know that’s how I like to play,” Clark told reporters on April 28. “So, I think it suits my game pretty well. It’s a fast pace, a lot faster than college, and you’ve to learn quicker because you’ve got to get your mind on Friday.”
Clark will get her first taste of WNBA live game action on Friday when the Fever visit the Dallas Wings in their preseason opener. Twenty-year WNBA veteran and Phoenix Mercury star Diana Taurasi anticipates a transition period for Clark.
“You see it on the NBA side and you’re gonna see it on this side, where you look superhuman playing against 18-year-olds,” Taurasi told ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt on April 6, “but you’re gonna come with some grown women that have been playing professional basketball for a long time.”
“Not saying [Clark’s skills] are not gonna translate, because when you’re great at what you do, you’re just gonna get better,” Taurasi added. “But there is gonna be a transition period where you’re gonna have to give yourself some grace as a rookie.”
Caitlin Clark’s Shooting Issue Compared to Kevin Durant
LA Sports Radio posted a photo of NBA superstar Kevin Durant to compare with Clark’s shooting issue that Gottlieb addressed. In the Durant photo, his hand isn’t perfectly straight under the ball, and he has the ball off to the left.
“Sort of, at release KD is under the ball in front of his head… also this is why, like Lonzo [Ball], she struggles to shoot going right off the dribble,” Gottlieb wrote.
Ball, a point guard for the Chicago Bulls, has a career shooting percentage of 45.1% from two-point range and a 36.4% mark from three-point range.
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