Fever Coach Bluntly Addresses the One Area Caitlin Clark Needs to Improve

Indiana Fever rookie phenom Caitlin Clark leads the WNBA in assists and she’s among the league’s best in several categories including scoring, made 3-pointers, free-throw percentage.

However, Clark also leads the league in another category, but it’s not one she’s proud of — turnovers. Clark’s 8.2 turnovers per game are a WNBA-high, and cutting that number down post-Olympic break is certainly at the top of her and Fever head coach Christie Sides’ to-do list.

Sides recently opened up about Clark’s turnover problem and what she thinks is the root cause of it.

“It’s the reps with new teammates, it’s the reps understanding where Aliyah (Boston) is going to roll to or where NaLyssa (Smith) is going to pop to, and then also the scheming part of it — where the defense is coming from and just making those reads,” Sides told the “Locked On Women’s Basketball” podcast.

“I mean, she’s making these reads now against the best players in the world. These are some great athletes who are putting pressure on her that she’s never felt before, she’s starting to figure that out — that’s reps. To me, that’s where we’re going to see the improvement.”

Clark’s turnover issues were a noticeable problem from the very beginning of the season. She had seven or more turnovers in four of her first 10 games, and she had just two games with fewer than five turnovers in her last 15 games leading into the WNBA All-Star game.

But the silver lining is Clark has had nearly a month off of the seeming non-stop grind of jumping into the WNBA almost immediately after Iowa’s season ended. Some rest, recovery and one-on-one coaching may be just what the 22-year-old point guard needs to help her break her bad habit.