Caitlin Clark Detailed Why She’s ‘Not Just Happy To Be In The Playoffs’

After a 1-8 start to the season, the playoffs looked out of the picture for the Indiana Fever and star rookie Caitlin Clark. The team faced a difficult opening schedule, but things just were not clicking for Indiana’s top players, and it seemed like it would take some time for them to develop the needed chemistry to rise up the WNBA standings.

However, the Fever quickly stabilized things, moving into playoff position by the All-Star break and a month off for the Olympics clearly did Clark and the rest of the Fever well. They have come back on a tear, led by the dynamic play of Clark and Kelsey Mitchell, winning six of seven games to move above .500 at 17-16 with seven games to play, and despite not playing on Tuesday night they clinched a playoff berth thanks to losses by the Sky and Dream. Clark met with the media before Indiana’s game against the Sparks on Wednesday evening and explained why , while it’s a great accomplishment, she’s not satisfied with simply making the playoffs in her rookie season.

“It’s definitely a big moment for this place, but at the same time I came in with the expectation this is what’s going to happen,” Clark said. “For me this isn’t a party. Yeah, it’s great, I feel like it’s a great accomplishment, but there’s so much more left to be done. Yeah we made the playoffs, there’s six regular season games. I mean, I’m not just happy being in the playoffs. I feel like we have a team that can win and advance, going one game at a time. So I think that’s what it is for all of us, it’s like, yeah celebrate it, enjoy it, like it is really huge for this organization, not being to the playoffs since Tamika [Catchings] was here if I’m not mistaken. It’s been a long time. I’m definitely most happy for Kels. Kelsey’s been in this place for seven years and has never been to the playoffs, so she definitely deserves this moment, and obviously, she’s been playing really good basketball too. She’s definitely helped us earn it.”

The expectations externally on Clark coming into this season were astronomical, but it’s clear she was putting similar internal expectations on herself to succeed in her first year in the WNBA. This is also the right approach to have, especially for a team that’s peaking at the right time and could win a series in the playoffs. After the season is when you can fully appreciate what just making the playoffs means to that organization, but in the moment she and the Fever should absolutely be thinking bigger.

The way she and Mitchell have figured out how to play off of one another — after a rocky start where neither seemed fully comfortable offensively — has given Indiana the league’s most dynamic scoring backcourt in the league. Clark noted later on that she was “lucky” to play with someone like Mitchell and that she thought Kelsey deserved player of the month over her. The question is whether they can hold up against the WNBA’s best on the defensive end in the playoffs, as they’ll likely face the Lynx, Sun, or Aces in the first round. However, none of those teams will be all that excited to deal with Indiana’s offense, and if the Fever can keep it rolling as they have since the end of the Olympic break, they’ll be a handful for any of the top seeds.