Clark: You can 'absolutely' count on Fever's Hull
Indiana Fever's Caitlin Clark chats with the WNBA Showtime crew about her game winning shot, a few missed free throws and how the Fever's defense can improve.
Video Transcript
Yeah.
Well, we do know a player that can hit some threes, and hit a pretty big one tonight.
Caitlin Clark was fantastic.
Caitlin, LaChina Robinson, Cheryl Miller, and Sue Bird here.
Wow, what an incredible game.
What did it take for your team to get over the hump in the end there?
Man, well, we found a way to make it really hard.
So I guess give us credit for persevering through that, and you know, just finding a way to win.
But man, the end of the game was It was fun.
It was exciting.
And, you gotta give them credit.
They really battled.
They kept fighting.
And it just speaks to their team and the group that they have.
You know, obviously Kiki goes down, and just next man up.
And you know, we had a, I think, 14 or 12-point lead at halftime, and they never went away.
They kept battling and battling.
And like you guys said earlier, they shot the ball really well.
We were rotating off people.
We were running, and then they made us pay when we would rotate.
So gotta give them credit, but we made plays down the stretch to, to get the win.
Hey, Caitlin, it's Sue.
Speaking of making plays down the stretch, we were just talking a little bit about the missed free throws.
We're gonna skip over that.
Yeah.
Oh.
But I am curious- No, that was terrible.
That's not okay, Sue.
I am curious.
Ugh.
That happens.
In the moment, you have to go back on defense.
You guys create a steal.
Now you get the ball back.
So that redemption moment.
Like, how are you able- Yeah to stay focused?
You were able to find your teammate, AB, on the run for a lay-up.
Yeah.
How do you stay focused even though you had a little bit of a disappointing moment with the free throws?
Yeah, I mean, I think it's just next play.
Like, there was still 35 on the game clock, and you know, we know we're definitely gonna get the ball back.
So I think just one stop, and I think it was a one-point game at that point.
So and then got it the, got the run-out lay up, and kinda made a dig, and then made Shakira.
I don't know if she got the shot off or just turned it over.
But just keep fighting.
Like, 35 seconds is a lot of time.
You know, that's, in basketball, it's a lot of time left, especially with the amount of timeouts and resets we have now.
So you know, just kept fighting.
And then obviously, we make the lay up.
They We come down and foul, and then I go to the free throw line and miss.
and then we, we draw up a play.
But those are plays we work on literally every single day in practice.
So it was a great pass by Sophie.
She's been great in late game situations, especially side outs and, she made a great pass.
Caitlin, this is Cheryl.
congratulations.
I, I knew soon as you were turning and, and, and just gathering yourself on that shot that that was going down.
It's probably the, the best shot- I almost was, like, too open.
That was like the best look I had all night.
I know.
I mean, yeah.
No, no, but I'm saying in your rhythm and your swing and everything else.
But i- it was an incredible shot.
But I, I really want you to just talk about your team's defense, 'cause I think you guys have defensively have gotten better, but you're still not putting it collectively together, throughout an entire game.
What do you see?
Yeah.
I mean, we try to do a lot of different stuff, and they're gonna hunt match ups a lot with me, and they have a lot of strong physical guards.
and I think we had a little bit more success when I was guarding the ball and we were trying to get into some more traps and hedges and you know But like I said earlier, when, you know, they spray the ball and, you know, we're giving up certain people to shoot, like, there's things you'll live with, and then they make them.
Like, that's just what it is sometimes.
But also, we can be a lot better.
I think our physicality, like, I think they were 10 for 15 at one point in the third quarter when they went on that run.
Like, that just can't happen.
That's just how you let teams in the, back into the game.
And if we would've started the third quarter a little bit better, especially on the defensive end, like, it would've put us in position to, to not have to make a late game shot, even though it was exciting for the, everybody in the arena and for you guys and for everybody at home.
I don't always wanna have to do that, but Yeah, I can't- I guess- We can't lie, Caitlin.
We were having a blast in here, okay?
Just so you know.
At your expense.
Yeah.
I'll, I'll let it slide then.
But no, I mean, we can be a lot better and you know, we, we try a lot of different things.
But they're, like I said this pre-game, they're a really good screening and cutting team.
That's what they hang their hat on, and then they have post players that make plays.
And when they shoot the ball like that, it's, it's tough to guard.
Caitlin, can you talk about Lexie Hull a little bit?
I mean, she was I mean, she only took three shots, but perfect from the field.
Felt like some very timely scoring opportunities.
She also did great- Yeah defensively.
And this is a player, I think last year really showed that you can count on her.
Mm-hmm.
Absolutely.
She's really started to develop into a player that you can count on.
So what is it like playing with her- Yeah and then having that role player that you know what you're gonna get from them?
Yeah.
I mean, Lexie's one of those players, she doesn't care how many points you score, and that's sometimes rare in this league.
And she's gonna show up and do all the dirty work.
She's gonna dive on the floor for loose balls.
She's gonna get rebounds.
She's gonna take a charge.
we stat a lot of things that don't show up in the box score, and it seems like literally every category, Lexie wins.
Mm-hmm.
whether that's charges taken, whether that's deflections, anything like that.
So I mean, it's a player everybody wants to have on their team, and we're really lucky we have her.
She hit a huge, three there.
I, I think she scored five points there in the fourth quarter.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
She hit the huge three at the beginning of the fourth, and then made the really tough finish on, on Shakira there, I think in the middle of the fourth.
So just a fearless player, will put her line on the body for anybody.
and that's the type of people you want on your team.
So you know, I think the more we can have her on the court, the more success we're gonna have.
Lexie was absolutely great, and you were clutch, Caitlin Clark.
And for that reason, you are back in Club Dub.
Welcome back.
Club Dub.
Thank God.
There we go.
I believe you are- Let's get it going now a two-timer at this point.
It was so fun.
We get some threes for the Club Dub?
Right.
Can we get some threes in here?
I guess we're throwing all kinds of threes out.
Come on.
There we go.
Yeah.
That's what we're talking about.
Sue, Sue.
What's going on?
It was so fun- Y'all are crazy.
watching you tonight and watching you and your team celebrate in that moment.
And from what I understand, no applesauce today, so we were all good on the court.
No throwing up.
Yeah.
No more applesauce.
But congratulations on the victory.
And, we'll see you down the road.
Thanks guys.
Congrats.
All right.
Tha- thanks, guys.
All right
