Within 6 weeks we will put all these opinions to rest. It won’t take long to determine whether Caitlin is ready to play against a team full of pros and how much playing with a team full of pros elevates her game. I’ll be glad when that happens because I am absolutely tired of all the new WBB fans giving their opinions.
And this refers more to the media and talk show hosts than fans.
This whole argument can actually break several ways:
1) Caitlin was surrounded by pedestrian talent at Iowa. When she joins the WNBA she'll flourish, especially on the assist side. Girls at Iowa
either couldn't handle her passes or couldn't convert once they received the ball. Better players as teammates: more assists.
2) Clark will struggle in the WNBA. As Diana Taurasi points out, she's been feasting on a steady diet of hapless 18-year-old little girls in college. Now that she'll be facing "grown women" in the W, her obviously overhyped skills will be exposed and she'll be relegated to
the mediocrity that those in the know have been pointing out all along.
3) Clark obviously makes those around her better with her passing skills and as a decoy to draw defenses to her, therefore making life
easier for her teammates. But what if Clark's teammates along with her coach's system actually make Caitlin better? Their ability to put
the team first and realize they'd be more successful by embracing her talents while humbling themselves is not easy to do, especially
the buy-in seen by an entire team.
4) Will a team of pros be real pros, in the sense their primary objective is to win. Or will they be pros simply by being paid for playing the
game? Will they succumb to pettiness and hazing to make a new player earn their place, or will they do their best to integrate her into
the team....regardless of her skill level. Maybe she will be ordinary; perhaps she'll elevate to become an WNBA star as well. It seems as
if the Fever are willing to take this path, even if the rest of the league isn't on board.
Will be an interesting ride, especially with the heightened audience that's going to be following.