A Caitlin Clark (Des Moines, USA, 2002) one can approach it from the viral videos of highlights -those triples from eight meters…-, from his unusual scoring records, from his media and commercial impact and even from a unique charisma, that which, for example, led her to gather her teammates in a random bar in Dallas and drink all night after losing the last NCAA final against LSU. There are hundreds of aspects that propel her to the top of American sports, but the fashionable girl is something more, she is also the great revolution of women’s basketball.
Assuming that no one has ever scored so many points. Neither them nor them. Caitlin consecutively shattered the historical marks of Lynette Woodard (3,649 since 1981) and the 3,667 of Pete Maravich that had been in force for half a century. Accumulating expectation, million-dollar audiences and queues for each game of the University of Iowa, which starting this weekend seeks what it has never done before, winning its first national title. And feeding a legend that comes from afar. In his native Des Moines, Clark started playing on a boys’ team because his father couldn’t find a girls’ team… and one of the parents on a rival team complained about it.
“I have great control over her. It’s funny to me, because she was always like in the shadow of Paige Bueckers (UConn), which is from the same year and was the cover of Slam, when for me it was clearly better. I love it. Mainly, it has a spectacular character. It seems not, from its appearance, but it is very tough. And she is seeing herself now, the coconut of her, her trash talking…”, he relates. Amaya Valdemoro about which she will undoubtedly be number one in the next WNBA draft, where she will play for the Indiana Fever with an expectation similar to the one that arose a year ago Victor Wembanyama.
Caitlin is showered with comparisons and Steph Curry It is the most recurrent. Even in the mouth of the Warriors star. “I have watched her for a long time and I have realized how powerful she is on the court. The curious thing is that her way of playing, the distance and the level of difficulty of her shots are, obviously, very similar to the way she that I play,” he said a few days ago on CBS, where he spoke of his shooting ability as a “superpower.” But Curry’s numbers were also crushed (the 162 triples in a 2008 college season) by this 1.83 base that, like him, is indefensible. “His game is reminiscent of Curry’s. Shooting from the middle of the field if necessary, playing with freedom, dominating the dribble and doing whatever he wants on the court without anyone being able to stop him, that’s the feeling,” he says on the phone. Xavi Lopezan assistant for the women’s team at Texas Christian University, a front-row spectator of the Caitlin phenomenon: four years ago, when she worked for Oregon, he tried to recruit her as a substitute for Sabrina Ionescu.
“An animal”
Clark has averaged 32.2 points and 8.7 assists this last season, his fourth with the Hawkeyes, signing a mathematical progression (26.6 points the first year, 27.0 the second, 27.8 points the third… ) and when he scored (of course) the triple from the logo to beat Maravich’s record, his university changed that pavilion tile from where he shot for one with his initials. His performance responds to natural talent, but also to obsessive work. There is no day that, beyond the training under the orders of Lisa Bluder; Do not dedicate an hour to your shooting routines, 500 in total divided into five phases: 100 free throws (of which you must make 100), 100 mid-range (80), 100 triples (70), 100 after dribbling (75) and 100 ms from the logo (50).
“You see her on the street and she wouldn’t catch your attention. She’s normal. She’s not super athletic, she’s not fast, she doesn’t jump more than anyone else, but on the track she’s a real animal. Many girls can identify with her. Her phenomenon is sweeping. Her expressive and free play is fun. There are people who are paying a lot of money to go see her live, because they know they are going to see a show,” admits López, a former Penya youth player and former ACB player with the Bilbao. “What she does with the three-point shot is crazy. But they are ignoring how good she is at controlling spaces, passing, rebounding… She is very good at everything, in an apparently weak body that is very strong. You have to have a lot of coordination and stability for that shooting range,” admits Valdemoro, another legendary scorer, who speaks of Caitlin Clark’s dimension far beyond the game. “It is incredible and it is changing on a global level the concept that people have of women’s basketball, those who are unaware of it. No one has achieved that. The audiences, the resale of tickets… When you break the points record, you do it.” one day after Mike James beat that of the Euroleague. And the impact of both is incomparable,” says someone who only finds parallels with a single legend. “I can’t compare her to anyone, not even Curry, what she is doing, no one has done in women. Neither on nor off the track. “Maybe with Larry Birdbecause of the trash talking, because of the physicality and because you don’t expect it,” he concludes.
This impact elevates it to the rank of “pioneer.” “When Jordan came to the NBA, very few African American athletes had sponsors and he changed that. “There are thousands of fans lining up to see Caitlin (one of Iowa’s games this season broke the women’s basketball attendance record with 55,646 spectators),” the legend said. Nancy Lieberman about the economic impact of Clark, whose NIL (name, image and likeness), the way in which NCAA athletes have already been paid since 2021, has no comparison. It is estimated that for the 11 agreements she has signed, including with Nike and Gatorade, she already earns more than three million dollars without having yet stepped foot in the WNBA. What’s more, she rushed her four years of college because, among other things, her income in the WNBA was not going to be too higher (the salary for the number one in the draft is $78,000…).
“He decided to create his own history, in a place where they have not yet managed to win (Iowa). That speaks of his character, he is not afraid of anything, he accepts any challenge. He did not want to go to UConn or Oregon,” reflects Xavi López, who measures its phenomenon in terms of expectation: “The most important thing it has achieved is that there is more talk about the women’s March Madness than the men’s. That was unthinkable. And it is because of its level of stardom. There are more tickets sold for the women’s F4 than the masculine.”
2024-03-24 22:44:03
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