UConn head coach Geno Auriemma got here to Fever guard Caitlin Clark‘s protection on Thursday, ripping into followers who set the NCAA’s all-time main scorer “up for failure proper from the start.”
Auriemma appeared on Peacock’s “The Dan Patrick Present” on Thursday and mentioned Clark’s WNBA begin, which has dominated the discourse surrounding the league.
Patrick requested Auriemma about his remark Tuesday on the UConn Coaches Street Present that Clark is “being focused” by different gamers.
On Saturday, Sky ahead Chennedy Carter’s laborious foul on Clark created an uproar that is ongoing 5 days later.
As Auriemma sees it, Clark’s followers are a giant motive why she has such an enormous mark on her again.
“The delusional fanbase that follows her disrespected the WNBA gamers,” stated Auriemma. “She’s third or fourth in betting odds on being MVP of the WNBA. These individuals are so disrespectful and so unknowledgeable and so silly that it offers girls’s basketball a foul title,” he added.
Together with the frustration of being slighted, Auriemma additionally argued three different factors that make Clark a goal to different WNBA gamers.
“This child’s on the improper workforce, she’s bought the improper skillset to deal with the physicality of that league, and she or he’s a rookie. And in the event you’re a WNBA participant, in the event you’re any type of participant, you are gonna say, ‘I am gonna make a press release,'” he stated.
Auriemma makes honest arguments. The Fever (2-9) have the league’s second-worst document, and with Clark’s taking pictures being her specialty, she’s by no means needed to be stronger or extra bodily than her opponents to dominate.
In a aggressive atmosphere, it is sensible different gamers would exploit her weaknesses as a rookie.
When requested how he feels Clark has dealt with the pains of the WNBA, Auriemma praised the previous Iowa star, noting no less than one space she will be able to already maintain her personal.
“I feel she’s dealing with it nice,” he stated. “I feel she talks a variety of s—. And she or he will get a variety of s— again. So she deserves the whole lot she will get as a result of she offers it pretty much as good as she will get it.”
