Fever Coach Christie Sides Urges Caitlin Clark to Shoot More

Karl Rasmussen | Jun 30, 2024

Indiana Fever head coach Christie Sides talks with guard Caitlin Clark (22) during the second half of a basketball game against the Chicago Sky at Wintrust Arena. / Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever will look to continue their recent strong run of play on Sunday in a matchup against the Phoenix Mercury.

The Fever enter Sunday's tilt in their best form of the season, having won six of their last 10 games. Coach Christie Sides has been encouraged by their results of late, but she's still looking to see more from Clark on the offensive end.

When asked about Clark's recent performances, Indiana's coach admitted she would like to see the prized rookie be a bit more assertive offensively and take more shots rather than pass up a good look at the basket.

"When you go back and look at the games that we won, we've had four or five players in double-digit scoring, all those players between 10, 12, 15 shots. Just to kind of keep that consistent... In the game the other night, [Clark] had a couple passes that she made that she probably should've, you know, not made, and been more looking to shoot in those moments," said Sides.

Indiana Fever coach Christie Sides on Caitlin Clark needing to take more shots. #WNBA  #FeverRising pic.twitter.com/4D2pXFYm6d

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"So, just trying to balance that with her. A couple more (shots), just trying to get her as open as possible whether she's on the ball or off the ball."

Through the first 19 games of her rookie season, Clark is averaging 16.2 points, 6.6 assists and 5.2 rebounds. She's attempting 12.2 field goals per game and converting at a 40.2% clip, as well as 35.5% from three-point range on an average 8.0 tries per night.

Only Kelsey Mitchell has taken more shots (255) than Clark (232) on the Fever this year, and the No. 1 pick's 152 three-point attempts pace the team. While the prized rookie hasn't shied away from getting her shot up, Sides is hoping to see Clark be even more aggressive on offense.