Guarding Clark: Is there anything to do?
EVANSTON, Ill. – Caitlin Clark has only been held to single-digit points in one game during her Iowa women’s basketball career.
It was one-third of the way through her freshman season, and Clark was held to eight points on 3-for-12 shooting and 1-for-5 from 3-point range against Northwestern. The Wildcats used a unique “blizzard” defense – a matchup zone in which the guards apply more ball pressure than normal – and were able to overpower the young star and guide Northwestern to a 77-67 win.
“We had Veronica Burton – the Scottie Pippen of defense,” said Northwestern coach Joe McKeown. “But (Clark’s) a very different player now.”
Today, just over four years later, Clark is older, stronger, and has coaches across the country searching for answers on how to effectively defend her. But there’s just one problem – they might never find one.
“What she does is constantly make the defense wrong,” said Debbie Antonelli, a women’s basketball analyst for several major networks. “It doesn’t matter what you do – you’re wrong.”
Despite an off game from beyond the arc, at least by her standards, during a 110-74 win over Northwestern on this night (Jan. 31), Clark still erupted for 35 points. Ten of those points came from the free-throw line.
Clark’s claim to fame is her wellrounded scoring ability, which has catapulted her into second all time on the women’s college basketball scoring list. This season, the Iowa star leads Division I with 745 points. No other player has surpassed 550 points.
The (West Des Moines) Dowling Catholic legend does most of her damage from behind the 3-point arc and sometimes, famously, from the logo at midcourt. More than 50% of Clark’s 3-point attempts came from more than 3 feet beyond the arc, according to recent numbers from CBBAnalytics.com.
“She hit two step-backs against us, and I don’t know that anyone could’ve guarded it any better,” said Purdue Fort Wayne assistant coach Steven Asher, whose team lost 98-59 to Iowa on Nov. 24.
If the defense miraculously manages to stifle Clark’s patented step-back – which is only possible with forceful and aggressive on-ball defense – Clark is still able to punish the defense with drives to the lane.
The Iowa star uses her elite athleticism and relentless attacking mindset to blow by defenders who guard her too tightly.
“Her one-on-one abilities, athleticism and skill set are just that dominant. There’s not a great answer,” Asher said. “There’s a Kobe Bryant-like mentality about how aggressive she is.”
But, there’s one key, glaring difference between Clark and the “Black Mamba”: Bryant, who didn’t play in college, averaged 4.7 assists per game in his NBA career. Caitlin Clark’s career assists average is 8.0.
“She really does see the court at a very high level too,” said Veronica Burton, former three-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year who currently plays for the WNBA’s Dallas Wings. “You can do your best to eliminate her scoring, but then she can go for 12 assists.”
When Clark was a freshman, Burton attacked her from a physicality standpoint and was able to limit the explosive offense.
“With our zone, we wanted to make her see bodies,” Burton said. “We had to know where she was on the floor, and we had to make her feel the pressure and the physicality.”
McKeown touted Clark’s finishing ability – which improved from 63.4% during her freshman season to 71.7% this year, according to CBBAnalytics.com. The Wildcats planned to limit Clark’s downhill scoring, much like they did in Clark’s eight-point outing her freshman season.
“You just have to be diligent on finding her early, and not letting her get downhill to the basket. She’s finishing (a lot better) now.”
But things didn’t go as planned for Northwestern – Clark got to the rim at will and also dished out 10 assists.
“I feel like we guarded her really well on the 3-point line, and then we just forgot that she could drive. She could make layups,” said senior captain Paige Mott.
“When you take away one of the heads, another head comes up.”
Perhaps the best option is to completely deny the ball to Clark altogether. If she doesn’t touch the ball, she can’t score, right?
“Usually if you’re playing against a great guard, you try to deny her the ball to get it out of her hands, or you try to double-team her,” McKeown said. “But when she rebounds, she already has the ball.”
And once Clark secures the board, she and the Hawkeyes are off to the races. Iowa leads the country in points at 91.9 per game, and that’s largely a testament to their star point guard’s affinity for playing at a fast pace.
But even when the star guard doesn’t have the ball and is being hounded for 94 feet, her impact on the game is still felt.
“She understands that she can make such a difference just by being a decoy,” said Patricia Babcock-McGraw, a women’s college basketball analyst for the Big Ten Network. “She’s a very intuitive player in that way.”
These days, Clark’s improved strength and conditioning will probably prevent any team from replicating what Northwestern did on Jan. 9, 2021.
“Tiring her out is a tough task. She’s an incredibly well-conditioned, elite athlete,” Asher said. “I don’t have answers on how to defend her. There’s no silver bullet.”