The Indiana Fever have been dealt a blow on Monday because the staff introduced famous person guard Caitlin Clark could be out for no less than two weeks with a left quadriceps pressure.
After these two weeks, she’ll be re-evaluated, suggesting an absence probably longer than only a fortnight. It’s unclear when Clark suffered the harm. She didn’t look hampered in any manner towards the Liberty on Saturday, although that doesn’t imply the harm didn’t come then.
It’s the primary harm blow that Clark has suffered in her younger WNBA profession after taking part in all 40 video games final season. She didn’t miss a single sport at Iowa throughout her 4 years with the Hawkeyes both.
This shall be uncharted waters, then, for each Clark and the Fever. Naturally, Indiana’s roster is constructed round Clark, so this can definitely take a look at their depth early within the season. Over the offseason, the Fever overhauled the roster and introduced in additional expertise as they seemed to take the subsequent step from playoff staff to title contender.
Now, that newfound depth shall be examined in an enormous manner. Sydney Colson is the one backup level guard on the bench and can probably see an uptick in taking part in time after being a DNP-CD on Saturday towards the Liberty.
However the largest rise in contributions will primarily want to come back from different sources. Nobody participant can substitute what Clark does, however a number of gamers can fill within the gaps.
Kelsey Mitchell will probably grow to be the lead ballhandler within the beginning lineups whereas Sophie Cunningham has proven some flashes of ballhandling potential within the two video games she’s been out there for the Fever.
It’s arduous to count on far more out of Aliyah Boston than what she’s offered to open the season, as she’s averaged 18.5 factors and 10.8 rebounds per sport. Nonetheless, after talking about utilizing her as a hub offensively earlier than the season, she’ll probably solely grow to be an much more central determine in what Indiana is doing on that finish.
Indiana may also want DeWanna Bonner, who has had a really sluggish begin to the season, to seek out her type and assist contribute in quite a lot of methods, together with together with her scoring. By way of the opening 4 video games, Bonner has simply 10 complete factors and is taking pictures 2-16 from the sector total.
Changing Clark should be a by-committee strategy for Indiana over the subsequent two weeks, and for a staff that spoke about their depth heading into the season, it’ll be an enormous take a look at of how a lot that may be relied upon early on.
