Caitlin Clark is heading into her first senior FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup as one of the most spotlighted players on the roster. But despite the growing eyes on her, one former college basketball player and media personality doesn’t think that the Indiana Fever star is a lock for the starting lineup in Berlin.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
Rachel DeMita, during a segment on her Courtside Club podcast, shared her thoughts on Clark potentially being a starter, admitting that she doesn’t have confidence that head coach Kara Lawson will call her name. Looking at the World Cup qualifiers earlier this year, there might be a precedent for her prediction.
“I’m not sure if Caitlin Clark is going to start,” she said in a clip posted to Instagram.
“I think there’s going to be a lot of noise if and when she doesn’t start, but I’m not sure she’s going to start because even if we look back at the qualifying rounds, she didn’t start. I think they played like six games, five or six games… They changed the starting lineup for literally every single game. She was the last person to enter into the starting lineup. She was the only one by the last game who hadn’t started yet. I just don’t know how they’re going to play it.”
Looking back at the qualifying tournament in San Juan earlier this year, Clark was the last player to start for the team, despite playing all five games for Team USA. The first game against Senegal saw Chelsea Gray, Kahleah Copper, Dearica Hamby, Jackie Young, and Angel Reese starting. The next game against Puerto Rico saw Gray joined by Paige Bueckers, Kelsey Plum, Monique Billings, and Kiki Iriafen.
Then, against Italy, it was Hamby, Copper, Young, Gray, and Rhyne Howard. Finally, against New Zealand, Clark got her first start before moving back to the bench against Spain in the final game in favor of the previous lineup.
Despite this, Clark was named the MVP of the tournament, leading Team USA in both efficiency (14.6) and assists per game (6.4), and was third in plus-minus on the squad behind only Howard and Kelsey Plum. Clark also led the entire tournament in assists, while being second in scoring on the team with 11.6 points per game on 52.9% shooting.
That ties into DeMita’s next point: Clark coming off the bench doesn’t mean she can’t be their best player. In fact, DeMita argued that international basketball can place less emphasis on the starting five.
“International play is a little different in terms of how they think about starters because in other countries, they don’t necessarily think that the starting five is the best five players on the team,” she explained.
“It’s just the way that they do their rotations. Sometimes a player or two or three who come off the bench is actually the player who are the most valuable. And they end up playing in the fourth quarter. It’s not like they start the game with their five best.”
However, Clark’s chances of starting could have improved after two of the team’s established stars, Kelsey Plum and A’ja Wilson, withdrew from the tournament. Over the past week, Plum and Wilson withdrew from the tournament in Berlin due to injuries, and that opens up space for the rest of the roster.
With Team USA opening its World Cup campaign against China on September 4, Lawson’s starting lineup will be closely watched, particularly whether Clark gets the nod.