Caitlin Clark film breakdown
Caitlin Clark is one of the best women’s basketball players in the entire country and is incredibly exciting to watch every time she takes the court. In her true freshman season, Clark led the nation in scoring average, going for 26.6 ppg. She also led the nation in three pointers made (116), while making them at a 40.6% clip. Clark blew away the rest of college basketball when it came to assists with 214 and averaged nearly six rebounds per game as a point guard.
Everyone knows that Caitlin Clark is among the best and an All-American selection as a true freshman backs that up, but what makes her so good? I took a dive into some of her film from last season and broke it down to show why she is a candidate for the Player of the Year Award in 2021.
3pt Shooting Range – Always in range
Not only did she lead the country in three pointers made, but she was top 20 in 3pt % among players that shot at least 130 three pointers. She shot nearly 60 more three pointers than anyone else in the country. The most impressive part about her shooting is that she can make shots from anywhere inside of the halfcourt line. Opponents are forced to step 3-5 steps beyond the three-point line to guard Clark and if they choose not to, she is not afraid to knock down the deep three.
This becomes an advantage to Coach Bluder’s offense because Clark will draw the defense away from the lane, thus giving the Hawkeyes more room to operate their offense. Also, Clark will draw extra attention from the opposing defense which can and will open up other Iowa players on the floor to get open shots. This is a little bit like what Luka Garza was for the men’s team. Defenses collapsed on Garza in the post, and it allowed him to find other options that came open from the extra attention drawn.
Always seeking her shot
Caitlin Clark reminds me a lot of Jordan Bohannon in the fact that she is always hunting for her shot. The end of the sequence has a couple of JBo highlights for comparison. She can get her shot off with the slightest bit of open space and a lot of the plays in the clip above show her in a situation where she finds just enough room. This forces the defense to be almost perfect on screens and staying with Clark when she has the ball. Overplay a screen and she can pass to the open teammate. Don’t switch the screen quick enough and she will hit an open shot. Give her any sort of room and she will fire off a shot.
Pair the fact that she is always hunting for her shot, with the ability to shoot from multiple steps beyond the three-point arch and you already have a lethal combination.
Moving without the ball
This is really the most underrated part of Caitlin Clark’s game and its mostly in part to the fact that the average viewer is not watching her run around the halfcourt without the ball for an entire game. However, I have given you a short set of clips to watch her move around without the ball.
The first clip vs Wisconsin shows a subtle move, but Caitlin sees the Badger defender turn her head, so she slides to the open spot behind the three-point line and gets a pass for an open three.
The last clip, she passes and flashes to the middle of the paint, but isn’t open. The Northwestern defenders fall asleep a bit, while Clark keeps her eyes on the ball, works to the corner and gets the feed for an open three.
Steph Curry is an exaggerated example of what Caitlin Clark does. Curry is always running, around and through screens or from sideline to sideline to get open. The clip in the middle vs Minnesota shows an example of that, where Caitlin gets an off-ball screen to help free her up for an open shot. Clark has the ability to find her own shot when she has the ball, as well as without the ball.
Drive/Pullup Combo
The talent to drive and take a defender to the hoop, as well as the ability to stop a pop from free throw line distance is a great combination to have. She can drive to both sides of the hoop, but she expressed during the summer that she wanted to improve on finishing with her left hand. You can see on her drives to the left side that she still tries to finish with her right hand and that can leave you susceptible to a blocked shot.
Caitlin is really pretty good at assessing the drive attempt as it happens. If she beats the defender off the dribble and sees a lane to the hoop, she will take it to the rim, but if the defender is in good position or the lane is crowded, she can pull up and take the midrange shot.
Clutch gene
As the saying goes, “Big time players make big time plays in big time games” and Caitlin Clark absolutely does that. In just her fourth game as a Hawkeye, Clark helped lead a fourth quarter comeback to beat the Iowa State Cyclones. She scored 14 points in the final stanza, including a game winning three pointer with 22 seconds remaining. The other clip vs Nebraska, Caitlin has the ball in her hands with a four-point lead late in the game and she steps up and hits a clutch deep three pointer to put the game away.
Being a clutch performer late in the game is not something you can coach if you are Lisa Bluder, but Caitlin Clark has the clutch gene and will have the ball in her hands in every close game this upcoming season.
Ball handling
When you are a point guard, ball handling is one of the most important keys to being a leader on the offense. In the couple of clips here Clark makes the plays solely because of what she was able to do with her handles. While she does have good ball handling skills and led the nation in assists, she turned the ball over 144 times. Her assist to turnover ratio ranked 150th in the country, so if she has an area to improve, this would be the one. Clark obviously has the skills, but a little bit of refining could go a long way.
Distributing the ball to teammates
Not really a lot to say here. As mentioned in other parts of the article, Clark led the nation with 214 assists, which blew away the rest of Division I. DiDi Richards of Baylor was second in the nation with just 189 assists. A good portion of the assists came on feed passes to Monika Czinano in the post, but the clip shows a mix of distribution.
If Caitlin has an off-night shooting wise, she has the ability to find her teammates and get them baskets.
Putting it all together
If you are one of the unfortunate defenders tasked with guarding Caitlin Clark this season, I have one thing to say to you….Good Luck.
Once Caitlin crosses half court, the defender already has to be ready to go because she has the ability to shoot the three from logo distance. Once the Hawkeyes start running their offense, the defender has to be ready for a potential screen coming. If you overplay the screen, Caitlin will find her open teammate for a basket. If you miscommunicate with your teammate on the screen, Caitlin will have an open three off of the screen.
Maybe a screen doesn’t come, but Clark can take you off the dribble and beat you to the rim for a layup. Now the defender could potentially be in good position, but Caitlin can just pull up and hit the free throw line jumper. If she passes the ball away, you are not out of the woods, as Caitlin will look for any chance to run off a screen or cut to the basket in hopes of getting open for a shot.
Finally, if you foul Clark while trying to stop her from doing any of the above things, she was an 85.8% free throw shooter last season.