Once FLAMED for criticizing Caitlin Clark, Monica McNutt does 180 to defend Fever star’s poor playoff debut
Monica McNutt feels Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark will bounce back against the Connecticut Sun in game 2 of the WNBA playoffs.
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Monica McNutt saw the Connecticut Sun clamp down Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark in game 1 of the WNBA playoffs
In her first playoff game, Caitlin Clark fizzled out as her Indiana Fever was blown out by the Connecticut Sun. It brought to a stop the amazing run she was on, both in terms of scoring as well as in passing to her teammates. However, her turnaround in performances did not come as a fluke. This brings Monica McNutt, who once criticized the WNBA rookie’s play, to suggest the 2nd game will be different.
The ESPN analyst was at hand on NBA Today to talk about the first round of this season’s WNBA playoffs. When asked specifically about Caitlin Clark‘s first playoff game she said:
The Connecticut Sun have been a top three defensive team in the WNBA. Stephanie White (Sun HC) and those guys cooked up a scheme to cut the Fever off at their head, and their head is Caitlin Clark. Now, Caitlin has a track record of when she has low-scoring games, which we haven't seen many of, she bounces back with +25-point performances."Monica McNutt on NBA Today
She does make a good point as Caitlin Clark is a basketball savant who does not like being shut down. She goes back to the drawing board and figures out a way to reply to her opponents. Moreover, the Fever did beat the Sun in their last regular season meeting.
McNutt expects the Indiana Fever to respond with a win in game 2. That is with Caitlin Clark leading the way. It was evident that the rest of the team struggled to generate points without her playmaking working at her usual efficiency.
Monica McNutt once criticized Stephen A. Smith for trumping up Caitlin Clark
Whenever the name Monica McNutt comes along with Caitlin Clark, it instantly reminds fans of an incident that happened a few months ago. That was the time when the Stephen A. Smith-led First Take was trying to call out other WNBA players for showing dissent towards the rookie.
Monica McNutt took a shot at Stephen A. Smith suggesting he never spoke about other WNBA players as much as they did for the Indiana Fever rookie. Her logic was that the former Iowa Hawkeyes star hadn’t established herself as a good enough player to warrant such attention. Whereas, other star players were being left out. Fans of Caitlin Clark felt the former Georgetown Hoyas star was taking shots at the rookie.
They felt she was questioning the abilities of a player who had already proved her worth in college. Since then, Monica McNutt has not appeared on First Take. But that could be because First Take is focused on football at the moment.
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Joseph Varghese
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