{"id":835475,"date":"2026-05-31T22:22:37","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T22:22:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/835475\/"},"modified":"2026-05-31T22:22:37","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T22:22:37","slug":"sue-bird-gives-caitlin-clark-excellent-advice-for-improving-her-defense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/835475\/","title":{"rendered":"Sue Bird gives Caitlin Clark excellent advice for improving her defense"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"For<\/a><\/p>\n

Cory Woodroof, For The Win<\/p>\n

Sun, May 31, 2026 at 9:21 PM UTC\"\"<\/p>\n

Sue Bird gives Caitlin Clark excellent advice for improving her defense<\/p>\n

While the world focuses on Saturday’s bench tiff between Indiana Fever superstar guard Caitlin Clark and coach Stephanie White<\/a>, the real intrigue from the Fever loss to the Portland Fire comes from the defense.<\/p>\n

Opposing WNBA teams are starting to hunt Clark in isolation this season<\/a>, putting her in difficult position in one-on-one guarding to either make her foul or give up the contested bucket. It’s a good strategy for Fever opponents, as Clark’s defense has never been what makes her a great basketball player. It’s not a massive liability throughout her career, but it’s the way teams are making Clark pay on the basketball court this season while she’s defending.<\/p>\n

The Caitlin Clark double standard is real and suffocating<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

During NBC’s WNBA coverage on Sunday, all-time great Sue Bird, a player Clark is commonly compared to on the court, gave the Fever standout some excellent advice for how to improve her one-on-one defense.<\/p>\n

“That’s been me; I’ve experienced this,” Bird said of Clark getting ISO’ed by opponents. “I’ll tell you exactly what I did. I went, and I learned every single tendency of every single player I was going to be guarding because everyone has one thing they don’t want to do, and you’ve got to make them do that thing.”<\/p>\n

That’s pretty excellent advice if you ask us. It’s easy to forget Clark is still just 24 and playing what will likely be her first full season of WNBA basketball since 2024 and her second overall.<\/p>\n

She’s still got a ways to go until she’s where she wants to be as a pro. Improving her defense will go a long way in rounding out her game and should quell some of the frustrations that hit Indiana during that uninspired Saturday loss to Portland.<\/p>\n

When do the Fever play again?<\/p>\n

The team plays at home against the Atlanta Dream on Thursday evening.<\/p>\n

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