2024 WNBA Season Opener Recap & Caitlin Clark's Debut

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00:00 [MUSIC]

00:03 Day number two of the WNBA season in 2024 and

00:06 we look back on the quadruple header of opening night to start this

00:11 second hour with Karina Mustafa joining us here on this Wednesday to go back

00:16 around the four games.

00:17 Caitlin Corks WNBA debut last night in Connecticut the title defense for

00:22 a second consecutive season in Las Vegas for the Aces and so much more.

00:28 Karina, thank you for taking the time to join us here on this Wednesday on the

00:32 early line.

00:33 Great to be back.

00:34 I'm so excited that the W season is back.

00:37 And it's going to be a great, great season.

00:39 The most highly anticipated season in the WNBA off to a very strong start last

00:45 night in those four games.

00:47 Karina, we start in Connecticut with Caitlin Corks WNBA debut.

00:52 Wasn't exactly the greatest debut for the number one overall pick.

00:56 20 points, a team high for Indiana, but she did not score until the second

01:01 quarter and also had 10 turnovers, the most we have ever seen in a WNBA debut

01:08 in league history.

01:10 And the Sun take advantage.

01:11 Connecticut wins by 21, 92-71 on their home four last night, easily covering as

01:18 an eight-point favorite.

01:19 Karina, what did you learn from game number one between the Fever and the Sun?

01:24 Listen, I think if you wanted a welcome to the W moment for Caitlin Clark, going

01:28 up against Alyssa Thomas in the Connecticut Sun was exactly that.

01:31 I mean, the Connecticut Sun are one of the deepest teams in the leagues.

01:34 Like, make it no mistake.

01:35 Of course, Caitlin is always going to have that transition when you're going into

01:38 the professional league.

01:39 But to have your first opponent be the Sun, who have been very successful the last

01:43 few seasons and have that MVP candidate in Alyssa Thomas, Dawana Bonner, who

01:47 became fifth on the all-time scoring leader in the WNBA.

01:51 She finished with 20.6 rebounds.

01:53 Alyssa Thomas, like I said, got her first triple-double.

01:56 You got a lot of Ty Harris, De'Janae Carrington.

01:59 Like, all these players who have kind of developed into their roles did a great

02:03 job of kind of, you know, stifling the Indiana Fever in Caitlin Clark.

02:07 And yes, Caitlin had a slow start, but I think what I liked from her is that later

02:11 in the game, even though they were down, once her shots kind of started falling,

02:15 you could see her kind of relax a little bit more.

02:17 I think there were a lot of nerves to start.

02:20 And so, yeah, it's okay.

02:21 I think that game kind of went exactly as you might have expected.

02:26 - By the way, Corinne, if we're taking a look at the WNBA season, because I think

02:29 you bring up some good points here in talking here before we went live on the air,

02:32 the excitement here in the air for the WNBA.

02:34 Now, hoop heads are always going to say, yes, a new basketball season is starting.

02:37 This is fantastic.

02:38 But the average fan, the casual fan, being brought into the tent, that was a big deal

02:43 yesterday with Caitlin Clark coming into her first game and also championship

02:47 teams playing, the superstars on the horizon.

02:49 Talk to us about the excitement for just being a WNBA fan, but also the other fans

02:53 not going like, you know what?

02:54 I need to watch this sport more.

02:56 - Yeah, I mean, you could feel it.

02:58 Like, it was a Sun Home game, but there were a lot of fever fans in the building,

03:02 and they were cheering just as loud for Caitlin and the rest of that team.

03:05 But, yeah, it's like an interesting time because all of these fans that kind of

03:09 came over for March Madness are now, like, watching the WNBA.

03:13 And then there's also the fans that have been around for a while, and they're like,

03:16 yeah, we got some history here too.

03:18 Like, with the Connecticut Sun beating Indiana Fever, they're like, yeah,

03:21 that's exactly what's supposed to happen.

03:23 So it will be interesting to see kind of how the new eyeballs, you know,

03:26 mix together with the people that have been here already.

03:28 But I think, you know, a lot of the new players too, like, even if you look at

03:32 Chicago, Angel Reese, Camila Cardoso, just like what they've brought already

03:36 to their teams, it's just, it's an unprecedented time, I think, in the league.

03:40 - Yeah, Karina, we talked about this yesterday in previewing the season.

03:43 I think it was during the WNBA draft show that Ryan Rucco, who called a lot of the

03:47 action for ESPN during the women's NCAA tournament, said it best.

03:52 It's time for a moment to be followed by momentum into a new WNBA season.

03:58 And if you looked at the game last night, the Sun were an eight-point favorite

04:01 for a reason.

04:02 Connecticut was the third-best team, only a small peg behind both the Liberty and

04:07 the Aces last year at 27 and 13.

04:10 They should have hammered the Fever, who were 13 and 27 a season prior,

04:15 and that's what happened.

04:16 And Alyssa Thomas, as you mentioned, sensational.

04:19 A triple-double for the eighth time since the start of last year.

04:24 That's more than anybody else has had in their WNBA careers, and she's done it

04:29 since the start of 2023, including the playoffs.

04:33 So let's focus on Kaitlyn Clark one last time.

04:36 A team-high 20 points for Clark in her debut, but again, those 10 turnovers.

04:41 Only three dimes did make four triples as she started to find her footing

04:46 throughout that game last night against the Sun.

04:49 The great weight of expectation, Karina, has been placed on Kaitlyn Clark,

04:53 dating back to her time in Iowa, now here in the W.

04:57 How do you expect the rest of her rookie campaign to fare?

05:01 Yeah, I mean, you look at those 10 turnovers in this first game,

05:04 and I think that speaks a lot to the decision-making that Coach Chrissy Sides

05:08 kind of talked about before this game, where everything is so much quicker

05:12 than WNBA, and Kaitlyn is going to see that.

05:14 So that's kind of where those turnover numbers came from.

05:16 And so what I'm interested to see in the rest of her rookie season

05:19 is how she kind of adapts to that, how she adapts to defensive pressure,

05:23 because De'Janae Carrington was on her all night.

05:25 So you're going to get players like that every night.

05:27 And so the way that she makes decisions, whether it's to give that extra pass

05:31 or to take the shot herself, the way that she gets her open looks,

05:34 I think that's going to be key for her and her development

05:36 for the rest of the season, and I'm sure that it will happen,

05:38 because Kaitlyn, of course, there's a reason why she was the number one player.

05:41 There's a reason why the Fever have had the top pick the last two seasons

05:44 and the number two pick the year before.

05:46 So they're going to be able to develop her,

05:48 and I'm really excited to see what she does under WNBA coaching.

05:52 The Fever do have some young talent here,

05:54 and granted, when you're drafting number one overall,

05:56 that's what you're supposed to get.

05:57 If you take a look at the loss last night, it's a long season,

06:00 and yes, they were the underdogs here.

06:01 But do we change the outlook here of the Fever, or what do you expect,

06:05 I should say, from the Fever this season after that performance on opening night?

06:09 Listen, I think the Fever are still in that rebuilding mode.

06:13 Last year, they had the most amount of wins that they've had in a really long time,

06:16 and I can't say I expect them to get more than they did last season by a lot.

06:21 I think we have a temper of expectations when it comes to seeing what the Fever do,

06:25 because if you look at their upcoming schedule, it's not very easy.

06:28 They've got the Liberty twice.

06:29 They've got the Sun again, the Storm, the Sparks, the Aces, the Sparks, and the Storm,

06:34 and that's not an easy lineup of teams to play against,

06:37 especially when you're just kind of figuring out how to play with each other

06:40 in this first part of the season.

06:42 So I expect them to remain competitive within these games

06:45 because they've shown that they can do that in flashes,

06:47 but don't expect them to be winning a lot of them.

06:50 They're still kind of in that phase where next year,

06:53 they might be able to take that next competitive leap,

06:55 but it's going to take some time.

06:57 To Karina's point, last year, 13 wins.

07:00 The three years prior, five wins, six wins, six wins.

07:05 The Fever have had a losing record for seven straight seasons.

07:08 Yes, there is expectation and an expected elevation with Kaitlyn Clark,

07:13 Annalia Boston, the last two number one overall picks, but give it some time.

07:18 Now we look at the Rookie of the Year odds,

07:20 where Kaitlyn Clark is a really hefty favorite at -700,

07:23 but Karina, let's shine some light on the other Rooks.

07:26 They're out in the WNBA, a new guard that we came to love

07:30 during the women's college basketball season.

07:33 How do you expect the rest of the Rookies to perform

07:35 in their first year in the WNBA?

07:38 Listen, I mean, you see Cameron Brink on there,

07:40 Rekia Jackson in LA.

07:41 I went to Edmonton to watch them play in the WNBA Canada game.

07:44 They looked phenomenal.

07:45 I think their transition to the league is going to be really cool

07:48 to see on the Sparks this year.

07:50 Angel Reese, I think, also showed out already.

07:53 The team that I'm looking at, actually, is the Dallas Wings

07:56 because they have Jacey Sheldon, who I believe is going to get

07:59 a lot of playing time now just based on the roster decisions

08:02 that they did make.

08:03 It seems like they have a lot of belief in her.

08:05 So I'm looking to see how she does as well as Jalen Brown,

08:07 who showed out in the preseason for the Wings

08:09 and ended up making the team and kind of solidifying her spot.

08:12 So there's a lot of exciting Rookies.

08:14 Of course, Aliyah Edwards, I got to rep her here from the North.

08:17 She had like six points, two rebounds in one block

08:20 against Liberty last night.

08:21 So there's a lot of really, really exciting Rookies this year.

08:24 I think this was a great draft class.

08:26 Listen, the Mystics kept things very close against the New York Liberty

08:30 last night in the nation's capital, and we will see Angel Reese

08:34 and Camila Cardoso in their debuts tonight with Chicago.

08:37 The same for the LA Sports at home against the Atlanta Dream.

08:41 We'll continue the recaps here around the WNBA

08:44 on the other side of the break with Karina Mustapha.

08:46 We'll look back at the rest of the action from the opening night.

08:50 Yes, a ton of focus in Connecticut for Kaitlyn Cork's debut

08:54 against the Sun, but we had the Aces begin their second consecutive

08:59 WNBA championship defense last night at home as well.

09:04 [Music]

09:08 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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