Caitlin Clark spent some time on the bench during the FIBA World Cup. Stephanie White watched every minute of it, and she came away with a different read than most fans did. Now that the two are back in Indiana with a gold medal in tow, White is putting her observations on record.Clark, a three-time WNBA All-Star, didn’t crack the starting five for Team USA. According to her head coach, though, that supporting role did more for her game than a starting job might have. White’s comments came right after a Fever practice, days before the team gets back to the business of chasing a WNBA title.
Stephanie White reveals how Caitlin Clark has changed after Team USA benching
Fans are used to seeing Caitlin Clark run an offense from the opening tip, not wait her turn. At the World Cup, she played behind veterans on a Team USA roster that went undefeated and closed things out with a gold-medal win over France. White, serving as an assistant under Kara Lawson, had a courtside seat for the entire transformation.Speaking with reporters, White broke down what stood out. She noticed Clark’s pace shift the moment younger players entered games, and she pointed to the jump from WNBA basketball to international competition as a teaching tool in itself.“You could tell the way that she was able to change the game with her pace, and how, when we put our young guns in there, it looked a little bit different. I think for C, being able to learn from those veterans, FIBA is different,” White shared.She added, “World Cup and Olympics is different. It’s not the WNBA. And having that experience with those guys, I think she’s able to learn by watching. I think she felt the difference in different games and how teams are going to play, what she’s looking for. I thought her floor game was outstanding.”The clearest proof came in the final against France, when Clark knocked down a shot right before halftime that swung momentum toward the Americans. “So I’m really proud of her,” White said. Not everyone loved watching a franchise centerpiece ride the pine on the international stage, but if White’s assessment holds up, that stretch of games may end up paying off for Indiana down the stretch.
The Indiana Fever are back in the game
Now, White, Clark, and forward Aliyah Boston are back with the Fever, and the reunion had real emotion behind it inside the practice facility. Forward Myisha Hines-Allen made no secret of who she wanted to see first. “First person I saw was AB (Aliyah Boston).” Hines-Allen said, before wrapping her in a hug.White wasted no time resetting expectations. Fatigue from a demanding international stretch isn’t an excuse, in her view, and the standard for this group doesn’t bend just because legs are heavy. To smooth the transition, Clark and Boston sat out practice on their first day back, and White eased her own way back into the fold as well. Hines-Allen gave credit to the rest of the roster for keeping intensity up while the trio was overseas, noting that the group never let up in their absence.