Caitlin Clark's Triple-Double Leads Fever to Victory Over Sparks | Post-Game Reaction

Introduction [Music] hello everyone this is APO Sports and we're back to cover the game that just ended and just to be clear for everyone I live in Japan so I'm going to be seeing I'm going to be saying today a lot right so I'm going to be addressing the game that happened between the fever and the Sparks but I'm going to be referencing as it happened today because it did happen today for me here in Japan I know for for you if you if you're watching in America or in Europe or something like that it's going to be last night so um it's just too hard for me to keep up last night to me was today was this morning watched it everything's good to go but anyway yeah cover covering the game Indiana Fever versus uh LA Sparks and just first thing that I want to say also is this is the most fun that I've had following a team since the Oklahoma Oklahoma City Thunder uh you know with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook it's been I mean and I'm talking about in all of sports this has been so much fun to watch this is an absolutely great team to follow such an easy team to root for because of the entire cast I mean they just seem like they all seem like really great individuals um you can tell that they're playing for one another that they're celebrating each other's success really the only person that you know I mean they have a big three so if anything Aaliyah Boston Kelsey Mitchell kayin Clark you could potentially see um maybe some jealousy as to who is number one but um you can tell that they like each other you can tell that they're enjoying this wave as much as all of us as far as the success that the team has had so it's just been amazing so another win for the fever they've now won five games in a row that's crazy to even think about uh from for a team that started 1 and8 2-9 whatever the record was early on uh so it's just been I mean I don't know it's been refreshing it's been great to see of course winning solves a lot of different issues and problems and and some other you know things that the team can can work on and improve upon but it has been such a great run and I'm hoping that they're enjoying it as well um because this is tremendous this is really great so the fever win again like I said five in a row out of the last Game Summary: Fever vs. Sparks 93-86 eight or since the Olympic break seven and one crazy amount of success the hottest team in the NBA right now no one wants to see this team in the playoffs because to me they have the most weapons you know no one in the league has a player like Kaylin Clark and I dare say no one in the league has a player than like AO Boston I also want to say not many teams have a player like Kelsey Mitchell and you have these three players all in one with amazing chemistry that is one dangerous team and then there is the uh the unsung hero the the the player that people will not bring up too much and I have to because to me I don't know I'm if you've been watching this channel you already know how much of a fan I am of Lexi Hall but I really truly believe that she's the she's the most important player in this team uh and the stats will not tell you that the stats will absolutely not tell you how great and impactful she is on the court so let's quickly take a look at the box score here so and I have another segment a different segment in which I'm going to be talking about nothing but kayin Clark so for this I'm just going to keep it to the you know of course highlighting the triple double but I have a whole another thing for Kaylin Clark um after this but still just highlighting based on the box box score 24 points 10 assists 10 rebounds three steals uh no blocks I didn't see no no no blocks she didn't have a block but here it was one foul seven turnovers but at this point we've learned to understand that it doesn't matter really the fever are not you know as a team they don't turn the ball over that much although in this game they did especially in the first half they were extremely careless with the basketball and I wondered you know one of the tweets that I sent out was they didn't seem focused like they were still on that high from clinching the playoffs and then another high for uh which we'll talk about in team success with the other high of Christy sides winning uh coach of the month and everything else that you know in one day it was just so much or so much to celebrate in one day and you're in this high and then you have to play this basketball game so understandably so the team was not focused at least not to start the game they were turning the ball over a lot of you know things and plays that where they shouldn't have turned the ball over but it was just careless not playing with enough Focus so they struggled in the first half a little bit against the Sparks and then the second half was a whole different story and kayln Clark to go but uh yeah 24 points like I said triple double 10 assists 10 rebounds for kayen Clark uh eight of 17 from the field again she continues to uh fix those numbers for for that she was struggling in the beginning of the Season as far as the shooting percentages 47% from the uh from the field and 40% from three 4 or4 from the three throw line so she will end up the season I believe with over 90% shooting on the free throw line which is great especially for a rookie like this is her first year in the league and she's shooting 90% from the free throw line typically you know as veteran players as the season as the seasons go along they only improve upon upon the free throw shooting percentages I mean should' be the first player to ever shoot like I don't know over 95% at the free throw line that will be interesting to see but another player who had a monster game I mean Monster game and I'm also a big Alo Boston fan so to me right Alo Boston and Lexie Hall I've always said that they are the most important players on this team and I mean Boston is just I don't it's hard I don't even know what to say like it's amazing to watch a Leo Boston it just really is the impact the the the winning the she's everywhere impacting winning all the time it's just in an incredible player overall because she's amazing as a player but anyways uh 24 points 14 rebounds four assist one steal uh 10 of 16 from the field and the plus 12 which is you know brings me back up to the impact that she has on the court it it will be super hard for you to open a box score you from a random a random game from all these games that The Fever have played up to this point I think they've played what 34 games so far I challenge you you just a random box score and find a a Leo an a Leo Boston having a minus impact on the court from the plus minus stat she's constantly on the plus and this is and it's crazy because of the amount of minutes that she plays right she played 33 minutes today plus 12 again I could go on and on and on and on about alah Boston so I'll probably do a separate a separate video on alah Boston because I I don't think she's getting enough credit for the impact that she has on winning right understanding kayy Clark is the best player on the team the most valuable player in the team and and most valuable player we we'll discuss that once we get to her but alyo Boston has been amazing and then Kelsey Mitchell another big game as well 18 points um two assists four rebounds plus six on the Min on the plus minus she had three turnovers turnovers but uh the whole team was struggling today uh she was eight of 18 from the field which is good she can you know the good thing with Kelsey Mitchell is that if her three is not dropping she can impact the game and score in other ways she's just a Relentless scorer and uh you know she'll she'll go to the basket she'll she has a mid-range jumper she's just a scorer that's what she is right so K Kelsey Mitchell did really well oh no I'm approaching I'm approaching that name um Lexi hle amazing one of my favorite players in the fever the impact that she has on the court and there was a there was a period of time in the fourth quarter where again like so Christy side is doing a great job we're going to talk about Christy sides a little bit later as well but Christy side still has not I thought she had figured out the fourth quarter lineups and the fourth what she needed to have in the fourth quarter last game when she had Kaylin Clark aiyah Boston Kelsey Mitchell Lexi Hall and dantas on the court and she started that she started having that lineup I the 8 Minute Mark and they were a whole different team from there and they closed the door easily right this game what is going on sometimes I feel like she's falling asleep on the sidelines like you need Lexi Lexi Hall in the ball game right now like right now so again I think it was like the sixth seventh or sixth minute Mark no Lexi hole nowhere I'm like what is going on and the crazy thing is that even though you you see the Box Score Four points four rebounds what you know okay you're not impressed by by those numbers but you can feel and see the impact that she has on the game as you're watching it right you have to watch the game to understand how much positivity she has and how much she influences the game you have to watch it this ain't nothing you can't look at the box score for this one you have to watch it and you can tell once Lexi Hall and it's it's funny because the moment that I hit um a post on that tweet the then she subed her in I was like all right good but she left Nelissa Smith in the game to close the game out I thought that was a mistake and again if you look at the Box Court you're going to think oh wow Nelissa Smith had a better game than Lexi hle that's incorrect that is incorrect which is why I think these numbers are foolish right you you can't you know you can be um you can be Mis uh misdirected whatever it is you can be confused by the box score when comparing it against the actual impact on the court and I don't mean again I I I'm catching myself that in every video that I've made in every postgame reaction I've been critical of Nelissa Smith I I understand that and I'm coming across as a straightup hater and I do apologize for that and I do want to apologize you know to Nelissa Smith um and her fans as well like this is not it's not a personal Nissa smith thing at all whatsoever I think she's a wonderful talented player but I do think there's something really missing here as far as impact on the court at crunch time at valuable times in the game I don't think she should be on the court when the game is still hanging in the balance she just should not be in there um and again I mean she had some good plays but some other bad plays like you know she had a rebound that she let go she had some careless turnovers it's just a bunch of mental lapses and I've already said that she reminds me a little bit of Carmelo Anthony great talented guy but just not someone who contributed too much to winning at least at the professional level cuz he did win uh an NCAA title with Syracuse but no NBA titles um I've I've compared her to Michael Beasley who was an amazing talented player uh in college and even in the NBA it's just that mental lapses he just did not contribute to winning another one that I can also compare her to is J.R Smith I don't know if they're related I me of course it's a super common common name so they don't have to be but JR Smith is another player that she reminds me of super talented I mean he could score with the best of them but did not impact winning so you could tell as well that that is not the most optimal lineup when closing the games and this was a close game where you need to really test what lineups work and what lineups don't and come playoff time you cannot have Nelissa Smith on the court in crunch time you can't and that will be a tough lesson to learn during the playoffs so why not fix it now and make sure that yeah this other lineup works better than than than this other one so and and the numbers are deceiving as well because you can see again like listen you don't need Nelissa Smith so hope okay so how can Nelissa Smith fix this the thing is you don't need her to score she doesn't need to be a scorer she doesn't need to be a rebounder but I do think in her mind she does right I believe she's one of those players that once she goes back to the locker room the first thing she looks at is the Box Court to see how she did right like I guarantee you I can guarantee you that as soon as the game's over she goes back into the locker room she's looking at the box score and she's like and maybe a lot of players do that as well but she really cares she's like oh let me see and if maybe it's less than 10 points she won't be happy even if they got the win but if it's more than 10 points she'll be happy even if they lost that's kind of what I mean that's kind of what I'm reading here I could be wrong I could be wrong but that's what I think happens whenever she goes you know to the back but that's a problem for this team especially in crunch time because yeah go get your numbers uh when the team you know in the second quarter in the third quarter I think so and starting the game is fine too yeah she can start she can start play the first 6 minutes 8 minutes good you know sit for the rest to the second quarter the beginning of the second and then close the second quarter although man those are crunch time minutes too but but she can play a big you know a big chunk of time in the second quarter maybe not to close the second quarter because that's an important period of Time closing out half time always helps so maybe not to close the second quarter she can start the third quarter again yep but she should not be playing after the 8 Minute Mark in fourth quarters that are close games she should not be on the we should not be on the court um and like I said the team doesn't need her to score you have plenty of scoring from Boston Mitchell Clark how can she fix her game that is not worrying so much about her stats you know as far as like scoring rebounding whatever but more wor about how she's affecting the game how she's making winning plays if she can start doing that then I think the team will uh the team will do a lot better moving forward I mean that team will be unstoppable if Nelissa Smith can figure this [ __ ] out because she's such a weapon but if she shifted her Focus from her own success to the team success forget it this team there's no beating this team there's no beating this team no beating this team she's so talented that if she's like yep I'm I'm I'm good with just the value that I bring within the team you know within what the team is requiring of me with within what the team needs from me it's forget it it's over okay and then what else do we have here on the box score I think that's it for the box score um good game and and again yeah it was the you can say well it was the LA Sparks but any team can can surprise you in the WNBA so I'm glad they were able to to close this one out and get the win so let's move on to Caitlin Clark Discussion Caitlyn Clark um I'll really open I'll open this up by saying that there is no award in this world fitting for what kayn Clark has meant to the Indiana Fever to the WNBA into the entire Sport and I'm not talking about women's sport I'm talking about the sport of basketball as a whole if you've been following the NBA the NBA is kind of falling off a little bit it's not what it used to if you look at the ratings over the last few years for the NBA finals for you know the regular games it's really not what it used to be when's the last time that the NBA had hype the way that the WNBA has hype with kayen Clark I don't think they've had it in the last 20 years and you can say LeBron but LeBron did not have like this much um this much of a controversy like this much of her being polarized um it just hasn't had it like this much excitement this much hatred I mean everybody has to talk about kayn Clark one way or another right if if someone post something hating kayin Clark that's going to get crazy amount of views and traction engagements and social media and someone has great things to talk about Killen Clark that's going to get amazing track um attraction and engagement in social media I mean what she's done and that's just as a you know in the fan spaces but it's also in the business space everyone is talking about her and you know now I'm beginning to think that Nike kind of you know fleed Kaylin Clark a little bit cuz she's definitely being on paid was they're paying her $28 million for the next what was it was it a eight-year deal that's St stealing from her what a steal what a steal that Nike was able to do that but the value that Nike is going to get they probably haven't had that since Michael Jordan and there's un no other player as far as impact that we can compare Kaylin Clark to than Michael Jordan that's it that's the only comparison that we can make so today she has a triple double has a triple double IL legitimate triple double this wasn't no stat padding no fake triple double and people will point to that last rebound a stat padding that [ __ ] was not stat padding at all you're talking about a seven-point game with about 19 seconds left and you can you know if you want reference as to how you know a a game can turn around less than 20 seconds with a seven-point lead ask the New York Knicks about Reggie Miller go ahead ask him ask the New York Knicks what happened with Reggie Miller when he scored eight points in less than 8 seconds so it's very much a game still so completely valid that Kaylin Clark is in the is on the floor you know so the player from the Sparks shoots misses that ball bounces and it goes straight to Kaylin Clark it just does that's a legitimate triple double so her second triple double the first time in history rookie has ever recorded a triple double she's done it twice um 24 points like I said 10 rebounds 10 assists I kind of say that all nonchalantly but that [ __ ] is crazy that is impressive that doesn't that doesn't happen every day and then in a win also on top of that forget it so is she MVP right and this is now where we're at like we've forgotten the damn Rookie of the Year I'm so glad that that shit's over because that [ __ ] was a headache oh my like over the last two months having to battle trolls about the damn Rookie of the Year race what a disaster but anyways we are now we've graduated to the MVP conversation and it's kind of starting the same way that that Rookie of the Year discussion started with like you know back in the day when people had Angel Reese ahead of Kaylin Clark um we're like oh yeah they're close it's going to depend on team success some I mean ESPN oh man that's another thing that we have to talk about and it's not just ESPN there's been other networks but the most prominent is ESPN so they're easy to to pick on um but they have some analyst that they've hired to cover the WNBA who are a disaster for the WNBA like no wonder the WNBA hasn't really you know been elevated in the way that it should is that the people covering the NBA the WNBA I'm sorry to say this but they suck they just really do I I don't they're terrible so now I can't even trust the [ __ ] that they're telling me I have to go watch for myself to really see what's going on in the WNBA who's really impacting what I can't trust them at all they they cannot be trusted they've lost all respect they've lost all credibility and I include I don't know everyone everyone who who covers specifically the WNBA on ESPN sucks they're terrible oh I don't well okay okay I'm sorry I'm sorry not everyone not everyone not everyone let me backtrack that a little bit uh Rebecca Lobo covers she's from ESPN and she covers the WNBA she's good only one that's good the only one that's good is R Lobo and not because she's a you know I don't think she's a kayin Clark fan right or says positive things about kayen Clark you don't have to say positive things about kayen Clark if she sucked then say that [ __ ] you can say that [ __ ] she sucks she doesn't she's one of the one of the best players in the WNBA so you have to call it how it is they're terrible so no wonder the WNBA has not um has not grown over the years also there was no reason to really watch the WNBA we'll get into that a little bit later when we talk about WNBA promotion but um yeah what kayln Clark is doing is she in the MVP conversation of course she's in the MVP conversation um I think there's six games remaining two of which are against the the aces The Last Vegas Aces and I'm telling you what man like if kayln Clark and the Indiana Fever beat the aces twice and Kaylin Clark has two you know clearly has two better games than Wilson going head-to-head that conversation is going to get get Hella spicy man that conversation is going to get Hella spicy and I'm here for it I'm gonna be here for it because I don't think it's over some people may think it's over I don't think it's over it's [ __ ] it's not over that door has opened and Kaylin Clark is second in MVP right now second if the season ends were to end today and Kaylin Clark was not second in MVP voting there's some [ __ ] going on with the voters in the WNBA and something need to happen they can be trusted to vote ever again because that's where we stand no one has had this much value to a team like kayen Clark has had for the fever and for the entire WNBA so I don't know and another thing that I want to highlight about Kaylin Clark that I want to mention here is it goes beyond numbers like if you look at the press conference uh the pregame press conference it shows the the entire reason as to why I believe a lot of us are glued into watching kayin Clark and why we are such fans of kayin Clark is because the way that she handles you know the media the way she handles herself like how she answered those questions both questions about one it was about the playoffs you know making the playoffs and she said you know we're hungry hungry for more this is yeah sure like in her mind they were already yeah the making the playoffs wasn't given they want more right so that's already crazy to say for rukie to come in like she could have just taken the the accomplishments and said y I'm the [ __ ] I brought this team a playoff for the first time in his not in history but in eight years years um how was the difference no no no no no no none of that with her and then the second question about being player of the month and she actually deflected to completely deflected the entire praise and accolades and she actually said that Kelsey Mitchell deserved the uh the player of not player of the year the player of the month award which is just goes It goes to show her maturity levels are just I I am incredibly impressed like there's no NBA player right now with the maturity of kayin Clark I'm telling you no one no one in the NBA no player no current NBA player has the maturity of Kaylin Clark not even joic or any of Jaylen Brown has shown me his true colors lately in this last few months I thought Jaylen Brown was the smartest player in the NBA oh no no he's not or maybe he is I don't know but if he's the smartest I'm concerned about the entire NBA um but there is no NBA player more more mature um than Kaylin Clark it's impressive to just watch and then I think it was at the end of the game um in the postgame conference uh so in the postgame conference she was asked about the minutes that she's been playing right like she played 40 minutes today and you and talking about the 40 minutes that's a lot of minutes man I mean 40 minutes there's no load management going on with kayen Clark and you can actually see how maybe afraid um Christy sides was to to take kayen Clark out of the game because maybe they would have fallen apart I mean that's just how much value he brings to the game but yeah she was asked about the 40 minutes and she essentially said that you know she's here for the fans and she wants to deliver always deliver for the fans they you know in the perspective of this is a short season the season will probably end let's enjoy it now and I'll give you know pretty much my best and everything that I've got to the fans every single every single night and wanted to give this win this win for the fans like that's incredible Beyond um level know Next Level thinking for Killen Clark and that's something that Kobe you know Kobe Bryant would say that's one of the things that Kobe Bryant used to say about the fans and always showing up for the fans and everything like that but that's Kaylin Clark so now I kind of want to just quickly about the team success you this the success that Indiana Fever Team Success the team has had um over the past month or two it's been crazy to watch so now you know we have Christy sides as coach of the month and I think she deserved it 100% deserved it I was super super critical and I think most of us were extremely critical of Christy sides at the beginning of the season and for good reason I'm still critical of some of the [ __ ] that she's doing right so I still think that she has the potential to be a really good coach but she's not there yet um like I said with the rotations today in the fourth quarter I was I was I was a little upset with what she was doing but um you know it they survived against the Sparks they survived maybe a different team they wouldn't have against the Sparks they survived um but I still I think welld deserving coach of the month for chrisy sides especially when you look at what they accomplished in the month in the month of August where they've positioned themselves clinching the playoff spot for the first time like we said earlier in eight years um and she's improved she's improved quite a bit you know she she's limiting the minutes of Erica wheeler she's completely taking Christy Wallace out of their rotation which you had to do um she still needs to figure out how to best utilize Nelissa Smith and that's it and and after that they're good to go but um and you know we have kayin Clark one player of the month for the month of August but that could have easily gone to Kelsey Mitchell as well I was actually I wasn't really sure or wasn't really sure like who deserved it more if I had a vote I would have voted for Kaylin Clark because it's beyond just the scoring right it's just the way that she orchestrates the entire offense and controls the entire game um she gives you the assist she gives you the scoring she she's the floor General right she's directing everything and also being uh and scoring at the same time so to me it's still it was Kaylin Clark's uh player of the month award but Kelsey Mitchell was second right like if there was no Kellen Clark it would have been Kelsey Mitchell um who would have gotten the award um and you and everyone else he's just doing everyone's doing an amazing job in this team and you can tell the excitement surrounding them everywhere that they go um and an excellent cast of individuals as I said in the beginning of the video so um really cool to see the team success for the Indiana Fever okay and the last thing uh the last thing we're going to WNBA Promotion and Its Impact on the Game talk about is WNBA promotion and I have it there as a question mark um I saw a tweet that says something about the WNBA didn't need saving it needed promotion and number one I would say that's the dumbest [ __ ] I've ever seen on Twitter and there's a lot of dumb [ __ ] that I've seen on Twitter that's one of the dumbest things and it's going crazy it's going buer people are running with that as if like oh my God this is like something God said or some [ __ ] like that that's dumb and I tell you why um so the W the WNBA has been promoted no one wanted to watch it that's that's just what it is it's been promoted it's not because just because if ESPN would have talked more about the WNBA I would you I would just have switched I would have flipped the channel I mean it's not oh they're promoting this now so let me go ahead and watch it no what like do you buy everything that you see on TV as far as commercials every time there's a commercial oh they promoted let me go buy it is that is that how you operate it's not how I operate well I don't know what the hell y'all are talking about with this promotion like I'm telling you right now if F First Take or ESPN or Fox Sports or any of these like in the last few years they would have brought up WNBA in their coverage or their or um in their analysis I would have flipped the Damn Channel or if it's on YouTube I would have skipped I'm not watching that I'm just not but just cuz you're promoting it does not mean people are going to watch it and as evidenced by today so right now they're trying to say that oh look the NBA is doing so great because it's being promoted but it wasn't promoted before no look at the numbers are people blind are people blind I just don't understand like their numbers clearly showing you who leads the WNBA in attendance in ratings in merch it's kln Clark so even now that you're talking about oh look look at the numbers yeah it's one player you talking about Dean it did not need saving well it is being saved it's 100% being saved by kayin Clark the WNBA take out kayin Clark and I just don't please don't do this I don't want anything wrong to happen to Kin Clark get injured or anything like that but if she gets injured WNBA is going to go back to last year's numbers or maybe worse there's no people that like me for instance like now I'm watching WNBA all the time well Ken Clark all the time I've triy to watch other games I just can't I just don't have interest um I'm not watching it I'm not watching it and listen I've and and I say that with a heavy heart a little bit because I've grown to really like this team this Indiana Fever team and I would like to continue to support and follow these players like Lexi Hall Aaliyah Boston Kelsey Mitchell um so say for whatever reason K kendin Clark can't play but uh there's some other things that I much rather do like spend time with my dog or just maybe play some of the other video games that I've been neglecting because of uh this whole kayen Clark thing like I would just go do some of the things that I want to do and this is not going to be one of them it just doesn't fit um my interest and I love basketball like I've been watching basketball now for 34 years for over 34 years um been watching the NBA in all forms right so the NBA and even Puerto Rico has a has a professional League that I follow as well so if it's on TV I'm going to be watching that Japan has a professional League that's pretty good and if it's on TV or I'll go to one of the games as well um actually the local Okinawa team went to the finals last year uh [ __ ] if there's people playing in the gym or just kids playing Outdoors or something I'll watch that but one thing that I cannot watch or could not watch before this season was the WNBA I could not watch it I can not do it so it's not a promotion thing it's a Caitlin Clark thing now it's up to the WNBA how they carry this momentum and build the profiles of everyone else the way they're doing it right now does not work and it's not going to help them in the long run in the long run it's just not right now as of right now good thing they have a while to figure it out right because Kaylin Clark's here to stay maybe unless she I mean I don't know she's taking so much [ __ ] right now that I feel so bad for her you know a lot of unwarranted hate coming her way and I just don't know for how much longer she can withstand that because if I'm her I'm I would say you know what [ __ ] it I'm just going to go play in Europe or I'm going to go play in Asia or in some other other other markets and wherever the the beauty about what kayln Clark is bringing to the table is that wherever she goes that league is gonna blow the hell up so if she decides that you know what I'm just going to go to Europe now that's the go-to league if she says I'm going to go to Asia that's the go-to league wherever kayln Clark is that's where the that's where the money is going to be so of course she's from the United States so she's going to continue to support um the local economy like how she's helping IND helping Indiana and all these other country um cities that she goes to and visits as a road player um so I know that you know she wants to have this success in the US but it's not helping him her me it's definitely not helping her mental health and I worried about her in that regard and I just hope and I know that she has a good support system and you know hope that she can tune all this negativity out and just continue to do what she does while she gives time to the WNBA to really figure this out to build a league that people want to watch even after Kaylin Clark is gone so um that's really all I have for this postgame reaction of the of the game uh let me know in the comments what you think about all the topics that we just covered you know what's your opinion what's your take um what are some things that I can improve personally moving forward as I continue to cover um these games and doing postgame reactions um but that's it that's all I have I hope everyone has a great day um and I'll see you next time