Pick and Roll: Clark and Reese clash again Friday on TSN

Welcome back to Pick and Roll, powered by FanDuel.  

Join me and TSN.ca’s Brianne Spiker as we highlight everything you need to know about WNBA storylines as the season continues.

Most weeks, Spiker and I will highlight a few key players and storylines to follow from a particular team, but today we’re doing things a little differently. 

The Indiana Fever travel to Chicago Friday to take on the Sky in a game featuring two of the brightest stars women’s basketball has to offer. 

You can watch the game LIVE on TSN5 Friday night at 7:30 p.m. EST / 4:30 p.m. PST.

The Fever lead the season series 2-1 and hold a four-game lead over Chicago for the No. 7 seed in the league. 

Their odds of winning the WNBA title have been falling rapidly. After sitting at 100-1 less than one month ago, they are now just 20-1, the sixth-shortest odds in the league. 

Meanwhile, the Sky is holding the final playoff spot in the league, just one game clear of Atlanta. Chicago’s 500-1 title odds are tied for the worst in the league with the Los Angeles Sparks, Washington Mystics and Dallas Wings.

While both teams remain longshots to win a championship this year, we know that one of Reese or Clark will be named rookie of the year. 

With that in mind, Brianne has made the case for why each player should win the award. Let’s get straight to that before giving you a historical comparison of this rivalry I have been workshopping for a few months. 

Spiker’s Take 

As the WNBA races towards the postseason, the Fever and Sky are holding down the final two playoff spots and Clark and Reese will be major reasons why if their respective teams clinch.

Both players are head and shoulders above the rest of the WNBA rookie class as they jockey to have the distinction of being the best rookie this season. 

Here are the cases for Clark or Reese for WNBA Rookie of the Year. 

Caitlin Clark

After an electrifying NCAA career that culminated in being selected first overall by Indiana in April, Clark has more than lived up to the billing of being a superstar. 

Clark leads all rookies in points (18), assists (8.2) and steals (1.4). League wide, she is first among all players in assists and 11th in points. 

She's also piled up the records in dominant fashion. On July 17, Clark became the single-game leader in assists with 19 against the Dallas Wings, breaking the previous record of 18 set by Courtney Vandersloot in 2020. 

She is also the single-game leader in three-point field goals made by a rookie and the all-time leader in assists by a rookie and consecutive point-assist double doubles as a first-year player. 

The downside of Clark averaging 35.3 minutes a night and having the ball so much is that it means she turns it over a lot. Leading the league in turnovers (5.5) per game, defence is the weakest part of Clark's game. Her offence may be generational but the defensive side needs work if the Fever are going to succeed long term. 

The Fever have not made the playoffs since 2016 and their 14 wins this season is their highest since recording 17 that same year. 

Angel Reese 

Since being taken seventh overall by Chicago in April, Reese's impact on and off the court has been something to behold. 

Reese is already one of the league's most popular players and has stepped in as the face of the franchise in Chicago. The Sky have experienced a lot of change since winning their only WNBA title in 2021, with franchise stalwarts like Vandersloot, Allie Quigley, Kahleah Copper and Candace Parker all departing, while previous head coach and general manager James Wade left the team midway through the 2023 season. 

On the court, Reese is second in points (13.5) among rookies, and she leads all players in rebounds (12.9) as double doubles are the expectation now for her. 

She is the only rookie in WNBA history with 20-plus rebounds in back-to-back games and broke Parker's record for consecutive double doubles, finishing with 15.

Reese’s biggest struggle is finishing at the rim. Her 43.8 shooting per cent on layups is a league low. She isn't much of a three-point threat and struggles to score outside of rebounds, hitting just 31 per cent of her midrange shots. 

In the off-season, the Sky made a point to be a team that is hard to play against and that ethos starts with Reese.

THE NEW MAGIC AND BIRD 

The rivalry between Clark and Reese dates back to their college playing days and with the two finding instant success at the pro level, it’s only brought more attention to the heights they might take the league. 

In a way, the impact Reese and Clark can have on the women’s game is starting to resemble the impact of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird on the men’s side 40 years ago. 

When those two players arrived in1979, the NBA wasn't exactly thriving. While the league still featured talent, it was missing a flare for the moment that those two legendary players brought.

Fast-forward 40-plus years, and we see signs of the same from Clark and Reese. 

It shouldn’t be crazy to speculate that the WNBA is behind the NBA in terms of timeline. After all, the league was formed in 1996, nearly 50 years after the start of the NBA. 

So, if you’re like me and you were born in 1997 and always wondered what it was like to live through that moment in time, you might want to keep an eye on these two women and the impact they will have.

I believe we will feel their impact for generations to come. 

As a quick aside, it’s not lost on me that shortly following Bird and Magic was Michael Jordan. 

If this timeline resembles that timeline, my guess is that Paige Bueckers from UConn or JuJu Watkins at USC is this generation’s MJ. 

This particular generation of women’s basketball players is going to take the WNBA to heights it’s never reached before, so make sure you’re tuned in to TSN5 this evening so you can say you were there at the start.