Pick and Roll: Clark, Boston finding their groove

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.

The regular season has resumed after a three-week break for the Olympics, and so have Spiker and me.

When we last saw each other, Spiker called her shot with a +205 winner with the WNBA All-Stars on the Moneyline over Team USA.

While the Americans went on to win gold at the Paris Olympics and keep a 61-game win streak alive in the Olympic Games, it didn't come without a scare.

The Americans won gold over host nation France 67-66 after a Gabby Williams buzzer-beater was made for France with her toe on the line to lose by one instead of sending the game to overtime.

In my opinion, the gold will go a long way in covering up an uncomfortable conversation around the team: They didn’t take their best roster.

While Team USA was gutting out a tough win against France, rookies Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese sat at home watching.

The two stars played the same number of minutes as WNBA legend Diana Taurasi in the final game; the only difference is that Taurasi did it from the end of the bench, collecting her sixth gold medal.

To me, the proof is in the numbers. Sure, Team USA went undefeated and won gold. That’s what they're supposed to do.

However, their 516 points in the event are the lowest they’ve scored since they scored 479 in 1992, when they won bronze, and the team's point differential of +94 is their worst since 1988 (gold).

Fortunately, Team USA has nothing to worry about because the next generation of guards, spotlighted by USC’s JuJu Watkins and Connecticut’s Paige Bueckers, is coming. When they arrive, the program will reach heights it’s never seen before.

But let’s stay in the here and now.

Let’s talk Indiana Fever basketball.

PLAYER TO WATCH

The 2023 Rookie of The Year and already a two-time all-star, I’ll be brave enough to say it’s been a good start to the career for Aliyah Boston.

Boston was a standout at South Carolina for four years, starting 138 games and playing a large role in the school’s 2022 national championship with her 16.8 points per game.

Boston’s scoring has translated from the college game to the pros. Last year, she led all rookies with 14.5 points per game; this year, her 14.2 points ranks 21st.

This season has been a bit of an adjustment for Boston, getting familiar with her new rookie point guard.

In 2023, she averaged at least 13 points per game every month:

However, 2024 tells a different story. Boston averaged just 11 points per game during the team's opening nine games in May.

In June, she took a 3.8 leap and another 3.2 jump in July. Before the break, she was averaging 18.0 points per game in July.

Her point total for Friday night’s game against the Phoenix Mercury is 16.5.

Boston’s scoring has been trending upwards, mainly due to her ability to dominate down low, but her new point guard isn’t too bad either.

ROOKIE TO WATCH

The first-overall pick in this year's draft hasn’t disappointed. Clark is 15th in the league in scoring and leads all players with 8.2 assists per game.

It shouldn’t be surprising that her path to leading the league in assists mirrors Boston’s scoring results.

Clark averaged 6.6 assists per game in May, 7.2 in June and an incredible 12.5 in July.

She has very quickly shown that her ability as a floor raiser in college can translate to the pro level by making the Fever a playoff contender in her rookie season.

While I believe Clark could’ve helped Team USA at the Olympics, I’m also glad she was finally able to get some rest.

It feels like Clark has been playing nonstop since her junior year in college, with two deep runs to the NCAA Tournament Finals and a three-week turnaround from NCAA senior to WNBA rookie. 

So I’m sure a few weeks to recharge can only help.

One area Clark can improve on is her efficiency. Her 8.3 three-pointers attempted per game are the second most in the league. However, she has the worst make percentage (32.7) of the six players shooting seven or more per game, and the second worst of the 12 players averaging six or more threes a night.

BETTING MARKETS

Clark entered this year as the favourite to win Rookie of the Year, and her play has seen her number shrink down to -2000.

That number represents an implied probability of 95.24 per cent.

Meanwhile, the 11-15 Fever have a win total of 17.5 with the over set at -125.

Indiana hasn't won 18 games in a season since 2015, and hasn’t made the playoffs since 2016.

The Fever sits seventh in the league, four games clear of a playoff spot, and their +6000 championship odds are seventh shortest.

Spikers’ take

After losing eight of their first nine games, the Indiana Fever have made notable improvements, including Clark getting more comfortable in the pros and Boston shaking off an early season sophomore slump.

But despite the Fever sitting in a playoff spot in seventh place, questions still linger whether head coach Christie Sides will be around after this season.

Sides' decision-making on the sidelines has come under fire all season long, from drawing up questionable plays, the inability to put together a consistent lineup, or reading the temperature of the game of when to call timeouts.

The Fever have already shown they can give good teams a run for their money when they're on their game but need a coach who will find the balance of giving them the structure they need while letting the young core do what they do best.

It seems like a longshot at the moment, but the idea of Clark's former coach at Iowa, Lisa Bluder, jumping behind the Indiana bench is a fun one to ponder. Bluder doesn't have experience coaching at the professional level but was a head coach in the NCAA for 40 years, including 24 seasons at Iowa. She retired following the 2023-24 season but has been active in attending her former players' game this season, with Clark in Indiana and Kate Martin in Las Vegas.

Bluder got the best out of Clark in Iowa and if the current coaching staff is not retained after this season, perhaps there is a role for her with the Fever.

ONE BET TO CONSIDER 

Normally I will give out a future in this part of the article but with the Fever in action tonight I will play a five-leg Same Game Parlay at +797. 

The first leg will be for Clark to have 10+ assists. 

In two games against Phoenix this season Clark has 25 assists and went over this number in both games. She also has 11 or more assists in seven of her last 10 games. 

The second leg is Boston 15+ points. 

Boston has 15 or more points in both games this year against the Mercury and has gone over this number in eight of her last 10 games. 

The third and fourth legs will be the point total unders for Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner at 14.5 and 20.5. 

With Phoenix on the second half of a back to back and these two both having just come home from France I'm willing to bank on a slow night this evening from both of them. 

Finally I'll end it off with the Fever on the moneyline.