Caitlin Clark obliterated the defending champion LSU Tigers in the Elite Eight game. And she did that by scoring from all over the floor and finding cutting teammates for easy baskets.
Dissecting LSU’s defensive schemes and making them redundant in the second half. Skip Bayless thinks it was head coach Kim Mulkey ‘s pride that allowed Clark to dominate the game.
I was astounded by the strategy that Kim Mulkey did not use against Caitlin Clark. If I'm playing Caitlin Clark, and I'm Kim Mulkey, I'm gonna swallow some of my pride. Because her pride was saying, 'we're LSU, and you're not, we're the defending national champs'. It's Caitlin freaking Clark. I'm just taking the ball out of your hands. While speaking on Undisputed, Skip Bayless said
Bayless suggested that maybe Mulkey took Caitlin Clark‘s influence too lightly. After beating her and the Iowa Hawkeyes last year, complacency might have crept into the minds of everyone.
But that complacency was primarily the reason for their loss. As Bayless pointed out, putting 5′ 7″ Hailey Van Lith on the 6-foot Clark, who has a much bigger wingspan, was a disaster from the start. Add to that, Van Lith was sick and could not keep up the pace with the Iowa superstar.
Skip Bayless would rather that Mulkey put the more athletic and lengthier Flau’jae Johnson on Clark. Clark was allowed the freedom to dominate, as the four-time champion coach did not consistently force to get rid of the ball from the point guard’s hands.
Skip Bayless wanted Kim Mulkey to use last year’s defensive scheme on Caitlin Clark
In last season’s NCAA Women’s Finals, the hype surrounding Caitlin Clark was so much that no one even looked at LSU. But Kim Mulkey devised a defensive plan to stifle the now all-time leading scorer in NCAA history. She used her team’s physicality and speed to constantly double-team and harass the Iowa Star. The Hawkeyes had no response to Angel Reese and her teammates’ floodgate defense.
Compared to last year, the Iowa Hawkeyes had better players around Clark. This enabled Clark to facilitate the offense which in turn broke the defensive schemes Mulkey tried to implement. When the passes opened up space, Clark made a barrage of her favorite long-range three-pointers to take them to the win.
However, this year Clark was able to outplay the entire team by either scoring or setting up her teammates. That is why Skip Bayless thinks Kim Mulkey’s pride may have allowed Clark to get the win in the Elite Eight.
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