Diana Taurasi Praised Caitlin, Or Did She When Reading Between The Lines? | Glenn Guilbeau

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When you have been to many news conferences, you start to listen within the quotes, if you will.

When you pay attention, sometimes you will notice tells, which is evidence of the real truth beyond the frequent press conference BS.

After the Phoenix Mercury melted to an 88-82 loss to the still-below-.500 Indiana Fever on Sunday at home on ESPN, Phoenix veteran superstar guard Diana Taurasi committed a tell.

Amid a slew of professional and courteous compliments of the play of Indiana rookie sensation guard Caitlin Clark at a press conference, Taurasi may have also communicated some of her more true feelings.

“It’s amazing,” Taurasi said. “What Caitlin Clark has been able to do in her short career so far has been nothing short of remarkable.”

Key words: “Short career.”

REALITY CHECK UPDATE: Caitlin Clark Goes Real On Diana Taurasi

She may be saying that Clark has done many great things quickly in her first year in the WNBA through just 20 games. Or she’s saying something closer to “Beginner’s luck.”

Diana Taurasi Previously Took Soft Shot At Caitlin Clark

That comment sort of amended a previous soft shot Taurasi took at Clark before the season that drew a lot of attention. 

“Reality is coming,” Taurasi laughed April 5 in an ESPN interview about Clark, before Clark was taken with the No. 1 pick of the WNBA Draft as was Taurasi in 2004 draft out of UConn. “You look super human playing against 18-year-olds, but you’re going to be going versus some grown women who’ve been playing professional basketball for a long time. It’s going to be a transition period.”

Maybe what Taurasi was saying Sunday was closer to, “It’s still early.”

All of Taurasi’s above comments on Clark were fair. But there has not been much of a transition at all for Clark. A few bumps in the road, yeah, but she still has been one of the best WNBA players and THE best rookie on a team that went 13-27 last year. In fact, she is having one of the best rookie seasons in WNBA history – better than Taurasi’s, by the way.

Clark leads the WNBA in 3-pointers with 56, is third in assists a game with 6.9 and 16th in scoring with 16.2. She has also been extremely versatile as she is 18th in rebounding with 5.7 a game and 16th in blocked shots with just under one a game – as a guard.

As a rookie in 2004 for Phoenix, Taurasi averaged one point above Clark with 17 a game along with fewer rebounds at 4.4 and assists at 3.9 assists winning WNBA Rookie of the Year. She also got to play for the Olympic team, which Clark has not in what looks like a clear agenda move to keep a lot of jealous players and racially-angry media members appeased.

Am I nitpicking Diana’s comments? Maybe. But Taurasi made another similar comment Sunday.

“Even throughout her short WNBA career (there it is again), there has been a lot of pressure,” she said. “A lot of things thrown at her, and she keeps showing up and keeps getting better every single game. Her future is super bright.”

You can’t get much nicer and more accurate than that. Taurasi is a pro. But she did use “short career” again. Maybe, Taurasi is just talking a good game for the most part.

Then later, she was asked what Clark has done for the league in the first half of the season. And this one may have struck a nerve as Taurasi is not the only WNBA veteran or WNBA “journalist” tired of hearing about how Clark has taken over the WNBA, which she has in the way of attendance at TV ratings like no other player in history. That’s just a fact.

“More importantly, I think she’s done a lot for the Indiana Fever,” Taurasi said.

Really?

Diana Taurasi Deflected More Questions Than Shots

Again, true statement. Fair statement, but Taurasi seems slow to want to talk about some rookie’s impact on a league that she has dominated for two decades.

Taurasi did allow this – “Obviously, what she’s done nationally for the game has been pretty incredible.”

But she quickly returned to her deflection that Clark is doing more for the Fever than for the WNBA. And that’s not factual. The Fever is 8-12, while more people are watching the WNBA than ever before, and the highest rated TV games all feature Clark.

“I think what she’s doing for that team is pretty impressive,” Taurasi said. “When I think of her, I think of what she does for her team.”

Diana, you’re blocking, and not shots on the court.

Taurasi and teammate Natasha Cloud continued their denial river journey when asked about the atmosphere at the game, which drew a season high home crowd for Phoenix of 17,071 at the Footprint Center – because of Caitlin’s footprint again.

“Did it feel like a playoff game?,” they were asked.

“Felt like a home game,” Taurasi said.

“We’ve been selling out every game,” Cloud said. “It felt like a normal home game.”

WRONG … DENIAL …. BLOCKING CAITLIN IMPACT.

Fans In Phoenix Were Cheering For Caitlin Clark

Phoenix did draw 14,363 for its home win over Los Angeles on Friday. But the Mercury’s first home game against Clark nearly doubled the average attendance for its first eight home games, which was 9,239. Phoenix has hit double-digit attendance only three times over its last nine games. And TV viewers could clearly hear fans at the Phoenix home arena cheering for Clark.

Indiana, meanwhile, leads the WNBA in attendance with 16,757 a game. Without Clark last year, it averaged 7,356 last year.

Oh, and Clark also outplayed Taurasi on Sunday despite a migraine headache, scoring 15 points with 12 assists and nine rebounds to 19 points, three assists, three rebounds and three steals. Close stats, but Taurasi let her much better team surrender a 27-2 run to Indiana in blowing a 53-38 third quarter lead to fall behind by 65-55. Phoenix, which dropped to 9-9 on the season, also became the first over .500 team to lose to Indiana.

And Clark came within one rebound of becoming the first WNBA rookie in history to have a triple-double. She is also the only WNBA rookie since Sue Bird in 2002 to have multiple games of 15 points and 10 assists, and she’s done that twice in her last three games.

That’s “reality coming” right at you, Diana!

“I’m just happy we won,” Clark said when asked about playing Taurasi for the first time. “I think we were just resilient. When they punched us in the mouth, we always found a way to answer.”

And Caitlin Clark answered Diana Taurasi’s glancing jabs of words loud and clear.