When the Iowa Hawkeyes take on the LSU Tigers in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament this week, Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark will be facing a lot of pressure to perform well, especially considering the way Iowa lost to LSU in the championship game last season.
As Stephen A. Smith points out, this could be a legacy-defining game for Caitlin Clark and he thinks she needs to perform well if she wants to be considered one of the greatest women’s basketball players in history.
“Of course, it would mean the world if she wins,” Smith said on First Take according to On3. “But she can’t stink up the joint … Last year … wasn’t a bad showing but they still got (beat). They lost by 17 in the national championship game to LSU. If you just don’t have the team, you just don’t have the team. We get that. But you, the person that’s been compared to the Cheryl Millerss the Diana Taurasis, the Breanna Stewarts of the world, and others.
“You can’t show up in a game of this magnitude, this rematch tonight, and stink up the joint. Caitlin Clark has to show up. She has to play at an elite level. If she wins or loses but she plays at an elite level it’s not gonna matter. If she stinks up the joint and they lose, that definitely will affect her legacy in terms of the comparisons that were thrown out there.”
It’s a clear callout from Smith. We’ll have to see how Clark responds to the pressure.
[On3]
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