Really good stuff. That raw honesty had to come from Kate Martin, who I've always suspected is the true leader of that team. I think even Clark defers to her. Two very hard truths came out:
- Martin pointed out how in practice they always worked to take good shots while in games that was not always the case, an obvious reference to Clark forcing shots.
- Clark followed by noting there are games where she looks around and sees people with blank faces like they don't want to be there, and other games where everyone is involved and having fun. She even pointed out two particular games, the N.C. State game where she felt like she had to be the rescuer when that's not what she wanted to do, and the Michigan game where the whole team contributed, noting how much she preferred the latter.
Those are tough conversations. Keeping in mind this took place early in the season when the team was disappointed to be 5-3, I think it shows a lot of maturity that they went on and, for the most part, found the balance they needed and made it to the national championship game. Clark shows a lot of self-awareness here. It's obvious she had thought about these things.
Another interesting tidbit was Martin noting that Clark was the one taking most of the coaching heat in practice. That surprised me a bit.
I've seen this guy do tons of interviews with Geno and other coaches. Always interesting.