Team USA escaped by the skin of their teeth against Italy, but the Americans’ 55-52 win has given way to lengthy debates about seemingly inconsistent officiating. Now, following the game, one clip has placed Caitlin Clark at the center of the debate.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
A clip from the game posted to X by @BrickCenter_ shows Clark attempting to drive to the basket while being contested from the front. As Clark attempted to put the shot up, she was seemingly blocked by Italian center Olbis Andre, but as she went down, no whistle was called.
The moment divided basketball fans, but the game itself was not much kinder to Clark. She played 18 minutes off the bench but logged just one point, failing to make a single field goal for the first time in her career, including her time in college and the WNBA. She also added four rebounds and an assist while committing two turnovers.
Team USA struggled particularly due to Italy’s 2-3 zone, which completely zapped them of any offensive flow. The Americans shot just 29% from the field for the night and made just one of their 12 three-point attempts. On top of that, they also logged just 11 assists on 14 turnovers, turning what was expected to be a routine win into a narrow three-point escape.
However, Clark’s foul controversy wasn’t the only officiating debate that took place during the game. During Italy’s final possession, Cecilia Zandalasini had the chance to tie the game with a three-pointer, but after her miss, she was visibly upset with the refs, claiming she had been poked in the eye. Though the reaction online was split, Zandalasini later apologized for her actions.
The 55-52 win marked the lowest scoring total that Team USA has ever put up during the FIBA World Cup since 1971, when the team scored only 51 points against the French team. But Clark’s scoring slump became the talking point among fans.
What makes Clark’s failure to draw more than one foul stand out is the discrepancy in free throws between the two teams. Clark shot only two free throws, but Team USA scored 40% of their points from the line, going 22-30 for the game. Meanwhile, Italy went 14-20 from the charity stripe and were called for eight more personal fouls than the US throughout the game.
Regardless of the effort, fans quickly dropped their takes on Clark potentially being fouled.
Fans Can’t Agree on Whether Caitlin Clark Was Denied a Foul
Fans flooded the comments as soon as clips of Caitlin Clark getting stuffed at the rim surfaced, and the opinions were divided. Some believed that the block was clean and that there was no foul, but others claimed that Italian defenders were being overly physical with Clark.
One fan dismissed the idea of a foul altogether, writing, “If you think that’s a foul, you don’t know basketball.”
Another fan pointed to the wider officiating picture during the game, claiming that the US weren’t the only victims of poor refereeing. “Two clean blocks by Italy were called for fouls – bad calls for both sides today,” their comment read.
One user was convinced that Caitlin Clark was simply beaten on a legitimate defensive play, posting in the comments, “that’s pretty clean, no foul.”
However, there was a major contingent of fans who saw the play differently, with one fan calling out the referees for poor officiating all night. They wrote, “Such an obvious foul and they did not call it. Refs were awful all around.”
Another user went against Clark, claiming that the guard had flopped after being blocked, deliberately trying to get the refs to call a foul.
“That’s all ball. You just fell for a flop,” the fan’s comment read.
Regardless, Caitlin Clark is due a major bounce-back from her worst showing of the tournament. Keep watch for her against the Czech Republic on September 7, as the US looks to close out the group stage undefeated.