"Reminds me of Steph Curry": Rick Pitino breaks down Caitlin Clark's game, shares bold comparison for Indiana Fever star

Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark missed her team's 85-75 loss to the Los Angeles Sparks on Thursday with a groin injury. Clark's latest injury comes just two weeks after she returned from a quad injury that caused her to miss five games last month.

Clark is having a stellar season for the Fever, averaging 18.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 8.9 assists per game. During Thursday's segment of "The Herd," much-hyped St. John's Red Storm coach Rick Pitino paid the Fever star the ultimate compliment by comparing her to Golden State Warriors shooter Steph Curry (9:00).

"Great passer. She reminds me of Steph Curry when Steph Curry came into the league," Pitino said. "She’s doing what Steph did early on. She has unbelievable range. She has great vision. She’s a terrific passer. "You know, she’s physically a little weak, uh, but she’ll get stronger as time goes on. But she really understands how to play, and she reminds me of a female version of Steph Curry. Incredible range."

The headline-generating Caitlin Clark shot 34.4% from beyond the arc during her rookie campaign, which culminated in her being named the WNBA Rookie of the Year. However, she has struggled this season, shooting only 29.5% and connecting just once in her last 23 attempts.

Caitlin Clark's shooting woes defended by rookie

Much has been made of Caitlin Clark struggling with her shooting. While speaking to the media on Thursday, fellow No. 1 draft pick and former UConn Huskies star Paige Bueckers, who battled against her in college basketball, came to the Indiana Fever standout's defense.

"She (Caitlin Clark) handles it with grace," Bueckers said. "The pressure that she's put on every single night to perform at the level that she does, it's inhumane, really, to expect people to be perfect and to not have off games or off nights. If she doesn't go 8-for-10 from 3, people are questioning things. It's unfair to have to deal with that. "I'm sure she has a great team around her and great people to help her and I know she's a great person at dealing with it and just tuning out the noise and just continuing to be there for herself and for her team. The expectations, it's tough when you listen to it, so I'm sure she has a great way of tuning it out."

Despite her shooting slump, Caitlin Clark still leads the WNBA All-Star voting (515,993) and could get a chance to face off against the No. 2-ranked player in the voting, Paige Buecker (313,887 votes), and the Dallas Wings on Friday.

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Edited by Nadim El Kak