The Indiana Fever may have changed, but so has she, only for the better, though. “It feels good to be back,” Natasha Howard said as she walked into the gym and reconnected with a familiar coach and the very executive who once believed in her enough to draft her. Irony is that Howard was traded to the Lynx in 2016, where she even won a championship. Yep, the same league-leading team she managed to absolutely crush today. And of course, she had her ultimate goal fueling her.
While there are three WNBA rings in Howard’s bag already, she isn’t done yet. But this time, it’s not just about the bling, it’s about where she gets it. “You would think she’d be like, ‘I’m good,’” Fever executive Kelly Krauskopf said. “Nope. She wants to do it at the place she got drafted.” And if her dominant performance of 16 points and 12 rebounds is any indication, she’s well on her way. But how exactly did she pull it off? Especially without the Fever’s offensive engine, Caitlin Clark?
Luckily for us, the veteran player-coach duo has no interest in keeping their game plan a secret. They revealed exactly how they managed to limit Napheesa Collier’s input and take it home tonight. One thing is clear, though. It was surely a move they had strategized. After all, Phee has been leading the league in PPG. “It’s a measuring stick, absolutely,” coach Stephanie White had even said before their matchup.
So, in the postgame presser, the interviewer jumped right into it. He asked, “Coach, not many teams have been able to slow Napheesa Collier down to the extent you guys did. I mean, 5 turnovers, she didn’t shoot over 50%. What did you guys figure out schematically to slow her down?” That’s a spot-on observation. Phee has been carrying a whole franchise on her back. It shows because she is averaging 24.4 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.
Coach White laid out the whole blueprint with no hesitation whatsoever. She opened with all the credits to Howard. “I think first and foremost, Tasha was a defensive player near in our league. She’s got length, she’s got athleticism, she’s fast-twitch. So her ability to recover, I think, and contest and contain.” That’s the most appropriate description of the 6″3′ veteran forward. White continued to add, “She (Natasha Howard) stayed incredibly disciplined and made Fee take tough shots. I felt like our off-ball defense, with the exception of the first quarter, was really good. We showed multiple bodies.”
Well, that’s exactly why Natasha Howard walked out of the Commissioner’s Cup Final as the UNANIMOUS MVP and Stat Leader of the Game. Not bad (at all) for someone that fans were ready to ship off with DeWanna Bonner, right? Well, to be fair, Howard’s start with the Fever wasn’t exactly fireworks. After signing with the team in the offseason, she looked a bit out of sync while sharing the stage with another big in Aliyah Boston. Both are post-dominant players, and for a while, they were stepping on each other’s toes. But lately? It has all been in sync. The Dallas game was proof enough.
So, when Caitlin Clark was sidelined for the Commissioner’s Cup Final, Howard didn’t blink. She took the charge and pulled in a double-double. Her defensive grit was on full display, too, which isn’t really a surprise from a former WNBA Defensive Player of the Year. She kept hounding Minnesota’s top guns, especially Collier, whom she guarded much of the night. Both Collier and Alanna Smith were capped at 12 points each, and Bridget Carleton was left searching for her shot the entire 27 minutes she was on the floor. Even when Indiana looked shaky in the first quarter, Howard kept the pace, the pressure, and the energy high.
Natasha Howard Comes Clean on Last Night’s Strategy vs. Collier
Natasha Howard knew she had to step up for the franchise that drafted her fifth overall in 2014 and which she still describes as “the place where all my dreams came true.” After all, when the chance to return emerged, both sides understood this was a calling. Fever GM Amber Cox had explained their immediate priorities: “I think it was Day 1 when I got this job, Kelly and I were on the phone, and we had two things on our to-do list: re-sign Kelsey Mitchell and bring back Natasha Howard.” Which predictions could up in front of that? So, there was a lot more at stake than just a game for Howard.
With veteran DeWanna Bonner departed and phenom Caitlin Clark injured, it left Natasha Howard to shoulder the entire leadership burden and game plan. And it’s safe to say that she rose to the challenge. Howard didn’t mince words about her defensive assignment postgame: “I knew I had a handful with (Napheesa) Collier. My thing was limit her to hard shots. That’s what I did tonight, made it uncomfortable for her, but at the end of the day, she was gonna still get her buckets.” Her performance backed up every word.
Howard’s defensive impact dominated the game. In the second quarter alone (at 1:52 and 4:01), we saw Collier miss three important shots and commit two turnovers. It included one where Howard’s quick hands made a cross-court pass from midair. When Minnesota tried rallying in the fourth quarter, Natasha Howard stole the ball from Collier again and grabbed another defensive rebound after another missed attempt. Though Collier finished with 12 points, each basket came with maximum effort, thanks to Natasha Howard.
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