Stephanie White’s off-season moves may have had Caitlin Clark saying, “I think it’s exactly what we needed in our locker room,” but they weren’t exactly making the top 2 in title contenders. If the 35-point win against the Chicago Sky was a glimpse of everything the front office had done right, the game 2 loss was a highlight of the gaps the team needed to fill. So if the championship is what the Fever are really heading towards, they are going to be hearing some harsh takes.
The obvious lapses came forth when the Fever trailed the Atlanta Dream throughout Game 2 and missed taking it home by 90-91. The offense was there for all to see, but so was their opponents’ defense. The Brittney Griner-led squad went in aggressive, forcing 14 turnovers, 7 steals to the Fever’s 3, and stacking 22 fouls. Caitlin Clark & Co. couldn’t match the physicality, and Rachel DeMita is out, highlighting the concern that might stay with the team throughout the season.
“I expect the Fever to still be contenders this season, however, they are undersized,” she started. “And in order to be undersized and still win games, you have to be able to make adjustments during games, and you have to be able to make sure the pace of the game stays.”
Standing at six-feet-three and weighing 215 lbs, Brionna Jones took one end of the paint while Brittney Griner, at six-feet-nine and 205 lbs, took the other. Together, they cleverly isolated Howard and Boston and used their physicality, athleticism, and size to score for the team in Game 2. Natasha Howard was even limited to just 6 points.
Now, Stephanie White is already aware of the physicality that is going to come their way through the season. “Teams are going to be physical. They’re going to push us., they’re going to shove us, they’re going to hold us. They’re going to do whatever they’re allowed to get away with. And we have to figure out how to use that physicality against them,” she had said. Lacking in defense and being undersized over that isn’t painting a very good picture for the Fever.
As Rachel DeMita notes, they are going to need to make defensive adjustments to contain the bigs, which she believes the Fever failed to do in Game 2. “I’m going to put this loss back on the coaching staff when it comes to the defensive schemes in particular because I don’t know how you just left your players like Aliyah Boston and Natasha Howard on an island for the entire game and let these oversized post players go to work on them,“ the former ESPN host adds.
Well, let’s just say the team heard the critics. Because in Game 3, the Fever went in aggressive, grabbing 41 rebounds, stacking 25 fouls, limiting the Dream to 35.8% from the field, and finishing 81-76 for a win. White even made sure to acknowledge the efforts. “I think our defensive energy, physicality, disruptiveness was better,” she said in the post-game conference.
The adjustments were sure an uptick, but the team is going to need to do it twice more against the Dream this season and against every other defensively charged team. Meanwhile, Caitlin Clark is ensuring to put up quite the show offensively.
Caitlin Clark’s Spectacular Run Against Atlanta Dream
Despite a marginal loss of one point against the Atlanta Dream, the match was an eventful game for Caitlin Clark. She clinched 27 points and 11 assists against the opponents, despite several size issues. This game marked her 10th venture into a match with 20+ points and 10+ assists in a game.
While that is the most statistics in a match as per WNBA history, Clark made the feat look easy, surpassing Sabrina Ionescu who maintained the title with 25+ points and 10+ assists games in the regular season. While the 2024 ROTY was the fastest to reach the position with 42 games, the feat took Chicago Sky veteran, Courtney Vandersloot a total of 394 games. Mind you, Clark is only at the beginning of her sophomore season under the Indiana Fever.
To add another feather in the hat, Clark also became the first player to have multiple games with 25+ points, 10+ assists, 5+ rebounds, and 5+ threes. The Fever may have lapses, but one can’t deny they have got a solid core on offense.
The post Ex-ESPN Host Doesn’t Hesitate Making Indiana Fever HC Nervous With Alarming Red Flags Around Caitlin Clark & Co. appeared first on EssentiallySports.