Indiana Fever 2024

[Ice Man]

The Fever need to upgrade at the #3 and #4 spots. The #3 position is obvious; Sides rotates her starters among role players. The #4 slot is less so, because NaLyssa Smith is a #2 overall pick from 2022. But she's the type of PF that has become extinct in the NBA, and the WNBA is evolving rapidly enough that she is already being exposed in this league. She's a Zach Randolph type, a big body who can bang and score inside, but who doesn't run the floor and is pretty much helpless on the perimeter, both offensively and defensively. The Fever REALLY struggled last night when Smith was the outlet for Clark's passes.

[Ghetto Gospel]

Re: The Fever/Aces game tonight:the aces just forced clark to pass the ball. she's going to make mistakes and turn the ball over and it forces the others to make great decisions with the ball.

Well, that is what happened. I thought Clark was not at all as sharp as she usually is with her passing though. I just checked the box score, and I was surprised she only had six turnovers. But as you say, even when she delivered the ball, seemed like the receivers didn't know what to do with it. Got to credit the Aces defense.

I don't know, even though I never thought the Fever was a threat to win, it didn't really get away from them until that last quarter. Maybe they just ran out of gas.

in the 2nd half, the fever only really seemed to good looks when they were in transition but that was only when they were getting stops and clark was running. then sides told them to slow it down, like what..? i guess we just dont like getting good looks

[Ice Man]

The Fever should never stop running, unless well ahead and looking to kill time. Clark is an open-court genius, but at this stage in her WNBA career she is just another pretty good PG in the half court. And nobody else on the team can lead any kind of offense, at all.

Every time the Fever gets the ball, whether from a made basket or rebound, immediately get the ball to Clark and run, run, run.

[Ghetto Gospel]

The Fever should never stop running, unless well ahead and looking to kill time. Clark is an open-court genius, but at this stage in her WNBA career she is just another pretty good PG in the half court. And nobody else on the team can lead any kind of offense, at all.

Every time the Fever gets the ball, whether from a made basket or rebound, immediately get the ball to Clark and run, run, run.

it's the only way they can score but the team also isn't really constructed to run outside of clark and maybe mitchell. aaliyah boston, nalyssa smith, kls/wallace are all slow. i thought fagbenle got some great looks in transition but she missed a couple of open layups. the pnr in transition has also generated open looks but it seems like the defense was comfortable giving boston and smith open 15-18 footers and perhaps for good reason

they should definitely figure the whole roster construction piece out over the next couple of seasons so they can successfully be a running team though.

[MrDollarBills]

Clark needs to develop her mid range game in the half court.

[cdubbz]

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Always wondered why she doesn't get more minutes. She's not a big stat getter, but from what I've seen she is smart, knows where to go on the floor, and takes good shots and plays good defense. But Ive only watched a few games.

[rmontro]

Clark needs to develop her mid range game in the half court.

I don't see how she could have come this far without working on it. I guess she'd just rather shoot the threes. It's either drive to the basket or shoot the three.

[MrDollarBills]

Clark needs to develop her mid range game in the half court.

I don't see how she could have come this far without working on it. I guess she'd just rather shoot the threes. It's either drive to the basket or shoot the three.

It's just the modern game, if i had to compare how CC approaches scoring it's pretty much like how prime James Harden was: lay ups and step back threes.

CC needs to watch some footage of Stewie. Stewie takes what the defense gives her. Wide open three? Sure. Oh, some space around the charity stripe? Pull up jumper. Same with Kevin Durant.

There are 3 levels and CC seems allergic to the 2nd one. The true greats will not pass up on 15 to 18 foot looks. The notion that the mid range jumper is a "low quality" attempt is absolutely crap to me.

[MrDollarBills]

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Always wondered why she doesn't get more minutes. She's not a big stat getter, but from what I've seen she is smart, knows where to go on the floor, and takes good shots and plays good defense. But Ive only watched a few games.

I've been baffled as to why Hull doesn't get more time.

[Ice Man]

The true greats will not pass up on 15 to 18 foot looks. The notion that the mid range jumper is a "low quality" attempt is absolutely crap to me.

An open shot from that range should be catnip for an elite shooter. When modern analytics discourages midrange shooting, it does so for 1) contested shots and 2) for players who aren't elite, like Carlos Boozer hitting his rainbow jumpers at a 45% clip and then thinking he had a great game because he went 18/12 on 20 shots. But players like CC should take those every single time, if they defense gives them an open look.

[Braggins]

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Always wondered why she doesn't get more minutes. She's not a big stat getter, but from what I've seen she is smart, knows where to go on the floor, and takes good shots and plays good defense. But Ive only watched a few games.

Sides needs to be fired.

[rmontro]

There are 3 levels and CC seems allergic to the 2nd one. The true greats will not pass up on 15 to 18 foot looks. The notion that the mid range jumper is a "low quality" attempt is absolutely crap to me.

I saw her make a comment on this in a post game press conference. She admitted she wants to add the show, but says whenever she gets closer to the basket, all the defenders collapse on her, so her first instinct is to pass. Which makes sense, since if they're defending her, someone else is going to get open.

[Ice Man]

I disagree with CC's take. When she drives from the wing, yes the defenders rotate to her. But when she splits the double and comes down the middle of the lane, they inevitably play drop defense, so as to swat away her layup. They dare her to shoot the pullup 2/floater. And in such cases, she looks lost. She realizes that a layup will be a problem and slows her dribble, but rather than shoot she looks around for a passing option.

She should be watching a whole lot of Brunson tape. She's at least as good of an athlete for her league as Jalen is in his (I would say better). And she's both smart and young enough to learn new tricks. So become Jalen after you've beaten your first defender!

[rmontro]

I disagree with CC's take. When she drives from the wing, yes the defenders rotate to her. But when she splits the double and comes down the middle of the lane, they inevitably play drop defense, so as to swat away her layup. They dare her to shoot the pullup 2/floater. And in such cases, she looks lost. She realizes that a layup will be a problem and slows her dribble, but rather than shoot she looks around for a passing option.!

I mean that's pretty close to what she said. She talked mostly about the defenders collapsing, but she did admits she wanted to develop the shot. I'm sure for just the situations you describe. If I was her, I'd be practicing that floater like a dog. But she's probably not looking for my advice lol.

[MrDollarBills]

I disagree with CC's take. When she drives from the wing, yes the defenders rotate to her. But when she splits the double and comes down the middle of the lane, they inevitably play drop defense, so as to swat away her layup. They dare her to shoot the pullup 2/floater. And in such cases, she looks lost. She realizes that a layup will be a problem and slows her dribble, but rather than shoot she looks around for a passing option.

She should be watching a whole lot of Brunson tape. She's at least as good of an athlete for her league as Jalen is in his (I would say better). And she's both smart and young enough to learn new tricks. So become Jalen after you've beaten your first defender!

Yeah Brunson is a three level scorer, he's an absolute terror at the foul line area because he's either knocking down pull ups or hitting dudes with fakes and spin moves.

Sabrina has also developed a solid floater in the paint and has gotten stronger so that she can shrug off defenders. Caitlin has a lot of work to do, and that's fine. She's learning what it takes to be a top pro.

She needs to work on ways to score in that area. She doesn't have to be Brunson or Ionescu but she should have an off the dribble pull up at bare minimum. It's great that she chooses to make the correct basketball play, but there are gonna be times when the Fever will need her to get a bucket

[MrDollarBills]

I disagree with CC's take. When she drives from the wing, yes the defenders rotate to her. But when she splits the double and comes down the middle of the lane, they inevitably play drop defense, so as to swat away her layup. They dare her to shoot the pullup 2/floater. And in such cases, she looks lost. She realizes that a layup will be a problem and slows her dribble, but rather than shoot she looks around for a passing option.!

I mean that's pretty close to what she said. She talked mostly about the defenders collapsing, but she did admits she wanted to develop the shot. I'm sure for just the situations you describe. If I was her, I'd be practicing that floater like a dog. But she's probably not looking for my advice lol.

She's not looking for any of our advice we're just making analysis here.

1) develop a floater

2) practice pull ups when separation occurs

3)get stronger physically, gradually.

Those are 3 things I'd like to see happen. Also, I think she is tall and lengthy enough to develop a back to the basket move against smaller PGs.

[MrDollarBills]

I like how we're using male players as an example of what kinda tools she can develop and not a 1 to 1 comparison. I always felt that was kinda unfair but there are guys that she can absolutely watch and steal things from. Steph's off ball movement, and Brunson's mid range bag are two things I think she could definitely add along with some of Ionescu's moves in the paint. I think she needs to study Ionescu like a hawk tbh

CC has such a large ceiling for growth. It's fascinating to watch this all develop.

[ellobo]

I disagree with CC's take. When she drives from the wing, yes the defenders rotate to her. But when she splits the double and comes down the middle of the lane, they inevitably play drop defense, so as to swat away her layup. They dare her to shoot the pullup 2/floater. And in such cases, she looks lost. She realizes that a layup will be a problem and slows her dribble, but rather than shoot she looks around for a passing option.

She should be watching a whole lot of Brunson tape. She's at least as good of an athlete for her league as Jalen is in his (I would say better). And she's both smart and young enough to learn new tricks. So become Jalen after you've beaten your first defender!

I was saying this when she was still in college. She often has a LOT of room in the lane when she is run off the three point line and the defense is protecting the rim, but she seems very uncomfortable in that area. It's not even that the defense is collapsing on her and she has open teammates. The defense is staying at home on shooters, knowing that she won't take a pullup or floater in the lane and won't challenge a big at the rim. It's a huge hole in her game.

Someone like Brunson has a great package of backdowns, pivots, fadeaways, and different shot deliveries, straight in and high off glass. That would be good for Clark to emulate, but just adding a basic pullup or floater when the defense dares her to take it would make a huge difference.

[jumpman28]

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Always wondered why she doesn't get more minutes. She's not a big stat getter, but from what I've seen she is smart, knows where to go on the floor, and takes good shots and plays good defense. But Ive only watched a few games.

This is why as a Fever fan you always hear complaints about the coaching. Lexie Hull should probably be starting and should definitely be getting way more minutes than what she currently is with Indiana's defensive issues vs wings and guards. She's a much better defender than either Wallace or Katie Lou and she can hit open shots for the most part and in general plays with a high BBIQ.

I also think as soon as Fagbenle gets more stamina coming off her foot injury, that she needs to replace Smith in the starting lineup alongside Boston for two reasons -- Fagbenle does pretty much everything Smith does, except better and she's also a more active defender, and also Indiana's bench needs more scoring output which Smith could provide. Also, Fagbenle is the best transition player they have in my opinion.

[rmontro]

I was saying this when she was still in college. She often has a LOT of room in the lane when she is run off the three point line and the defense is protecting the rim, but she seems very uncomfortable in that area. It's not even that the defense is collapsing on her and she has open teammates. The defense is staying at home on shooters, knowing that she won't take a pullup or floater in the lane and won't challenge a big at the rim. It's a huge hole in her game.

Lisa Bluder gets a lot of credit as being a great coach. Makes you wonder why she never addressed this with Clark.