Indiana Fever 2024

[jc23]

Fever look better now that they have a bit more chemistry. Early in the season everything seemed forced. I think the two man game between CC and Aaliyah could be deadly. Right now the issue is timing and comfort between those two. Both need to figure out a mid-range game this summer. Aaliyah is wide open on most pnr's to shoot/dribble/pass. And Clark needs to fully embrace her evolution into female Curry by developing a floater.

[rmontro]

I think the two man game between CC and Aaliyah could be deadly.

I've read comments by some people saying Clark and Boston can't be successful on the same team, but I really don't understand why that would be. Doesn't every team want an inside and outside threat? Seems to me, when they're both playing well, the Fever are difficult to deal with.

[Ice Man]

I've read comments by some people saying Clark and Boston can't be successful on the same team, but I really don't understand why that would be. Doesn't every team want an inside and outside threat? Seems to me, when they're both playing well, the Fever are difficult to deal with.

I didn't write that, but I wondered that during the first few games of the season, because Boston plays so differently than Iowa's centers, and there was zero chemistry between the two of them. Iowa's centers are rim runners and finishers. They run, run, run and don't dribble. Meanwhile, Boston is a traditional dominant big who jogs up the court and who expects to be fed inside, when she can then go to work.

So, oil and water at the start. But they are each starting to adjust to each other. Boston is moving more off the ball and Clark is looking more to feed passes inside in the half-court game. They have been quite effective as a duo the past couple of games.

I am not in general of fan of claims about how teams are playing badly because the players are new to each other and are not yet in sync. But I do think that has been the case for Boston and Clark, with the adjustment period making each player look worse than they are.

[rmontro]

I am not in general of fan of claims about how teams are playing badly because the players are new to each other and are not yet in sync. But I do think that has been the case for Boston and Clark, with the adjustment period making each player look worse than they are.

Didn't help that Boston came in a little cold and off her game from the offseason, and Clark was a straight up rookie.

Then there was playing those 11 games in 20 days, mostly against top teams. They said there's only been other team that has played 11 games in 20 days, and they went 0-10. I think the Fever were 1-9?

[Braggins]

Feels like they are getting closer to clicking. They still really need to swap Hull and Wallace in the rotation and stop playing Erica Wheeler. Sides favoritism towards her former players continues to be a liability.

[TheSuzerain]

Boston has been better (seemingly playing herself into shape after a lazy offseason).

But I still question the style fit. Ideal fit with Clark is someone who can aggressively attack the acres of space around the FT line after Clark is doubled. I don't think that's Boston really.

I'm hoping Nike is talking to Ezi Magbegor about a lucrative sponsorship if she moves to a higher profile team...

[MrDollarBills]

I am not in general of fan of claims about how teams are playing badly because the players are new to each other and are not yet in sync. But I do think that has been the case for Boston and Clark, with the adjustment period making each player look worse than they are.

Didn't help that Boston came in a little cold and off her game from the offseason, and Clark was a straight up rookie.

Then there was playing those 11 games in 20 days, mostly against top teams. They said there's only been other team that has played 11 games in 20 days, and they went 0-10. I think the Fever were 1-9?

The level of competition early on + new young teammates + questionable coaching imo had a lot to do with their slow start.

I mean let's be real Indiana got fed to the meat grinder from day 1.

[MrDollarBills]

Aliyah Boston was an all star last year and ROY. None of her recent play is surprising, this was the expectation.

The notion that she did nothing all offseason or came into the season grossly out of shape is absurd, she is an extremely hard worker, always has been, Dawn Staley doesn't produce bums.

It was clear from Game 1 that AB and CC didn't know how to play with each other. Now we see both of them producing to the levels we thought they would. This is a marathon not a sprint and there are more learning moments on their way for these young stars.

[hermes]

a rim-running post pairs really well with clark, because of the speed she plays at, her vision and willingness to whip it down the court. i don't know if boston is that type of player or not. from what little i've seen, nalyssa smith can do it (as can mitchell, really anybody can and someone should be flying down the court every time - clark will find you)

i don't think there is any harm in saying that boston had a different off-season from other players. most other people i'm guessing went and played overseas. boston stayed here and did a lot of studio work for college (which is great for her and she was very good at it). but she wasn't playing live, competitive ball. i'm sure she was doing workouts in the gym and that type of thing but shooting in the gym is not the same as playing actual games. maybe needed to knock some rust off (and a lot of new teammates to get used to)

[tmorgan]

You need buy-in from the coach and correct roster construction to really unlock Clark. Yeah, she shoots from 30, but again, her elite skill (besides Steph-like gravity) is her passing. More movement. More cutters. More P&R. I know she’s turning the ball over like crazy, but you just gotta get her experience and let her learn. The Fever may be the slowest team in the league, which just isn’t the right roster to unlock Clark’s court vision.

[rmontro]

You need buy-in from the coach and correct roster construction to really unlock Clark. Yeah, she shoots from 30, but again, her elite skill (besides Steph-like gravity) is her passing. More movement. More cutters. More P&R. I know she’s turning the ball over like crazy, but you just gotta get her experience and let her learn. The Fever may be the slowest team in the league, which just isn’t the right roster to unlock Clark’s court vision.

I like watching her passing maybe more than her shooting, as you say it is an elite skill she has. Sometimes she gets too clever for her own good and surprises her teammates, and she gets another turnover.

Clark averaged 4.8 turnovers per game in college, and right now she is averaging 5.5 turnovers per game in the WNBA. Not really that much of a difference there. I think she's going to have a number of turnovers just due to her style of play and because she handles the ball a lot. By the way, if you check out the top ten all time turnover leaders in the NBA, I think you would have to agree it is an impressive list of names. I'm sure this is something she wants to work on as a pro, and I'm sure she will improve, but I'm not sure how much of a significant reduction we can expect.

[MrDollarBills]

a rim-running post pairs really well with clark, because of the speed she plays at, her vision and willingness to whip it down the court. i don't know if boston is that type of player or not. from what little i've seen, nalyssa smith can do it (as can mitchell, really anybody can and someone should be flying down the court every time - clark will find you)

i don't think there is any harm in saying that boston had a different off-season from other players. most other people i'm guessing went and played overseas. boston stayed here and did a lot of studio work for college (which is great for her and she was very good at it). but she wasn't playing live, competitive ball. i'm sure she was doing workouts in the gym and that type of thing but shooting in the gym is not the same as playing actual games. maybe needed to knock some rust off (and a lot of new teammates to get used to)

I dunno. She did not come into season out of shape by all accounts I've seen. I wouldn't use her analyst work as a sign that she wasn't getting her individual work in and playing 5 v 5s

I think honestly she was trying to do her best to defer and it wasn't working for her. She needs to be fed the ball in order to go to work. Once she got assertive offensively things suddenly changed, and now we finally have a game where both her and CC were flat out spectacular.

I think they can co exist together long term. I'm not trading away an All Star level big at 22 years old, I am gonna get a coach that implements a system that can utilize what they both do best.

[MrDollarBills]

You need buy-in from the coach and correct roster construction to really unlock Clark. Yeah, she shoots from 30, but again, her elite skill (besides Steph-like gravity) is her passing. More movement. More cutters. More P&R. I know she’s turning the ball over like crazy, but you just gotta get her experience and let her learn. The Fever may be the slowest team in the league, which just isn’t the right roster to unlock Clark’s court vision.

I like watching her passing maybe more than her shooting, as you say it is an elite skill she has. Sometimes she gets too clever for her own good and surprises her teammates, and she gets another turnover.

Clark averaged 4.8 turnovers per game in college, and right now she is averaging 5.5 turnovers per game in the WNBA. Not really that much of a difference there. I think she's going to have a number of turnovers just due to her style of play and because she handles the ball a lot. By the way, if you check out the top ten all time turnover leaders in the NBA, I think you would have to agree it is an impressive list of names. I'm sure this is something she wants to work on as a pro, and I'm sure she will improve, but I'm not sure how much of a significant reduction we can expect.

I think the TOs will decrease with experience and familiarity with her teammates tbh.

[hermes]

sophomore slump maybe? who knows, she really stumbled out of the gates (along with almost the whole team really) but seems to have turned the corner lately

maybe the team not being able to practice to start the year really was a major detriment

[jc23]

You need buy-in from the coach and correct roster construction to really unlock Clark. Yeah, she shoots from 30, but again, her elite skill (besides Steph-like gravity) is her passing. More movement. More cutters. More P&R. I know she’s turning the ball over like crazy, but you just gotta get her experience and let her learn. The Fever may be the slowest team in the league, which just isn’t the right roster to unlock Clark’s court vision.

I like watching her passing maybe more than her shooting, as you say it is an elite skill she has. Sometimes she gets too clever for her own good and surprises her teammates, and she gets another turnover.

Clark averaged 4.8 turnovers per game in college, and right now she is averaging 5.5 turnovers per game in the WNBA. Not really that much of a difference there. I think she's going to have a number of turnovers just due to her style of play and because she handles the ball a lot. By the way, if you check out the top ten all time turnover leaders in the NBA, I think you would have to agree it is an impressive list of names. I'm sure this is something she wants to work on as a pro, and I'm sure she will improve, but I'm not sure how much of a significant reduction we can expect.

Yeah that was one of the best parts about watching Iowa. They were routinely the less talented team but they ran the floor and cut like crazy to get easy baskets. It was fun to watch.

[Ice Man]

sophomore slump maybe? who knows, she really stumbled out of the gates (along with almost the whole team really)

A lot of that was the schedule. The Fever opened by playing game after game against the Sun & Liberty, which are a combined 23-2 when not playing each other. The Fever (and Caitlin) got stuffed ... but so has every other team/player in the league.

For the season, the Fever are 0-6 against those two teams, but 5-4 against the rest of the league.

[MrDollarBills]

sophomore slump maybe? who knows, she really stumbled out of the gates (along with almost the whole team really)

A lot of that was the schedule. The Fever opened by playing game after game against the Sun & Liberty, which are a combined 23-2 when not playing each other. The Fever (and Caitlin) got stuffed ... but so has every other team/player in the league.

For the season, the Fever are 0-6 against those two teams, but 5-4 against the rest of the league.

That's pretty good for a young team that is trying to find it's identity and got thrown into the deep end of the pool with the big sharks early on.

I think they can make the playoffs if they can catch teams slipping post Olympic break

[MrDollarBills]

AB is Eastern Conference player of the week.

[rmontro]

I think they can make the playoffs if they can catch teams slipping post Olympic break

Believe it or not, if the season ended today, the Fever are in. The WNBA playoff system is kind of silly though.

Another question is can they win more than the 13 games they won last year? I think they have a good chance of doing that too. Even though that didn't look so good earlier in the season.

[MrDollarBills]

I think they can make the playoffs if they can catch teams slipping post Olympic break

Believe it or not, if the season ended today, the Fever are in. The WNBA playoff system is kind of silly though.

Another question is can they win more than the 13 games they won last year? I think they have a good chance of doing that too. Even though that didn't look so good earlier in the season.

I think they can win 8 more games, sure. They have to keep building on offense like they are now, keep feeding AB and CC needs to keep being assertive as a playmaker/limit bad TOs.

Their defense is what it is. They're just not very fast or athletic. But they should be able to at least hang in there against the mid tier level teams