Indiana Fever 2024

[Harry Palmer]

Curiosity has turned me into enough of a fan to watch highlights of every game, but there’s so much I don’t know. Can anyone tell me what the height: position norms are? Like what height range generally applies to bigs vs. wings. vs. leads?

[Ghetto Gospel]

Curiosity has turned me into enough of a fan to watch highlights of every game, but there’s so much I don’t know. Can anyone tell me what the height: position norms are? Like what height range generally applies to bigs vs. wings. vs. leads?

generally the below i think. the WNBA doesn't have the same classifications as the NBA as the teams are all built kind of differently with some teams using a more "traditional 90s" pf, while others will just use a somewhat more "modern nba" pf. the heights are more condensed compared to the NBA

p guard: 5'6 - 6'0
guard: 5'8 - 6'2
wing: 5'10 - 6'3
forward: 5'11 - 6'4
center: 6'3 - 6'7 though griner is 6'9

[Ice Man]

I would add a couple of inches to the low end for wing and forward, but otherwise those match my observations.

[Harry Palmer]

Curiosity has turned me into enough of a fan to watch highlights of every game, but there’s so much I don’t know. Can anyone tell me what the height: position norms are? Like what height range generally applies to bigs vs. wings. vs. leads?

generally the below i think. the WNBA doesn't have the same classifications as the NBA as the teams are all built kind of differently with some teams using a more "traditional 90s" pf, while others will just use a somewhat more "modern nba" pf. the heights are more condensed compared to the NBA

p guard: 5'6 - 6'0
guard: 5'8 - 6'2
wing: 5'10 - 6'3
forward: 5'11 - 6'4
center: 6'3 - 6'7 though griner is 6'9

Much appreciated, same to Ice Man.

[jc23]

a Fever v Sun first round match up would be intense.

[zimpy27]

Fever could make the finals if they stay in this 6th or 7th spot.

[rmontro]

These seem to get along really well

Girl talk.

[MrDollarBills]

Fever could make the finals if they stay in this 6th or 7th spot.

Stewie, Jonquel and Sabrina will have a thing or three to say about that

[cdubbz]

Fever could make the finals if they stay in this 6th or 7th spot.

Facing the Sun in the 1st round over the Lynx would be better imo. Fever have no answer to Napheesa.

Fever big man depth is nice though. Nalyssa Smith & Lexie Hull are the X factors in the playoffs

[rmontro]

Fever have blowout win against the ailing Sky, CC has career high 31 points. Indiana pulls to .500, tied for the sixth playoff spot with Phoenix.

[dockingsched]

Fever could make the finals if they stay in this 6th or 7th spot.

Stewie, Jonquel and Sabrina will have a thing or three to say about that

Nah, Liberty as the top seed will be otherside of the bracket, so will the aces who are locked into the 4th/5th spot.

Fever best shot at winning a series looks like a matchup against the Sun. I don’t think they have a chance against the Linx.

[MrDollarBills]

Fever could make the finals if they stay in this 6th or 7th spot.

Stewie, Jonquel and Sabrina will have a thing or three to say about that

Nah, Liberty as the top seed will be otherside of the bracket, so will the aces who are locked into the 4th/5th spot.

Fever best shot at winning a series looks like a matchup against the Sun. I don’t think they have a chance against the Linx.

I expect Indiana to take the 6th seed so yeah, they'd have to go through the Lynx.

[jc23]

caught some of the game at the pub and just finished it at mi casa.

Sky came out with fire in their eyes. Must have gotten an impressive speech from coach. That fire eventually lost its flame and died. Still, i was impressed by their effort, especially from their guards who were all over the place.

Chicago used alot of the defensive tactics that worked vs Indy at the beginning of the season i.e. full court press, aggressive traps on the pnr. Difference between these two teams then vs now is the Fever have adapted and grown where as Chicago seems stuck in the mud. Sky need a veteran point guard; someone that will be a coach on the floor and put ego's in check.

Boston struggled as she sometimes does. When defenders dont bite on her fakes -or- are equally as strong and big she can get caught in bad spots. I love her passing now; its one reason why teams now have to chill with the aggressive Clark traps. Because Caitlin is going get that bounce pass between the defenders putting you in a 3 on 4 situation.

You cant lose Mitchell, early on she was a bucket, but now she is a bucket that has found great chemistry with your star. She is the best player on the team to make something out of nothing and is clutch as they get.

The revelation of Dantas and Fagbenle is huge, now you have another defensive big and a stretch big when you need them. Fagbenle is not as athletic, but against certain matchups i like her more then Smith. I see them both passing Katie in the depth chart.

CC is a menace.

[MrDollarBills]

Fever faithful:

Please take some time out to give Kelsey Mitchell her flowers.

She is out there burning the rims down right now. I thank God my Liberty has 1st place pretty much locked in. Let Napheesa and them deal with this nonsense

[MrDollarBills]

caught some of the game at the pub and just finished it at mi casa.

Sky came out with fire in their eyes. Must have gotten an impressive speech from coach. That fire eventually lost its flame and died. Still, i was impressed by their effort, especially from their guards who were all over the place.

Chicago used alot of the defensive tactics that worked vs Indy at the beginning of the season i.e. full court press, aggressive traps on the pnr. Difference between these two teams then vs now is the Fever have adapted and grown where as Chicago seems stuck in the mud. Sky need a veteran point guard; someone that will be a coach on the floor and put ego's in check.

Boston struggled as she sometimes does. When defenders dont bite on her fakes -or- are equally as strong and big she can get caught in bad spots. I love her passing now; its one reason why teams now have to chill with the aggressive Clark traps. Because Caitlin is going get that bounce pass between the defenders putting you in a 3 on 4 situation.

You cant lose Mitchell, early on she was a bucket, but now she is a bucket that has found great chemistry with your star. She is the best player on the team to make something out of nothing and is clutch as they get.

The revelation of Dantas and Fagbenle is huge, now you have another defensive big and a stretch big when you need them. Fagbenle is not as athletic, but against certain matchups i like her more then Smith. I see them both passing Katie in the depth chart.

CC is a menace.

I think at this point, keeping CC/AB/KM together as the core of the Fever is a no brainer. I would keep Hull but I would look to upgrade the wing.

Keep an eye on that free agent scramble this winter. I have a feeling something interesting will happen.

[ellobo]

I think at this point, keeping CC/AB/KM together as the core of the Fever is a no brainer. I would keep Hull but I would look to upgrade the wing.

Keep an eye on that free agent scramble this winter. I have a feeling something interesting will happen.

Wheeler's contract expiring, and most of the roster being on rookie scale contracts will give them a lot of flexibility. Samuelson is on a pretty big protected contract for next year though, and they have to take care of Mitchell, who is unrestricted, or replace her (which will be hard to do).

Hull, Smith, Dantas, and Wallace are all on protected contracts, but at rookie scale numbers except for Dantas, and Fagbenle is a restricted free agent.

[MrDollarBills]

I think at this point, keeping CC/AB/KM together as the core of the Fever is a no brainer. I would keep Hull but I would look to upgrade the wing.

Keep an eye on that free agent scramble this winter. I have a feeling something interesting will happen.

Wheeler's contract expiring, and most of the roster being on rookie scale contracts will give them a lot of flexibility. Samuelson is on a pretty big protected contract for next year though, and they have to take care of Mitchell, who is unrestricted, or replace her (which will be hard to do).

Hull, Smith, Dantas, and Wallace are all on protected contracts, but at rookie scale numbers except for Dantas, and Fagbenle is a restricted free agent.

I will be the first to admit, I am ignorant to W capology so I have no idea how the system works, but wouldn't Indiana be able to retain Mitchell and give her a substantial pay raise? Kinda like bird rights allow NBA teams to go over the cap to pay their stars?

[ellobo]

I think at this point, keeping CC/AB/KM together as the core of the Fever is a no brainer. I would keep Hull but I would look to upgrade the wing.

Keep an eye on that free agent scramble this winter. I have a feeling something interesting will happen.

Wheeler's contract expiring, and most of the roster being on rookie scale contracts will give them a lot of flexibility. Samuelson is on a pretty big protected contract for next year though, and they have to take care of Mitchell, who is unrestricted, or replace her (which will be hard to do).

Hull, Smith, Dantas, and Wallace are all on protected contracts, but at rookie scale numbers except for Dantas, and Fagbenle is a restricted free agent.

I will be the first to admit, I am ignorant to W capology so I have no idea how the system works, but wouldn't Indiana be able to retain Mitchell and give her a substantial pay raise? Kinda like bird rights allow NBA teams to go over the cap to pay their stars?

I'm not an expert on the cap or CBA either, but my understanding based on a little quick googling is that due to years of service, Mitchell qualifies for a "supermax" contract, which is about 16% more than the regular max (the regular max is 14.2% of the salary cap and the supermax is 16.5% of the salary cap). However, as an unrestricted free agent, I believe she could be offered that by any team.

There's also the "core" player designation, which is like the NFL franchise tag. A team can designate one "core" player, which gives the current team exclusive negotiating rights. The team has to make a qualifying offer along with the core designation for a one year supermax salary. The designated core player can take the one year supermax or negotiate any other deal with the team at any salary up to the supermax, but can't negotiate with any other team. A team can only designate one core player, and a player can't be cored again after playing two years under a core designation.

I can't find any provision for exceeding the salary cap to retain a free agent.

[Doctor MJ]

So an ESPN article mentioned that the Fever had the best offense (ORtg) in the league since June 13th. Going over to wnba.com I find that one game on we can actually say that the Fever have the highest ORtg from June 3rd onward - in other words it's spreading further back as the Fever get closer to being the best offense for the whole season.

We can't know if the Fever finish at #1 for the season, but if they simply sustain what they are doing, it's a big deal. To give some data:

Here are the top ORtg teams from June 3rd onward:

Rank Team W-L ORtg
1. Indiana 14-7 107.2
2. New York 20-4 107.1
3. Las Vegas 15-10 106.0
4. Phoenix 12-11 103.4
5. Minnesota 17-7 103.1

And if we look at the time prior to June 3rd:

1. New York 7-2 106.9
2. Las Vegas 4-2 104.8
3. Minnesota 6-2 103.1
.
7. Phoenix 4-5 98.5
.
11. Indiana 2-9 94.9

That's a huge freaking leap by the Fever, and at this point the "good" sample is considerably bigger than the "bad".

I'll also that if we just look at August, we see this:

1. Indiana 5-1 110.7
2. Minnesota 6-1 110.2
3. Dallas 3-3 109.2
4. New York 6-2 105.7
5. Las Vegas 3-4 101.1
6. Phoenix 3-4 100.4

Small sample and it's not just the Fever standing out, but this to say that the Fever's "level" might be considerably higher than the 107.2 number I have above.

(On the not so good news side for other teams, NY, LV & PHX had their star cores playing in the Olympics, and we might be seeing them now have not-so-fresh legs.)

All this to say then that while Clark's teammates absolutely deserve credit out there, there's no doubt that the above-the-fold headline is:

"Experiment Giving Rookie Outlier Levels of Playmaking Primacy Now Creating Best Offense in Woman's Basketball"

This is not "business as usual". This is living up to the extreme hype. Exciting stuff!

[rmontro]

You cant lose Mitchell, early on she was a bucket, but now she is a bucket that has found great chemistry with your star. She is the best player on the team to make something out of nothing and is clutch as they get.

I'm guessing it mostly depends on whether or not Mitchell wants to stay with the Fever. Maybe deep down she wants to get out from under CC's shadow. I hope that is not the case, but you never know. If she stays she can likely be part of something special. I have to think they would be willing to pay her.