Indiana Fever 2025

jc23 · Post #261 » by **jc23** » Wed Jun 25, 2025 3:42 am

again, weird. Fever looked like crap when Clark was out, then she comes back and everything was clicking and now they seem like a better team with her on the bench.

edit: ok, nice midrange J by CC

jc23 · Post #262 » by **jc23** » Wed Jun 25, 2025 3:56 am

she looks horrendous on the defensive end. i thought she showed improvement there late last season into this season. feels like a focus issue. there is no excuse to get turned around like a little kid who is looking where the ball went as a pro

jc23 · Post #263 » by **jc23** » Wed Jun 25, 2025 3:56 am

thank god for Kelsey Mitchel

rmontro · Post #264 » by **rmontro** » Wed Jun 25, 2025 9:57 am

This team is like Jeckyl and Hyde, you don't know which one is going to show up. They still got outplayed in the fourth quarter though.
Clark finished 0 for 6 on three pointers. So 1 for 28 on the road trip.

Post #265 » by **Ice Man** » Wed Jun 25, 2025 12:22 pm

Except for Clark, everybody on Indy was great. Boston, Mitchell, and Hull were monsters, but the rest showed too. That was the plan when Indy assembled this squad.

As for Clark, I've never seen her play as badly as on this road trip. Even during the start of her rookie season, she was better. Three road games where she threw up brick after brick, got repeatedly beaten on defense, and made 22 TOs. Yes to be sure she threw some nice dimes but overall you'd have to say she was pretty consistently the weakest player on the floor, for both teams, in all three of those games.

Until she sorts out her head, I think she needs to play faster. Look for her teammates, if that's not there, pass & move, get the ball back. Less dancing, less shooting, more distributing. As the Seattle announcers pointed out, there's a lot of space for Clark's teammates because the defenses gravitate toward her. Take advantage of that arrangement ... trust that her teammates can score against a distrupted defense.

MrDollarBills · Post #266 » by **MrDollarBills** » Wed Jun 25, 2025 2:38 pm

I wonder what is going on in that Fever locker room.

jc23 · Post #267 » by **jc23** » Wed Jun 25, 2025 4:14 pm

Read on Twitter

apparently they tried for a trade with no takers. i like Ari but we just got smaller.

hmmm, wonder where Bonner will end up lol. She was not very good in her stint here but i had hope she would be a piece that stepped it up when it really mattered. oh well.

Curious how this affects the Fevers cap (still have no feel for the wnba cba). And if Bonner forced this or if it was mutual. And had they not gone after Bonner, who else was on the Fevers free agent radar.

Post #268 » by **Ice Man** » Wed Jun 25, 2025 4:17 pm

MrDollarBills wrote:I wonder what is going on in that Fever locker room.

Hmmm. On the one hand, Bonner is bailing and the team is off to a disappointing start. On the other hand, between injuries and suckiness, Clark has played 4 good games all season and the team is at .500. If she were the Clark of the second half of last season, they'd be 11-3, 10-4 at worst. Plus, aside from Bonner, I haven't seen/heard any hints of dissension. So, I don't know.

Green Chile · Post #269 » by **Green Chile** » Wed Jun 25, 2025 9:01 pm

jc23 wrote:

Read on Twitter

apparently they tried for a trade with no takers. i like Ari but we just got smaller.

hmmm, wonder where Bonner will end up lol. She was not very good in her stint here but i had hope she would be a piece that stepped it up when it really mattered. oh well.

Curious how this affects the Fevers cap (still have no feel for the wnba cba). And if Bonner forced this or if it was mutual. And had they not gone after Bonner, who else was on the Fevers free agent radar.

AFAIK, the cap hit for the Fever will be whatever they've already paid her. About 50K, I'd think.

They had $36K in cap space before this, so this should clear up another $150Kish

Now minus whatever they are paying Aari, of course.

rmontro · Post #270 » by **rmontro** » Thu Jun 26, 2025 1:08 am

Since Bonner is bailing, I guess it's better we find out now than later on down the line.
Now we know.

Post #271 » by **Ice Man** » Thu Jun 26, 2025 12:17 pm

50% Bonner spotted bad dynamics and wanted out, 50% Bonner is a needy veteran who was upset about not starting and/or decided that she wanted to be an different city. (On the second part, I watched Carlos Boozer pout with the Bulls when his careeer was winding down, the guy was convinced that he was still a star and would not accept that he had become a bench-quality player.)

jc23 · Post #272 » by **jc23** » Thu Jun 26, 2025 2:44 pm

Clark out tonight with a groin injury. explains some things. also, to piggyback on old Chicago Bulls player memories, i remember the cascade of injuries the year DRose tore is ACL. started with a toe and then he had issues with his groin, back etc...Hopefully the Fever play this real safe. Clark has never been injury prone so dont rush her back.

JustBuzzin · Post #273 » by **JustBuzzin** » Thu Jun 26, 2025 3:15 pm

She needs to get stronger these injuries are not just popping up for nothing.

Post #274 » by **Ice Man** » Thu Jun 26, 2025 4:01 pm

Yes she needs to get her body straight. Don't play until all us fixed. Irony is this all happened after she lifted weights to become bigger, which is what people told her to do if she wanted to be a better WNBA player.

rmontro · Post #275 » by **rmontro** » Thu Jun 26, 2025 6:06 pm

Apparently part of the whole Bonner thing is that she wants to play in Phoenix with her fiance Alyssa Thomas. Her agent asked that no one claim her except the Mercury.

Clark is injured again, not really a surprise. This seems like your classic "sophomore jinx" season. Clark needed to hit the weights to increase her strength, but that can change the whole feel of your body. Well, I hope she gets healthy soon.

JustBuzzin · Post #276 » by **JustBuzzin** » Thu Jun 26, 2025 7:39 pm

rmontro wrote:Apparently part of the whole Bonner thing is that she wants to play in Phoenix with her fiance Alyssa Thomas. Her agent asked that no one claim her except the Mercury.

Clark is injured again, not really a surprise. This seems like your classic "sophomore jinx" season. Clark needed to hit the weights to increase her strength, but that can change the whole feel of your body. Well, I hope she gets healthy soon.

Why did Bonner sign with the Fever tho?

This seems shady. She got her money now she wants back with the Mercury?

rmontro · Post #277 » by **rmontro** » Thu Jun 26, 2025 8:06 pm

JustBuzzin wrote:This seems shady. She got her money now she wants back with the Mercury?

Good question. Could have been a money scam, I guess.

IIRC there was a theory that Phoenix couldn't afford to sign her, so she went to Indy, but as you say now that she has some money she's trying to get to Phoenix. I don't know if any of that holds water though, and if it does I'm not sure where it leaves her next year. Not sure why I should care, really.

hermes · Post #278 » by **hermes** » Thu Jun 26, 2025 9:51 pm

might have been willing to not play with thomas for a chance at a starting gig on a seemingly much improved fever team that could compete for a title. then she struggled, lost her starting spot, and the team struggled overall (along with injuries) and not looking like a title contender right now. so with all that, might not be worth not being with thomas anymore

Hoop Hunter · Post #279 » by **Hoop Hunter** » Thu Jun 26, 2025 10:31 pm

JustBuzzin wrote:
rmontro wrote:Apparently part of the whole Bonner thing is that she wants to play in Phoenix with her fiance Alyssa Thomas. Her agent asked that no one claim her except the Mercury.

Clark is injured again, not really a surprise. This seems like your classic "sophomore jinx" season. Clark needed to hit the weights to increase her strength, but that can change the whole feel of your body. Well, I hope she gets healthy soon.

Why did Bonner sign with the Fever tho?

This seems shady. She got her money now she wants back with the Mercury?

Wouldn't the contract be void now? If not, it should be. That is shady AF.

ellobo · Post #280 » by **ellobo** » Thu Jun 26, 2025 11:17 pm

Hoop Hunter wrote:
JustBuzzin wrote:
rmontro wrote:Apparently part of the whole Bonner thing is that she wants to play in Phoenix with her fiance Alyssa Thomas. Her agent asked that no one claim her except the Mercury.

Clark is injured again, not really a surprise. This seems like your classic "sophomore jinx" season. Clark needed to hit the weights to increase her strength, but that can change the whole feel of your body. Well, I hope she gets healthy soon.

Why did Bonner sign with the Fever tho?

This seems shady. She got her money now she wants back with the Mercury?

Wouldn't the contract be void now? If not, it should be. That is shady AF.

As I understand it, by waiving her, Indiana is off the hook for the remainder of her contract. No team wanted to trade for her at her salary and few teams even have the cap space to claim her on waivers and take on her contract. If and when she clears waivers (I can't imagine she won't), she's an unrestricted free agent and any team can sign her into cap space for the vet minimum, or whatever they are willing to pay and fits into their cap.

If she wants to go to Phoenix with AT, they have $88,103 in cap space. The vet minimum for players with 7+ years experience is $78,831, which would be pro rated for the remaining number of games. So Phoenix could sign her if they wanted. They just lost Lexi Held for a while with a collapsed lung, and they cut Megan McConnell to sign Kiana Williams, but would then probably cut Williams to make roster space for Bonner.