I am really looking forward to the 2025 WNBA season. In particular I am excited to see how the changes to the Indiana Fever work out. I have immersed myself, trying to do as much research as I can about this season in the WNBA and the Fever.
Coaching Change- Stefanie White is coming over from coaching the Connecticut Sun. White has an Indiana background. She was 1995 Ms. Basketball in Indiana. White went onto star at Purdue, where she led them to the NCAA Championship in 1999 when she was named National POY.
She has been a college and pro assistant, as well as being head coach at Vanderbilt. She previously was head coach of the Fever for two years and Connecticut for two years. Her overall record as a WNBA coach is 92-56.
In addition, she is works as a TV broadcaster doing college and NBA games. She has a personality and insight that shines on TV.
In the off-season, she was in effect a free agent and was considered THE coach that other WNBA teams were going for. So her hiring should be cause for optimism. Her hiring helped them attract NBA star free agents like Natasha Howard, DeWanna Bonner, and Sophia Cunningham.
The Fever Roster- This is a list of the players, followed by their height and yearr in the WNBA, age, and height then their stats from last year- ppg, rpg, and apg.
Returnees
Caitlin Clark- 1, 23, 6’0”, 19.2, 5.7, 8.4
Kelsey Mitchell- 7, 29, 5’8”, 19.2, 2.5, 1.8
Aliyah Boston- 2, 23, 6’5”, 14.0, 8.9, 3.2
Lexie Hull- 3, 25, 6”1”, 5.5, 2.5, 1.1
Damaris Dantas- 9, 32, 6’4”, 4.5, 2.2, 0.6
New To Fever
DeWanna Bonner- Conn, 15, 37, 6’4”, 15.0, 6.0, 2.0 (6xAll-Star, 2xWNBA Champ)
Natasha Howard- Dallas, 11, 33, 6’3”, 17.6, 6.7, 3.9 (Def. POY ‘19, 3xChamp)
Sophie Cunningham- Phx, 6, 28, 6’1”, 8.4, 3.9, 2.0
Brianna Turner- Chicago, 6, 28, 6’3”, 1.2, 2.0, 0.4 (All-Def Team ‘20, ‘21)
Sydney Colson- Las Vegas, 10, 35, 5’8”, 2.5, 0.5, 1.0 (2xWNBA Champ)
Makayla Timpson- Florida St, R, 22, in college 17.5ppg, 10.6rpg
Theme With Additions- It would seem that Indiana in free agency chose to get three ingredients in the add ons-
1) Experience- Bonner, Howard, and Colson have 36 years of WNBA experience.
2) Defense- Both Howard and Turner have been All-Defensive team players in the past.
3) Championship Experience- Howard (3), Cunningham (2), Bonner (2), and Colson (2) have all been on WNBA championship teams.
Minutes- Mitchell (35+), Clark (35+), Howard (30+), Boston (30+), Cunningham (25+), Hull (30+), Turner (30+), Bonner (30+)- Last year 8 of this year’s Fever roster played big minutes. There are 200 playing minutes available for every team. These 8 players minutes total over 245 minutes.
If the minutes reduction was spread across the board, each of these 8 players would have their minutes cut by about 5-6 minutes per game. Most experts think that with the age of Bonner and Howard it would be positive for them to player fewer minutes. Also it would help Clark and Mitchell to play 32 minutes vs 36 minutes. The experts speculate that the player who will have the biggest hit in minutes will be Lexie Hull.
Stefanie White in her work with TV was asked if during her work if she picked the brain of some of the NBA coaches. She said the two NBA coaches who had the biggest impact on her were OKC’s Mark Daigneault and Cleveland’s Kenny Atkins. She said both of them dealt with coaching a star- Donovan Mitchell and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, as well as a deep roster. She said that they gave some insights on how to handle this combination.
Bonner and Howard- Fans should realize that the Fever are getting elite WNBA players in Bonner and Howard. It is believed that Howard as a great defender can take some of the load off Boston and help train her to become a better defender. It may be at the end of games that Howard will slide to be the 5 for defense.
Bonner is presently the #4 scorer in WNBA history, and probably in the first game of the season will become the #3 scorer. 1) Diana Taurasi 10,646, 2) Tina Charles 7,696, 3) Tina Thompson 7,488, 4) DeWanna Bonner 7,482
Improved Clark- Clark chose to not play in the Unrivaled League, and instead chose to focus on her individual game. Personally I love that choice. There are a lot of high school players who would be so much better off working on strength/quickness and individual skills vs. AAU basketball.
By all accounts, Clark has invested heavily to improve her strength. The more physical WNBA showed her that need.
An interesting twist to her training is that new coach, Stephanie White used the Conn Suns scouting report as a basis for what Clark needed to work on. In the scout report, they felt that Clark had trouble if defense became physical, and too often in her moves she would get out of balance.
And stats show that last year Clark shot better off the catch (39%) vs off the dribble (32%). With more offensive options on the team this year, it would be presumed that the Fever will not have to be as reliant on the ball screen action with Clark. Clark maybe will be able to have more opportunities for catch and shoot.
It will be interesting to see if Clark becomes less high risk/high reward offensively. She led the WNBA in assists, but she also led the WNBA in turnovers. If Indiana is to take the jump to championship level, they can’t turn the ball over as much as they did last year.
Predictions- The Athletic ranks the teams in pre-season as- 1) New York, 2) Minnesota, 3) Las Vegas, 4) Indiana, 5) Seattle, 6) Chicago, 7) Atlanta, 8) Phoenix, 9) Los Angeles, 10) Dallas, 11) Golden State, 12) Connecticut, 13) Washington
Vegas odds- Liberty +230, Fever +350, Vegas +350, Lynx +400
Going into the season, “experts” seem to like Minnesota as the team to beat.
Window for Indiana- It is interesting that with many stars, they did not get their teams to the championship round or win championships until year 3. As a result, the “experts” do not picture this as a championship year for the Fever. But perhaps the veteran presence of Howard and Bonner will speed that up.
MVP Odds- Clark +195, Wilson +200, Collier +250, Stewart +1200, Ionescu +2500. Although Vegas is giving Clark the best odds, the “experts” feel that Collier is the best bet. Napheesa Collier was the pick by the WNBA GM’s in a survey.
Rookies- Everyone picks Paige Bueckers as the odds on favorite as Rookie of the Year. But don’t sleep on Dominique Malonga of Seattle. As time goes on, Molonga may become the forth of the WNBA in 5 years. She is 19 years old and a 6’6” player who can shoot and handle the ball.
Also to be watched is Sonia Citron of Washington, who has shown herself to be a real force defensively.
Chicago- Look for the Sky to much improved with their new coach, Tyler Marsh. Marsh comes to Chicago after being an assistant for Las Vegas. I will be surprised if Marsh isn’t more focused on winning and less focused on showcasing Angel Reese.
The addition of Courtney Vandersloot will be huge for the Sky. They now have someone who is more of a playmaker running the offense. In preseason, it looks like they are getting Reese more away from the basket to create opportunities to use Kamilla Cardoso and Vandersloot in ball screen offense.
Looking Forward To-
New York- I am anxious to see how the dymanic of Sabrina Ionescu and Breanna Stewart keeps evolving. Ionescu is one of those players who seems to just keep getting better and better. At 27, Ionescu is really entering her prime. If she isn’t the best three point shooter in the W, she is close.
Los Angeles- They are not going to win, but the combo of Kelsie Plum and Cameron Brink (returns mid-June) will be interesting to see develop. It will be interesting to see if Plum stepping out of Wilson’s shadow takes a jump. I look for her to become a more dynamic scorer.
Golden State- First and foremost, how long will it take to shorten the Valkeries nickname. It is too long. Blue Jays became Jays, Metropolitans the Mets, Devil Rays the Rays, Buccaneers the Bucs, etc. I am guessing by week #2 they become the Valks.
It will be interesting to see if Kate Martin emerges as a regular or is a sub for the Valks.
Still Popular- The Fever drew 1.3 million on TV for their game vs. Brazil. Only two NBA preseason games have drawn that big an audience in the last 25 years. Both of those games were LeBron James games when he was playing for a new team.
More Rest- Last year Indiana played 11 games to start the season in just 20 days. There was no time for practice. This year the Fever will not play their 11th game until day 31. So there will be more practice time.
National TV- The Fever will be on National TV 41 of their 44 games. ESPN 7, ABC 5, CBS/CBS Sports 7, ION 8, Prime 6, NBA TV 10.
Tickets- I will be going over to see a game or games. So I was checking out the prices.
May 17 vs Chicago- Row 1- $1,700, Row 2- $1,000, Row 11- $500, 200 Level- $75-100.
June 3 vs Washington- Row 1- $1,200, Row 5- $500, Row 15- $200, 200 Level-$20.
TV Guide
Sat May 17 vs Chicago- 2pm- ABC
Tue May 20 vs Atlanta- 6pm- NBA TV
Thu May 22 vs Atlanta- 6:30pm- Prime
Sat May 24 vs New York- Noon- CBS
Wed May 28 vs Washington- 6:30pm- NBA TV
Sun May 30 vs Conn- 6;30pm- ION
Tue June 3 vs Washington- 6pm- NBA TV
Sat June 7 vs Chicago- 7pm- CBS
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