It has been an up and down season for the Fever and for Caitlin Clark. A combination of factors have led to making it seem there have been more downs than ups. The Fever have dealt with Clark injuries, adding new players, dropping new players, big wins (vs Lynx, Storm, Liberty), and brutal losses (vs Sun, Valkyries).
At the beginning of the year, there were high hopes that the Fever might be up challenging New York and Minnesota. As the Fever are only 3 games from the mid-point of the season (right now have played 19 of 44 games), they are not close to being a top two team in the league. Right now, depending if you are a glass half-full or half-empty person- the Fever are either tied for 7th or 9th with Washington and Las Vegas. 9th place would mean the Fever would not make the playoffs. Some may say it is still early and Clark just got back- BUT THE CLOCK IS TICKING.
Clark injury has made it hard to gain stability with the lineup. Just when they look like they are comfortable together and have a plan- Clark has gotten hurt.
The decision to start Aari McDonald is puzzling. Different experts have felt that both McDonald and Sydney Colson have give the Fever the ability to pressure point guards during Clark’s absence. I am guessing that starting McDonald over Hull is intended to continue to be able to apply more pressure.
While that may be true, it was a decision that just created more instability in an already unstable team. The Fever lineup Clark, Mitchell, Hull, Howard, and Boston had provided visions of a winning lineup.
The Fever have basically gone thru 6 lineups now- 1) Start of season with Bonner as starter, 2) Replacing Bonner with Hull, 3) Clark injured, starting Colson, 4) Coming back with Clark, 5) Clark injured, using Colson and McDonald, 6) Benching Hull.
Today’s move is especially puzzling as in the last week in an apparent defense of dropping Bonner, Coach White noted that Lexie Hull is just a player that once you put on the floor you just can’t take her off the floor.
Obviously they may things in practice that make them think the new lineup is the way to go. Today it slid Clark to play more off-the-ball, and it appeared the only option the Fever had to get her the ball was off a stagger. The move seemed to take away the options Clark at point and Boston running a ball screen for her.
Post game Coach White said,”I’m not sure it is not knowing the game plan as much as not executing the game plan.”
Caitlin Clark added,”We struggled scouting report wise.”
Lexi Hull’s message was,”We have a lot of inconsistencies.”
While I am guessing Clark, White, and Hull were all references issues on defense, I would argue that the same is true on the offensive end. The Fever are in 7th (or 9th) place for multiple reasons but to figure out those reasons, they need to get back to a stable lineup and stable rotation. In the NBA, players would not tolerate such swings in roles and minutes- the Fever need stability and it starts with the lineup of Clark, Mitchell, Hull, Howard, and Boston.
When another team goes on a 15-0 run, it is easy to see it as a breakdown defensively. For Golden State to outscore the Fever 15-0 in a stretch, where did Clark, Boston, and Mitchell go. There were stretches when all three sat, which is a problem. But if the Fever are struggling, they need to have a couple “go-to” sets that they have for each of the three stars. Once the other team goes on a 8-0 run, take a time out, and decide you are going to the next three possessions (if you don’t have a break) run the following three sets for either Clark, Mitchell, or Boston.
Defensively today also provided a puzzle. A problem the Fever have shown all year is that they are hesitant to adjust their scouting report in-game. Today it appeared the Fever wanted to either double or trap ball screens. While that can be an effective strategy on the outside thirds of the floor, it is very tough to do in the middle of the floor. There are too many passing options for the guard (both side), and the middle tends to be wide open. When Golden State realized Indiana was going to double ball screens, it appeared they adjusted by moving their screens to the middle of the floor and creating openings. The Fever never adjusted their strategy.
Post game, Coach White threw things onto the players. She questioned their energy and effort by saying,”There was a lack of competitive fire.”
I find it frustrating when you hear a high school coach in the post game say something like- “I can’t coach effort.” The message is clearly- it’s the player’s fault. Maybe the “lack of competitive fire” is related to not being comfortable. Some of that is dealing with the Clark injury, but some of it may well be throwing in one more change in the line up.
Some Notes
DeWanna Bonner has signed with the Phoenix Mercury. She goes from the 7th (or 9th) place Fever to the 2nd place Mercury. She will be joining her fiancée Alyssa Thomas. Bonner’s quote upon joining the Mercury,”They assured me that they wanted me here, they needed me here.”
Wednesday’s Noon Eastern Time starts was for kids day. It is really a neat concept trying to set up a day in the WNBA to draw young fans.
According to a podcast that I listened to- the Valkyries are the only team in the WNBA, NBA, MLB, NFL with violet as a primary color.
Hats off to Caitlin Clark for showing loyalty to her teammates Boston and Mitchell. In picking the starters, she took Boston as the first choice. In picking the reserves, she took Mitchell first. I think that showed real loyalty.
During the “drafting” Clark wore Fever gear whereas Napheesa Collier wore Unrivaled gear. Both Collier and Breanna Stewart are founders of the Unrivaled and on the WNBA negotiating committee for the players union in contract discussions. Somehow that seems like a potential conflict of interest. If the WNBA can’t reach an agreement and has a walkout or lockout- it would seem to benefit the Unrivaled League. I hope that I am wrong, but it seems in many areas that the WNBA players just can’t help but screw up success.
On Sue Bird’s latest podcast of Bird’s Eye View, she brought up an interesting point. The NBA disqualifies on the sixth foul and plays 48 minute games. The rest of college and international basketball play 40 minutes and disqualifies on the fifth foul. The WNBA plays only 40 minutes but they give 6 fouls. The question she reflected on was whether dropping the WNBA to only 5 fouls would have any impact on cleaning up some of the physicalness.
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