After back to back wins, it becomes easy to forget the loss to Golden State. The Fever beat the hapless Seattle team without Aliyah Boston in epic offensive games by Clark and Mitchell. Then seemingly found the ability to put all the pieces together vs. New York in one of the Fever’s best games of the year. There are certainly things to be optimistic about, but still things leaving me pessimistic.
Best Offensive Guard in WNBA- The point production and consistency of Mitchell is very, very impressive. She has now scored 20 points in 10 games in a row. She struggled a little at the end of Seattle and the beginning of New York but she has become the best offensive guard in the WNBA.
Who Can Stop Mitchell- Mitchell had 17 in the first quarter vs. Seattle. With Mitchell rolling and the Fever rolling, Steph White chose to sit Mitchell the first 5 minutes of the second quarter. Mitchell didn’t have the same swagger and Seattle roared back.
Best Offensive Performance- Clark’s 45 points and 10 assists was as good as it gets. Clark has shown a consistent ability to drive and get to the line. Opponents are learning that you can’t have it both ways- “Let’s get physical with her.”- “Don’t call fouls.”
Accountability- After the Golden State game, Clark in the post-game press wanted to talk about the officiating. When you are 1-8 from three and have 4 turnovers, it is a bad look. I would rather see her address her performance than the refs performance.
Technically Speaking- I am too much of a fan, so as I watched the game and watched the replay, I thought it should have been a foul on the Jones screen. The day after, it appears Jones is set but perhaps she leaned in. A call could have gone either way.
At any rate, that is technical #6 on Clark, tied for second in the league. Two more and she is suspended for one game. She is averaging one technical every 4 games, so with 14 games to go, suspension seems likely.
Slap in Face- Before people get all upset, this stuff happens. Sadly, refs miss stuff. It should have been called but it wasn’t. It was slap to the face but it was making a basketball play, it was not out of control. I am more concerned when they miss the reckless close outs or don’t even look for them.
Timpson- It is impressive that Timpson has seemed to be willing to put the work in, be supportive, and been ready when given a turn. As a big athlete, she has waited her turn and been productive.
Supporting Cast- Cunningham, Hull, Billings, Timpson, and Harris have quietly and gradually become more and more effective. Making their turns on the court more predictable and longer has helped them develop.
Veteran vs Rookie- Obviously there are rookies who can step in and have an impact- ie. Olivia Miles. But many NBA coaches always go with big over rookies. Given the chance, Harris has shown herself much more reliable and a real positive vs. Johnson.
What Wins- Part of being a Fever fan is that it is easy to get caught up in what Clark’s numbers are. The Seattle game with 45/10 is part of what as a fan you want to see. That is great and that is exciting, but Clark does not need to be great every time out, and we should not expect that from her. She just needs to be solid in her performance like vs. New York. When Mitchell, Clark, and Boston are all solid- Indiana is tough to beat.
Fouls- Calling everything closer this year can be frustrating with all the free throws shot but it is still better than last year.
1- Teams need to quit trying for the great block or great challenge when an opposing player gets to the basket. You got beat, have them finish and move on.
2- Posts players are called differently than guards. On the perimeter, a defender who is not in position and moving is ALWAYS called for a blocking foul. in the post, especially when a guard switches onto the post, the defender can be out of position and moving but they call the posts for initiating contact. Boston is the one who should be getting technicals.
3- The way the game is called, it is almost impossible to guard isolations.
Last 14 Games- While I would like to see the Fever compete for a championship this year, it seems unlikely that will happen. The Fever’s defense is just not good enough at this point to compete for a championship.
I am troubled with how the Fever is sitting Boston and Clark on a regular basis. I am not saying that if a player is hurt that they should play. It just seems like maybe the Fever have a mentality of “let’s just get everyone healthy for the play-offs and we will take off.”
With young talent, in the WNBA and NBA, it seems to take several years to learn how to compete together and for the coaches to learn how develop the proper schemes for the group. Some say that history shows that teams can compete in year 3 of their core.
Clark and Fever are on year 2 of this core. They lost last year. This in reality is Clark’s 2nd year in the WNBA. And the problem is that thru 30 games, the number of times Clark, Mitchell, and Boston have all played and all played with no minutes restrictions is very few.
If it is true that young cores compete for championships in year 3, the Fever MUST in the last 14 games get Mitchell, Clark, and Boston on the floor together. The players and the coaches must see what works and what does not work. The GM must see what pieces work along side those three and what pieces are missing.
To keep resting players for the play-offs will mean that Clark will in effect have missed out on her second and now third season. My point is that unless they can get everyone on the floor for game after game after game this year- this core will go into next season as it being in effect their second season.
Not for the sake of winning a championship this year but maybe for the sake of hoping to complete or win a championship next year- the MUST get a bunch of games together.
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