Forward of Wednesday night time’s match-up between the Connecticut Solar and the Indiana Fever, Solar head coach Stephanie White praised Indiana for his or her development this season.
The 2 groups have confronted off thrice already this yr — Connecticut rising victorious all thrice — however White famous that the staff they’re dealing with at present is a very totally different staff than the one they performed in Might and June.
“Anytime you’re a younger staff that’s that’s actually rising into your self, the understanding of each other, the timing, the tempo, the connectedness simply wasn’t fairly there early,” White stated of Indiana. “It’s there now.”
The Fever started their season 1-8 and appeared destined for the lottery. However, they turned issues round in mid-June, and have gained 11 of their final 17 video games. They now, ave a 2.5 sport over the Sky for the #7 seed. If the playoffs began at present, the Fever and Solar would face off.
White — the 2023 WNBA Coach of the Yr — attributed the Fever’s development to their improved chemistry and comfortability with each other, and particularly, with Caitlin Clark. Clark is averaging a league-best 8.2 assists per sport, and set an all-time WNBA document for many assists in a sport again in July.
“Everyone on the ground understands how, when and the place Caitlin Clark can get them the ball. And they also get there,” White stated. “Kelsey Mitchell’s clearly taking part in at one other degree now, and so it offers you one other participant on the ground that you need to be conscious of, on and off ball in isolation and in two-man.”
Mitchell has been the league’s main scorer in August to this point, averaging 26.3 factors per sport. Aliyah Boston has recovered from a sluggish begin to the season and is now averaging 13.9 factors and 9.2 rebounds per sport. Each Mitchell and Boston have performed nicely off of Clark, and the wins have adopted.
“They make faster reads, and play with much more rhythm, higher timing, and a number of weapons on the ground,” White stated.
Because of this, the Fever look harmful. On a current episode of her podcast, “A contact extra,” WNBA legend Sue Chook stated that the Fever are a staff that nobody will need to see within the playoffs.
“In 2018 and 2020, the years we gained, that was our entire mantra – tempo, tempo, tempo, tempo,” Chook stated. “And what I see in Caitlin, what I see in Kelsey Mitchell, they’re simply ramming it down folks’s throats. And it’s actually exhausting – it could possibly have your head spinning.”
In her pregame presser on Wednesday night time, White appeared to echo that sentiment.
“It’s a staff that’s taking part in with a whole lot of confidence,” White stated. “They don’t concern anybody. They only exit and so they play and benefit from the sport — that’s a troublesome matchup.”
