Forward of Wednesday evening’s match-up between the Connecticut Solar and the Indiana Fever, Solar head coach Stephanie White praised Indiana for his or her progress this season.
The 2 groups have confronted off thrice already this 12 months — Connecticut rising victorious all thrice — however White famous that the crew they’re going through at this time is a very completely different crew than the one they performed in Might and June.
“Anytime you’re a younger crew 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 mentioned 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 recreation over the Sky for the #7 seed. If the playoffs began at this time, the Fever and Solar would face off.
White — the 2023 WNBA Coach of the Yr — attributed the Fever’s progress to their improved chemistry and comfortability with each other, and specifically, with Caitlin Clark. Clark is averaging a league-best 8.2 assists per recreation, and set an all-time WNBA file for many assists in a recreation 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 mentioned. “Kelsey Mitchell’s clearly enjoying at one other degree now, and so it provides you one other participant on the ground that it’s important to be aware of, on and off ball in isolation and in two-man.”
Mitchell has been the league’s main scorer in August thus far, averaging 26.3 factors per recreation. Aliyah Boston has recovered from a sluggish begin to the season and is now averaging 13.9 factors and 9.2 rebounds per recreation. Each Mitchell and Boston have performed effectively 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 mentioned.
Because of this, the Fever look harmful. On a latest episode of her podcast, “A contact extra,” WNBA legend Sue Hen mentioned that the Fever are a crew 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,” Hen mentioned. “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 may have your head spinning.”
In her pregame presser on Wednesday evening, White appeared to echo that sentiment.
“It’s a crew that’s enjoying with lots of confidence,” White mentioned. “They don’t worry anybody. They only exit they usually play and benefit from the recreation — that’s a tricky matchup.”
