NFL coaching great Bill Parcells once said, “You are what your record says you are.” One of many reasons is when a team falls short of expectations. That’s happening now with the Indiana Fever (5-5), and the big question is why.
Yes, I know it’s a long season, but the flat-out reality is that the Fever are off to a disappointing start. Especially bothersome is the “stuff” that has been going on over the past month.
There was a viral shot of head coach Stephanie White and Caitlin Clark yelling at each other in a timeout huddle last week in the Fever’s 100-84 loss to the expansion Portland Fire. Then, the team pulled an amateur move of revoking independent journalist Scott Agness’s credentials after he reported on X that Clark would not play on May 20.
These unsettling scenes remind me of the Fever’s past, especially in 2023-24 when Christie Sides was head coach. Even though she had experience as an assistant coach at the college and pro level, she seemed overwhelmed in Indianapolis.
It’s a big reason why just about everybody welcomed Stephanie White back to the Fever sidelines last year. Her credentials said why.
White had a great college career playing at Purdue, and then went on to have a solid five-year WNBA career, including her last four with the Fever. She also served as a Fever assistant coach from 2011 to 2014. Before and after that stint, White got plenty of college and pro coaching experience, including serving as head coach of the Connecticut Sun in 2023-24.
So, what’s not to like? It’s what’s happening now. White has struggled to coach Clark, not fond of Clark’s defense, and she doesn’t want her top player to freelance on offense. For her part, Clark has expressed frustration about White not getting the best version of herself. That sentiment may explain, at least in part, what happened last week in Portland.
There’s more, though. This week, a team meeting lasted two hours. Grievances were aired regarding the team’s play, especially about the offense, which has been inconsistent so far. There’s no doubt that White was a topic of conversation.
If players expected that meeting to yield immediate results, reality says it didn’t. The Fever blew a 12-point lead on Saturday night in an 83-75 loss to the New York Liberty at Barclays Center. A big reason is that players couldn’t generate much offense in the second half, scoring only 35 points after the break.
What bothers me most about the situation is that White has so much to work with offensively, not less, and that’s why the saying “getting less with more” resonates with me. Too often, the Fever go through scoring droughts, as they did on Saturday night.
White doesn’t seem to make in-game adjustments designed to attack the opposition’s defensive weaknesses, and she often looks confused on the sidelines when cameras show her in game situations. It mystifies me. For example, when the Liberty went on a run in the 4th Quarter Saturday night, White didn’t call a timeout to slow the momentum and draw up a counter strategy.
Most glaring (for all to see) is how Clark has become a non-factor on offense. A generational talent of Clark’s can’t be pedestrian. White has to figure out how to use her rather than be frustrated that she can’t fit into her system.
The problem with this team can’t be framed unilaterally as players’ inability to run White’s system.
Clark and Aliyah Boston aren’t meshing, and they’ve certainly played together enough to figure it out. Why isn’t White running pick-and-rolls with that duo? But that’s not the only problem. Why is there no help defense for Clark? We all know she is a liability on defense, so why isn’t White having someone help cover for her star? Why are the players confused when they run the offense late in the game? On Saturday night, Kelsey Mitchell had to hit a desperation shot before the shot clock violation, and on another possession, Boston had no idea the shot clock was about to expire.
Clark and White can keep saying everything is fine, but the results are not. The Fever are not in a good place at 5-5, and soon it will be too late to say what I’ve said here, “it’s early.”
There are too many issues to conclude it isn’t about coaching. It is. If White can’t figure out how to use Clark, the Fever should trade their star rather than waste her time.
I never thought I’d write this, especially so soon after Sides, but it may be time to make a coaching change in Indianapolis.
