On paper, the Indiana Fever did everything right during this off-season. After Caitlin Clark’s breakout year, Kelly Krauskopf and Amber Cox retained their young core of Clark, Boston, and Mitchell and surrounded them with veteran presence. They brought in Natasha Howard, Sophie Cunningham, and DeWanna Bonner, who later left the team. But keeping all the drama aside, the Fever looked like an exciting team to watch! And that has been the case…for the neutrals. They are loving the up-and-down season the Fever are having. But for the Indiana faithful, it has been a period of torment with sprinkles of fun & excitement in between.

Stephanie White’s team is currently third in the Eastern Conference with a 9-10 record. When it’s their day, and if everyone’s healthy, their pace-and-space offense can run any team off the court. But with persistent injuries and some locker room drama, we haven’t been able to see the team’s full potential on a consistent basis. Moreover, many people have noticed that Caitlin Clark is not getting the ball as much as before, which raises some interesting questions for the HC.

Robin Lundberg, hoops writer for Sports Illustrated, had an interesting theory as to why the Indiana Fever might be struggling. “There’s enough reason to wonder whether Caitlin Clark and Stephanie White see completely eye to eye about the Fever’s offensive identity.” He said in a tweet, which had an attachment of his article, where he covered this topic in-depth.

According to Lundberg, “Clark has often been compared to Steph Curry, but in many ways she is more a LeBron James or Luka Doncic archetype.” He said, calling the six-foot-tall point guard a “heliocentric offensive force who makes things happen for herself and others through her elite playmaking.” An apt example, for sure, considering the impact that CC has on the game. She is a three-level scorer and an elite facilitator, similar to Luka Doncic.

However, Stephanie White had an interesting take about Doncic last year while commentating for ESPN. “You see the Mavs just play differently without Luka on the floor.” She said, talking about how the ball moves a lot more, and many more players get involved without the then-Mavs star on the floor. Considering Carolyn Peck’s recent comments about CC, there is a definite case to be made here; Clark and White might not be on the same page regarding Indiana’s offense.

And that’s perfectly normal! It is Stephanie White’s first year working with the Indiana superstar. A team takes some time to create its offensive identity and find its rhythm under a new coach. But after the Fever’s tenth loss of the season, fans are getting concerned. There was plenty of outrage when Clark was benched against the Valkyries, even though she was cutting the lead down bit by bit. While many stars have eased into diminished roles on offense, none have concerned fans more than CC.

Another tier to the issue is Clark’s frequent injuries this season. The six-foot-tall guard has already missed ten games so far because of her quad and groin injuries. Long gaps from being on the court mess up team dynamics, which is something that Stephanie White is very concerned about. Let’s find out what the Indiana Fever HC was thinking ahead of CC’s return to the court against the Valks.

“I don’t worry about Caitlin getting back into the flow offensively,” Indiana Fever HC shows faith in Caitlin Clark after injury return

And Indiana’s struggles at home continue! Stephanie White’s team, after fielding a tightly-contested loss against the Los Angeles Sparks, was blown out by the Valks on Wednesday. This loss hurt a lot more, considering that it was Caitlin Clark’s comeback game, and fans were excited to see the superstar on the court after missing five straight games. However, it didn’t go down as planned. Indiana’s offense looked completely out of sync, and their defense didn’t cover themselves in glory either.

Not to mention, Clark’s return wasn’t as smooth as expected. The Indiana Fever guard only put up 10 points on 4-12 shooting and turned the ball over 4 times. After five games away from the court, no one expected her to be perfect, but a victory would have glossed over her performance. Instead, such a thrashing has magnified her issues beyond reason.

Stephanie White addressed the fact that Indiana has a lot to work through after Wednesday’s loss. Her biggest concern? Bringing Caitlin Clark back up to speed. “Maybe I’m naive, but I don’t worry about Caitlin getting back into the flow offensively,” White said. “I think my biggest concern is, when we reintegrate her, how do we continue to keep our ball movement, and just getting the ball going, not just side-to-side, but baseline to baseline.” The Indiana Fever HC also mentioned how she was concerned by a lot of lateral movement on defense for Caitlin Clark. “I thought she looked good at times, and I think that’s just building consistency and building her endurance,” White added.

It will be interesting to see how Caitlin Clark and Stephanie White synergize going forward. After all, winning the Commissioner’s Cup has put the team in the hot seat. They have the momentum to topple over the Liberty’s reign this year, but it will all depend on whether they can get it going offensively and keep it tight at the back. However their season pans out in the coming weeks, one thing is sure: there will not be any shortage of drama. Stay tuned!