Just two years ago, headlines read, “January returns for a final trip to Indiana.” At the time, Briann January—then playing for the Storm—was preparing for retirement. Amid a packed schedule with Seattle, she carved out time to revisit memories with her 2012 championship team for their 10-year anniversary. It seemed like a closing act. But some stories refuse quiet endings. Now, she is back. Yes, not in a jersey, but with a clipboard and with exactly what the team has been looking for.

Before the draft night, Indiana Fever HC Stephanie White answered what she wanted to add via the draft. “I think the most important thing for us is defensive versatility,” White said “Now we know we have a lot of weapons on the offensive end of the floor, but on those nights when we’re not making shots, or when things are a little bit more difficult, we’ve got to be able to get stops, and we’ve got to get better in that area, no doubt about it.” The Fever’s roster decisions were clearly defense-centric, understandably so, given they already had multiple scoring options. But is defense a one-player job? Not at all.

Team defense is what creates pressure, forces mistakes, and wins close games. But a team isn’t just about players; it extends to coaches as well, of course. That’s why assistant coach Briann January was hired and why she has been pushing the Fever hard on the defensive end. And if you’ve followed Indiana basketball for a while, you already know—there’s no one better to lead the charge. Just ask Caitlin Clark. She’s feeling the January effect firsthand. “I’m not used to this. I don’t do that,” she joked after being told to extend defense across the full 94 feet. And she’s not wrong—she’s more used to being guarded from that distance than doing the guarding herself.

But then, everyone has to put on their hard hats. Especially Caitlin, who has received a fair amount of criticism for not being able to hold her own against more physical players. She constantly struggled in the paint last year, could not lock down defensively, and had herself admitted that she is barely scratching the surface. Enter White, who has been consistent with her demands as well, saying, “You are going to be expected to defend if you want to be on the floor. It is not about being an elite 1-on-1 defender“. So, yes, to reach her optimum scoring level, Clark will have to ramp up her defense.

Even though she wasn’t sitting idle before January’s arrival, sweating it out in the gym to increase her strength, she will now have someone to push her properly. Also, Clark even opted out of lucrative offers like that of Unrivaled to make sure no one can ever doubt her again. “I knew (strength) was going to be a huge part of it, and it’s going to help me offensively, it’s going to help me defensively, it’s going to help me not get as tired throughout games,” Clark had said. So, yes, Caitlin, being Caitlin, is ready to take on the challenge put forward by Briann.

And as we said, who better than Briann to curate the test? She is a seven-time WNBA All-Defensive Team honoree, and six of those accolades came with the Fever. In the program history, she is also ranked second in games played and assists. And you know the best thing about her, that Fever players can look to replicate? Well, Storm forward Jantel Lavender put it best, saying, “The thing with Bri is she doesn’t mind being in players’ space and she doesn’t back down from nobody“.

January knows that to be a great defender, you have to have good communication with teammates, who would be willing to help you on defense. That is exactly why her demand does not leave even the best offensive scorer out of the picture. So far, if we are to judge from the two preseason games, that toughness seems to be working well.

The Indiana Fever is already making the championship buzz.

Many analysts counted the 2024 Indiana Fever out of the playoff picture, despite having Caitlin Clark in the mix. The argument was that it would take time to adjust to the ‘big league’ and form chemistry with the teammates. But the post-Olympic phase was a massive slap in the face for the doubters. Fever made it to the postseason behind their young core production only.

Now, after all the additions both on and off the court, nearly everyone is putting the Indiana Fever in the title contender race. The team is within the top three challengers on everyone’s list. Their two preseason games also support the fact. An overtime win against the Washington Mystics showcased the team’s defensive strength. The team came back from a double-digit deficit. Their defensive stops on a timely basis handed them a chance to cut the lead quickly.

White was all happy postgame with her thumbs up of approval. “I liked our aggressiveness,” she said. “I liked the fact that we picked up pretty much 94 feet, that they didn’t get anything easy. It’s not often that you come out with a win in a game where you shoot 30% from the floor — and I felt like our defense really held, gave us an opportunity to get back in the game, gave us an opportunity to finish the game”.

When it came to Brazil, Indiana’s defense limited them to a combined 27 points between the second, third, and fourth quarters, further causing their opponent to stay satisfied with single digits in two of those quarters.  

So, with HC White joining forces with Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever and offseason roster moves, the chances of returning to the top are significantly better. Last season, Caitlin Clark and her team were among the top ones in offensive rating while defensively 11th out of 12 teams. In contrast, White’s Connecticut team led the WNBA in the defensive category last year.

So when the best offensive team gets the coach of the best defensive side, it could be a major lift for their chances of getting closer to the championship dream. And add January in the mix? Seems like party time for Indiana.