Just days after ESPN analyst Monica McNutt found herself at the center of backlash over her comments that Caitlin Clark needed more “accountability and self-awareness” regarding her role in the WNBA, she shifted the conversation back to basketball. ESPN published a post predicting the Indiana Fever as the Championship favorites, over the Minnesota Lynx and Las Vegas Aces. But McNutt explained why Indiana’s title hopes may ultimately depend on whether they can improve their defense.
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“When it comes to defense in terms of being a legitimate contender, the last nine champions, their defensive ranking has been on an average of third in the league. Now, the Aces is where a little bit of an outlier, coming in at 8th. Right now, the Fever sit seventh in terms of defensive ranking,” she said on espnW while discussing the top-contender prediction with co-host Chiney Ogwumike.
“Aliyah Boston is someone who gives this team versatility and presence… She’s just someone that they trust on the back end. Not to mention coming off the bench, you’ve got the likes of Sophie Cunningham and Lexi Hull who are respected as on-ball defenders, as is Kelsey Mitchell. And so this team, if they continue to climb the defensive rating stat, to me, they will have the ingredients to be a legitimate contender.”
Behind Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston, the Fever currently lead the WNBA in scoring. They are averaging 95.5 points per game. However, Boston remains the only driving force for the defense, and they struggle whenever she’s not on the court.
Indiana is allowing opponents to score nearly 90 points per game against them, and this number is exactly what McNutt believes must come down if the Fever are to turn their championship potential into reality.
However, it is worth noting that while McNutt stressed that Boston is a crucial piece on this team, the Fever center recently suffered a potential right knee injury after an awkward collision with Flau’jae Johnson. And although the seriousness of her injury is yet to be revealed, her status has been changed to a game-time decision.
So if Boston is forced to miss extended time, the Fever will be forced to play with a huge gap in their defense; after all, she leads the team in rebounds (8.5), steals (1.3), and blocks (1.2).
Caitlin Clark and the Fever are currently on a four-game winning streak, but with Boston’s health becoming a major question mark, the coming weeks could go a long way in determining just how real their championship hopes are.