The Indiana Fever have gone from riding high to a complete shambles. Not long ago, they were celebrating a five-game win streak, with some even suggesting the team looked stronger without Caitlin Clark. Now the same people are yearning for her return as Fever managed just one win in their last five outings. However, the real stinger among these losses will be the one-point defeat against Paige Bueckers & co.

Their home defeat to Dallas felt like the breaking point, exposing glaring flaws in the Fever’s approach. Naturally, much of the blame has shifted toward head coach Stephanie White. But with multiple injuries thinning out the point guard rotation, her options have been limited. Even so, one league insider noted that the Fever’s substitutions came across as scattered and poorly executed.

Insider Tony East noted that the Fever’s struggles stem primarily from their lack of rotation depth. Odyssey Sims, their only true point guard, had just joined the team and wasn’t yet familiar with the playbook. That left the starting five as Indiana’s best option, even though they lacked a floor general. The real issue, East pointed out, was head coach Stephanie White’s rotations, which turned into little more than a gamble against Paige Bueckers’ side. Fever HC was hoping a bench player could survive alongside the starters.

Interestingly, one Fever player did manage to gel well. “It was in the second quarter. Chloe Bibby had her best stretch of the game. She was making shots, and she hit a three early in the quarter that cut the lead down to 10. She hits another three in the middle of the quarter. Bibby was playing pretty well. And then she exits the game,” East said, confused.

His confusion stemmed from White taking off a player who was performing well. But as the game progressed, he started leaning towards the Fever head coach’s side.

The reason for Fever’s collapse against Paige Bueckers & co.

Chloe Bibby enters the game for Sophie Cunningham in the first quarter. But she had most of her impact during the second quarter. She drained one basket, got a defensive rebound, and made a turnover on Grace Berger. However, Bibby was rotated out for Lexie Hull in the middle of the second quarter. At first, East felt it was a miscalculation from White’s end.

“And it was 20 to 31 wings were ahead of the time that this sub happened, and Paige Bueckers scored right away after that with an and one. So they were up 14, and then the game was tied at halftime. The sub I thought was bad actually marked the start of a Fever run. So clearly it worked. That was a good time to sub,” the insider confessed.

“So, I guess the Bibby sub was the only thing that I thought was odd. Then it worked, and everything else throughout the game I thought just made sense,” he added. The Fever staged an impressive comeback against the Wings but ultimately fell just short at the finish line. After trailing 34-20 in the second quarter, they stormed back with a strong defensive push to tie the game 42-42 by halftime.

Still, the lack of chemistry with newly added players hurt them in the third quarter. Though the Fever rallied once more in the fourth, they came up one point short after failing to convert in the final seconds. Bibby was a bright spot, finishing with 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting. She continues to prove her value as a reliable perimeter presence in Indiana’s rotation.