Indiana Fever Exposed to Bigger Crisis Than Caitlin Clark Injury in National Analyst’s Brutal 45-Second Rant

“Today’s video is going to be the rant of all rants!” Rachel DeMita said at the top of her YouTube video she did mean it. Now look, we all know Caitlin Clark is the Fever’s heartbeat. She’s why the cameras are rolling, why the seats are packed, and why eyes are glued to screens. But even without her, Indy fans are still showing up. Still cheering. Still believing. So, what’s got everyone so fired up? Well, it’s not the losses, and it’s not Clark’s injury. What’s pushing fans (and analysts) to the edge is something deeper… 

Before we get to that, let’s rewind a bit. The Fever’s recent skid kicked off with a nail-biter against the Liberty. Final score was 90-88. Caitlin and Aliyah Boston both showed up, but it still wasn’t enough to get over the line. Then came the Mystics, and without Caitlin (out with a quad injury), the Fever’s offense pretty much disappeared in an 83-77 loss.

And just when you thought it couldn’t get worse, the Connecticut Sun game rolled around. The Fever dropped that one too, 84-81, and the injury bug hit hard. Sydney Colson went down early, and Sophie Cunningham tweaked her ankle again in the fourth quarter.

But here’s where DeMita’s now-viral 45-second rant comes in. She’s usually praising the Fever’s rebuild and vibe shift. Not this time, though. What lit the fuse? The style of basketball. “I’m so confused as to why the Indiana Fever is playing the style of basketball that they are playing,” she said. And then came the bomb, “If you look at it logically, the style of basketball that the Connecticut Sun played last year was slow-paced… They mucked up the game. They made every single game ugly. And that’s how they won.”

If you remember, that “slow and methodical” grind was the Sun’s entire identity last year. In the semifinals against the Lynx, it was all physicality. Alyssa Thomas bullied her way through the paint, DiJonai Carrington and Marina Mabrey clamped down on the perimeter, and everything slowed to a crawl. It wasn’t pretty, but it worked. 

Sun games were messy, physical, and low-tempo and they won like that. But when Stephanie White took over in Indiana, she sold a completely different vision. “We’re going to play fast. We’re going to shoot threes. We’re going to play with pace'” is what she made fans believe. And with a youthful core fired up by vets, that was the dream. Well, against the Mystics, the Fever shot just 39.7% from the field and 23.8% from deep. It only got worse in the second half – down to 36%. Boston had just 10 points on five attempts. Kelsey Mitchell was at 25% shooting. In the Liberty game, Indiana blew a 9-point halftime lead and went into the fourth down 10. Yes, they made it close. But this is becoming a pattern.

“The problem is is that that style of basketball is the style of basketball that the new fans fell in love with. And I’m sorry… that style of basketball is the most entertaining style of women’s basketball. Nobody wants to watch the women’s game slow, be overtly physical,” the analyst boldly said on her channel.  She’s not wrong there either. Yes, physicality is part of the game. But fans have noted the team’s sluggish pace, with comments highlighting the lack of transition offense and questioning the strategy of slowing down the game, especially with a dynamic player like Caitlin Clark on the roster.

And you know what really had people (and Rachel) shaking their heads though? ZERO transition points against the Mystics. For context, they had 49 total in the four games before that. So, stats back up the analyst’s comments. DeMita also expressed her shock at the fact that the broadcaster said the other day that Sun and Fever are the two slowest teams in the W. “If you told me that would be said during any Indiana Fever game, I would’ve thought you were insane,” she said.

That’s where we’re at. Talking about the Sun, at least their slow style translated to wins. But Indiana has lost four games, and their identity is all over the place. With Caitlin out for at least two more games, Fever might want to take a hard look in the mirror.

For now, our ballers are off hyping up Indiana’s men’s teams. 

Caitlin Clark’s courtside presence fuels Pacers’ perfect run

Clark may be sidelined for now, but she is still very much in the game.. just as a watcher.. While the Fever continue to navigate the WNBA grind without her on the court, Clark’s presence at Gainbridge Fieldhouse is turning into something of a good luck tradition for the Indiana Pacers. 

Clark showed up in style for Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals, flanked by Fever teammates Aliyah Boston and Lexie Hull. Sitting courtside, the hoopers ducked from the celebrity cam at first, but gave fans a sweet wave later. “It’s great being in Indianapolis right now,” she told ESPN. “People are loving basketball.”

The best part has to be that with Caitlin in the building, the Pacers have gone 7-0 this postseason. Coincidence? Or Clark-certified good vibes? Either way, it’s working. This time, the Pacers blew past the Knicks 125-108, with Pascal Siakam and Tyrese Haliburton leading the charge. Their reward was a trip to the NBA Finals for the first time in 25 years.

Clark, naturally, was buzzing. She hopped on Instagram with a celebratory “FINALSSSSS” and a video from the final buzzer. Now, as the Pacers prep for a Finals faceoff with the OKC Thunder (Game 1 on June 5), Indy’s basketball story keeps getting bigger. And while Caitlin Clark works her way back for the Fever, she’s already helping write a winning tale from the sidelines.