Fever HC Stephanie White has been the subject of criticism among fans for some of her responses, like initially defending DiJonai Carrington following her flagrant foul on Sophie Cunningham. However, as the season has progressed, it has become hard for basketball minds like Nekias Duncan to ignore how White has smoothly transitioned the roster following their 2025 season when Caitlin Clark was limited to just 13 games.
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“You’re implementing Caitlin Clark back into the fold because of how much time she missed. So, like there’s a general ‘We want to evolve,’ but also we have to evolve while also making sure Caitlyn is comfortable within this because she is such a big part of what we do. I don’t think enough credence was given to the fact that that is a lot to navigate on top of everything else that comes with the Fever,” Duncan said on the Yahoo Sports Daily podcast.
“So, for them to look like this and, as Caroline [Fenton] mentioned earlier, not just the best offense in the W, this is pretty easily going to be the best offensive rating of all time if this holds. Not an easy thing to do. [White] absolutely deserves her credit for what she’s done.”
The Fever played the 2025 season without Clark following her season-ending groin injury in June. This season, Stephanie White has successfully integrated Clark in the starting lineup. She has done it without compromising Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell’s game.
Indiana is currently the best offensive team in the league, and that too, by a mile (96.6 points per game, 5.0 points more than the Lynx, who are second). But White has not been given the credit for what she has done with what she has at hand.
Even without their best playmaker and a certified scorer, the Fever took the defending champion Las Vegas Aces to Game 5 of the semifinal series. This season, they look much better, and they will enter the postseason with Clark. Their offensive surge supports their case.
Since mid-July, Indiana have had two five-game winning streaks. In the last five games, their offensive rating has reached 117.4 points, with an average of 99.2 points per game.
Like Duncan’s ‘The Dunker Spot’ co-host Steve Jones noted, Stephanie White has been trying for more flow and movement. She is not just limited to playing pick-and-roll through Clark. She also changed the Fever’s starting lineup and inserted Makayla Timpson in place of Monique Billings.
The new starting lineup allows the Fever to play their elite offense without compromising on the defense that Timpson and Lexie Hull provide.
But defense has also been Indiana’s Achilles’ heel. In the last five games, the Fever have posted a defensive rating of 112.7, which is 14th in the league, as per StatMuse’s calculations. It is worse than their overall defensive rating (109.3).
Usually, a championship-caliber team peaks by the end of the season. The Fever have performed worse, losing the last two of their three games. White needs to take hold of the situation. Perhaps the FIBA World Cup break will give Stephanie White time to recalibrate and make an adjustment.