Just one left quad injury was enough to pull the brakes on the team. That’s all it took. As someone who had to sit out for the first time since a consecutive appearance in over 185 games, Caitlin Clark was the anchor that the team relied on. But the Indiana Fever started crumbling in her absence. After an absolutely disappointing performance against the Mystics on May 28, how can the team depend on HC Stephanie White’s hub as she teams up with Sydney Colson and Sophie Cunningham to run the show?

What makes things worse is the fact that the Fever brought in too many reinforcements for them to look this bad without Clark. Players like DeWanna Bonner, Natasha Howard, and Colson were supposed to make their defense strong, but that hasn’t been the case. And so, nothing went well against the Mystics as the team targeted Aliyah Boston and limited her chances. Even White’s strategies failed to work as Colson could not generate enough, predominantly owing to gelling issues.

While Colson had to bear the brunt of not leading the offense efficiently, was she the only one to let the team down? National reporter Sabreena Merchant joined hosts Zena Keita and Ben Pickman on the latest episode of No Offseason: The Athletic Women’s Basketball Show to talk about Colson’s contributions.

“When you don’t have a point guard who is going to be calling for pick and rolls because, like Sydney Colson, I’m not even sure I’d really call her a point guard offensively. Like, I understand floor general, like, she organises people, but I don’t think she’s really running offense, so to speak, how you would expect a point guard to. So, she’s not going to be doing that,” Merchant said. Referring to Colson as an inefficient point guard, Merchant was quick to note how the athlete was unable to even pick and roll despite having a second ball-handler in Sophie Cunningham.

In the absence of Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston’s dynamic, where Clark would dribble, shoot, or dish the ball to Boston on the roll, Colson and Cunningham fell face-flat against the Mystics, indicating their inefficient communication and understanding. And though this technique majorly contributes to Fever’s offense strategy, it was invisible in the last game as Boston played multiple roles.

Despite the Mystics’ successful tactic of packing the paint, the Indiana Fever and especially Boston had a tough time navigating the court. Speaking about opponents limiting Boston’s gameplay during the first half, Merchant said, “Literally, I could count on my hand the number of times she was even involved in handoffs and stuff during the first half.” Boston could only average five points in the first 29 minutes as opposed to her massive 19-point consecutive shots against the NY Liberty. Moreover, she made very few handoffs to the opponents, thereby further limiting scoring chances against the Mystics.

So, what exactly went down with the Indiana Fever and especially their 2023 overall number one pick during the game? Was it Clark’s absence in the paint? “You have this incredibly versatile big who admittedly is at her best when she’s playing with Caitlin Clark. But that doesn’t mean she can only play with Caitlin Clark. There’s a lot of other things that she’s capable of doing and it was just strange to see them consistently go away from that,” Merchant added.

Boston has averaged a double-double of 16.8 points and 10 rebounds this season, and so Merchant believes the player is capable of driving the team towards a win by strengthening the Fever’s defense. But going back to the Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky match, host Zena Keita was quick to say, “I think about the Indiana Chicago game and I’m like Chicago was stopped themselves. I don’t necessarily think that Indiana was the team that was really putting on the clamps on Chicago.” That’s something similar to what went down with Fever against the Mystics, but here the opponent’s defence guarded the fort and limited Fever’s overall movement, which adversely affected the team’s scoring.

On the other hand, Mystics came across as a swift and agile roster that made for fast breakpoints. Way faster than Fever’s for sure.

Stephanie White to improve the Indiana Fever’s statistics

In 2024, Fever stood at a net rating of -3.4 despite a strong offensive rating of 106.1, owing to their second-worst defensive rating of 109.5. While these on-off splits cement the positive impact of reigning ROTY on the team, head coach Stephanie White’s presence and long-term thinking can improve the statistics in their favour. She also aims to place the team in a favourable position this year, irrespective of Clark’s presence.

With constant roster rotations after Clark’s immediate inability to join the team, White made another bold move to include Colson in the roster. But she also focused on other players. With a chance to prove that her hub is worthy, Aliyah Boston is expected to take the reins and steer the ship.

And though Clark’s absence has been a big blow to the entire roster, this is the time for other players to step up their defences and shine on the hardwood. And while they faced their first gut-wrenching loss against the Washington Mystics, it will be interesting to note how White further experiments with the locker room to fit perfectly with her goal of winning the 2025 WNBA title.

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