The Indiana Fever’s offense revolves mainly around Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston. While Clark handles the ball, Boston works in the paint and helps the WNBA 2024 Rookie of the Year space the floor. However, with the Fever management acquiring new pieces like Tyasha Harris and Raven Johnson, Clark’s duties might be cut short, as was evident in the team’s first preseason game against the New York Liberty.
In their first preseason game, the change in strategy was evident, as Clark only contributed seven points and four assists. Johnson, on the other hand, scored six points and dished out eight assists.
Talking about the possible change in the offensive strategy in Indiana, on Courtside Club by Rachel DeMita, the WNBA analyst shared her opinions on changing the pattern that has worked for the team thus far. The official Instagram channel of the show posted the video and wrote:
“This is already concerning…”
TV show host DeMita said:
“They play this really scrappy offense brand of basketball where everybody gets a touch but Caitlin Clark, who was controlling the pace of all of it. She played a lot of minutes on the court, and what we’ve heard over and over, not only this season in training camp, but also last year, is Stephanie White saying we get Caitlin off the ball to get her better looks. My problem with that sentiment is that it has not worked yet. So, how much time are you going to try to develop Caitlin Clark into this off-ball player?”
The analyst raised some questions for the team management and claimed that Clark was just “chucking” the ball, while earlier she would move the ball and make impactful plays. DeMita added that Clark’s assist-to-points ratio in her rookie season was a major part of her game.
The analyst claimed that the 2023 first overall pick wasn’t utilized to her “full strength” and believed that letting her play with the ball more would be beneficial for the entire team.
“I can’t watch that,” Analyst expresses discontent seeing Caitlin Clark standing in the corner
While Kelsey Mitchell led the game with 18 points, Sophie Cunningham, who had 13, was comfortable as if she had never left the court. Even though Aliyah Boston and Lexie Hull sat out of the game, the Fever registered their first win of the season, 109-91. Rachel DeMita, in her video, was furious with the idea of playing Caitlin Clark off the ball and said:
“I promise you guys, if I see Caitlin Clark sitting in the corner like she was doing multiple possessions in the game against the New York Liberty in preseason, I’m not going to be.. I cannot, I can’t watch that. Putting Caitlin Clark in the corner is basically giving the other team exactly what they want; they don’t want the ball in Caitlin’s hands.”
It’ll be interesting to see how the Fever’s new offensive strategy pans out as the season progresses, and how far management would go if it didn’t work. The new team combinations will surely take time to gel on the floor, and that’s what preseason is all about. The Fever will hope to iron out everything before the regular season begins on May 8.
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