Fever Using Break to Reset and Bond Ahead of Playoff Push

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Indiana Fever

Fever Using Break to Reset and Bond Ahead of Playoff Push

August 7, 2024 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Indiana Fever News Release


The Olympic break poses a unique challenge for athletes in the WNBA. Every four years, the league takes a month-long hiatus to allow its players to participate in the Summer Games. But for the players not competing in the Olympics, the four-week layoff in the middle of a grueling season presents a real opportunity to for both refreshment and improvement, a chance to heal bumps and bruises before rejoining their teammates for essentially a second training camp.

Indiana Fever general manager Lin Dunn speaks often about how the Olympic break in 2012 fueled the Fever's championship run, back when Dunn was the head coach. While star forward Tamika Catchings was off winning a gold medal in London, the rest of the team came together during the break, conducting spirited practices where they pushed one another to improve. When Catchings returned to the fold, they played their best basketball in the second half of the season, then rode that momentum through the playoffs and to the first title in franchise history.

The 2024 Fever are hoping to replicate that formula this summer. The Fever have just one player competing in Paris, Australian guard Kristy Wallace. The rest of the roster - including All-Stars Aliyah Boston, Caitlin Clark, and Kelsey Mitchell - are all back in Indianapolis, where the team resumed practice last week.

Head coach Christie Sides gave her players an extended break after their last game in Minnesota on July 17, but the team reassembled at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on July 29. Sides said she anticipated their might be some rust when the team got back on the court, but there really was no drop-off. With their next game not until Aug. 16, Sides is giving them ample days off (they had all of last weekend free), but when they're on the court, they're focused on getting better and - importantly - having fun.

"They're working hard," Sides said. "We haven't had this time together, not just on the court, but off the court."

Sides has tried to give the team opportunities to bond while also exercising their competitive juices during this break by opening each practice by spending 10 minutes on "some sort of team event." They've played basketball games like 21 or Knockout, competed in a scavenger hunt, and done a communication drill where a player had to guide a blindfolded teammate to make a layup. On Tuesday, they had a home run derby, which Clark won.

"You've got a lot of time with no games," Sides said. "One of our things is just having fun. Continue to have fun and have some joy. Because if you don't have that, it can get really long when you don't have a game to prepare for...Once we get started, they all get really into it."

"Obviously it still has to be competitive because that's what we're all made of," Clark added. "It's been fun to see everybody compete outside of their element."

There have been other opportunities for bonding as well. On Tuesday, Boston teamed up with NaLyssa Smith, Victaria Saxton, and Lexie Hull to pull a viral TikTok prank on Sides. Later in the afternoon, Boston, Clark, Mitchell, and Erica Wheeler attended a press conference at the Indiana State Fair to unveil a new basketball court. They hung around afterwards to check out the fair, including a trip to see the baby goats at the petting zoo.

"I think it's always great to just be able to build that energy, especially off the court," Boston said. "Once you're fully connected off that court, on the court it's just easier."

No one has relished the break more than Clark, who hasn't had any time off since last fall, going straight from her record-setting college career at Iowa into her rookie season in the WNBA. Clark has been sensational, setting multiple franchise and league records through her first 26 games and positioning herself as the clear frontrunner for Rookie of the Year honors. But the break has provided Clark with some much-needed rest.

"She was able to get her legs under her," Sides said. "She's hitting shots. She's been going since her college season started, so just for her to get her rest (is big)."

The Fever had not made the playoffs since Catchings retired in 2016, but they are in position to return to the postseason this year. It would be an important achievement for one of the league's youngest rosters.

Though they started the year 1-8 while playing a historically difficult schedule to open the season, the Fever have gone 10-7 since to move into seventh place with 14 games remaining. The top eight teams make the playoffs and Indiana figures to be right in the thick of the playoff race for the final month of the regular season.

"Everybody's going to be competing really hard coming back from the break obviously with playoffs on the line," Clark said. "One or two games can really decide the difference between that eight and nine spot. Obviously we're in seventh place right now, but that can change from game to game as we know. I think it's the little details, the little margins that's going to be what's important for us."

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