INDIANAPOLIS – With under four minutes left in Thursday’s game between the Indiana Fever and New York Liberty, Fever center Aliyah Boston got the ball in the post. As Boston spun inside the lane to go up for a shot, all 78 inches of Liberty center Jonquel Jones met her to double-team her in front of the hoop.
Boston searched for an angle for a shot, then looked for an open teammate to dish it to. Nothing was there. Shot clock violation. Boston — who had a frustrating 5-of-15 evening — softly dropped the ball to the ground as she walked down the court defeated. It was the Fever’s third shot clock violation of the night, and second in a row.
The possession was a culmination of Indiana’s 102-66 defeat. The Fever shot just 36.7% in a game defined by limited ball and player movement, clunky spacing and multiple offensive possessions without an objective. The team’s three shot clock violations didn’t even include the possession at the end of the third quarter when they failed to get a shot up after rebounding the ball with 15 seconds left.
Coach Christie Sides and the Fever have a lot of mouths to feed. Caitlin Clark (nine points) was the first overall pick this year, but Boston (12 points) was last year’s top pick and Rookie of the Year. NaLyssa Smith (five points) went second overall in 2022. Kelsey Mitchell (five points) — who’s coming off the bench as she works her way back from a left ankle injury — is an All-Star who has led the team in scoring the past five seasons.
The combination of all those talented offensive players, through two games, has produced an offense that lacks an identity. One moment their honing in on Clark and Boston pick-and-rolls, the next it’s about Boston and Smith in the post or running Mitchell around off-ball screens. The absence of direction in Indiana’s offense has contributed to its 0-2 start.
Balance was always going to be necessary for the Fever’s offense. But their balance should be more like New York’s (four players with 12 or more points) than the aimless offense they ran Thursday.
“It seems like we, as a unit, freak out and stand still,” said Fever wing Katie Lou Samuelson. “Whereas I think if we just continue to move and try to cut more, that can really help. I think we left Aliyah and NaLyssa on an island sometimes when they’re posting up. Us guards, we need to get movement and cut to the basket and maybe open some things up.”
Everything the Fever do on offense looks hard. Some possessions look rushed, while others are slow to develop (or never develop at all).
After the game, Sides emphasized the easy buckets were too few and far between. Sides claimed the team needed more “gets” (quick handoffs) and “drags” (screens that occur early in possessions) to open up the team’s offense.
At first glance, the Fever giving up 102 points may seem like the bigger issue. While this defense certainly needs some work, there weren’t great expectations for the Fever’s defense given the team’s offensively-slanted personnel. Combine that with playing the star-studded Liberty — who had the WNBA’s second-best offense in 2023, and New York’s high-scoring outing makes a little sense.
But nobody expected the Fever to struggle to score this much. Not with their offensive arsenal.
The Fever aren’t even creating the type of shots expected from a team of their makeup. With solid, high-volume 3-point shooters like Clark, Mitchell and Samuelson, one would expect Indiana to let it fly from deep compared to the rest of the league. The Fever took just 19 3s on Thursday, making five. On the other side, the Liberty attempted 27 3s despite making only eight. One team knows what it is while the other is still figuring it out.
Boston — like Samuelson — felt the offense was “stagnant” and needed better spacing on Thursday.
“Just being able to have more spacing, because when we had spacing, it was obvious,” Boston said. “We were able to get to the basket, we were able to create our own shot. So just making sure that we’re able to do that just get more of a rhythm quicker.”
Clark followed her 10-turnover opening night performance with nine points on 2-of-8 shooting. Clark scored less than 10 points just once in 139 games at Iowa, and she’s already done it in her second WNBA game.
The transition hasn’t been seamless for Clark. Defenses playing her tight is nothing new, but the size, length and athleticism doesn’t compare to college basketball. While Clark navigates the challenges of being a pro, she’ll also need help from those around her.
“We can do a better job of trying to help her get some space and help her get some freedom,” Samuelson said. “But we trust her. We want to keep figuring out how to work with her in the best way.”
The 17,274 fans who packed Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Thursday were expecting a show in Clark’s first home game. Instead, the Fever proved to still be a few classes below the elite tier of the WNBA. Stopping teams like the Liberty was always going to be a challenge for this team, but getting buckets was supposed to be the strength of the squad.
The Fever built an offense that, in theory, should be hard for opponents to figure out. But they have to figure themselves out first. Until that happens, more long nights are in store.
By ZION BROWN/Indy Star