In just five home games, the Indiana Fever have surpassed last season’s attendance total. Asked before of the season about whether he has seen a similar increase in ticket sales during such a short period of time, StubHub spokesperson Adam Budelli said:
Absolutely. When a star player gets traded or signs somewhere else or even just on the road, for example when the Lakers are on the road and people want to see LeBron James, we see a significantly higher average tickets sold. That would be one way to look at it. Or when Kevin Durant was traded to the Suns, you saw a massive increase in ticket sales and excitement in the community to have a generational player like him. Still, what we’ve seen so far with Caitlin Clark has been very unique.
The achievement makes it even more disappointing that the Fever aren’t playing up to par. Especially on the defensive end. Indiana is allowing the most points per game (90.5) and are last in defensive rating (114.3). Both would be forgivable if their offense could compensate. However, they are ninth in points per game (77.4) and 10th in offensive rating (97.8). In order to shore up the defense, head coach Christie Sides moved NaLyssa Smith and Katie Lou Samuelson to the bench in favor of Temi Fagbenle and Kristy Wallace.
That didn’t solve the team’s defensive woes, and Smith returned to the starting lineup after Fagbenle’s foot injury. Since the team isn’t going anywhere, Sides could consider giving more minutes to Lexie Hull and rookie Celeste Taylor. Hull has appeared in seven games, playing less than 10 minutes on average. But during that limited time, she’s taken on the toughest perimeter defensive assignment and held her own. Taylor was selected the best defensive player in her conference twice during her NCAA career, averaging two steals per game across her five seasons of college basketball. She did that on three different teams in three different conferences, playing in different systems and for different coaches. Yes, the WNBA is a totally different animal than the NCAA, but Taylor already has proven that she’s adaptable.
The offensive issues seem even harder to solve. Apart from missing open shots—made possible thanks to Caitlin Clark getting blitzed by defenses, which frees up opportunities for other players—the Fever have problems getting to the line. And it has nothing to do with toughness, but rather strategy. Instead of attacking the basket, the team relies heavily on 3s, firing 24.3 attempts from behind the arc per game. This explains why the Fever are 10th in free throw attempts with 16.5 per game.
Over their next six games, the Fever will face the Mystics twice, the Dream twice, the Sun and the Sky. Connecticut is a much superior team, but Indiana should be competitive against the other three, and, hopefully, find some wins.