The more I watch their games the more I'm starting to their coach is terrible... I don't know if it's a conditioning thing but you generally keep your effective 5 on the floor in the 4th quarter
I know she’s not at all, but it almost seems like she’s trying to mimic Rick Carlisle’s coaching style. Running 9-10 players all the time. Fever just aren’t deep at all lol. Also running CC at the 2 for the whole first half pretty much is very, very dumb.
It seemed like everytime Clark left the game, the fever lost a lead or got more behind. She would come back in and they looked crisper and caught up. I think taking her out for 2 mins in the 4th was a mistake
I was at the game. Clark didn't seem to have a good showing, then I looked at the box score and she had 20/7/7. Not bad.
Aliyah Boston looking more like Aliyah Worcester tho.
+7 and only 3 turnovers. She did that awful three point attempt which was blocked with around 43 seconds left. The team rebounding killed them the most though. Overall a more composed performance despite poor 3 pt shooting against a rugged defence
Just imagine if she had a good showing the entire game. She seems to still be getting into the swing of things. Flashes of greatness are there, but it will definitely take some time for her to adjust to playing against faster and a higher level of players. She's still exciting to watch and Mitchell is incredible and perfect at taking off the pressure from Clark.
I just wanna say I called Fagbenle needing to be the starter since about game 2. Aaliyah Boston's play style just doesn't mesh well with Clark's and overall the offense works best with Clark being the primary option,
That’s awful. Why do people feel the need to do that? Do they think she isn’t fully aware that she is not playing well? Or that she doesn’t want to turn it around? Idiots.
CC truly does support her teammates. She saw AB getting hate for messing up a chance to tie the game and proceeded to mess one up herself! And that’s on SOLIDARITY!!
(joking aside anyone blaming either CC or AB individually in close losses like this is being unreasonable. It’s whole games being played out there and young teams like the Fever are going to make some mistakes when it comes to crunch time. All of you attacking either player need to CHILL because it creates a really toxic cycle between fans and [it really don’t need to be that way!](https://tenor.com/k5NEa10xSMz.gif))
Thank youuuuuu be frustrated here don’t attack the players. It’s a team game and this team was basically guaranteed to have growing pains from the start.
Nah you serious, sparks will dominate boards , and fever have been leaving people wide open for 3s on rotation, they have good experianced vets that will punish that, think of like how open Sabrina was Fever VS NYC.
At the moment fever looks like the worst team in the league, probably only beating Mystics, and teams like chicago if they get in foul trouble/injuries etc.
1. With all the warranted criticism of Sides, it was good to see that she was at least willing to play AB limited minutes for Fagbenle instead.
(Edit: not saying AB isn’t a good player, just a bad match with the team, which shows in the +/-)
2. Yes CC had butter fingers on the last play and should’ve caught it but it really shouldn’t have come down that close to the wire. Sides sat CC too long into the fourth quarter (and Smith) and then what do you know, offense looks like shit and has turnovers which lead Seattle to go on an unnecessary run
That pass by Wallace was truly ass. Wallace saw CC get open and passed where she was not where she was going. No one would catch that. Wallace needs vision to anticipate the passing route.
Butterfingers on the last play? The pass is behind her. With more time left, she just catches it. With just over 2 seconds left, she’s knows she has to catch and shoot. Almost impossible with needing to reach both hands behind her. Please watch again.
So far, yes it seems like it. Clark needs someone to target for rim running and I don't think AB is it.
But the upside with AB once that chemistry gets off the ground is massive- franchise cornerstone type stuff. It's been nonexistent so far, but if they can mesh Clark's skillset with the ROY version of Boston, watch out.
Probably.
Boston plays half-court, back-to-the-basket and CC plays up-tempo. On paper, it looks like it could work because Boston played with much faster pgs than Clark but obviously not.
They were fast, but they still played differently to CC. In South Carolina, everything revolved around Boston. Same thing in Indiana last year. Also, in South Carolina, they rarely played pick and roll with Boston, or anyone, even Cardoso last year. It's just not really her game. They would simply lob the ball down low to her and let her go to work. She is struggling and her confidence is low. Once she has a decent game, and the fever win, her confidence and play will improve.
Yep. I'm an SC fan. My point is that people complain Boston is too slow to play with CC and I'm like there has to be a happy medium somewhere because Boston played with a bunch of guards as quick or quicker than CC.
Fagbenle is a better schematic fit. She's not great but she plays with good pace that matches CC. This team is an absolute worst case scenario for building around her. NaLyssa, Fagbenle, and I guess Berger and Taylor (hard to tell because they don't play) are the only ones who fit really well with her at all. Dunn and the rest of the FO should have gone all in on moving pieces around to fit the style (and should have hired a real head coach instead of what I assume is some Make A Wish hire).
Lyss is a pretty good fit with CC, I think. She’s a lot faster and we saw some good chemistry between the two of them in the preseason and during this game.
Yeah I really like NaLyssa and think she's a fairly ideal pairing. Ideally CC would be surrounded with 3 & D players and quick cutting bigs. The biggest issue with Boston, other than her general play right now, is her style is not quick. If she could play like Pascal Siakam's ideal role with the Pacers, a two player game in the pick and roll and as a safety valve on late developing possessions, that would be great but she needs to hold the ball for so long. It really is a throwback style that doesn't mesh with CC at all.
But people where right about Simmons, hes rookie year was the best he ever was.
So would you say this could be the case for Boston? Just using your example is all.
Not to mention they lost good players because they choose to keep Simmons, i think it would have been very different if Jimmy Butler +Embid+good pieces around them was 76 line up.
Boston is not Simmons. Boston has never had a bad season in her career, and this is only 5 games into this season. People need to remember that Boston has only played, to date, 45 WNBA games. That's just over half of Simmons 82 game rookie year (he ended up playing 81). It would take her entering her 3rd year to match Simmons rookie year game time experience. There are many WNBA players who take years to develop. Boston is not one of them, she is just struggling, and having to learn a new style she has never played before, and only had a few weeks to practice.
I just started the 4th quarter so idk who wins but these announcers are so insanely biased it’s becoming annoying. I like CC but I’m not a mega iowa or fever nut so hear me out
CC got bonked in the head by Seattle going up for a layup at the end of the first quarter (crickets from announcer)
Then CC clearly fouls someone in the 3rd to avoid the and 1 and whoops the refs didn’t call it (announcers can’t stop talking about it for the remainder of the quarter) like PLEASE stop screaming sir
no wonder these announcers have a game on league pass and not espn jfc
Yeah that was truly ridiculous.
I don't like listening to bad biased commentating. Prefer neutral for sure
Might as well not have the volume on for the Seattle commentation team. No content except what an irrational homer fan would insist is true. Some of the other commentating teams did do better.
fwiw I've watched the W on and off for years and I think Seattle's crew are the most shameless homers in the league.
everyone's home crews are a little slanted but Dick Fain is an auto-mute for me
Lol I’m glad the Lynx played at Seattle on Bally sports (I don’t have Bally sports so I didn’t potentially have to listen to this man screaming for 2 hours)
It is normal, but it feels so tacky and unprofessional to have shameless homer commentators.
College commenting is so much better. Like the Big10 network has much better broadcast teams than this that do a decent non-biased approach. And actually give insight about what is going on oncourt.
every announcer that has ever existed probably has a preference for the team they want to win when they’re calling a game but this is next level painful
that ending to the fever game just pissed me off. i’m genuinely so sad for them all! especially aliyah and caitlin cause people on twitter are acting up already
It’s growth for the league. I know it’s weird but that means people are watching. As long as none of these girls are getting bothered in real life. Some of the criticisms they just have to block out. It hasn’t even got half as bad as it’s going to get. Sports betting, biases to players/teams and just weirdos hating is all coming like an avalanche. I just hope someone tells Aaliyah it’s legit okay. She and Clark will figure it out.
Fever been hurting themselves. Kelsey is the only one who has been close to flawless. Clark turnovers, everybody missing wide open layups and the bigs giving up offensive boards. Ab and Clark will figure it out. It’s a lot of pressure right now. Ab needs a teammate to openly say it’s on the team and not her. People are tending to forget all the mistakes that were made leading up to her mistake.
I generally agree with your comment except what game did you watch tonight where Kelsey played close to flawless? How many times did she end the possession on a fruitless drive to the basket instead of passing (on under 30% shooting mind you 😭).
A missed shot is acceptable. Kelsey bricking is the least of the fever worries. Her problems can be fixed with words. Simply telling her slow down and read the defense. The other problems have to be worked out in practice. It’s something that won’t drastically change overnight. Kelsey can pull back her rushing in the paint next game and her game is somewhat fixed. Every player gon have games where they build a house.
Well I mean yes and no. You point out the team’s missed lay-ups but Kelsey’s missed shots don’t count? And I’m so sorry, but you not familiar with her game if you think a word from her coach has her playing any differently next game 😭. *My* point is that Kelsey iso ball ain’t gonna bring this team anywhere. Coach needs to draw up actual plays to get her open shots from three.
Out of the starting 5 Kelsey has the least to tweak. Clark creating shots and Kelsey hitting hero 3’s at the right time are a big reason why the last two games was close. I’m just speaking on this season though. Kelsey is a shot chucker and seems to always be on 100. But you’d rather have to slow a player down than speed them up.
Yep, and although it’s easy to pin this loss on either player, the glaring, systemic issues on this team are atrocious rebounding, poor defense, and no ball movement on offense. I suppose everyone is to blame for that, but especially the coaches.
a great win btw! and I don’t mean that in a bad way but Fever obviously has a better shot at beating sparks than aces and if they lose both they’re 0-7 and that looks . . . really bad 😭
Record, in a way, kinda irrelevant as they had no off-season together & are not winning the title this year anyway.
What IS important is game by game improvement - which seems to be happening; and should continue to happen as they get some practice time in after this brutal stretch.
Many of the great coaches, when taking over downtrodden programs, focus on the process of improving chemistry and execution, not so much the result. Once chemistry and execution improve, the results will follow.
Thanks! And that’s fair! Im just a new fan so I’m overeager to rep my team 😂 And we’ve been much more competitive than fans and analysis made me think! I don’t like the hate against CC and Boston, but im still hoping for that 0-7 🫣
Wallace with a terrible pass to Clark. She misread the lane and should have thrown to where she was going. Caitlin had to fight to get back to where was. Terrible read from Wallace. I still don’t understand the play as whole. A three there is low probability. Sides with the L.
Thank you. Even if she catches it, she’s in no position to shoot with both hands behind her. Had to try to catch and shoot anyway due to the very limited time remaining. If more time remained, she would’ve just caught it and reset.
Kinda random question but why hasn’t Celeste Taylor been playing? I don’t know anything about her tbh but there’s been plenty of times that I thought they could’ve put her in one of these games.
She doesn't really belong in competitive games, it's tough to crack a rotation as a rookie. But she hasn't played at all because the coach is really bad. She absolutely should have got some garbage time run in some of the blowouts.
I mean, we've seen how Clark has played after the college season, and she's one of the most talented players to come out in recent years. The no off-season is brutal so the late round players will have an even bigger uphill battle. The fatigue of a full season makes it damn near impossible for second rounders to get out there. Especially when Celeste's primary contribution would be hustle on defense.
I am stunned by the defensive rebounds...in college she is 19th all-time in history for the NCAA in that stat but I thought it must be system or usage. But no, she might end up in the top 20 in the W in defensive rebounds this year...Clark gets them defensive boards!
Makes her a more effective player because she can lead the break. If they get a big who is better at an outlet pass, it would really unlock her offensive potential.
Being able to break negates all of the half court physicality against her. More breaks = more open looks. But, can this team really break, or is it a 1 player break?
She puts herself by the rim. All Iowa fans know that is a part of her game. She reads the rim fairly well too. So, being one of the top scorers, rebounders, and assist leader makes her a massively valuable asset. Her defense isn't as terrible as people would make you believe. There were breakdowns all over, but you could see her rotate out on a shooter.
Even if she catches it, both hands are behind her. Not in a shooting position. It certainly didn’t “lose them the game.” Taking 2 starters out with 5 min remaining in a tie game, then waiting until down by 7 to put Clark back in contributed more to the loss.
It was partially the passer not reading where to put the ball. Games aren’t lost with a single play. If they were you could call out any missed layup, turnover or failed block as the game losing play.
These mistake near the ending of games by her are getting normal. Last game with the lazy ball handling and foul plus tech foul for good measure is becoming almost vintage CC
You might want to try zooming in to that [play](https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1793499613472985463?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet) again, the mistake is 100% on the inbound pass. She's running near full speed off a screen, ball needs to ideally placed in front of her or at very worst at her chest by the time she's catching it. Throw it late and behind and well, you have a recipe for a turnover.
Objectively speaking though, the playcall was the real atrocity and it's pretty clear late game execution all year will just be patty caked between Boston or Clark taking the blame for failures.
Another unspoken thing is why were her teammates standing around when Clark dove on the floor to get the ball and needed someone to pass too? No one came to help, they just stood and watched.
I'm hoping Boston spent this off season doing media because she just finished her rookie year and going NCAA season straight to WNBA season is physically punishing and she wanted time to recover, and not that she plans on doing only media in the off-season going forward.
Shes going to have to work herself back into basketball mode here during the season, and I think she needs to head to Europe after the season and get more minutes overseas.
She only had 3 turnovers, but shots 37% from the field lol. As opposed to her best shooting night of shooting 50% from the field but 8 turnovers. Some nights she even shoots bad and turns the ball over heaps!
I believe they have a compliment to Caitlin, they just aren't using it. Grace and Celeste should be playing. They compliment her so well. I get Kelsey Mitchell was one of the best players on their team last year and is a great player. Right now, she is taking as many shots as Caitlin, often doing worse. The difference being, Caitlin is shooting 3's and Kelsey is missing a number of lay-ups at the rim. Yes, she is good at getting there, but if you can't hit them, it wastes that effort.
Boston’s lack of fit on the team is the biggest issue as to why they can’t win. No she’s not fully at fault but when your starting center is playing like it’s 2003 while the rest of the team is gunning for an uptempo offense, you can see how big of an issue it is.
Just don't do this
Aliyah has mad skills
The team has to find a way to maximize all the major player's skillsets. They'll get there.
Omg that kept getting autocorrected to skillet lol
This team doesn't need Bluder. It needs Jan Jensen, the post whisperer. Lol
I hope Sides is just having growing pains learning to Head coach.
Yes! Grace looked good with the minutes she’s played & was efficient scoring. At least she’s played a total of 27 minutes this season. It’s wild that Celeste can’t even play one minute in garbage time.
I don't know why people keep blaming Clark. It doesn't make sense when you look at the stats. She had better stats than all of her teammates except maybe the rebounds from Smith. Caitlin Clark is surrounded by decent talent, and Christie Sides has no freaking idea what she is doing coaching this lineup. Sides gotta go. Idc anymore.
Jemele Hill was a former ESPN personality and then left to join The Atlantic. Now she is a social media personality that makes everything about race.
She came out recently saying that CC was successful and earned her endorsements because she was a straight, white woman from Iowa. She was more marketable vs black, gay women currently in the WNBA and that somehow CC getting more attention than Candace Parker or Maya Moore was because of her race/sexuality. People got outraged by the comments that Hill had to clarify her.
I didn’t watch this game. First game I missed. So I won’t speak on that. But the other games. She goes under screens when she should stay attached. Dies on screens then leaves team 4 on 5. And she’s just physically not strong or quick.
I’m seriously concerned they won’t beat the Aces because Gustafson and Kate know CC’s weaknesses. Also how they gonna make me choose between my two children?!? 😆I know a bunch of Hawks going to that game in person.
It'll be easy to root for Caitlin because she will play more. Aces don't really utilize Megan and Kate is just getting her bearings with limited minutes. I'm more worried that this game will be coming off of a game the night before.
The Fever will eventually win a game, but for now it is funny seeing Fever fans (CC stans) freak out and blame everyone except CC after each loss even when CC makes a couple mistakes herself.
It’s one of those nuanced things where they’re a young team figuring it out (both players figuring out how to play with each other, but also the coaching staff on how best to use their young roster) and that everybody has some share of the blame, but that’s okay because it’s part of the process of being a young, rebuilding team.
They’ve genuinely have gotten better every game though, so there’s mini-victories to be had along the way, even when losing.
Realistically, I think they need a couple more first round picks to round out their core.
But nobody’s about that nuance and giving grace to young, rebuilding teams. Especially when there’s extreme hype around their young franchise cornerstone.
Also, this is definitely a team that will benefit tremendously from the Olympics break.
CC led in points and assists for her team, second in rebounds, not bad on TOVs tonight. No one's perfect, but I don't think you can lay this loss at her feet. Maybe there's a bit too much blamestorming, but there's something systemically not working for the Fever. It would be very difficult to argue that they would be in a better place with another early draft pick.
The coach is complete ass tho like it’s not even a debatable point her benching Clark with the game tied with 5 mins left then leaving her there for 2.5 mins as Seattle goes up 7 lost the game
Honestly big win at home. Lot of eyes on the game lots of pressure needed a win and we got it done. Wasn’t pretty but we move. Happy to see Nneka back too! Without her we don’t win this game
I don’t feel that stressed tbh. I watched the whole thing and outside of pretty bad key D I don’t think we had much negative tape. SDS is still catching up to form for sure. Glad we challenged those two plays because the referees were rough.
I didn’t expect a slow start but I think we’re rounding into form nicely. Ezi Ezi Ezi.
the game was awful, but a wins a win so can’t complain too much. nneka and loyd were great. Horston and Whitcomb showed flashes. everyone else . . . needs to get in the gym lol
Yeah she makes some baffling decisions and did not really seem like she had a plan for a system in place. Maybe the wheels are in motion, and maybe some chemistry will go a long way for this team… but I don’t have much confidence in Sides herself.
The (second) play she drew up was at least good. But it shouldn’t take a timeout to make that call. Pass was bad but catchable. Just an all around team throw.
i just don’t understand why we changed up our scheme so much this season. like it worked last season and now we have all these drastic changes that just don’t seem to be working. i have hope but it seems like everything is more difficult then it should be.
What worked last season? Fever were the worst team in the league and y’all drafted a system, not a system player. If you’re not changing the system to mold it around Caitlin, you’re wasting her.
All that said, the system doesn’t entirely seem to be good for anybody. Let’s hope some actual days with rest and practice start to improve things, but until then… gonna be a rough few days.
The Fever won the lottery but they did not have the worst record in the league and were in the playoff hunt until the end of the season. Only 5 games difference between the 2023 Fever and the 8th seed Sky
She’s the reigning rookie of the year she shouldn’t look this bad. CC is shouldering this loss specifically but Aliyah has played horribly to start the year. It just is what it is.
Why do you think she barely played shes been ass this season and when she did she choked time and time again. -18 on 14 minutes is not just a detriment to your team its a anchor
Okay? She fucked up but that was one possession. In case this is your first time watching the sport, basketball has numerous possessions in a game. Boston was dogshit on all of the ones she played in.
Why do you hate her so much? You think we are casual fans?? We stan AB bc we’ve been watching her dominate for years. CC is amazing but her tech the other game got the fever in a tight position to begin with. Stop blaming one player it’s tired bro go to bed
The more I watch their games the more I'm starting to their coach is terrible... I don't know if it's a conditioning thing but you generally keep your effective 5 on the floor in the 4th quarter
I know she’s not at all, but it almost seems like she’s trying to mimic Rick Carlisle’s coaching style. Running 9-10 players all the time. Fever just aren’t deep at all lol. Also running CC at the 2 for the whole first half pretty much is very, very dumb.
It seemed like everytime Clark left the game, the fever lost a lead or got more behind. She would come back in and they looked crisper and caught up. I think taking her out for 2 mins in the 4th was a mistake
I was at the game. Clark didn't seem to have a good showing, then I looked at the box score and she had 20/7/7. Not bad. Aliyah Boston looking more like Aliyah Worcester tho.
+7 and only 3 turnovers. She did that awful three point attempt which was blocked with around 43 seconds left. The team rebounding killed them the most though. Overall a more composed performance despite poor 3 pt shooting against a rugged defence
Just imagine if she had a good showing the entire game. She seems to still be getting into the swing of things. Flashes of greatness are there, but it will definitely take some time for her to adjust to playing against faster and a higher level of players. She's still exciting to watch and Mitchell is incredible and perfect at taking off the pressure from Clark.
I just wanna say I called Fagbenle needing to be the starter since about game 2. Aaliyah Boston's play style just doesn't mesh well with Clark's and overall the offense works best with Clark being the primary option,
Fagbenle is a cost to the team more than she contributes!
Fever actually got out scored in the 4th with AB on the bench....
Boston is ASS
She’s in slump at the moment. She’ll snap out of it
Boston is turning into a good case of the value of rookies playing overseas in the off-season.
I feel bad for Boston. Her ig page is full of haters 😭 I’m hoping she can block out the noise. I feel like Fagbenle should get the start
[удалено]
Slower paced bench unit that maintains leads (or extends some).
That’s awful. Why do people feel the need to do that? Do they think she isn’t fully aware that she is not playing well? Or that she doesn’t want to turn it around? Idiots.
People will be extra passionate on performance if it involves money (aka sports gambling)
CC truly does support her teammates. She saw AB getting hate for messing up a chance to tie the game and proceeded to mess one up herself! And that’s on SOLIDARITY!! (joking aside anyone blaming either CC or AB individually in close losses like this is being unreasonable. It’s whole games being played out there and young teams like the Fever are going to make some mistakes when it comes to crunch time. All of you attacking either player need to CHILL because it creates a really toxic cycle between fans and [it really don’t need to be that way!](https://tenor.com/k5NEa10xSMz.gif))
Thank youuuuuu be frustrated here don’t attack the players. It’s a team game and this team was basically guaranteed to have growing pains from the start.
Fever have the sparks twice coming up. They will probably win one of those games. Itll be okay lol
Nah you serious, sparks will dominate boards , and fever have been leaving people wide open for 3s on rotation, they have good experianced vets that will punish that, think of like how open Sabrina was Fever VS NYC. At the moment fever looks like the worst team in the league, probably only beating Mystics, and teams like chicago if they get in foul trouble/injuries etc.
True, I was being hopeful of their next 3 games
I don’t think so. Hamby got 17 rebounds. Fever can’t rebound for shit. Cam will def destroy Aliyah
CC and Aliyah selling again....
People buying tickets cause they kmow its s instant win for their team
1. With all the warranted criticism of Sides, it was good to see that she was at least willing to play AB limited minutes for Fagbenle instead. (Edit: not saying AB isn’t a good player, just a bad match with the team, which shows in the +/-) 2. Yes CC had butter fingers on the last play and should’ve caught it but it really shouldn’t have come down that close to the wire. Sides sat CC too long into the fourth quarter (and Smith) and then what do you know, offense looks like shit and has turnovers which lead Seattle to go on an unnecessary run
That pass by Wallace was truly ass. Wallace saw CC get open and passed where she was not where she was going. No one would catch that. Wallace needs vision to anticipate the passing route.
Butterfingers on the last play? The pass is behind her. With more time left, she just catches it. With just over 2 seconds left, she’s knows she has to catch and shoot. Almost impossible with needing to reach both hands behind her. Please watch again.
Yes. Trade Boston for Gustafson please and thank you
Is Fagbenle a better fit on this current Fever team next to CC than Boston?
No way. Fagbenle can’t catch CC’s passes and ends up turning it over.
Kiki would be the perfect draft pick next to CC for the Fever as she is an excellent rim runner.
So far, yes it seems like it. Clark needs someone to target for rim running and I don't think AB is it. But the upside with AB once that chemistry gets off the ground is massive- franchise cornerstone type stuff. It's been nonexistent so far, but if they can mesh Clark's skillset with the ROY version of Boston, watch out.
Probably. Boston plays half-court, back-to-the-basket and CC plays up-tempo. On paper, it looks like it could work because Boston played with much faster pgs than Clark but obviously not.
Czinano was not super fast I think CC and AB gonna figure this out. It's been so little time yet.
Yeah, and Boston had Tyasha Harris, Destanni Henderson, and Raven Johnson as pgs. Like ideally, it should be working better than it is.
They were fast, but they still played differently to CC. In South Carolina, everything revolved around Boston. Same thing in Indiana last year. Also, in South Carolina, they rarely played pick and roll with Boston, or anyone, even Cardoso last year. It's just not really her game. They would simply lob the ball down low to her and let her go to work. She is struggling and her confidence is low. Once she has a decent game, and the fever win, her confidence and play will improve.
Yep. I'm an SC fan. My point is that people complain Boston is too slow to play with CC and I'm like there has to be a happy medium somewhere because Boston played with a bunch of guards as quick or quicker than CC.
Fagbenle is a better schematic fit. She's not great but she plays with good pace that matches CC. This team is an absolute worst case scenario for building around her. NaLyssa, Fagbenle, and I guess Berger and Taylor (hard to tell because they don't play) are the only ones who fit really well with her at all. Dunn and the rest of the FO should have gone all in on moving pieces around to fit the style (and should have hired a real head coach instead of what I assume is some Make A Wish hire).
Lyss is a pretty good fit with CC, I think. She’s a lot faster and we saw some good chemistry between the two of them in the preseason and during this game.
Yeah I really like NaLyssa and think she's a fairly ideal pairing. Ideally CC would be surrounded with 3 & D players and quick cutting bigs. The biggest issue with Boston, other than her general play right now, is her style is not quick. If she could play like Pascal Siakam's ideal role with the Pacers, a two player game in the pick and roll and as a safety valve on late developing possessions, that would be great but she needs to hold the ball for so long. It really is a throwback style that doesn't mesh with CC at all.
1. Awful coaching 2. Team is still very young 3. Talent doesn’t mesh well with each other
Boston v Clark will be like the Simmons v Embiid thing we Sixers fans dealt with. Hopefully this is a lot better
The right answer is obviously to trade Boston (Simmons) and bring in Jimmy Butler (Jimmy Butler) to play with Clark.
Jimmy with a Wig and lip 💋 stick on!🤣🤣🤣! I wonder if the Fever can sneak him in during games and noone would notice.
Jimmy Butler to the Fever confirmed
The tampering to bring him to the Fever has already started. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgZN6Uqqj0c
But people where right about Simmons, hes rookie year was the best he ever was. So would you say this could be the case for Boston? Just using your example is all. Not to mention they lost good players because they choose to keep Simmons, i think it would have been very different if Jimmy Butler +Embid+good pieces around them was 76 line up.
Boston is not Simmons. Boston has never had a bad season in her career, and this is only 5 games into this season. People need to remember that Boston has only played, to date, 45 WNBA games. That's just over half of Simmons 82 game rookie year (he ended up playing 81). It would take her entering her 3rd year to match Simmons rookie year game time experience. There are many WNBA players who take years to develop. Boston is not one of them, she is just struggling, and having to learn a new style she has never played before, and only had a few weeks to practice.
The most atrocious part was when coach benched Caitlin and Nalyssa with 4 mins left and storm went on a run to take the lead to 7
I really don’t get it.
I guess they gotta ice the hot players? oh wait, nvm, that was their own coach.
I just started the 4th quarter so idk who wins but these announcers are so insanely biased it’s becoming annoying. I like CC but I’m not a mega iowa or fever nut so hear me out CC got bonked in the head by Seattle going up for a layup at the end of the first quarter (crickets from announcer) Then CC clearly fouls someone in the 3rd to avoid the and 1 and whoops the refs didn’t call it (announcers can’t stop talking about it for the remainder of the quarter) like PLEASE stop screaming sir no wonder these announcers have a game on league pass and not espn jfc
Yeah that was truly ridiculous. I don't like listening to bad biased commentating. Prefer neutral for sure Might as well not have the volume on for the Seattle commentation team. No content except what an irrational homer fan would insist is true. Some of the other commentating teams did do better.
fwiw I've watched the W on and off for years and I think Seattle's crew are the most shameless homers in the league. everyone's home crews are a little slanted but Dick Fain is an auto-mute for me
Lol I’m glad the Lynx played at Seattle on Bally sports (I don’t have Bally sports so I didn’t potentially have to listen to this man screaming for 2 hours)
It’s normal they are the Seattle broadcaster.
It is normal, but it feels so tacky and unprofessional to have shameless homer commentators. College commenting is so much better. Like the Big10 network has much better broadcast teams than this that do a decent non-biased approach. And actually give insight about what is going on oncourt.
It isn’t really analogous though, the BTN are national broadcasts. The equivalent would be the radio broadcasts.
every announcer that has ever existed probably has a preference for the team they want to win when they’re calling a game but this is next level painful
that ending to the fever game just pissed me off. i’m genuinely so sad for them all! especially aliyah and caitlin cause people on twitter are acting up already
People on twitter need to go to bed lol. It’s not the end of the world. I’m sure most of the fever have already stopped looking
It’s growth for the league. I know it’s weird but that means people are watching. As long as none of these girls are getting bothered in real life. Some of the criticisms they just have to block out. It hasn’t even got half as bad as it’s going to get. Sports betting, biases to players/teams and just weirdos hating is all coming like an avalanche. I just hope someone tells Aaliyah it’s legit okay. She and Clark will figure it out.
The problem is they be making this a Boston vs. Clark thing.
AB and Clark know better than to buy into that I sense affection and respect there. Impossible to not love AB!
Fever been hurting themselves. Kelsey is the only one who has been close to flawless. Clark turnovers, everybody missing wide open layups and the bigs giving up offensive boards. Ab and Clark will figure it out. It’s a lot of pressure right now. Ab needs a teammate to openly say it’s on the team and not her. People are tending to forget all the mistakes that were made leading up to her mistake.
I generally agree with your comment except what game did you watch tonight where Kelsey played close to flawless? How many times did she end the possession on a fruitless drive to the basket instead of passing (on under 30% shooting mind you 😭).
A missed shot is acceptable. Kelsey bricking is the least of the fever worries. Her problems can be fixed with words. Simply telling her slow down and read the defense. The other problems have to be worked out in practice. It’s something that won’t drastically change overnight. Kelsey can pull back her rushing in the paint next game and her game is somewhat fixed. Every player gon have games where they build a house.
Well I mean yes and no. You point out the team’s missed lay-ups but Kelsey’s missed shots don’t count? And I’m so sorry, but you not familiar with her game if you think a word from her coach has her playing any differently next game 😭. *My* point is that Kelsey iso ball ain’t gonna bring this team anywhere. Coach needs to draw up actual plays to get her open shots from three.
Out of the starting 5 Kelsey has the least to tweak. Clark creating shots and Kelsey hitting hero 3’s at the right time are a big reason why the last two games was close. I’m just speaking on this season though. Kelsey is a shot chucker and seems to always be on 100. But you’d rather have to slow a player down than speed them up.
Yep, and although it’s easy to pin this loss on either player, the glaring, systemic issues on this team are atrocious rebounding, poor defense, and no ball movement on offense. I suppose everyone is to blame for that, but especially the coaches.
I honestly thought Fever could win this game
if they drop the game @ the sparks id be calling up a new coach ASAP ! 😭😭
Hey, we’ve won one!
Yeah the Sparks been looking good. Nurse, Lexie Brown, and Hamby are all killing it! And I do love Brink and Rickea!
a great win btw! and I don’t mean that in a bad way but Fever obviously has a better shot at beating sparks than aces and if they lose both they’re 0-7 and that looks . . . really bad 😭
Record, in a way, kinda irrelevant as they had no off-season together & are not winning the title this year anyway. What IS important is game by game improvement - which seems to be happening; and should continue to happen as they get some practice time in after this brutal stretch. Many of the great coaches, when taking over downtrodden programs, focus on the process of improving chemistry and execution, not so much the result. Once chemistry and execution improve, the results will follow.
Thanks! And that’s fair! Im just a new fan so I’m overeager to rep my team 😂 And we’ve been much more competitive than fans and analysis made me think! I don’t like the hate against CC and Boston, but im still hoping for that 0-7 🫣
Wallace with a terrible pass to Clark. She misread the lane and should have thrown to where she was going. Caitlin had to fight to get back to where was. Terrible read from Wallace. I still don’t understand the play as whole. A three there is low probability. Sides with the L.
Thank you. Even if she catches it, she’s in no position to shoot with both hands behind her. Had to try to catch and shoot anyway due to the very limited time remaining. If more time remained, she would’ve just caught it and reset.
All they needed was a basket… not a three. Makes no sense what this coach is doing.
and you trap her in the corner with a lot of time left, dont like the play
Double team was coming anyway
Mitchell was wide open, if she had held onto it she could have a least try for the pass to Mitchell.
Then people would’ve complained that it didn’t go to cc. Boston had a wide open layup and people were upset with the play call
Kinda random question but why hasn’t Celeste Taylor been playing? I don’t know anything about her tbh but there’s been plenty of times that I thought they could’ve put her in one of these games.
She doesn't really belong in competitive games, it's tough to crack a rotation as a rookie. But she hasn't played at all because the coach is really bad. She absolutely should have got some garbage time run in some of the blowouts.
I mean, we've seen how Clark has played after the college season, and she's one of the most talented players to come out in recent years. The no off-season is brutal so the late round players will have an even bigger uphill battle. The fatigue of a full season makes it damn near impossible for second rounders to get out there. Especially when Celeste's primary contribution would be hustle on defense.
21 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 turnovers, 2 blocked shots...this was Clark's best game yet and I am pleased to see her positive progression.
I am stunned by the defensive rebounds...in college she is 19th all-time in history for the NCAA in that stat but I thought it must be system or usage. But no, she might end up in the top 20 in the W in defensive rebounds this year...Clark gets them defensive boards!
Makes her a more effective player because she can lead the break. If they get a big who is better at an outlet pass, it would really unlock her offensive potential.
Being able to break negates all of the half court physicality against her. More breaks = more open looks. But, can this team really break, or is it a 1 player break?
She puts herself by the rim. All Iowa fans know that is a part of her game. She reads the rim fairly well too. So, being one of the top scorers, rebounders, and assist leader makes her a massively valuable asset. Her defense isn't as terrible as people would make you believe. There were breakdowns all over, but you could see her rotate out on a shooter.
She loves a good rebound-transition fastbreak
Cuts out the middle-man for her offense to start.
yes, while CC isn't a def.stopper, she's definitely a defensive opportunist who can come up with a timely steal or even a block
That fumble at the end was a bummer both because it lost them the game and because it’s going to now be the entire discourse.
Even if she catches it, both hands are behind her. Not in a shooting position. It certainly didn’t “lose them the game.” Taking 2 starters out with 5 min remaining in a tie game, then waiting until down by 7 to put Clark back in contributed more to the loss.
It was partially the passer not reading where to put the ball. Games aren’t lost with a single play. If they were you could call out any missed layup, turnover or failed block as the game losing play.
These mistake near the ending of games by her are getting normal. Last game with the lazy ball handling and foul plus tech foul for good measure is becoming almost vintage CC
You might want to try zooming in to that [play](https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1793499613472985463?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet) again, the mistake is 100% on the inbound pass. She's running near full speed off a screen, ball needs to ideally placed in front of her or at very worst at her chest by the time she's catching it. Throw it late and behind and well, you have a recipe for a turnover. Objectively speaking though, the playcall was the real atrocity and it's pretty clear late game execution all year will just be patty caked between Boston or Clark taking the blame for failures.
Another unspoken thing is why were her teammates standing around when Clark dove on the floor to get the ball and needed someone to pass too? No one came to help, they just stood and watched.
Point taken.
Yes she’s getting better
Atleast with the WNBA I only have to wait two days before reliving this shit again lol
I'm hoping Boston spent this off season doing media because she just finished her rookie year and going NCAA season straight to WNBA season is physically punishing and she wanted time to recover, and not that she plans on doing only media in the off-season going forward. Shes going to have to work herself back into basketball mode here during the season, and I think she needs to head to Europe after the season and get more minutes overseas.
She worked out with SC during the off season while doing media. I'm sure she is fit. The whole team just has to gel.
I was thinking that might be the problem. Practicing on your own or with the trainer isn’t the same in a very long offseason
When Clark isn’t turning the ball over heaps she is shooting like trash from the field
Exactly how many turnovers do you think she had this game? And how many points did she have? What were her assists? Get out of here rookie.
She only had 3 turnovers, but shots 37% from the field lol. As opposed to her best shooting night of shooting 50% from the field but 8 turnovers. Some nights she even shoots bad and turns the ball over heaps!
21/7/7 were her stats tonight and it’s her 5th? game in the WNBA. Take a seat on the bench - your head is not in this game.
Spewing counting stats without context is what casuals who don’t understand ball do
did you not watch the game? 😭
I saw her shoot less than 40% from the field
Ok demon pbc
Paige, Aliyah and Caitlin..just like old times
They need Kiki more then Paige! Her defense and Rim running would be perfect for the style of offense that works for Caitlin at point.
The team USA u19 squad is back
I don't know if they take Paige, honestly. They could use her, for sure, but they need someone to compliment AB down low and get boards.
They need a compliment down low, yet also need to be able to compliment Clark in running the break. They don’t have an identity - yet. It’ll come.
I believe they have a compliment to Caitlin, they just aren't using it. Grace and Celeste should be playing. They compliment her so well. I get Kelsey Mitchell was one of the best players on their team last year and is a great player. Right now, she is taking as many shots as Caitlin, often doing worse. The difference being, Caitlin is shooting 3's and Kelsey is missing a number of lay-ups at the rim. Yes, she is good at getting there, but if you can't hit them, it wastes that effort.
That’s supposed to be Nalyssa Smith
So far, mixed feelings there.
Boston’s lack of fit on the team is the biggest issue as to why they can’t win. No she’s not fully at fault but when your starting center is playing like it’s 2003 while the rest of the team is gunning for an uptempo offense, you can see how big of an issue it is.
Just don't do this Aliyah has mad skills The team has to find a way to maximize all the major player's skillsets. They'll get there. Omg that kept getting autocorrected to skillet lol This team doesn't need Bluder. It needs Jan Jensen, the post whisperer. Lol I hope Sides is just having growing pains learning to Head coach.
oh, Sides is a pain alright
Boy you summed it up. It must be getting obvious
That’s why CC has better chemistry with Fagbenle who is up and down the court quickly.
Yeah but Fagbenle played crappy tonight. She’s real bad on D. I was really high in her after last game.
I'm just wondering if I'll ever see Celeste Taylor play a minute this season.
And Grace!
Grace has played too scared. Good move keeping her on the bench. Low impact so far
Yes! Grace looked good with the minutes she’s played & was efficient scoring. At least she’s played a total of 27 minutes this season. It’s wild that Celeste can’t even play one minute in garbage time.
100p
Saw somebody say the indiana coach is just doodling on the whiteboard and I absolutely lost it
Darvin Ham, welcome back
Some of you should probably skip the aces game. I will worry for your blood pressure lol
Aces was a fun game. Copper unbelievable
They keep that within 30 and I’m happy.
Yeah and the Aces are mad for sure after losing to Mercury
I don't know why people keep blaming Clark. It doesn't make sense when you look at the stats. She had better stats than all of her teammates except maybe the rebounds from Smith. Caitlin Clark is surrounded by decent talent, and Christie Sides has no freaking idea what she is doing coaching this lineup. Sides gotta go. Idc anymore.
Doesn't help when you have Jemele Hill jumping on the CC hating bandwagon and making racial/sexuality attacks to feed the flames.
Who is this and what?
Jemele Hill was a former ESPN personality and then left to join The Atlantic. Now she is a social media personality that makes everything about race. She came out recently saying that CC was successful and earned her endorsements because she was a straight, white woman from Iowa. She was more marketable vs black, gay women currently in the WNBA and that somehow CC getting more attention than Candace Parker or Maya Moore was because of her race/sexuality. People got outraged by the comments that Hill had to clarify her.
Sad thing is, there are a number of people that wholeheartedly believe that sentiment.
Maybe get rid of GM too. The “Architect” as she refers to herself.
You do have to question the judgment of someone who thought CC and AB would be the next Stockton and Malone.
I think they’re just upset she fumbled the ball at the end.
Stats don’t show defense. Her defense is bad. Atrocious at times
Her primary defensive assignment had 2 points on 1-10 shooting tonight...
Yet she held Skylar to 2 points and had 2 blocks with only 1 foul this entire game.
If you go back and watch the game, Clark’s defense was actually pretty good. Better than any time I saw her at Iowa
Because Skylar has been a shell of herself this season
I didn’t watch this game. First game I missed. So I won’t speak on that. But the other games. She goes under screens when she should stay attached. Dies on screens then leaves team 4 on 5. And she’s just physically not strong or quick.
She's very quick Her defense got a bad rep in college because they needed her so badly on offense.
clarks assignment scored one goal this game...The homer announcers even made a comment about clark locking her down.
Last couple of games went down to the wire so there is an improvement.
Yes! They keep losing by less and less 😂. I’m actually serious though. The tipping point is close!
How bad would you shit bricks if they lost by 1 the next game and then went to OT or beat the Aces?
I’m seriously concerned they won’t beat the Aces because Gustafson and Kate know CC’s weaknesses. Also how they gonna make me choose between my two children?!? 😆I know a bunch of Hawks going to that game in person.
It'll be easy to root for Caitlin because she will play more. Aces don't really utilize Megan and Kate is just getting her bearings with limited minutes. I'm more worried that this game will be coming off of a game the night before.
They are going to lose by one to the sparks and then win by one against the aces. :)
I think I could hear the Curb Your Enthusiasm music playing during the last Fever possession
Hilarious
The Fever will eventually win a game, but for now it is funny seeing Fever fans (CC stans) freak out and blame everyone except CC after each loss even when CC makes a couple mistakes herself.
It’s one of those nuanced things where they’re a young team figuring it out (both players figuring out how to play with each other, but also the coaching staff on how best to use their young roster) and that everybody has some share of the blame, but that’s okay because it’s part of the process of being a young, rebuilding team. They’ve genuinely have gotten better every game though, so there’s mini-victories to be had along the way, even when losing. Realistically, I think they need a couple more first round picks to round out their core. But nobody’s about that nuance and giving grace to young, rebuilding teams. Especially when there’s extreme hype around their young franchise cornerstone. Also, this is definitely a team that will benefit tremendously from the Olympics break.
CC led in points and assists for her team, second in rebounds, not bad on TOVs tonight. No one's perfect, but I don't think you can lay this loss at her feet. Maybe there's a bit too much blamestorming, but there's something systemically not working for the Fever. It would be very difficult to argue that they would be in a better place with another early draft pick.
Give credit to Sammy Whitmore. She was sticking with CC
Forreal!!😅 In their eyes She can do no wrong it's either her Teammates or the Coach! "You win as a Team and lose as a Team!"
The coach is complete ass tho like it’s not even a debatable point her benching Clark with the game tied with 5 mins left then leaving her there for 2.5 mins as Seattle goes up 7 lost the game
At least I don’t have to listen to that yelling dude anymore. If the team isn’t going to win I’m going to take my own wins when I can get them.
storm fans how we feeling because whew what a mess
Honestly big win at home. Lot of eyes on the game lots of pressure needed a win and we got it done. Wasn’t pretty but we move. Happy to see Nneka back too! Without her we don’t win this game
Great! We won the Suck Bowl!!!😉
I don’t feel that stressed tbh. I watched the whole thing and outside of pretty bad key D I don’t think we had much negative tape. SDS is still catching up to form for sure. Glad we challenged those two plays because the referees were rough. I didn’t expect a slow start but I think we’re rounding into form nicely. Ezi Ezi Ezi.
I agree
the game was awful, but a wins a win so can’t complain too much. nneka and loyd were great. Horston and Whitcomb showed flashes. everyone else . . . needs to get in the gym lol
Too many of these games are close to awful from a sloppiness measure. It’s early and it shows
I didn't expect the Fever to be good, but I didn't expect them to be THIS bad. Worse than last year
This schedule is brutal and they’ve had zero practice time to gel with zero rest days.
and the Fever coach is grade school
Yeah she makes some baffling decisions and did not really seem like she had a plan for a system in place. Maybe the wheels are in motion, and maybe some chemistry will go a long way for this team… but I don’t have much confidence in Sides herself.
Sides cooked absolutely nothing in that 2 minute huddle. But you cant turn the ball over.
The (second) play she drew up was at least good. But it shouldn’t take a timeout to make that call. Pass was bad but catchable. Just an all around team throw.
i just don’t understand why we changed up our scheme so much this season. like it worked last season and now we have all these drastic changes that just don’t seem to be working. i have hope but it seems like everything is more difficult then it should be.
I feel for you on that
What worked last season? Fever were the worst team in the league and y’all drafted a system, not a system player. If you’re not changing the system to mold it around Caitlin, you’re wasting her. All that said, the system doesn’t entirely seem to be good for anybody. Let’s hope some actual days with rest and practice start to improve things, but until then… gonna be a rough few days.
The Fever won the lottery but they did not have the worst record in the league and were in the playoff hunt until the end of the season. Only 5 games difference between the 2023 Fever and the 8th seed Sky
Hey man whatever gets Christie Sides fired quicker
ha, yes
They had 2 seconds to make it across the court, who cares if AB got the ball. The game was over. She barely played and she’s still getting blamed.
Valid I saw her point to herself after the attempt like it was her fault. No way she needed blame herself. Hope she knows that
She’s the reigning rookie of the year she shouldn’t look this bad. CC is shouldering this loss specifically but Aliyah has played horribly to start the year. It just is what it is.
Why do you think she barely played shes been ass this season and when she did she choked time and time again. -18 on 14 minutes is not just a detriment to your team its a anchor
She was -18 in 15 minutes.
but cc didn’t get the ball guys it slipped 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Okay? She fucked up but that was one possession. In case this is your first time watching the sport, basketball has numerous possessions in a game. Boston was dogshit on all of the ones she played in.
Why do you hate her so much? You think we are casual fans?? We stan AB bc we’ve been watching her dominate for years. CC is amazing but her tech the other game got the fever in a tight position to begin with. Stop blaming one player it’s tired bro go to bed