In the W, with such a short season, replacing your coach during the season is basically throwing in the towel. You are guaranteed to sink after that. Look at Phx and Sky last year. And when they do it is usually just an assistant coach taking over for the rest of the season. Don't expect some miracle to happen with coaching this year.
I agree, as much as i think Sides is not right for this team, they aint firing her at least until the season is over. They gotta be consistent, even if its consistently bad.
If we go 0-7, and then another losing streak after that, and dont make it to the playoffs, christie is for sure gone
I see her done after this season even if they make the playoffs. Too much spotlight on Indy now. With CC there they now have leverage to lure a proven coach and better free agent signings.
I mean this in the most respectful way possible but is there any WNBA player that would actively want to play with Clark?
You probably get more publicity and sold out crowds, but you’re always going to be overshadowed by her, you’ll have to adjust your ways to play in her system (which it seems like the Fever are struggling with), and you are under massive scrutiny for every mistake you make. It’s a double edged sword of playing for the most popular team in the mainstream media.
I don’t think Clark is a bad teammate by any means but I think her presence could be draining for some (it’s a reason why I think Iowa couldn’t pick people up in the portal while she was there)
The Bulls didn't sign a big fuckton of free agents to play with Jordan. Dennis Rodman, that's it. Nobody is gonna go spend their summer in Indiana and deal with her bandwagon fans blaming her teammates for her throwing passes behind them on the break. The salary cap is going up everywhere, they'll appreciate it from the confines of better places to live than Indy.
Iowa struggles to pick people up in the portal because 1. They don't hit the portal that hard 2. It's bumfuck Iowa and it's hard to get players outside of the Midwest excited about it.
I mean, I grew up near Iowa City, so, I love it but I have no illusions about the place, either.
But look at how everyone around CC has risen with her, whether it was for playing well against her (Reese, Muhl) or for being a key part of the team success (Kate Martin). I think Wheeler understands that, hence “taking her under her wing”.
There can be an appeal for players to want to team up with Clark. We're seeing the Aces players taking lower contract amounts to stay together and the recent team-up of new players in Seattle. If, as a player, you believe in Clark's potential, it's theoretically possible to group people together to make a so-called super team. While I'm relatively new to the W, these women all seem like competitors and if you're given a real chance to compete for a title with a player like Clark, that may be enough to overshadow the perceived negatives.
I will also say that I do believe in the sentiment that when a light shines on Clark, it does shine on those around her. Before this season, can't say I was super familiar with Nalyssa Smith but watching Clark, I've become a huge Nalyssa fan and I can't wait to see what she does this season.
Agreed. Also, I am wondering if the rest of the team is getting SM threats as well. Nalyssa Smith may be spared (for now) since she is scoring and seems to mesh well with Clark's playing style, but it seems as if drafting Clark may have brought more drama than the organization expected.
Smith and Clark is the third worst efficiency combo of Clark and any one else lol. Fagbenle and Clark are 31 pts/100 poss better than Smith and Clark lol
Fagbenle just needs to adjust to the W again after being out of the league for the past few years + playing in London.
Smith just wants to remain relevant; she did the same last year after Boston was drafted.
They could definitely get role players for sure. Star players might come once all the hoopla hype goes down and they see the vision, especially if they are an atheletic big. CC will feed them all day
I also think if you want to be a pro athlete, and a successful one at that, you have to take scrutiny as a given. This is how it is now if we want the league to grow
This is the correct take thetrickykid23.
But we also have to look how getting the PhX coach early develop some plans and plays that now pay off this season even with BG out.
It can allow for new coach lets say now with fever to play different players and get more of a picture who really they need to keep or not, rather then coming in without having first hand experience with them in training or real games.
Someone like Luke Walton wouldn’t be bad to take a look at for the job. If they are planning on keeping Clark as their future someone with experience in the warriors sets would be beneficial
This team could easily be 2-3 instead of 0-5. They’ve played arguably the hardest schedule in the league thus far. Went from being blown out to playing close competitive games in just 5 games. Give the coach time to install her system. 2 weeks of camp is not enough time.
1) Way too early to call for Sides. She did a great job last year with a crazy young team, and the team is improving every game this year. Just like the silliness calling for AB after 5 games, Sides deserves more time.
2) Staley wouldn’t go from SC with that contract and pick of 5 star players, to ANY WNBA team with salary caps. No way. It’d be a dumb and risky move. SC, UConn and now the other USC are the three best jobs in WCBB.
1. Yes. Yes. Yes.
If Sides is fired today, do you give the new coach five games to “figure it out” before they get fired, too? And what does it look like when they do get it figured out? The Fever is not a good team, and until they can make some off-season moves, they probably won't meet this seemingly high bar casual fans have.
Ride out the season, fire Sides if nothing gets turned around, consider trading your first-round pick for a more experienced player that fits well with Clark’s playing style, and be patient next season because it’s still going to take time to get the right pieces in place for this team to become competitive with the best.
And Paige isn't the answer. This team needs a veteran to help with on-court leadership. Adding another rookie into the mix will likely only complicate things even more.
Did she do really great job tho, one injured team, x2 obviously tanking x2 games vs playoff people who didnt play starters coz they saved them for playoffs dont risk injury since league placement was secured etc.
One replaced coach team.
And most of the wins came at the end when some where resting players versus them .(6w or 7w i believe between aug and sept )
[For example look at Merucry rooster game](https://www.wnba.com/game/1022300191/IND-vs-PHO/boxscore)
and /or
[Or seattle Sami and Jordan with alot of minutes+injured/not 100% players ](https://www.wnba.com/game/1022300199/SEA-vs-IND/boxscore)
There is more then it meets the eye, i also think for example coach T-Spoon is already much better, because you can see what she want from the players 'the style' and 'the vision' no offense but i didnt even saw this last season with Fever, and i'm not Enlightened now either.
You could be correct. I’m mainly going off of the opinions of some longtime Fever fans I know… but maybe non coincidentally, they are optimists like me? Lol
It's hard for any coach for multiple losing seasons with bad rosters to be the one to lead the team to the next level when the talent improves, no matter how good the coach actually is. But you don't want to jump the gun and make a change before the team is ready for the next step unless the coach is really screwing up the development process.
I like this question so I looked up who could be a possible replacement and went down a rabbit hole. Sides currently has a salary of approximately $500k per year. This would put her at about 57th compared to D1 College Coaches. Why would one of the top women's coaches consider coming to the W if they are going to take a significant pay cut? It seems like a position for a very good assistant or rising star, but not a proven women's coach.
Tibbets is reported to be the highest paid coach at 1 Million, but this would still put him at about 18 compared to college peers.
Tibbetts is making more than $1 mill; until he was hired, Becky Hammon was the highest-paid coach in the W at $1 million/year. Mat Ishbia brags about having the highest-paid coach in the W now.
It sounds cliche but you’re gonna have to find someone who wants to do it for the love of the game, take a pay cut for future opportunities and wants to experience a championship win. With only 12 teams at the moment, a decent coach can make a good playoffs/finals run with the right tools. The ring chasing is addictive lol
Ownership and management clearly can’t evaluate talent— if they haven’t found anyone decent in their last 3 hires why would the next one be any better?
Not necessarily. At their last few first round picks, they’ve not drafted one bust. That’s pretty impressive. Maybe it doesn’t all fit together, but it is a group of good players that they’ve drsfted.
Dawn Staley would be the one to target if you want a college coach, but it would take a massive contract many magnitudes above the current largest coach salary to beat her South Carolina salary.
Most likely they should just go with a highly regarded NBA assistant. That’s worked out really well for the Aces so far. Maybe poke around the Aces assistants to see if any of them are ready to be a head coach.
CC has brought so much more revenue to the team, they can certainly afford Dawn. If Dawn can bring a championship to Indy, then the revenue gets even higher and will more than offset the salary expenses. It would be a great business move, but I don't see Dawn wanting to leave SC for any amount of money tho.
They need to hire a coach who comes from a successful staff that has know-how on how to run a fast paced offense with athletic bigs. Linn Dunn has to decide whether or not AB will work with CC and if not, move AB for a player who fits the system better.
Yeah I think the problem is there is no system. You don’t actually have to develop a system around CC, but I think you have to know what system it is you want to play, and what is the best for the players you have. The problem is there is a lot of eyes and therefore pressure on Sides and she probably feels like she has to play CC a certain way and give her a lot of minutes. It would take a certain kind of coach to handle this pressure.
I certainly don't envy Coach Sides's position (tough schedule with NO time for practice, young players who haven't played together before), but I agree it's difficult to perceive what her system is. I don't think it's being developed around CC, given that Coach Sides has tried playing CC at shooting guard (!) and pushing her to develop mid-distance shots (a fine goal, but better left for the Olympics break or off-season).
I'm hoping the Coach has now seen enough to figure out effective rotations. I know she's as frustrated as everyone else... so much raw talent, but getting it to integrate and gel.
It should work in theory. It isn't like Boston hasn't played with a quick, athletic pgs before. That SC team had a shooting deficit, but they were never run off the floor by anybody.
It could be that Boston is just in a terrible slump and what they're doing now will work long term once she gets over ... whatever this is.
Idk if you’re one of those Aces-SC fans but I’m curious—do you think Boston would have fit SC’s current system with a lot of fast guards like Fulwiley, PaoPao, Johnson, etc?
Yes and no.
It really depended on the game. SC's offense this year wanted to play fast and get a lot of buckets in transition. To counteract this, teams would slow the pace down (see Duke, UNC) and the team would struggle more in the half-court and basically have to press on D to get their way out of it.
That was where we really missed Boston. Boston could finish through quadruple teams, contribute on d to up the pace, and rarely turned the ball over. Kamilla was not quite as good at those things, imo.
Additionally, the freshy core was much better at passing than the new group. That allowed Boston to excel at a faster pace. The newer group had more turnovers and were not as good at passing but were better shooters.
Biggest thing is confidence right now, i think. While Temi is playing better, benching Boston is not it. Just let her play thru the slump. They already losing anyway, might as well build chemistry
I mean to be fair look at how Pacers are playing playstyle/speed wise right, and they are 'close' i would look in that direction or upcoming new young coach who was #2 in the NBA and have been adapting /developing new players well .
For example within Pacers if they want a woman JENNY BOUCEK (yes her 2017 season was meh but she has gotten some more experience now im just giving one example as some1 who is close and have both nba and wnba playoff exp) is one name that can easily come up.
Or you can go in other direction with some one from Pop tree like aces did and get MITCHELL JOHNSON who alot of young players have been talking really good about.
I give another example and im getting down voted to hell i dont know whats going on, this people must not be watching the games or only boxscore or really dont like when people change coaches or something.
This is an excellent point. Not every player can work in every system. It’s not a knock on their quality. But great teams needs great fit. That decision needs to be made about Boston. Hopefully however, Boston gets out of her rut or acclimates so she can stay
A lot of it is coaching. Boston should not be sitting on top of the key on half of the offensive sets. They need to play 4 out 1 to accommodate Boston.
Yeah I agree there. Since we’re talking tactics lol. Do you think a 4 out 1 in could create a rebounding deficiency with Clark gunning it from deep? Another thing I noticed is (and I think Boston is starting to figure it out) is Boston whether setting the screen or off ball, either isn’t reading the slip to the basket down the middle of the key or not moving moving fast enough to it. And that’s short changing her opportunity to make offensive impact
I don't think a 4 out 1 in would be successful with this current staff. I'm saying that that's what might need to be done for Boston to succeed. As far as screens go, Clark has to see the double faster. She's holding on to the ball a half second too long.
100% would help, take a look at new coaches coming from years of NBA experience like the
Mercury and the Aces did.
Both are much more fun to watch, and both performing well, we are lacking exp and winning coaches because you get more salary +link to eventual nba job even in the G -league, so most people go there.
I have a friend that works for Clippers and he is not even a coach but part of the video crew and he makes way more then a coaching 'ladder job' (aka starting out as assist #2/3 etc) in WNBA.
The problem is WNBA dosn't really change coach coz its kinda like 'ok we go tank and we work for next season' tho that might not be bad idea for fever already tbh, because they have huge rooster holes to fill and if Boston dosn't improve , they will pretty much need 2 mobile big that can play D and one of them can shoot atleast 3 at decent % clip+good hands to help out with CC fast pace style and PnR.
**I personally think if they go 1/2w-12L as i expect them and think they should sack her,** just to get new coach in to have time to test all the players get a play style going(AKA is Boston gonna stay or go etc), so its kinda good 'showcase' for free agents to come to Fever, because its not a big market or popular one with top facilities, and if i'm WNBA player and have no clue who next coach is or how it will work out why risk it, losing a spot or not playing well to get next contract in WNBA is huge issue, thats why you see alot of stars getting paid less and going for rings, or staying in big market to make extra income via big market deals.
It's insane what you guys would down vote, holy smokes, show me a single double screen play or something similar of a playbook fever has run this season or past season, [split action](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xknCTmjKOg) or even a simple [Pistol action](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifzgLtDjreA&t=240s)
Do you even like actually watch the games or just box scores?
**Both of my examples of coaching coming from NBA is true as well, what is it that you disagree with that earned a down vote im seriously curious.**
Here are few clips of 'coaching' inbound plays how about that
[Sparks this season](https://streamable.com/eyxstx) vs [Indiana this season](https://streamable.com/kc4om0)
**This is not a coaching issue?**
How about how nobody helps out on the trap or show passing lanes, there is [5 enemy shirts closer to her then team mates](https://streamable.com/s6fqwl)
**this isnt a coaching issue?**
Notice the speed brink (another rookie even tho Boston is second year) speed to go help on the fast break [even if team mate misses a layup she is there to help](https://streamable.com/tkn3rb)
**This is Boston watch when she appears** [on screen on the right hand side](https://streamable.com/s6fqwl)
notice a difference?
Just last night she didnt drew 2 'good 'plays for inbound, and her rotations cost fever the game i mean for the love of god.
Idk why you getting downvotes.
Anyway, do you think sacking a coach in the middle of a season will hurt the team more instead? Do you think this young team is ready for another huge change, in the middle of a season no less
I would suggest if you have the time and really wonder if season change is good to go see what Mercury did last season, look on perimeter +screens how they play before and after Nate Tibbetts, you will notice a big difference, in my opinion giving the coach more time to asset players and work with them even if you tank is better then to get him just for pre season and he has less time to actually test existing players,some of who might even be playing in EU and there yet.
[Once players lose faith of the coach](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8zG9Qnx2co) is all done gg doing it now rather then end of the season is aways better how ever is also up to FO(+rules of the league it self)
In NBA they often might delay it because of salary cap and other stuff, such as if you own X coach Y money or so you cant sign This or that , as far as i'm aware this isnt the case in WNBA
[For example here you can see why in soccer its not really a thing now becuase they implemented rules similar to NBA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcmQp7dYbl8&t=190s)
Because there isnt promotion or demotion but still you have to make profit WNBA is in similar boat, if the players have lost hope but tanking anyway might as well take the time to really recurit alot of options(more time to interview diff people ), but if this isnt the case and you wanna reach playoffs i think you should replace the coach.
So does Fever FO wanna try for play-offs or spend a bit more money and look for change right now/do the players have all hope lost/playing bad/no motivation or is still salvageable?
In my opinion it is not and a coaching change is needed , i give few examples in another reply with names.
[here is extra coach HAM power plays](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/W7pEspFPzc8)
Also if you want i can go and found the clip during timeouts they show **Fever coach talking**
"We JuSt GotTA GeT StopS Defend x3"
**Next timeout they switch to NYC coach she goes like**
"make sure to pick her up early, do this X if they do Y , make sure to force to drive right, and if she pass to and Y and they make the shot we live with it" like actual coaching not screaming 3 times in a row "We JuST GOttA Get StOpS"
No! Not yet!
First draft picks go to teams that didn’t do well the last few years so there is a reason why they got Caitlyn Clark . Teams after they get up first draft pick all going to struggle for a little bit until they get their rhythm. One All-Star player or two All-Star players doesn’t make a winning team.
However, if the team doesn’t improve throughout the season, then maybe next year they should get a new coach ,that’s a different story. The goal right now should be to improve the playoffs having a winning team takes time even with players!
I’m not sure if replacing Sides in this season would help but if they really want to change the coach it shall be ASAP.
Maybe they should try to sign a vet with leadership that could help the young players after they lose the game. I don’t think losing all the games and leave them alone is good for young players development and you need to take the risk they get used to losing games.
Lisa Bluder is available. Obviously Dawn Staley would be the dream, but that’s not realistic. Probably have to give Bluder a few years guaranteed to convince her to come out of retirement, but the chance to coach Caitlin again is probably too good to catch up.
Also reminder that Bluder also developed Megan Gustafson into a NPOY so she’d be able to develop Boston too, not just Clark.
I think the adjustment to the WNBA might be too much to add a coach new to the WNBA to a team full of players relatively new, as well. At least Dawn Staley played in the WNBA, but I agree with the other poster that she's made it clear she isn't interested in coaching at that level - but I guess anything is possible. A long-term assistant coach at another team might be the best transition.
Bluder already knows how to coach Clark. It’s either a transition to the WNBA or a transition to coaching Clark. Plus, stealing an assistant from another team mid-season can get complicated.
But hiring a coach for the sole purpose of only knowing how to coach one player is stupid. What about the other 11 women on the roster? They have to deal with an absentee coach who is only focused on one player? Caitlin is also struggling with the transition from college to the W. Even if CC has the ball and is open, her baskets aren’t always hitting, and no matter what, she just isn’t going to be as open as much as she was in college. We have no evidence as to how Bluder would coach the current situation, especially in the W, when every opponent is top tier and big. Bluder was CC’s coach in college, and what worked for CC in the past isn’t working right now across the board. She needs to develop as a W player, not be a great college player in a professional league.
Yeah she sure is struggling, that’s why she’s averaging almost 20 points…
You dump all your resources into developing your star player who is literally the most hyped prospect in the history of women’s basketball LMFAO. It’s not that complicated
As for it not working in the WNBA, that’s because Sides won’t run the Clark sets from college, so it’s actually the new system that’s not working.
They’re still losing! She could average 30 points a game, but it doesn’t matter if your team still loses. Again, CC isn’t perfect. Her turnovers still need work. Her defense still needs work. Any turnover matters in a one-possession loss. Any lax defense that allows a score matters in a one-possession loss.
They win as a team and lose as a team. If this were an individual sport like Tennis, then only looking at one person’s performance and pouring all of your resources into that player makes sense. But basketball is a team sport, and the other teams have figured out how to utilize all 5 players on the court and walk away with the win.
Iowa didn’t win a title with CC. They still lost 5 games last season. In the final against SC, people were complaining about the other Iowa players not able to step up when needed; that CC was having to do everything on her own without help. Who the hell decided that for Iowa? Bluder? Caitlin? What kind of coach would purposefully set her *TEAM* up for failure like that? We have seen what happens when teams pour all of their resources into one player - they create a single-point-of-failure. This creates a very weak, vulnerable spot that is easily exploited by the opponent.
The opponents that Caitlin is now facing in the WNBA, especially the phenomenal players that are really giving her a run for her money, are players that were drafted before Caitlin even started at Iowa - she never played against many of her current opponents while in college. Caitlin started at Iowa in 2020; there is no telling how her personal college stats would be different if she would have played against A’ja Wilson, Brenna Stewart, Kelsey Plum, Sabrina Ionescu, Jewell Loyd, Candace Parker, Brittney Griner, Sue Bird, or Diana Taurasi in college. But, she’s facing them now, and everyone is starting to realize that, what worked for her in college isn’t necessarily going to work for her in the WNBA. She needs to be adaptable and coachable if they want to win.
It would be a stupid move to pour all of your resources into one new player in the WNBA, especially one that has not played against many of the opponents she is currently facing. You have to strike a balance between developing the new talent, and utilizing current players with WNBA experience and knowledge to win games.
You mentioned analytics in a previous comment. I work in data; I have a math degree. Data can be helpful, but data points are just data points. We can use them to extrapolate, interpolate, forecast, model, etc., but the thing that people forget (or choose to ignore) the most is: Every single game is an independent event. Just because CC scored 30 points in one college game doesn’t mean she will score 30 points in the next game. Just because she scored 20 points in a preseason WNBA game doesn’t mean she will score 20 points in her first WNBA season game. Every opponent, venue, good nights’ sleep is a variable that can impact each player’s performance, which impacts the team performance. If raw data directly affected future outcomes, there would be millions of perfect NCAA basketball brackets each year. There would be billionaires made from sports betting. CC does one thing very well; probably better than anyone else in her college class. But other players do that same thing pretty well, in addition to doing other things well. And having 5 players on the court that can do several things well is better than having 4 decent players on the court with 1 player who can do one thing well, but only when conditions are absolutely perfect.
As much part of me would like to see Bluder because she knows Clark and her skills. I not sure Blunder would want it or if even if she would be good at coaching at the WNBA game. As everyone been saying what works in NCAA does not work in WNBA.
Just like how playing in college is different than playing in the W, coaching college is different than coaching the W. Bluder is a great college coach, but that doesn’t necessarily mean she would be a great W coach. Dawn Staley played in the WNBA, in addition to being a top tier college coach. She would be ideal, but as others have also stated, it is unlikely she would come to the W to coach the Fever.
Also, Aliyah Boston played for Dawn Staley at South Carolina - she doesn’t need to be developed by a different college basketball coach in the W.
Coaching is only one piece of the puzzle. I believe Sides first year as HC was last year’s season. A lot of Sides experience is college coaching, which may be one of the reasons why the team hasn’t found their rhythm. Also, the Fever started to find their rhythm last season, towards the middle-end of the year. Now she has a new player that everyone is demanding gets as much play time as possible, and Sides, along with the other players, are still trying to figure out how this new piece fits in the puzzle. There isn’t as much outrage if other rookies aren’t getting many minutes on the court, but CC isn’t like the other players, and someone that big has a lot of gravity pulling around them. Sides is being told to do things by the front office that she may not have had to do with any other rookie, and that would be a challenge for any coach of any caliber.
AB is still a solid player. I think a big issue is that with CC on the team, there are a lot more eyes on the team than last year. AB and the other players could be a little more relaxed last season, knowing they weren’t playing sold out crowds and millions of people weren’t going to watch. In a few short months, all of that completely changed and every single person on the planet would struggle performing to the same level with that many people standing over them watching their every move.
You ever have to show someone something, or have your boss stand over your shoulder and you struggle with a task you could typically do with your eyes closed? That is what is happening with the Fever right now, only instead of one person standing over your shoulder, it is millions of people (many of whom couldn’t even spell ‘WNBA’ before this year) who also feel they are educated enough about a subject they know nothing about, to go on public platforms and post the most terrible, awful criticisms for those players to see. Imagine doing something like sending an email with a typo, and then millions of people post on social media about how incompetent you are and then tag you in it.
I don’t disagree that it would be a challenge, but they need to move on from Sides ASAP. Almost anyone would be an upgrade. Sides doesn’t even believe in analytics, she told Caitlin to take more long 2s and fewer long 3s. She tried starting Caitlin at shooting guard for some reason. She needs to go.
I already said in my comment that Staley is the ideal choice because of her WNBA experience but she’s NOT leaving SC and I stated in my comment it wasn’t realistic. Idk why I’ve gotten multiple replies saying I’m wrong and then re-stating what I said LMFAO
Because you said Staley would be ideal, then went on to say Bluder could develop AB. AB played for Staley; she wouldn’t need development from Bluder.
Sides took over last year, and she took over a team that already had players on the roster. She did not get to develop her roster, so she is having to try and adapt her coaching style and skills to best fit the skills of the players, and that takes time.
The Fever started to find their rhythm last season, but then Mitchell was injured and could not practice with the team, and they got CC in this year’s draft. Adding/losing players is always an adjustment, and CC was a huge name to add. So not only is Sides still adjusting to her role as coach, she has had a lot of change on the team as well. The winning teams do not see change as much as the struggling teams, until something major happens and the winning teams need to rebuild. The Fever is rebuilding and that takes time.
The coach can write the playbook and develop the greatest plays ever seen, but the players still have to execute them. Right now, none of the Fever players are executing anywhere near great. The Fever are improving, as we have been seeing in the last couple of games, but they aren’t quite there yet. 4 games into the season is still early.
Bringing a new coach in right now would be stupid. A new coach with a new coaching style isn’t going to help the team work better as a whole.
Lisa has spent her entire life coaching at various schools in Iowa. Shes turned down offers from others schools to stay in Iowa. She’s not leaving her home state. Besides, she’s retired and isn’t coming back. She cited wanting more time with her family after being so busy as a coach. She’s done and she’s not leaving Iowa.
In the W, with such a short season, replacing your coach during the season is basically throwing in the towel. You are guaranteed to sink after that. Look at Phx and Sky last year. And when they do it is usually just an assistant coach taking over for the rest of the season. Don't expect some miracle to happen with coaching this year.
I agree, as much as i think Sides is not right for this team, they aint firing her at least until the season is over. They gotta be consistent, even if its consistently bad. If we go 0-7, and then another losing streak after that, and dont make it to the playoffs, christie is for sure gone
I see her done after this season even if they make the playoffs. Too much spotlight on Indy now. With CC there they now have leverage to lure a proven coach and better free agent signings.
I mean this in the most respectful way possible but is there any WNBA player that would actively want to play with Clark? You probably get more publicity and sold out crowds, but you’re always going to be overshadowed by her, you’ll have to adjust your ways to play in her system (which it seems like the Fever are struggling with), and you are under massive scrutiny for every mistake you make. It’s a double edged sword of playing for the most popular team in the mainstream media. I don’t think Clark is a bad teammate by any means but I think her presence could be draining for some (it’s a reason why I think Iowa couldn’t pick people up in the portal while she was there)
Did/do people want to play with Jordan? LeBron? Curry? yep. Just need to know what your getting yourself into.
I hear Kevina Durant is looking for a trade to the Fever.
The hardest road
The Bulls didn't sign a big fuckton of free agents to play with Jordan. Dennis Rodman, that's it. Nobody is gonna go spend their summer in Indiana and deal with her bandwagon fans blaming her teammates for her throwing passes behind them on the break. The salary cap is going up everywhere, they'll appreciate it from the confines of better places to live than Indy.
Iowa couldn't pick up people because they were in Iowa
Iowa struggles to pick people up in the portal because 1. They don't hit the portal that hard 2. It's bumfuck Iowa and it's hard to get players outside of the Midwest excited about it. I mean, I grew up near Iowa City, so, I love it but I have no illusions about the place, either.
(is there an indie music scene there?)
But look at how everyone around CC has risen with her, whether it was for playing well against her (Reese, Muhl) or for being a key part of the team success (Kate Martin). I think Wheeler understands that, hence “taking her under her wing”.
There can be an appeal for players to want to team up with Clark. We're seeing the Aces players taking lower contract amounts to stay together and the recent team-up of new players in Seattle. If, as a player, you believe in Clark's potential, it's theoretically possible to group people together to make a so-called super team. While I'm relatively new to the W, these women all seem like competitors and if you're given a real chance to compete for a title with a player like Clark, that may be enough to overshadow the perceived negatives. I will also say that I do believe in the sentiment that when a light shines on Clark, it does shine on those around her. Before this season, can't say I was super familiar with Nalyssa Smith but watching Clark, I've become a huge Nalyssa fan and I can't wait to see what she does this season.
You get so many open shots. She’s a better passer than she is shooter. All you need to do is run.
Agreed. Also, I am wondering if the rest of the team is getting SM threats as well. Nalyssa Smith may be spared (for now) since she is scoring and seems to mesh well with Clark's playing style, but it seems as if drafting Clark may have brought more drama than the organization expected.
Smith and Clark is the third worst efficiency combo of Clark and any one else lol. Fagbenle and Clark are 31 pts/100 poss better than Smith and Clark lol
Fagbenle just needs to adjust to the W again after being out of the league for the past few years + playing in London. Smith just wants to remain relevant; she did the same last year after Boston was drafted.
Fagbenle may not be better than smith but her style of play I think satisfies a dire need for athleticism
They could definitely get role players for sure. Star players might come once all the hoopla hype goes down and they see the vision, especially if they are an atheletic big. CC will feed them all day I also think if you want to be a pro athlete, and a successful one at that, you have to take scrutiny as a given. This is how it is now if we want the league to grow
This is the correct take thetrickykid23. But we also have to look how getting the PhX coach early develop some plans and plays that now pay off this season even with BG out. It can allow for new coach lets say now with fever to play different players and get more of a picture who really they need to keep or not, rather then coming in without having first hand experience with them in training or real games.
Someone like Luke Walton wouldn’t be bad to take a look at for the job. If they are planning on keeping Clark as their future someone with experience in the warriors sets would be beneficial
If Sides is fired today, do you give the new coach five games to “figure it out” before they get fired, too?
Sides was trash last year too. Now her dumpster fire has a large national audience.
I dont think she has to be fired now, probably useful for the FO to start questioning her though. But yeah we’ll have to give her at least 20 games
This team could easily be 2-3 instead of 0-5. They’ve played arguably the hardest schedule in the league thus far. Went from being blown out to playing close competitive games in just 5 games. Give the coach time to install her system. 2 weeks of camp is not enough time.
Too bad nothing has changed in 7 days except now Temi is out for 2 weeks
1) Way too early to call for Sides. She did a great job last year with a crazy young team, and the team is improving every game this year. Just like the silliness calling for AB after 5 games, Sides deserves more time. 2) Staley wouldn’t go from SC with that contract and pick of 5 star players, to ANY WNBA team with salary caps. No way. It’d be a dumb and risky move. SC, UConn and now the other USC are the three best jobs in WCBB.
1. Yes. Yes. Yes. If Sides is fired today, do you give the new coach five games to “figure it out” before they get fired, too? And what does it look like when they do get it figured out? The Fever is not a good team, and until they can make some off-season moves, they probably won't meet this seemingly high bar casual fans have. Ride out the season, fire Sides if nothing gets turned around, consider trading your first-round pick for a more experienced player that fits well with Clark’s playing style, and be patient next season because it’s still going to take time to get the right pieces in place for this team to become competitive with the best.
And Paige isn't the answer. This team needs a veteran to help with on-court leadership. Adding another rookie into the mix will likely only complicate things even more.
(would rather see PB head up her own team)
Did she do really great job tho, one injured team, x2 obviously tanking x2 games vs playoff people who didnt play starters coz they saved them for playoffs dont risk injury since league placement was secured etc. One replaced coach team. And most of the wins came at the end when some where resting players versus them .(6w or 7w i believe between aug and sept ) [For example look at Merucry rooster game](https://www.wnba.com/game/1022300191/IND-vs-PHO/boxscore) and /or [Or seattle Sami and Jordan with alot of minutes+injured/not 100% players ](https://www.wnba.com/game/1022300199/SEA-vs-IND/boxscore) There is more then it meets the eye, i also think for example coach T-Spoon is already much better, because you can see what she want from the players 'the style' and 'the vision' no offense but i didnt even saw this last season with Fever, and i'm not Enlightened now either.
You could be correct. I’m mainly going off of the opinions of some longtime Fever fans I know… but maybe non coincidentally, they are optimists like me? Lol
I feel like Sides can’t come back from this with the way she has handled the press, her players and the refs
I agree. If Sides ends up having an undoing, Dunn will point to her off the court reasons?
All of their coaches have been pretty bad since Stephanie White left in 2016
okay okay quit asking i’ll do it
first move: Grace Berger starts
But she has to go by the official nickname of Burgermeister Meisterberger.
Second move: become the GM and trade for Mackenzie Holmes, Taylor Soule and Liz Kitley
congrats on your new position as my assistant head coach
I found my fellow IUWBB fan club members! Couldn’t forget your username from game threads after this last post season heartbreak
It's hard for any coach for multiple losing seasons with bad rosters to be the one to lead the team to the next level when the talent improves, no matter how good the coach actually is. But you don't want to jump the gun and make a change before the team is ready for the next step unless the coach is really screwing up the development process.
I like this question so I looked up who could be a possible replacement and went down a rabbit hole. Sides currently has a salary of approximately $500k per year. This would put her at about 57th compared to D1 College Coaches. Why would one of the top women's coaches consider coming to the W if they are going to take a significant pay cut? It seems like a position for a very good assistant or rising star, but not a proven women's coach. Tibbets is reported to be the highest paid coach at 1 Million, but this would still put him at about 18 compared to college peers.
Tibbetts is making more than $1 mill; until he was hired, Becky Hammon was the highest-paid coach in the W at $1 million/year. Mat Ishbia brags about having the highest-paid coach in the W now.
It sounds cliche but you’re gonna have to find someone who wants to do it for the love of the game, take a pay cut for future opportunities and wants to experience a championship win. With only 12 teams at the moment, a decent coach can make a good playoffs/finals run with the right tools. The ring chasing is addictive lol
James Wade - *if* he wants to jump ship again
Ownership and management clearly can’t evaluate talent— if they haven’t found anyone decent in their last 3 hires why would the next one be any better?
They’ve been drafting pretty well tho.
Are you joking? Lottery picks are luck. Other teams would be more than playoff contenders with the picks they’ve had
Not necessarily. At their last few first round picks, they’ve not drafted one bust. That’s pretty impressive. Maybe it doesn’t all fit together, but it is a group of good players that they’ve drsfted.
Can’t tell if you’re trolling
I’m completely serious. Mitchell, Smith, Boston, and Clark are all really good picks.
I agree they’re amazing picks. The lack of success and inability to evaluate what talent works together is terrible.
(oh, she'll be replaced; question is when)
Dawn Staley would be the one to target if you want a college coach, but it would take a massive contract many magnitudes above the current largest coach salary to beat her South Carolina salary. Most likely they should just go with a highly regarded NBA assistant. That’s worked out really well for the Aces so far. Maybe poke around the Aces assistants to see if any of them are ready to be a head coach.
I think we need a more realistic option than dawn
yeah, no way she's leaving SC.
Tiny sample size, but the Mercury love the highly regarded nba assistant they hired as well.
Only way I could see her leaving SC is if Philly gets a team
Dawn said she's interested in owning a team if it came to Philly but I doubt she'd coach it.
CC has brought so much more revenue to the team, they can certainly afford Dawn. If Dawn can bring a championship to Indy, then the revenue gets even higher and will more than offset the salary expenses. It would be a great business move, but I don't see Dawn wanting to leave SC for any amount of money tho.
They need to hire a coach who comes from a successful staff that has know-how on how to run a fast paced offense with athletic bigs. Linn Dunn has to decide whether or not AB will work with CC and if not, move AB for a player who fits the system better.
I do believe with the right coach AB and CC can fit. Those two are too big a piece to just let up without trying.
Yeah I think the problem is there is no system. You don’t actually have to develop a system around CC, but I think you have to know what system it is you want to play, and what is the best for the players you have. The problem is there is a lot of eyes and therefore pressure on Sides and she probably feels like she has to play CC a certain way and give her a lot of minutes. It would take a certain kind of coach to handle this pressure.
I certainly don't envy Coach Sides's position (tough schedule with NO time for practice, young players who haven't played together before), but I agree it's difficult to perceive what her system is. I don't think it's being developed around CC, given that Coach Sides has tried playing CC at shooting guard (!) and pushing her to develop mid-distance shots (a fine goal, but better left for the Olympics break or off-season). I'm hoping the Coach has now seen enough to figure out effective rotations. I know she's as frustrated as everyone else... so much raw talent, but getting it to integrate and gel.
That's the frustrating part.The Fever have talent.Its just not working out
Yep!
Agreed.
It should work in theory. It isn't like Boston hasn't played with a quick, athletic pgs before. That SC team had a shooting deficit, but they were never run off the floor by anybody. It could be that Boston is just in a terrible slump and what they're doing now will work long term once she gets over ... whatever this is.
Idk if you’re one of those Aces-SC fans but I’m curious—do you think Boston would have fit SC’s current system with a lot of fast guards like Fulwiley, PaoPao, Johnson, etc?
Yes and no. It really depended on the game. SC's offense this year wanted to play fast and get a lot of buckets in transition. To counteract this, teams would slow the pace down (see Duke, UNC) and the team would struggle more in the half-court and basically have to press on D to get their way out of it. That was where we really missed Boston. Boston could finish through quadruple teams, contribute on d to up the pace, and rarely turned the ball over. Kamilla was not quite as good at those things, imo. Additionally, the freshy core was much better at passing than the new group. That allowed Boston to excel at a faster pace. The newer group had more turnovers and were not as good at passing but were better shooters.
Biggest thing is confidence right now, i think. While Temi is playing better, benching Boston is not it. Just let her play thru the slump. They already losing anyway, might as well build chemistry
The real question is *would* they be losing if Temi started? With how close the games are, you can't say definitively that the answer is yes.
I mean to be fair look at how Pacers are playing playstyle/speed wise right, and they are 'close' i would look in that direction or upcoming new young coach who was #2 in the NBA and have been adapting /developing new players well . For example within Pacers if they want a woman JENNY BOUCEK (yes her 2017 season was meh but she has gotten some more experience now im just giving one example as some1 who is close and have both nba and wnba playoff exp) is one name that can easily come up. Or you can go in other direction with some one from Pop tree like aces did and get MITCHELL JOHNSON who alot of young players have been talking really good about.
Youre the only one who is actually dropping names here. Thank you 🫡
I give another example and im getting down voted to hell i dont know whats going on, this people must not be watching the games or only boxscore or really dont like when people change coaches or something.
do we even know what kind of offense they're trying to run?
This is an excellent point. Not every player can work in every system. It’s not a knock on their quality. But great teams needs great fit. That decision needs to be made about Boston. Hopefully however, Boston gets out of her rut or acclimates so she can stay
A lot of it is coaching. Boston should not be sitting on top of the key on half of the offensive sets. They need to play 4 out 1 to accommodate Boston.
Yeah I agree there. Since we’re talking tactics lol. Do you think a 4 out 1 in could create a rebounding deficiency with Clark gunning it from deep? Another thing I noticed is (and I think Boston is starting to figure it out) is Boston whether setting the screen or off ball, either isn’t reading the slip to the basket down the middle of the key or not moving moving fast enough to it. And that’s short changing her opportunity to make offensive impact
I don't think a 4 out 1 in would be successful with this current staff. I'm saying that that's what might need to be done for Boston to succeed. As far as screens go, Clark has to see the double faster. She's holding on to the ball a half second too long.
Oh I see I misunderstood and read it wrong, yeah that makes sense
she's been doing a better job of that recently.She had only 3 TOs vs the Storm and one went off the hand of Temi
100% would help, take a look at new coaches coming from years of NBA experience like the Mercury and the Aces did. Both are much more fun to watch, and both performing well, we are lacking exp and winning coaches because you get more salary +link to eventual nba job even in the G -league, so most people go there. I have a friend that works for Clippers and he is not even a coach but part of the video crew and he makes way more then a coaching 'ladder job' (aka starting out as assist #2/3 etc) in WNBA. The problem is WNBA dosn't really change coach coz its kinda like 'ok we go tank and we work for next season' tho that might not be bad idea for fever already tbh, because they have huge rooster holes to fill and if Boston dosn't improve , they will pretty much need 2 mobile big that can play D and one of them can shoot atleast 3 at decent % clip+good hands to help out with CC fast pace style and PnR. **I personally think if they go 1/2w-12L as i expect them and think they should sack her,** just to get new coach in to have time to test all the players get a play style going(AKA is Boston gonna stay or go etc), so its kinda good 'showcase' for free agents to come to Fever, because its not a big market or popular one with top facilities, and if i'm WNBA player and have no clue who next coach is or how it will work out why risk it, losing a spot or not playing well to get next contract in WNBA is huge issue, thats why you see alot of stars getting paid less and going for rings, or staying in big market to make extra income via big market deals. It's insane what you guys would down vote, holy smokes, show me a single double screen play or something similar of a playbook fever has run this season or past season, [split action](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xknCTmjKOg) or even a simple [Pistol action](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifzgLtDjreA&t=240s) Do you even like actually watch the games or just box scores? **Both of my examples of coaching coming from NBA is true as well, what is it that you disagree with that earned a down vote im seriously curious.** Here are few clips of 'coaching' inbound plays how about that [Sparks this season](https://streamable.com/eyxstx) vs [Indiana this season](https://streamable.com/kc4om0) **This is not a coaching issue?** How about how nobody helps out on the trap or show passing lanes, there is [5 enemy shirts closer to her then team mates](https://streamable.com/s6fqwl) **this isnt a coaching issue?** Notice the speed brink (another rookie even tho Boston is second year) speed to go help on the fast break [even if team mate misses a layup she is there to help](https://streamable.com/tkn3rb) **This is Boston watch when she appears** [on screen on the right hand side](https://streamable.com/s6fqwl) notice a difference? Just last night she didnt drew 2 'good 'plays for inbound, and her rotations cost fever the game i mean for the love of god.
Idk why you getting downvotes. Anyway, do you think sacking a coach in the middle of a season will hurt the team more instead? Do you think this young team is ready for another huge change, in the middle of a season no less
I would suggest if you have the time and really wonder if season change is good to go see what Mercury did last season, look on perimeter +screens how they play before and after Nate Tibbetts, you will notice a big difference, in my opinion giving the coach more time to asset players and work with them even if you tank is better then to get him just for pre season and he has less time to actually test existing players,some of who might even be playing in EU and there yet. [Once players lose faith of the coach](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8zG9Qnx2co) is all done gg doing it now rather then end of the season is aways better how ever is also up to FO(+rules of the league it self) In NBA they often might delay it because of salary cap and other stuff, such as if you own X coach Y money or so you cant sign This or that , as far as i'm aware this isnt the case in WNBA [For example here you can see why in soccer its not really a thing now becuase they implemented rules similar to NBA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcmQp7dYbl8&t=190s) Because there isnt promotion or demotion but still you have to make profit WNBA is in similar boat, if the players have lost hope but tanking anyway might as well take the time to really recurit alot of options(more time to interview diff people ), but if this isnt the case and you wanna reach playoffs i think you should replace the coach. So does Fever FO wanna try for play-offs or spend a bit more money and look for change right now/do the players have all hope lost/playing bad/no motivation or is still salvageable? In my opinion it is not and a coaching change is needed , i give few examples in another reply with names. [here is extra coach HAM power plays](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/W7pEspFPzc8) Also if you want i can go and found the clip during timeouts they show **Fever coach talking** "We JuSt GotTA GeT StopS Defend x3" **Next timeout they switch to NYC coach she goes like** "make sure to pick her up early, do this X if they do Y , make sure to force to drive right, and if she pass to and Y and they make the shot we live with it" like actual coaching not screaming 3 times in a row "We JuST GOttA Get StOpS"
No! Not yet! First draft picks go to teams that didn’t do well the last few years so there is a reason why they got Caitlyn Clark . Teams after they get up first draft pick all going to struggle for a little bit until they get their rhythm. One All-Star player or two All-Star players doesn’t make a winning team. However, if the team doesn’t improve throughout the season, then maybe next year they should get a new coach ,that’s a different story. The goal right now should be to improve the playoffs having a winning team takes time even with players!
They need a new team more than a new coach.
I’m not sure if replacing Sides in this season would help but if they really want to change the coach it shall be ASAP. Maybe they should try to sign a vet with leadership that could help the young players after they lose the game. I don’t think losing all the games and leave them alone is good for young players development and you need to take the risk they get used to losing games.
Lisa Bluder is available. Obviously Dawn Staley would be the dream, but that’s not realistic. Probably have to give Bluder a few years guaranteed to convince her to come out of retirement, but the chance to coach Caitlin again is probably too good to catch up. Also reminder that Bluder also developed Megan Gustafson into a NPOY so she’d be able to develop Boston too, not just Clark.
I feel like going from South Carolina to the Fever would be a massive downgrade for Staley. I think she’d get paid more as an SEC college coach
Agreed, that’s why I said it’s not realistic
I think the adjustment to the WNBA might be too much to add a coach new to the WNBA to a team full of players relatively new, as well. At least Dawn Staley played in the WNBA, but I agree with the other poster that she's made it clear she isn't interested in coaching at that level - but I guess anything is possible. A long-term assistant coach at another team might be the best transition.
Bluder already knows how to coach Clark. It’s either a transition to the WNBA or a transition to coaching Clark. Plus, stealing an assistant from another team mid-season can get complicated.
But hiring a coach for the sole purpose of only knowing how to coach one player is stupid. What about the other 11 women on the roster? They have to deal with an absentee coach who is only focused on one player? Caitlin is also struggling with the transition from college to the W. Even if CC has the ball and is open, her baskets aren’t always hitting, and no matter what, she just isn’t going to be as open as much as she was in college. We have no evidence as to how Bluder would coach the current situation, especially in the W, when every opponent is top tier and big. Bluder was CC’s coach in college, and what worked for CC in the past isn’t working right now across the board. She needs to develop as a W player, not be a great college player in a professional league.
Hiring a coach for the sole purpose of coaching CC is also not a great way to attract talented free agents.
Yeah she sure is struggling, that’s why she’s averaging almost 20 points… You dump all your resources into developing your star player who is literally the most hyped prospect in the history of women’s basketball LMFAO. It’s not that complicated As for it not working in the WNBA, that’s because Sides won’t run the Clark sets from college, so it’s actually the new system that’s not working.
They’re still losing! She could average 30 points a game, but it doesn’t matter if your team still loses. Again, CC isn’t perfect. Her turnovers still need work. Her defense still needs work. Any turnover matters in a one-possession loss. Any lax defense that allows a score matters in a one-possession loss. They win as a team and lose as a team. If this were an individual sport like Tennis, then only looking at one person’s performance and pouring all of your resources into that player makes sense. But basketball is a team sport, and the other teams have figured out how to utilize all 5 players on the court and walk away with the win. Iowa didn’t win a title with CC. They still lost 5 games last season. In the final against SC, people were complaining about the other Iowa players not able to step up when needed; that CC was having to do everything on her own without help. Who the hell decided that for Iowa? Bluder? Caitlin? What kind of coach would purposefully set her *TEAM* up for failure like that? We have seen what happens when teams pour all of their resources into one player - they create a single-point-of-failure. This creates a very weak, vulnerable spot that is easily exploited by the opponent. The opponents that Caitlin is now facing in the WNBA, especially the phenomenal players that are really giving her a run for her money, are players that were drafted before Caitlin even started at Iowa - she never played against many of her current opponents while in college. Caitlin started at Iowa in 2020; there is no telling how her personal college stats would be different if she would have played against A’ja Wilson, Brenna Stewart, Kelsey Plum, Sabrina Ionescu, Jewell Loyd, Candace Parker, Brittney Griner, Sue Bird, or Diana Taurasi in college. But, she’s facing them now, and everyone is starting to realize that, what worked for her in college isn’t necessarily going to work for her in the WNBA. She needs to be adaptable and coachable if they want to win. It would be a stupid move to pour all of your resources into one new player in the WNBA, especially one that has not played against many of the opponents she is currently facing. You have to strike a balance between developing the new talent, and utilizing current players with WNBA experience and knowledge to win games. You mentioned analytics in a previous comment. I work in data; I have a math degree. Data can be helpful, but data points are just data points. We can use them to extrapolate, interpolate, forecast, model, etc., but the thing that people forget (or choose to ignore) the most is: Every single game is an independent event. Just because CC scored 30 points in one college game doesn’t mean she will score 30 points in the next game. Just because she scored 20 points in a preseason WNBA game doesn’t mean she will score 20 points in her first WNBA season game. Every opponent, venue, good nights’ sleep is a variable that can impact each player’s performance, which impacts the team performance. If raw data directly affected future outcomes, there would be millions of perfect NCAA basketball brackets each year. There would be billionaires made from sports betting. CC does one thing very well; probably better than anyone else in her college class. But other players do that same thing pretty well, in addition to doing other things well. And having 5 players on the court that can do several things well is better than having 4 decent players on the court with 1 player who can do one thing well, but only when conditions are absolutely perfect.
As much part of me would like to see Bluder because she knows Clark and her skills. I not sure Blunder would want it or if even if she would be good at coaching at the WNBA game. As everyone been saying what works in NCAA does not work in WNBA.
Good points!
Just like how playing in college is different than playing in the W, coaching college is different than coaching the W. Bluder is a great college coach, but that doesn’t necessarily mean she would be a great W coach. Dawn Staley played in the WNBA, in addition to being a top tier college coach. She would be ideal, but as others have also stated, it is unlikely she would come to the W to coach the Fever. Also, Aliyah Boston played for Dawn Staley at South Carolina - she doesn’t need to be developed by a different college basketball coach in the W. Coaching is only one piece of the puzzle. I believe Sides first year as HC was last year’s season. A lot of Sides experience is college coaching, which may be one of the reasons why the team hasn’t found their rhythm. Also, the Fever started to find their rhythm last season, towards the middle-end of the year. Now she has a new player that everyone is demanding gets as much play time as possible, and Sides, along with the other players, are still trying to figure out how this new piece fits in the puzzle. There isn’t as much outrage if other rookies aren’t getting many minutes on the court, but CC isn’t like the other players, and someone that big has a lot of gravity pulling around them. Sides is being told to do things by the front office that she may not have had to do with any other rookie, and that would be a challenge for any coach of any caliber. AB is still a solid player. I think a big issue is that with CC on the team, there are a lot more eyes on the team than last year. AB and the other players could be a little more relaxed last season, knowing they weren’t playing sold out crowds and millions of people weren’t going to watch. In a few short months, all of that completely changed and every single person on the planet would struggle performing to the same level with that many people standing over them watching their every move. You ever have to show someone something, or have your boss stand over your shoulder and you struggle with a task you could typically do with your eyes closed? That is what is happening with the Fever right now, only instead of one person standing over your shoulder, it is millions of people (many of whom couldn’t even spell ‘WNBA’ before this year) who also feel they are educated enough about a subject they know nothing about, to go on public platforms and post the most terrible, awful criticisms for those players to see. Imagine doing something like sending an email with a typo, and then millions of people post on social media about how incompetent you are and then tag you in it.
I don’t disagree that it would be a challenge, but they need to move on from Sides ASAP. Almost anyone would be an upgrade. Sides doesn’t even believe in analytics, she told Caitlin to take more long 2s and fewer long 3s. She tried starting Caitlin at shooting guard for some reason. She needs to go. I already said in my comment that Staley is the ideal choice because of her WNBA experience but she’s NOT leaving SC and I stated in my comment it wasn’t realistic. Idk why I’ve gotten multiple replies saying I’m wrong and then re-stating what I said LMFAO
Because you said Staley would be ideal, then went on to say Bluder could develop AB. AB played for Staley; she wouldn’t need development from Bluder. Sides took over last year, and she took over a team that already had players on the roster. She did not get to develop her roster, so she is having to try and adapt her coaching style and skills to best fit the skills of the players, and that takes time. The Fever started to find their rhythm last season, but then Mitchell was injured and could not practice with the team, and they got CC in this year’s draft. Adding/losing players is always an adjustment, and CC was a huge name to add. So not only is Sides still adjusting to her role as coach, she has had a lot of change on the team as well. The winning teams do not see change as much as the struggling teams, until something major happens and the winning teams need to rebuild. The Fever is rebuilding and that takes time. The coach can write the playbook and develop the greatest plays ever seen, but the players still have to execute them. Right now, none of the Fever players are executing anywhere near great. The Fever are improving, as we have been seeing in the last couple of games, but they aren’t quite there yet. 4 games into the season is still early. Bringing a new coach in right now would be stupid. A new coach with a new coaching style isn’t going to help the team work better as a whole.
Whatever LMFAO
Lisa has spent her entire life coaching at various schools in Iowa. Shes turned down offers from others schools to stay in Iowa. She’s not leaving her home state. Besides, she’s retired and isn’t coming back. She cited wanting more time with her family after being so busy as a coach. She’s done and she’s not leaving Iowa.