The Indiana Fever were elated when they managed to punch their tickets to the playoffs. That is because the team faced a lot of tough times throughout the season. Initially, they had to deal with Caitlin Clark’s injury. Soon after, the likes of Sophie Cunningham, Sydney Colson, and Aari McDonald became unavailable for the season. Thus, fielding a depleted side, the Fever did a marvellous job to qualify for the playoffs. And while Fever got a heartfelt appreciation from GM Amber Cox, Stephanie White had a lot to say about their opponent.
Fever will be facing off against the Atlanta Dream in the playoffs. And quite frankly, things are not looking good for White’s side. After all, Dream has been quite a superior side in the regular season compared to the Fever. Yet, the Fever head coach had some game plans that she readily shared.
Stephanie White Wants Her Team To Fall Back On Defense
White knows fully well how well-equipped Dream is. And without the likes of Clark and Cunningham, it is looking like an uphill battle for Fever. But the Indiana head coach is not the one to shirk away from difficult situations. Speaking about Dream’s playing style, White praised their floor spacing. She stated that in order to succeed, Fever will have to make the most of the situation with disciplined play.
Putting stress on the defensive end of things, White stated, “They’ve gotta play like five feet beyond the three point line. Number two, ball pressure, can’t make easy passes. And number three, our positioning. We can’t be caught behind their bigs. We can’t be deep, more than one to two steps off a ball line and allow those easy passes out.”
White also wanted her team to drive the Dream away from the three-point line to prevent them from going overboard with three-point shots. Surely, the approach is cautious, but White also delivered a powerful message for her team ahead of the playoffs. And as the Fever clinched the playoff spot, the head coach could not help but beam with pride.
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Stephanie White Proud Of Her Indiana Fever Team
The Indiana Fever had some extremely lean phases this year. Owing to their inconsistent showing, a lot of critics counted the team out of the playoff contention. Especially when they were missing so many big names. Thankfully, when the time came, the team stood up to the task and registered a dominant victory against the Washington Mystics to secure their place in the playoffs. And looking at this achievement, White could not be prouder of her team.
“I don’t know if relief is the right word, more so just pride. Like, I’m really proud of these guys. You know, with all of the stuff that we’ve been through, most teams would have folded. And we just kept getting stronger, and we kept reinventing ourselves. These women in the locker room deserve a lot of credit for their ability to stay resilient, to stay together, to stay hungry and to stay the course,” White said in the post-game interview.
Surely, the team has done a lot of hard work to reach this pedestal. Now, they would want to keep the momentum going and go deep in the playoffs and try to salvage something special out of it.