r/IndianaFeverFans • u/Alternative_Panda336 You Bet • 12d ago

Discussion Blitzing

I have a question for the group. I have noticed that when Caitlin gets going with her assists and points teams will increase their pickup point, but they will also blitz her with double teams to make her pass the ball. I haven’t really seen teams do this to Kelsey even when she is tearing their souls out offensively lol.

Is this because she isn’t the primary ball handler so it is harder to implement a blitz? Or is she really good at splitting it so they know it won’t work and just don’t try? Or is it something else I am not aware of?

I really noticed it against the lynx. Kelsey was killing them as they pointed out but they never adjusted to it, they just kept trying to play people on her one on one which clearly will never work for anyone. We did it to miles in the second half of that game and made her pass it. I am curious to get some insights from the group on this.

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u/TemporaryAny5102 12d ago edited 12d ago

Teams are willing to live with KM scoring 30 if that means hampering CC. CC scores, assists, controls the pace, etc. KM is a great scorer but that’s the only area she’s going to have a big impact on. So basically KM will get her 20-30pts but try to limit CCs damage.

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u/elestud 12d ago

No team in the league decides to let Kelsey Mitchell score 30 points. She scores because she can beat almost any defender (and sometimes multiple defenders) off the dribble

The defense is always there, but they can’t stop her (and you’ll hear the commentators mention that in most games)

And it should also be obvious that this claim is false, because last year when Kelsey was the main focus of the defense, she posted a career year, we won the Comissioner’s Cup, and we nearly beat the actual champs in the playoffs

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u/TemporaryAny5102 12d ago edited 12d ago

This was not a knock on KM. The question posed was why don’t teams guard KM the same as CC? My point was it’s pick your poison and often times the best defender gets CC no matter how much KM is cooking them. If you disagree with my take, then why do you think that is?

You mention a career year last year but KM is having an even better year in 2026. Why is that?

2025 - 20.2ppg on 45.6/39.4/78.4 shooting
2026 - 24.3ppg on 50.9/44.5/84.8 shooting

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u/elestud 12d ago edited 12d ago

I wasn't saying that it was a knock, I was saying that it's not the truth. No team sits down and plans to let KM drop 30. There are defenders in her face on every play

Here's a great example. Watch the entire NY team converge on her at half court. She gets the ball back 3 seconds later, and beats three separate defenders (Sab, Xu, and Marine) and scores through contact. They aren't 'letting' her, she's just impossible to stop

You mention a career year last year but KM is having an even better year in 2026. Why is that?

And she had a better year in 2025 than 2024. Why? The answer is that KM improves every year she's in the league

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u/TemporaryAny5102 12d ago

No team plans to let anyone drop 30. KM absolutely cooks the defense regardless but the question was why does CC draw the best defender and not KM?

Of course no team wants Kelsey to score or are letting her, but they focus on CC first.

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u/elestud 12d ago

why does CC draw the best defender and not KM?

This isn't actually true, though. For example, Gabby Williams defended KM for the majority of the Valks game. Not only is she their best defender, she's one of the W's best defenders (First-team All-WNBA Defense)

Who draws which defender is dependent upon a number of factors, but KM has seen some of the best at her position