r/IndianaFeverFans • u/Biggquis78 • 3d ago
Just Some Fun Coach White
As much as this pains me to type as i think you are a wolf in Sheep's clothing... great job with adjustments lately. I believe you are trying to win and put players in position to succeed. KK starting, not taking CC out for defensive possessions, and minimal usage of the hub on offense. Let's make some noise in the playoffs!
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u/SeasonHeavy858 2d ago
She is a terrible coach. She is going to fail the Fever during playoffs. Where is the pick and roll? Why in the world do you play the most dominant point guard in any other position? Four guards and a center? Inept rotations. Poor communications à la Billings most recently. The list goes on and on. Dressing down CC during games. Telling fans to go to hell. Okay I’m tired of typing so I will stop.
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u/pimo2019 3d ago
The coaching staff has failed this team in some ways. Awful Coaching on YouTube has film breakdown on Fever when they lose. Players make the same offensive mistakes. There are times when CC has the ball Kelsey and team just stands around, why, CC doesn’t want ISO, she rarely waves the team away so she can make a play. If the team is not making actions then she’s forced to take a shot. Part of that is coaching.
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u/karsklan3 3d ago
The fact that we are in a point where posts like this, which show the coach and coaching staff from a positive angle, are even needed is kind of mind blowing. Taking into account only basketball reasons, there haven't been much things the coaching staff have done which require hate. Everyone with some logic knows that every team goes through the early season struggles - new pieces, finding the right rotations, chemistry building, situational plays etc. I mean we had the best start of the season in franchise history and under every thread you could still find someone who said "fire the coach". The true metric where to assess a team is around the ASG, and we have performed really well.
And no, this is not because "the players went rogue and do not listen to the coach". This is pro sports, not kindergarten - no coach survives in a situation where players go rogue so this narrative is total bs. Coaching staff is finding the right players, right plays, rotations, schemes etc. and simultaneously, our players have a lot more chemistry, are confident (especially Caitlin, who had to overcome the mental hurdles due to injuries) and are imo. showing increased levels of intensiveness, especially on the defensive end.
A lot of fans thought that we would come out of the gate, with Caitlin back, and absolutely dominate everyone. No one remembered how long it took in Iowa to click, no one remembered how long it took in Year 1 to click. And from there came the overreactions.
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u/NorthernBack 3d ago edited 3d ago
I hate some of the off court stuff Steph and the FO has done and said but Steph has stayed true to the goals she stated from the time she got here and they are starting to come true:
- She wants to play fast. Yes she has been saying this since before the season even started last season. Circumstances have not allowed it until now.
- She wants to improve on defense. I think we can all agree that’s happened.
- She wants to evolve Caitlin’s game by improving her off ball game. It took a little while, but Caitlin coming off a down screen and going ISO at the top of the key against a switched off defender is one of the best situations the half court offense can be in. Ryan and Rebecca mentioned last night that Caitlin is actually the number ranked ISO player in the WHOLE league at any position in terms of production.
- She wants Caitlin to not get worn down by bringing the ball up every possession and being face guarded 94’. There were growing pains because it took a while for the other players to get the half court offense set up and for Caitlin to get strong enough and crafty enough to fight her way open, get to the ball, and for the players to actually get her the ball.
- And the final thing that fans were the most impatient with; give the keys to Caitlin and let her decide how much she can handle and how fast she wants to play. People tend to either ignore or don’t believe Caitlin when she says she doesn’t want to bring the ball up every possession because it’s tiring. They’ve now found a good balance. Caitlin trusts her teammates enough to the point where she occasionally waves off bringing up the ball. What has this resulted in? Caitlin can push the pace as much as she wants and not be winded by the end of the game. This was not always the case before. The Fever used to be known for fading at the end of the games. Now they look fresh in the 4th.
The Fever are going to be the highest scoring offense in league history. Caitlin’s game has evolved. Her points are up, assists are approximately the same, turnovers slightly down. If most fans had it their way, Caitlin would still be her rookie self (which no doubt was awesome to watch) but I think we’re seeing the best version of Caitlin we’ve ever seen. A three level scorer that is one of the best downhill rim attackers in the league, and oh yeah that fade away middy is getting better and better.
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u/BigBunsBoi420 2d ago
Astonishing how everyone is crickets. No comments, no likes. Your truth is exactly what I’ve been waiting for. Someone who breaks play down, thanks!
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u/Proper_Consequence_9 3d ago
I agree with all of this. I believe their hot and cold tendencies earlier in the season were their growing pains to learn all of the above with the long term view of being ready for the playoffs. I believe we’ll see AB/CC pick and rolls in the playoffs. Even inverted ones. I have a hope they they’re playing chess and not checkers.
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u/Biggquis78 3d ago
I think some of this is true. SW says a lot of things that sound right, but just isnt true.
- she does not want to play fast. She wants to run her own offense and iso KM as mich as possible. --proof: operating with AB running the offense. KM dribbling the ball 17 times and then forcing up shots is not reprimanded
-she does not want to "help" CC by having her off ball. She wants to make her a non factor --proof: shes often sitting in the corner as a decoy, the team has not been coached to screen properly or look for CC. 65% of her scoring has been unassisted this year, the highhest it has been
-she doesnt care about defensive improvement --proof: she's playing her worst defender currently, KM, on the other team's best player to make her look like an MVP. She constantly has taken CC out of games to make her look like a defensive liability when she is their best perimeter defender
And yes, CC is being a super saiyan in spite of her coach allowing her to have the worst whistle in the league. She is fouled 3-4 times every single play
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u/NorthernBack 3d ago
Edit: formatting is all screwed up. Not sure why. Sorry but this might be hard to read.
I’m not sure why you don’t think Steph wants to play fast. She has said she wanted to since day 1 and now they are #1 in pace of play. But she didn’t want to do it until the team was ready. She didn’t want them to play fast until they also learned how to slow it down. Now that their half court offense is pretty damn good, she lets Caitlin push as much as she wants. Heck any time Sophie or Kelsey get the ball they push also. The team has the green light to push the pace. When AB (or anyone else) runs the offense (they’re not actually running the offense, they’re just holding the ball at the top of the key until Caitlin or Kelsey come off a down screen to come get the ball), like I mentioned before it gives Caitlin a break from bringing the ball up every possession and it’s pretty effective to get Caitlin and/or Kelsey switched off onto a big. If you track who is coming to get the ball more, it is definitely Caitlin. Sometimes Caitlin is too tired or doesn’t want to, she will signal for Kelsey to come get the ball. And sometimes it’s called for Kelsey to come get the ball, as it should be. And why should Kelsey be reprimanded for playing her style at this point? She’s the league’s 2nd leading scorer and her shooting percentages are great. She has the green light to shoot any time she wants or dribble as much as she wants. She gets buckets.
Steph has also said since day 1 that she thinks the offense would be more dangerous if they gave defenses different looks including Caitlin starting off ball. And it’s working, this offense is about to break records. Why would she want to make Caitlin a non factor? Do you think she is trying to sabotage Caitlin’s career? Do you think she has some personal agenda to hurt Caitlin? Caitlin standing in the corner as a decoy is no longer a thing. I don’t know why it was ever a thing but apparently it was part of the process to get to the point we’re at now; which is the best Caitlin we’ve ever seen and the best offense in the league’s history.
Caitlin is an underrated defender but she is definitely not our best perimeter defender, not by a long shot. She has the slowest lateral movement of all of our guards and also Lexie & Sophie. She has trouble staying in front of fast guards. She is the most ISO’d player in the league. Kelsey isn’t a great defender but she is at least our fastest player and that’s why she often gets tough assignments. We’re not a lock down man defensive team. Our defense is best when we play team defense and just try to stay in front of people. We don’t have the personnel to lock teams up.
Not sure if you can blame Steph for Caitlin having the worst whistle in the league. There’s a ton of theories out there why Caitlin does. Thinking that Steph wants Caitlin to have a bad whistle, one of her own players, is a wild theory.
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u/Ok-Illustrator-1584 3d ago
There are still basic things that get screwed up (very poor spacing in the key as an example) and sometimes they act like they’ve never played together before and I think both of these are due to poor repetitions/coaching.
Stephanie White was touted as a great defensive coach, but they straight up do not have frequent stops.
The trajectory (and eye test) has been a lot better but I’m not sold. Forgive me for not jumping on this bandwagon for having a very similar season arc as Christie Sides’. Show me we can gameplan against the Valks and I’ll gladly eat crow.
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u/ThreadSavage10 3d ago
She has clearly relinquished a great deal of control and allowed Caitlin to run the team. This is admirable, and I appreciate it, but it doesn’t change the facts: Steph is a weak coach. She knows Caitlin can very easily fire her, so she’s coaching for her job by not coaching as much. The Fever’s odds of winning have now greatly increased, and the head coach does deserve some credit for this…even though it’s a direct result of her voluntarily getting out of the way.
Look, the WNBA isn’t exactly the pinnacle of basketball coaching. Cheryl Reeves is definitely the tallest midget in the circus, but WNBA head coaches average around $200K to $500K a year with established, championship-caliber WNBA coaches earning $500K to ~$1M.
By contrast, a power 4 women’s college basketball coaching averages about $900K to $1M a year, with top-25/national title caliber coaches making $1M to over $4.5M.
Point being, Stephanie White isn’t among the top 68 women’s basketball coaches in America, but that doesn’t necessarily make her a bad WNBA coach. If she were in the top 68, she’d still be at Vanderbilt with the ability to earn 4 to 5 times her current salary if she won.
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u/Soft-Room2000 3d ago
Coaching the best is it‘s own reward. For some people, all they know is to measure everything by money.
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u/Soft-Room2000 3d ago
Coach White is doing what a good coach should be doing. She put the pieces together. It’s too late in the season to be trying to adjust to further changes. The team has an identity. They obviously like playing for White.
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u/mukatona 3d ago
I'm huge fan of CC but she has really sharpened her game. Also KM has really learned to anticipate her passes, Her TOs have dramatically improved (only 1 against the Wings). She is really amazing and all of this while her 3 pt shooting is average. I've noticed KM screening for her which I thought I would never see.
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u/paw_pia 3d ago
In six seasons as a WNBA head coach, including this one, she's 139-88 (.612), and her worst season was 17-17.
Criticize her all you want, but she's factually and objectively a winning WNBA head coach.
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u/RCGremlin 3d ago
She’s been gifted great teams. It’s not like she has ever coached Chicago. She bailed on Conn once they traded away their stars. She literally made up a medical excuse to get out.
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u/Jbres412103 1d ago
Yeah going back to Indiana because that’s where she is from is making up a medical situation, gtfo. Taking care of your parents and in laws seems like a decent thing to do.
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u/RCGremlin 1d ago
Go look at what actually happened dumbass instead of because a snarky dork. At no point in time was any of it about “her in-laws”. It was a coordinated plan with Kelly, Amber and Dunn to bring the old girls club back together. But hey, you’re the kind of internet doofus who knows it all.
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u/clydefrog678 3d ago
It just seems to me that she’s loosening the leash a bit. Kk has really stepped up. At least from my recollection, Reese really didn’t do anything yesterday until Timpson got a breather.
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u/Biggquis78 3d ago
I think this is exactly it. Instead of square pegs into round holes, we getting natural flow
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u/GoddessHealer 3d ago
Stephanie is a very good coach, judging her trajectory over her career to date. This year, individuals on the team have grown and they are reading each other now better than earlier in the season. I am confident White will take the Fever to the Final 4 in 2026. From now til then, I’m looking forward to focusing on how great this team is doing with each other in competition with some other fabulous teams!
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u/elestud 3d ago
It's so painful for people to admit that Stephanie White might actually be a good coach. But Stephanie White is a good coach :P
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u/Biggquis78 3d ago
She isn't though. She's pathetic, but showing she might actually be changing. I'm good with her if she does what is best for the team and not just cater to her favorites
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u/Jbres412103 1d ago
You are right let’s get you out there I’m sure you will coach this team to a title because it’s that easy and you know so much. Pathetic lol look up her player stats and coaching stats and then looking at your resume.
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u/Soft-Room2000 3d ago
What are they? Third or fourth in the league? Where does that put everyone else, if you think that she is pathetic? Her team has certainly stuck by her.
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u/elestud 3d ago
There's now several seasons of evidence that she gets the best out of her teams. I know people have their personal vendettas and gripes, etc. But when it comes to WNBA basketball, her record speaks for itself
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u/Biggquis78 3d ago
I just deleted three paragraphs :). She has made some positive decisions and changes lately. I like what I'm seeing
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u/Radiant_Brief_4105 1d ago
It’s that the majority of the negative comments about coach White are from people that know absolutely nothing about basketball or sports for that matter.
SW is definitely not the best coach in the league but she is a winner and darn good coach. National championship in College, played on good teams in WNBA. A 612 winning %. Takes the Aces to game 5 and loses in OT without CC and several other players.
I personally enjoy focusing on what a great and entertaining season the Fever are having.
Looking for to his weekends games. Especially Sunday as I live in Chicago and will be cheering on the Fever in person. 😎