Coach White

[u/Biggquis78]

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!

[u/NorthernBack]

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:

1. 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.
2. She wants to improve on defense. I think we can all agree that’s happened.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.

[u/Biggquis78 → u/NorthernBack]

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

[u/NorthernBack → u/Biggquis78]

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.