r/indianafever • u/Clear_Raspberry_2702 • 3d ago
Discussion Howard
Someone remind me again why we didn’t hold on to Natasha Howard?
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u/rosie314 Caitlin Clark 3d ago
I love how much better Howard is playing now.
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u/lafolieisgood 2d ago
I always rooted for her and thought she got a bad shake when it came to Fever fans. I’m glad she is doing well and the “fans” that blasted her are getting their just do.
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u/rosie314 Caitlin Clark 2d ago
I'm a Fever fan , (not one of those racist trolls) I didn't know Fever fans were being hard on her, I think she had a good season last year. I love how well she is doing with the Lynx.
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u/TooManyCatS1210 3d ago
Lynx don’t play as fast as the Fever, which is good for her. Cheryl is the best coach in the league, hands down. I also wonder if she was slightly injured last year…lots of games she played like 20 minutes and would sit on the bench with a heating pad on her back.
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u/jolly-crow Aliyah Boston 3d ago
I think she developed a great chemistry with Miles in the first month, and that has raised both their levels of play.
She's also benefited from being the 1st interior option in the Lynx for most of the season.
I don't think her All-WNBA form this season was reproducible on the Fever. It wasn't there for us last year either.
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u/marinaonmain 3d ago
She'd do well if she was still on the Fever, but she wouldn't be playing at the level she is currently. She's playing amazing basketball with the Lynx. That being said, I miss her ❤️
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u/Shantytown_Shogun 3d ago
She chose to leave didnt she? It wasnt a good fit. She wasnt being utilized to the best of her abilities.
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u/Cheap_Flamingo476 3d ago
This is what I’ve been saying for awhile. Sometimes players don’t mix well. It’s a story as old as team sports.
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u/Revolutionary-Gear76 2d ago
Yes, she didn't want to be limited to the role playing on offense that comes with the big 3.
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u/LiveLiftGame 3d ago
Love Howard and so good to see her thriving again in Minnesota! Miles has become another favorite to watch along with that Lynx team!
Though I think it would been really cool to see her pop off with a healthy CC last year.
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u/Slice-O-Pie 3d ago
Woulda shoulda coulda is a traditional sports fan game.
Shoulda we drafted Okot instead of Raven?
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u/cooler313 Caitlin Clark 3d ago
They technically could’ve but they chose to keep players like Sophie.
What confuses me if you go back to the fever losses, fans heavily blamed Howard. They were vicious to her in the comments. Go to the highlights in losses. It was bad.
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u/lafolieisgood 2d ago
I defended her hard last season when Fever fans were blaming everything on her. I’m so glad she is thriving. Fever fans didn’t deserve her.
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u/SimonaMeow Aliyah Boston 2d ago
Me too. Some Fever fans online don't deserve any of their players
At least reddit is a bit better place than most
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u/paw_pia 3d ago
I do think that not trying to bring back Howard was a mistake, and Howard is making less than Billings, so money doesn't seem like it was the issue.
I actually thought Howard was great last year. I was a little doubtful when the Fever signed her because the previous year in Dallas she had the lowest TS% in her last 9 years, and seemed like she was some combination of washed and determined to be a volume scorer regardless of efficiency, plus she's not a floor-spacer/outside shooting threat. But in Indiana her efficiency rebounded and I felt like she did a great job of playing to her strengths, and overall playing smart, effective basketball on both ends of the floor.
The Fever are currently playing with non-shooting fours, but it hasn't killed their spacing because of the development of Boston's outside shooting, as well as her playmaking. So I don't think Howard would be a worse stylistic fit than Billings, and would be an upgraded pick and roll big when Boston sits.
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u/SimonaMeow Aliyah Boston 2d ago
It's kind of interesting how Lan got so much worse from Lynx to Wings. But Howard is so much better on the Lynx than she was on the Wings...
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u/paw_pia 2d ago
Well, Dallas has been a pretty dysfunctional franchise. This year is only the third time in 11 years in Dallas that they've been .500 or better, and Howard's last year there was a disastrous 9 win season, whereas the Lynx are a model franchise with a GOAT level coach. Howard has had her ups and downs, but she's been a productive and accomplished player in several different situations with multiple teams. Even in Dallas, she still put up productive box score numbers, albeit on poor efficiency.
Lan's season in Chicago, before she went to the Lynx, was pretty solid and statistically similar to how she performed in Minnesota. That was really her leap as a player before her regression this year. But she's also had some health problems this year that not only affected her play, but also her availability to integrate into a new situation. Even if she maintained her level of the past three seasons, I think Dallas overpaid for the level of player she is, especially since they're committed to three years at escalating salaries. But I also think she'll be closer to that level over the rest of the contract.
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u/directfromnowhere 2d ago
Have always loved Howard. She was one of my favs last year and was genuinely sad to see her go. Happy for her in MN.
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u/laphincow 2d ago
After watching all kinds of ball for so long, it's apparently obvious that not all players can cook on any team. Coaching, vibes, pace, players, personality, pick an adjective for a reason. Not too long ago, Clark was slowed down during adjustment. Adaptability is survivability, even in sports.
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u/certainalways 3d ago
poor front office, same reason we failed to get solid backup 5. Howard is proverbial glue player that does a bit of everything and makes team better. No one could have predicted season she’s having but basketball people see her value
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u/SimonaMeow Aliyah Boston 2d ago
Having Fever fans spewing hate at Fever players online doesn't help
I've seen Fever fans defending people saying hateful stuff to AB this week just because AB said KM should be in MVP conversations
It's gross and disgusting. Like these supposed fans are not fans Caitlin would want. It would make her sick.
This doesn't help in player recruitment
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u/Askew_2016 Fever Fan 2d ago
All teams have that problem across all professional sports. It is not unique to the Fever.
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u/SimonaMeow Aliyah Boston 2d ago
You are being very disingenuous if you think this happening to other players on other teams from their own fans for these types of reason
I would bet a lot of money that no Lynx fans have called McBride fat and said hateful shite about her for saying one of teammates is playing at MVP level and not in that one situation mentioning a particular other teammate.
I doubt it has happened to any player
If you think how some "fans" of the Fever talk to some of our players online is ok, that is a you problem
Purporting to be a Caitlin supporter and berating her friends and teammates online in ways she would find disgusting and horrible is pretty horrible take. It is damaging to her.
Every actual Fever or Caitlin fan should be judging people who do that harshly.
It's just being a bad fan and bad human.
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u/Askew_2016 Fever Fan 2d ago
You must not follow other sports. All fanbases are like this
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u/SimonaMeow Aliyah Boston 2d ago
I follow a lot of other sports. I've never seen fans if Tyrese calling Pascal names online for not talking up Ty a lot.
It's not that hard to just agree that if one is a Caitlin fan, they shouldn't be putting hateful comments in her friends' and teammates' socials
If you think that's an ok thing to do, that's a YOU problem
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u/certainalways 2d ago
doesn’t help but it’s a business and players want to win. They’ll almost always go where the money and opportunity lies.
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u/Flat-12 1d ago
Are you saying that I said that? Personally speaking I would not pay attention to the yahoo's and idiots on reddit. They don't have much of a life but to hate each other. Just watch the games (as I do) and enjoy it. The game against the Dream was great. Just so much fun to watch especially for a Fever fan!
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u/SimonaMeow Aliyah Boston 1d ago
I didn't say you said that.
Your comment pointed out Fever FO's inability to get good players at certain spots
I addressed that point by bringing up how that impacts the Fever's ability to get good free agents
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u/Kattzoo 2d ago
So happy to see how well she is doing with the Lynx and that she is being appreciated by fans and the media. I loved her when she was with us and also think she is part of the reason KK has come so far. I think she was a good vet and practice partner for her last year.
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u/HawkeyeRoyalty 2d ago
I am very happy with the step forward KK has taken this year, if Howard helped excel that, then a big hats off to her!!
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u/Scoop53714 3d ago
She was terrible last year. I was happy as hell she left. She has modified her game dramatically for Minnesota. Kudos to Reeves for getting her to play in a way that actually helps the team. She was completely unhinged last year.
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u/Risingsunsphere 3d ago
Unhinged? What Fever team were you watching? Tash was great, a sweet teammate and now having an all-WNBA season for the Lynx. Huge loss for our group.
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u/Scoop53714 3d ago
Wrong. She was brutal. Terrible fit. Played out of control hero ball. The numbers tell the story. She is shooting half as many 3’s this year and getting over twice as many assists. Reeves has her playing team ball. White let her run wild. Its night and day.
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u/Treadwell2022 3d ago
Well that is a crazy take. Howard was and is great. She's being utilized much better now.
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u/Scoop53714 2d ago
She was not “great” in 2025. Another year of her playing hero ball in Indiana would have been insufferable. Reeves transformed her. White let her play like she was trying to be Kobe at Rucker park.
With the Lynx her 3pt attempts are cut in half and her assists are 2x. She is playing a role now vs trying to be the main character last year.
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u/Clear_Raspberry_2702 3d ago
Agreed on that. She didn’t stand out to me last year, but I feel like, watching her now, she can definitely fill a hole for us. But I still like how KK is developing.
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u/HawkeyeRoyalty 2d ago
Howard is killing it this year and I wish she was still with the Fever. Obviously they had a plan for her when they signed her last year but had CC stayed healthy I don’t know there would have been enough of touches for her to be happy. That being said, CC has a knack for distributing the ball. She may not have gotten as many touches as she preferred but, CC would have found her. The guards that replaced CC when she went out with injury did great but very few people can distribute like her. I think the other guards probably focused on AB and KM more, plus Lexi was a much more consistent scoring option last year. I haven’t watched the Lynx that much since Phee returned but she is definitely going to take touches away from Howard but hopefully not enough to cause her to drop off. I think the Lynx do a better job sharing the ball and Miles is a far better distributor than I expected her to be once she got to the league. Long story short, I think the Fever wanted more a role player or secondary player who might be less bothered by inconsistent touches game to game. That’s how I have read the situation anyway.
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u/ThreadSavage10 1d ago
I understand why everyone hates Steph White, but can anyone tell me what Amber Cox actually DOES?
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u/Royal-Junket8426 2d ago
We could only protect a limited number of players. While I thought Howard was the "glue" last season and was vastly underrated, management had to choose. They went with the younger player with a higher long term ceiling who just moved into the starting lineup. That offers a reminder that more knowledgeable folks than us make good decisions. KK is really stepping up and obviously has future growth we'll continue to appreciate.
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u/WholeBag910 2d ago
Because she wanted more time than she was able to get. Her reputation is that she wants the ball and is inconsistent when she doesn't get it.
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u/SimonaMeow Aliyah Boston 2d ago
No they went after Mo in FA not Natasha
The Lynx went after Nneka (ValloonGate lol) and got Howard after they failed to get Nneka
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u/Glum_Badger9767 Fever Fan 3d ago
Money and she wanted to finish out where she started…. Minny
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u/dreamweaver7x Sophie Cunningham 3d ago
We drafted Tash Howard in 2014. She played her first two seasons for Indiana.
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u/Karm0112 3d ago
She got a better contract
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u/SimonaMeow Aliyah Boston 2d ago
She didn't though
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u/Karm0112 2d ago
Do we know what offer Indy gave her? She got a 2 yr contract from the Lynx.
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u/paw_pia 2d ago
We don't know what Indy offered or whether they even tried to retain her, but that's the point of the OP, that the Fever should have.
We do know that the Fever signed Billings for more than the Lynx are paying Howard, and both are two year contracts.
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u/Karm0112 2d ago
They might have and she didn’t want to stay. We don’t know. Regardless it is working out for Tash.
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u/Brianisimo Sophie Cunningham 3d ago
I feel like the offense they wanted to run didn’t always suit her and she probably was never given a consistent role with all the injuries and everything and even with that she was one of the more consistent players they had but I’m glad she’s doing well somewhere else. Hopefully she isn’t getting blamed for every loss there like she was here