The Indiana Fever have a problem, and it isn’t he current injury to their star in Caitlin Clark – whose aiming to be reevaluated over this weekend; The problem lies in Natasha Howard, whose archetype as a scorer has become problematic for the Indiana offense. Howard last season shot just 26% from non-Paint looks, and this season is 1/13 off those looks. The issue with this is when she shares the court with Aliyah Boston, as that allows the defense to swarm AB and keep the paint packed.
With Cunningham also joining today’s inactive list for Indiana, White can only turn to Dantas and Bonner to stretch the floor while maintaining enough size to guard Angel Reese. Would love to see a Dantas lineup especially, as Bonner has a team-low -3.6 +/- on the year.
Without Cunningham, it is Sydney Colson slated as the starting guard. However, Colson’s age has been showing in her repeated injuries and low gas tank. Welcome Aari McDonald, who just ran 27 minutes vs The Mystics and notched 5 assists along with 7 points and 3 steals.
The Sky’s defense has ranked Bottom 3 against all things handling, including PnR Ball Handlers, Off Screen, Handoff and Isolation. This is screaming for another good game for Kelsey Mitchell, who loves to operate as an offball scorer so her speed can be best utilized downhill. She has opened each of her last 3 meetings with 8+ 1Q points.
Chicago’s offense has come together, with three games now at a -5 or better, compared to their average -24.3 in their first three games. Two key things happened here:
– Angel Reese notched her season-low in potential assists last game (5), and in turn got to be a lot more aggressive in offball drives. She produced 13 FGA.
– Vandersloot finally gets to be what she has built her entire career to be: a passer. She has notched 9 APG across her last three games, with 19+ potentials in each of those three games.
Chicago’s change on how they are initiating their offense should remain true today, as Reese can thrive inside. Bigs have been dominated Indiana: Iriafen 18 PPG, Jonquel 26 Pts, Charles 18 Pts, Brionna 17 Pts.