Indiana Fever HC Admits Costly Last-Minute Blunder vs Connecticut as Locker Room Shake-Up Awaits

Given everything the Indiana Fever have been through, it shouldn’t come off as a surprise that HC Stephanie White is looking to redo a few arrangements. But here’s the thing, despite the brutal stretch, she never lost her cool. Especially in the postgame interview. As Scott Agnes reported, White kept it real despite the big blunder that has been making rounds.“There’s no question… we’re getting adversity right now…it’s early enough in the season we get to find a chance to get a gut check moment, and to find out who we’re going to be throughout adversity,” she said.

However, this isn’t the first time Coach White has shown this kind of calm under pressure. She has been here before. Back in 2015-16, during her first run as Indiana Fever head coach, Stephanie White pulled off something incredible. Everyone had written that squad off as “too old” and “past their prime,” but she somehow led them to the WNBA Finals. That made her the first rookie head coach in league history to pull that off. She had even said something back then that she very well can copy and paste, considering the team does make it past: “Our crew has found a way all season long to really overcome adversity, which has really made their bond stronger…They play for the person next to them and they really lay it on the line for one another”. 

Also, this time around, the reason for her confidence is bigger than ever. The roster is deeper than Indiana has ever seen, and after all, the recent win was just one blunder away. Even after performing without their key players, the squad managed to give the Sun a good run for the win. At one point, they managed a lead of 8 points and gave the Sun a tough time in the paint. It all came down to the final possession, with just under five seconds on the clock. The Fever had a final opportunity there to snatch the game.

The inbound pass found Kelsey Mitchell in the corner, but she momentarily lost control of the ball. Regaining her footing, she stepped back and hoisted a tough, off-balance three-pointer. Unfortunately for Indiana, the shot fell short and missed everything. Now, yes, it was a loss that could have been avoided, even Stephanie White admitted that.“Last play wasn’t clean. We weren’t looking for a 3, just a quick score…the three happened because it didn’t come in cleanly and there was a little bit of a fumble of the ball,” she said.

However, she is not going after her crew for this because that laying it on the line was evident in this game as well. Almost every player had to step out of their comfort zones, and yet, they nearly pulled off a miracle against Connecticut. So, going forward, no one in the entire squad has any thoughts of sulking over this loss. Instead, they are following White’s famous war cry. They are focusing on their one goal, that, without any vagueness, is winning the championship. “We can’t control injuries but we can figure out some different rotations. We can have a different style of play but we also have to control play over the floor and grow in those areas.” 

Yes, it’s no small feat trying to do that in a small duration with the next two games on the line—especially when the problems now are very different from what they were in 2015. Back then, Stephanie White was all offense. And while this season was supposed to be all about defense, their offense has begun to show cracks without Clark on board. So, let’s just say, White has both her hands full. But, luckily, Stephanie White isn’t fighting this battle solo. She has Briann January, a Fever legend herself and a seven-time All-Defensive Team honoree, now turned assistant coach. The cherry on top is that she knows what it takes to bring things into balance.

For Stephanie White, feeling sorry and stopping just doesn’t work

When she was questioned about the team’s emotional and mental status, Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White didn’t hesitate. The interviewer asked, “Does it take a toll mentally at all to you come into the game without Caitlyn, then you lose Sydney, you lose Sophie, and just kind of feels like things are piling up on you there in the moment?” 

The answer is not something that you might have expected. She was fully confident and blunt in her response.

“We’ve seen this time and time again in our league, right?” she said. “Like nobody feels sorry for you. Uh, we can’t feel sorry for ourselves. Uh, we just have to figure it out.” That exact mentality is what separates true competitors from teams that fold under pressure. Despite losing star rookie Caitlin Clark (out at least two weeks with a left quad strain), veteran Sydney Colson, and rotation player Sophie Cunningham (all within 48 hours), White hasn’t blinked.

She has a clear plan drawn out: “You know, we’ve got to make sure that while it might look different, uh, we’ve got to have few fewer moments of of breakdowns on the defensive end.” Because those lapses in crunch time had cost them a lot this time. “We got to have fewer moments of a flurry of turnovers. We’ve got to have fewer moments where we come out of timeout and not executing”. 

Well, considering that there were moments of great brilliance and teamwork even in this thin roster that played, we have more than enough reasons to believe in her.

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