Indiana Fever New Head Coach Stephanie White Wants to Improve on Defense
This is definitely music to any Indiana fans’ ears. The franchise is entering into a fresh new era with a new HC. This week, the Indiana Fever’s new head coach Stephanie White says one of the things she is aiming to improve next season is the team’s defense. An area that has been a true thorn in the flesh in the organization’s quest for more success.
While the Fever did get a boost in their offense. Thanks to some amazing draft picks over the past couple of seasons. With players such as Caitlin Clark as well as Aliyah Boston. Indiana still remained as a team struggling in achieving better defensive intensity on the court.
According to the Indy Star, in 2023 and 2024, not much change occurred on this front. The Star mentions, “[Indiana] has been emphasizing defense the entire season after Indiana finished the 2023 season second-to-last in defensive rating. From a statistical perspective, Indiana has not necessarily improved — the Fever are still 11th in the league this [2024] season with a 106.3 defensive rating. The Fever rank 11th of the WNBA’s 12 teams in scoring defense (87.3 points per game) and defensive rating (108.2 points per 100 possessions).”
Indiana Fever New Head Coach Stephanie White Wants to Improve on Defense
So then, there’s plenty of room for improvement. And what did White have to say about the Fever and their defense? In her first day on the job presser, Stephanie White explains,
“I’m a forward-thinking, outside-the-box kind of coach. I like to challenge them on a number of levels. They are a high IQ team, so also giving them the freedom to make plays … you got to give them the freedom, the confidence to believe in their abilities to make those plays, but also a little bit of the structure to help them see the different ways that you can attack.
We’ve got to make sure on the days that shots aren’t falling, that we’re able to position ourselves to win ball games.
But [defense] is a big part of of how I coach, and it’s an important piece of us positioning ourselves to win ball games. And so, we’ll, we’ll attack that as well, and we’ll continue to get better on that end of the floor. But more than anything, we want to continue to be exactly what they are a fun, fast paced, up tempo style of play.
This is coming home. For me, it has been such an experience with this franchise for nearly 25 years from Day 1, and the opportunity to come home and to lead this young, exciting, talented team, to work with Kelly again, who is, you know, the best architect in the WNBA and has put together championship teams year in and year out.
It feels like home, and that’s because it is, and I am so incredibly honored, so humbled, so thankful, grateful and excited to lead this franchise and taking it to another level.”
A better defense and a fast paced team on the court; sounds like a very entertaining product. We look forward to seeing how the Fever perform next season. And wish the best to White with this coaching opportunity as well.
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