On the latest episode of Locked On Women’s Basketball, host Missy Heidrick is joined by Tony East, Indiana Fever beat writer for The Next. The two of them break down the Indiana Fever’s performance through the 2024 season so far. They analyze the team’s offense and defense and identify strengths and weaknesses. They also try to understand head coach Christie Sides’s strategy for the season.
Heidrick opens the podcast with a nod to the Fever, who earned a 91-83 victory over the Chicago Sky on Sunday. She asks East what struck him about the previous day’s game. “Yesterday’s game, to me, was the first time that their ‘big four’ all were clicking and being impactful in the same game,” East responds. “Some said was Caitlin [Clark]’s best game of the season … They were all good at the same time … it was the first time that all four of them were like, ‘wow.'”
Later on, Heidrick and East discuss the dynamics of the Fever’s offense. “Well, in the last four games, the second-best offense in the WNBA belongs to the Indiana Fever,” East informs the audience. “They stunk to start the season,” East says, “but they’re an above-average offense this season, but they have a lot of talent on that end … and the blending of all of it is what’s fascinating.”
To close things out, Heidrick and East discuss Sides’s head coaching strategy this season. “Obviously, there’s a lot of chatter,” Heidrick says, but she wants to know, “how have these first 15 games gone for Christie Sides?”
“They’re a young team, I think you start there,” says East. And, to begin the season, “their schedule was really hard … but you’d still like to see better than that … but then, they’ve been great.” Per Tony, progress in a season, especially for a young team, is really what matters.
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