Equipped with two of the top young talents in the WNBA, the Indiana Fever still has no answers after a 0-2 start to the 2024 season.
They played a rematch Saturday of Thursday night’s contest against the New York Liberty which resulted in a nearly 40-point loss earlier in the week. Even though they have the No. 1 overall draft selection in Caitlin Clark and the reigning rookie of the year in Aliyah Boston, Saturday ended up being a near repeat of what’s starting out as a disappointing start to the schedule.
However, much of the blame isn’t heading in the direction of the team’s players, but more so the one leading them in head coach Christie Sides. Well before the game ended, fans took to X to express their frustration with the second-year head coach.
“Christie Sides is so unfit for her job as Head Coach of the Indiana Fever it’s actually insane,” Paula Baddyosa posted on X.
Several fans are upset with some of the coaching decisions Sides made throughout the game.
“Takeaways from this game so far @ChristieSides. Let Caitlin Clark be the only PG. Take Kelsey Mitchell out. What is up with Boston? She’s not shooting well, not rebounding or defending. Also, Fire Christie Sides and put someone in there that wants to win!” Jerrett Franklin wrote.
“Get Nalyssa smith OFF THE COURT PLEASE christie sides. She’s garbage,” another fan wrote about her personnel decisions.
Hassan de Casablanca believes Clark’s talent is wasted with this group saying, “This Fever team is terrible. Christie Sides isn’t gonna survive this. Caitlin is a Bugatti surrounded by Buick Sabers.”
Eric The Red says Sides deserves all the blame writing, “If they don’t fire Christie Sides, develop an offensive scheme and substitution pattern, they’re not gonna draw the fans that they should. No one wants to watch a losing team that woefully mismanaged by the coach.”
The halftime score status fielded a lot of comments for Sides to be removed as head coach.
Sides is now 0-3 in her second season with the Fever following the 80-91 loss. It’s unclear how much time she has left to prove she is still the best option to run this team, but several fans are already starting to turn on her.
Chicago Sky beat Indiana Fever 88-87 in intense rematch between Angel Reese, Caitlin Clark
Basketball fans pack Wintrust Arena, pay high prices to watch highly-anticipated matchup.
CHICAGO (WLS) — A highly-anticipated WNBA matchup Sunday in Chicago ended in a win for the Sky. Many fans were excited to see rookies Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark face off after their college rivalry has been reignited.
The Chicago Sky narrowly defeated the Indiana Fever in a final score of 88-87. Reese scored 25 points in the victory.
The game was at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, and it was projected to be one of the most expensive WNBA tickets in history.
“Caitlin Clark… Angel Reese… Cardoso, just all them… great players,” basketball fan Linnea Popp said.
Clark continued to energize fans of all ages, with many donning her college jersey as she faced off against Reese, a college rival.
“I live in Chicago. I’ve never been to a Sky game, and Caitlin Clark is really inspirational, so I wanted to see her play,” basketball fan Lauren Herguth said.
The excitement of the matchup made for some expensive ticket prices. The average ticket cost about $250 dollars, which is about $165 more than other Sky games, according to TickPick.
Fans said they have no problem paying a higher price for a rivalry like this.
“This is crazy… this is like a playoff experience… out of control,” basketball fan Dave Sedeus said.
Some high-profile guests also showed up, such as Chance the Rapper and Jason Sudeikis.
“I dig it, I dig it, I’m from Iowa City. I went to the university of Iowa, and I’ve been following Caitlin Clark her whole career,” basketball fan James Tutson said. “It’s so fun. This is a great rivalry, and they’re gonna have a rivalry for a long time, so it’s great.”
Fans embraced the continued growth of the WNBA and women’s sports.
“I’ve been to WNBA but it was never like this,” sports fan “Marlins Man” said. “This is making it happen… watching a transformation right now in the country of the WNBA.”
Earlier this week, Chennedy Carter and Marina Mabrey scored 19 points each, and Angel Reese recorded her seventh consecutive double-double to set a WNBA rookie record and the Chicago Sky eased by the Dallas Wings 83-72 on Thursday to snap a four-game losing streak.
The Fever visited Chicago after NaLyssa Smith scored 21 points in the Fever’s 91-79 victory against the Atlanta Dream.
Chicago had a 2-6 record against teams above .500. The Sky were 2-7 in conference games.
Chicago was shooting 42.1% from the field this season, 2.8 percentage points lower than the 44.9% Indiana allows to opponents. Indiana averages 8.5 made 3-pointers per game this season, 2.1 more made shots on average than the 6.4 per game Chicago allows.
The Fever had gone 6-6 against Eastern Conference opponents. Indiana ranked third in the Eastern Conference with 24.8 defensive rebounds per game led by Smith averaging 5.2.
The teams met for the third time this season. In the last matchup on June 16 the Fever won 91-83 led by 23 points from Caitlin Clark, while Marina Mabrey scored 22 points for the Sky.
