Coming into the season, there were high expectations around the Indiana Fever. And while they somewhat managed to live up to them in the regular season thanks to the Big 3 of Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell, and Aliyah Boston, it all crashed down as soon as the playoffs began.

The Indiana Fever lost the first-round matchup to the reigning champions, the Las Vegas Aces, who have now knocked out head coach Stephanie White’s side in the playoffs in consecutive seasons. Obviously, there are a lot of questions surrounding the Fever’s season, which has left fans with the feeling of wanting more. Well, some of them have been answered in the Indiana Fever’s exit interviews, as we take a dive into the main conversations surrounding the Fever following an eventful regular season and a shorter-than-expected postseason.

Kelsey Mitchell’s impending free agency

Kelsey Mitchell has been with the Indiana Fever since 2018. Now 30 years old, the four-time All-Star is coming off one of her greatest seasons in the WNBA, if not the greatest. Mitchell averaged 24.7 points in the regular season, only behind A’ja Wilson’s 26.2. Moreover, she formed one of the greatest backcourts in league history with Caitlin Clark, which was the main reason why the Fever even qualified for the playoffs.

However, the MVP contender now has free agency to worry about in the offseason after what was a brutal postseason. Mitchell’s shooting efficiency dropped from 50.9% in the regular season to a mere 32.7% in the playoffs. Still, Mitchell is one of the key components of White’s plans, but for now, she was pretty noncommittal about her future at Indiana.

“I don’t know. I haven’t thought that far yet, you know. I think it’s about figuring out what I need, figuring out what my family needs. Ultimately, figuring out I’m getting older. I’m not getting younger, unfortunately. But I’ve obviously built a Fever family here. So, it’s like whatever conversation I have to have, I’ll have them. I just think it’s kind of too early for me to really tell what I need to do.” Mitchell said when asked about free agency and a potential return.

“But I wouldn’t be here without Indiana. Everything I am is kind of instilled, and everything I’ve grown to be is kind of the Fever. And so it’s a lot to kind of, you know, hash out and figure out,” Mitchell added.

Kelsey Mitchell staying put at the Fever will obviously not do any harm to the franchise, considering the season she has had. The veteran guard complements Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston perfectly, especially the former. Mitchell’s otherworldly shooting enables Clark’s playmaking proficiency to the fullest, forming one of the most dangerous duos in recent memory when both players click.

The one thing the Fever can invest in if Mitchell does end up leaving is, of course, their defense. Stephanie White’s side had one of the worst defensive performances this season, allowing roughly 90.3 points in the regular season while having a 1-7 record whenever the opposition crossed the 100-point threshold.

The Fever could balance out their offense and defense next year if Mitchell does end up moving in another direction after eight years in Indianapolis. Only Aliyah Boston, the Unrivaled Defensive Player of the Year, was a consistent defender for the Fever, but even she was nerfed at times due to a long-running injury she suffered in the offseason.

Aliyah Boston admits recurring injury left her in uncertainty

16.1 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 3.0 assists on 52.8% shooting efficiency — that is how good Aliyah Boston was this season. So one could only wonder how much better the 2023 No. 1 overall pick would have been had she not worried about the right lower-leg injury she picked up during Unrivaled back in February.

“I definitely started the year with a lot of uncertainty. I think there were definitely some games where I was hindered a little bit and then obviously we know I missed some games. So it definitely was a change for me because I’m somebody that just loves to compete and love to play, and I never like to sit out.”

“So, it definitely had its impact, but we made it through a full season, so I’m always grateful,” Boston said when asked to what extent the offseason injury changed the course of her season.

Aliyah Boston had remained injury-free throughout her WNBA career until this season; because of this lower right leg injury, which added stops to her plans.

The most recent flare-up occurred in the final regular-season game against the Minnesota Lynx, as she was out of the game in just the second quarter. Head coach White said it was a precautionary measure. Still, there were doubts about whether Boston would be at 100% facing the Aces in the first round. While the Fever lost the series, Boston was one of the better performers.

But this injury even restricted Boston from participating in the FIBA World Cup qualifiers back in March.

Following that, she missed out on the game against the Seattle Storm on May 17 due to the injury. The lower right leg issue was aggravated against the Storm again on July 27 after Boston stepped on Storm rookie Flau’jae Johnson’s foot. In total, Boston has missed four games this season because of this injury.

When asked whether she will take any steps in the offseason to address that injury, Boston gave a reassuring answer.

“Yeah, I’ll be talking to medical. We’ll be talking and seeing what we want to do from there, but nothing’s decided yet.” Boston said.

Aliyah Boston is just as important to Stephanie White’s defense as Caitlin Clark is to her offense, so it will be interesting to see how one of the core players of the Fever franchise will tackle this tricky injury in the offseason.

Fever GM and HC suggest lack of experience for playoff struggles

Indiana Fever General Manager Amber Cox’s first question in the exit interview was to address the team’s shortcomings in the playoffs, especially after the hype and expectations around them.

Cox did not forget to applaud the experienced Las Vegas Aces and their championship-caliber core of A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young, and Chelsea Gray. As for the Fever’s Big 3 of Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell, and Aliyah Boston, Cox believes experience was the difference-maker between the two teams.

“Obviously, we fell short of that. We’re disappointed. Only one team is happy at the end of every season, but I think we made a lot of positive strides as well. I mean, when you look at our big three, we’ve got a combined 31 games of playoff experience.” Cox said.

“And you look at Caitlin in particular; she’s at five. So, you know, we’ll use this as a tool going forward.”

It is true that the Indiana Fever have one of the youngest cores in all of the WNBA. And that was visible in how they played in Games 1 and 3 against the Aces. The team was exhausted, as they could not match the intensity of Wilson and co. After all, it was not the Aces’ first rodeo, and there is a reason why they have won three championships in the last four seasons.sim

In an almost similar manner, head coach Stephanie White also cited experience as the main cause for the Indiana Fever’s early exit, along with the fact that the do-or-die game was on the road and the Big 3’s lack of games together in the postseason.

“I think some of it is experience. You know, you really have to gain that experience and wanting to to win a title and and then learning what it takes to win a title. Those are those are two different things. And I think that you only learn a lot of those things through experience. And you got to go through some of those some of those moments.”

“For our Big Three, this is only the second time that they played in playoff games together. I thought we grew. But you know, you said everybody’s goal is to win a title, and every year things are different, and unfortunately we fell short of that.”

Regardless, Amber Cox knows the team needs to and can do better, and is actually looking forward to delivering on the expectations going forward.

“The Aces are a championship-caliber team. I think, looking at a first-round exit, you can say, we fell way short, but that’s a buzzsaw, right? We need to overcome it and we’ll take what we learn from this and continue to get better.”

“But, you know, we’re going to have those expectations every single year and we want that.”

Apart from the postseason, Cox also touched on Sophie Cunningham’s impending free agency. More than on the hardwood, Cunningham has made waves online thanks to her off-court activities and comments. When asked whether the outside “stuff” will influence her decision on Cunningham’s future next season, Cox replied with a resounding “No.”

“Sophie has had two really productive years for us, in terms of shooting the basketball. She is a really solid leader in the locker room, a great connector. She brings levity, but also brings a lot of experience. She’s serious and is an important voice in our locker room when we need it,” Cox said later on.

“She’s an unrestricted free agent, so we look forward to having those conversations. Again, she had a really productive year, and we’ll see just where things take us,” she added.

As for the impending free agency of Mitchell, Cox was clear about her priorities to keep the 30-year-old for the rest of her career.

“I mean, Kelsey obviously has the opportunity and has earned the right to explore what other opportunities are out there, but you know, our goal is for her to be a Fever girl for the rest of her career and to retire with the Indiana Fever. That’s what we want and we hope to we get that we get to that place.” Cox said.

The Indiana Fever did fall short of what they wanted to achieve, as both Cox and White said. However, this experience will only boost Caitlin Clark and co. to go and achieve their end goal, sooner or later.

The post Kelsey Mitchell’s Free Agency Hint, Aliyah Boston’s Injury Update & More Highlight Fever’s Revealing Exit Interviews appeared first on EssentiallySports.



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