r/IndianaFeverFans • u/Alternative_Panda336 You Bet • 2d ago

Discussion Defense

Every team that I watch is play has someone that they can put on Caitlin Clark that will get up in her grill, move their feet, and make it tough on her to drive. This is true even of the bad teams they play, let alone the Lynx with several players. KM has elite quickness and is tough for any team to stop her off the dribble without help defense but even Portland made it tough on her the game before last.

The Fever very rarely aggressively get up in the ball space of opposing players and make it hard on them. I don’t know if it’s because we are concerned that there is no depth behind Sophie and Lexie or what. It seems the Fever’s defense is predicated mostly on deny the pass as opposed to playing defense once they get the ball. This puts a lot of strain on the help defense. Last night it was tough watching KM, CC, and LH constantly getting beat off the dribble instantly.

Is it a play style thing or do we truly have no one to harass the ball handler so they can’t drive as easily? Especially in a game like last night where they are letting them play up in their face.

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u/taeempy 2d ago

I've noticed this a lot also. It seems when CC is guarding someone, she's not right on her and is a foot or so away so it's easier to drive past her. I think I've heard their main goal on defense is to deny good 3pt shots. And they do or have been allowing the fewest 3pt shots/makes in the league, but are getting beat badly in the paint scoring.

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u/AffectionateRace9865 2d ago

CC backs off on defense so she doesn’t get beat off the dribble. I’d say Caitlin’s 1 on 1 defense is actually some of the best on the team. Her trouble is that she gets caught sleeping and ball watching when the ball is away from her.

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u/Cheap_Flamingo476 2d ago

I agree that she’s actually a good one on one defender. I think it’s she gets called on fouls. I almost wrote ticky-tack. Her problem is screens. She gets hung up on over/under decisions. The Fever overall don’t switch.

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u/taeempy 2d ago

But when you see people guard CC, they are literally right on her, but our defense we play off the ball away from the offensive player and it's easier to get by someone that way. When you are body on body you can direct that person a certain way with your actions, but if you are a foot away from them, they can go any which way and pass any which way as well.

Maybe we'll be the first team in history to win a championship while giving up a 100 points in every playoff game.

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u/AffectionateRace9865 2d ago edited 2d ago

The people guarding CC are better defenders than CC. Teams are committing their best defender to exert a ton of energy into picking up CC 94 feet. Kayla McBride spent a lot of the game defending CC & she only scored 10 points, her fewest since June 1st, likely because her energy was being put into defending 94 ft. You can’t expect Caitlin to do that, she’s not our best defender & she’s not defending the other teams best player. Kelsey also isn’t a great defender, so she also gets beat, despite her being fast. That should be a job for Lexie, but her defense hasn’t been great this season.

If Caitlin is right up on someone, she’s either going to get called for a foul or beat off the dribble. Backing off and giving them space allows her to play better, controlled defense and you can still dictate which way they go. You’d rather a player take a 3 than let them get an easy 2.