Fever practice report: Caitlin Clark sits out, Kelsey Mitchell talks PUMA
The Fever practiced for the first of four practices this week on Tuesday.
INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Fever held a practice on Tuesday, their first during the Commissioner's Cup break. The Fever are fortunate to have a lengthy gap between games – they last played on Saturday and don't play again until July 5.
It's over a week in between games, and the Fever will practice four times in that stretch. Every team in the league is off Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday from games (outside of Vegas and New York, who are in the Cup title match), but regular action resumes on Thursday for some squads.
The Fever will wait until the coming Sunday when they battle the Aces in Las Vegas to start a road trip. And in the meantime, they get a small break to reset and refresh.
Tony East
"We haven't had a lot of practice time since early June. So I think for us, addressing slippage," head coach Stephanie White said of what this week will be about. She wants her team to fine-tune some details and noted defensive execution is an area where she sees that slippage.
In this particular practice, the Fever focused on defense and installing a few new things. This is a good time for fresh concepts since the team has several days to iron them out.
Not everyone was present for the tune-up session, though. And Kelsey Mitchell discussed her new shoe deal with PUMA. Short notes, plus video, below.
Caitlin Clark, Sophie Cunningham, and Damiris Dantas absent
None of Caitlin Clark, Sophie Cunningham, or Damiris Dantas were present at practice during the portion that was available for the media to observe.
"No," White said when asked if Clark would practice. She missed the team's most recent game with a back injury. "She's going to be doing an individual workout today."
Clark (back), Cunningham (illness), and Dantas (treatment) weren't involved with the rest of the team. There's still five days until the Fever next play, but the status of those three is worth keeping an eye on.
Kelsey Mitchell discusses her deal with PUMA
An announcement from Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton of all people revealed that Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell has signed a shoe deal with PUMA. Mitchell has been wearing the Hali 1s throughout the season.
"I went with somebody that wanted me," Mitchell said of choosing PUMA. Haliburton had been recruiting her since the end of the last Fever season. "I went where I was valued."
Mitchell felt herself being valued by PUMA from their first conversation. She was with Nike before this. Will she get her own shoe or colorway? "Maybe. We'll see," she said. "Right now I'm just kind of letting it all be fresh."
You can hear her full comments below.
In other news
For The IX Basketball, I wrote a story about Val Ackerman and her honor in Gainbridge Fieldhouse last week. You can read it here.
Ackerman was the first president of the WNBA. Not included in my story above, which is Fever centric: I asked Ackerman for her opinion about the job that current Commissioner Cathy Engelbert is doing. Her response, in full:
"It's hard to argue with the success the league has had. When you're in a Commissioners seat, the things that you're probably focused on the most are member composition, television, and labor. Those are the big three: expansion, media rights, and your collective bargaining agreement. Cathy has accomplished all that during her time there. So, you know, job well done as far as I can tell. I think now it's just a matter of taking that new foundation, which was building on the old foundation, and then just blowing it out from there. And it seems like the league is very much equipped to do that."
Also: I was on WTHR+, the streaming service for Channel 13. If you're interested, you can watch that here (I can't predict when it will pop up for you).
Looking for feedback: Let me know if you like these shorter practice reports and I will do more of them. Thanks!
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