Clark leads Team USA, and back home, the Fever's playoff picture is getting meaner by the hour. If you're just dropping in, here's the short version: Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston are on Team USA’s FIBA Women’s World Cup roster in Berlin, with Stephanie White on staff. The tournament is underway, and Clark had already played twice for the U.S. as Indiana fans watched how her Fever playmaking translated to a deeper national-team role. Indiana Fever Daily Podcast—Team USA has answers, but back in Indiana, lineup and seeding pressure is waiting at the door. We're staying with this story: Fever stars at World Cup. Follow the show and you won't miss what comes next. Robin Lundberg, writing in Indiana Fever On SI:
Clark holds the lead for assists, both per game and total, after the group stage. She has 19 total assists through three games for an average of 6.3 per game in just over 20 minutes per night. That gives her the lead comfortably in that category. In addition, Team USA is performing well when Clark has been on the floor—in large part due to her playmaking prowess.
Nineteen assists in three games, 6.3 a night, in barely over 20 minutes? That's elite decision-making when she isn't getting to pound the ball for 35 minutes. Now it’s on to the knockouts, with Clark leading Team USA in assists and plus-minus. USA is plus-58 with her on the floor; that matters more than one cold shooting night against Italy. And the China opener still jumps off the page: 11 assists, zero turnovers, two World Cup records. When the windows get tighter, she keeps finding the pass. Thursday’s when the rotation gets tested. The quarterfinal is single elimination, likely Japan or Hungary, and Clark has put herself squarely in the crunch-time conversation. Bellingham Herald writes:
Still, despite her struggles, Hull has remained in coach Stephanie White’s starting lineup, starting in 37 games of the Fever’s 40 games this season. Cunningham opened the season as the starting guard alongside Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell for Indiana’s first three games before Hull took over.
Stephanie White has a real call to make here. Lexie Hull has started 37 of Indiana’s 40 games, but she’s at 5.4 points and had three scoreless games in August—while Sophie Cunningham is giving them 8.3 in more minutes. I’m not benching somebody because of one ugly stretch, but zero points three times in a month? With four games left? You can’t just call that chemistry and hope it fixes itself. I’d start Hull for now, but tighten the leash. Cunningham started alongside Clark and Kelsey Mitchell in the first three games; White already has that look available if the first unit needs more offensive punch. Exactly. Nobody’s making a career judgment on Lexie Hull here. It’s a playoff-rotation call: who gives you cleaner possessions when everybody knows where Clark and Mitchell are going? From Angelo Guinhawa at Yahoo Sports:
The Fever have also been actively promoting Mitchell for MVP, alongside superstar teammate Caitlin Clark, who has had an equally impressive season. One Fever veteran also expressed her belief that Mitchell is the MVP this season. After the 30-year-old guard shared several photos of herself on and off the court, along with an epic caption, Monique Billings commented with a simple but clear message.
Monique Billings putting “MVP” under Kelsey Mitchell’s post? The locker room sees what everybody else sees: 25 points a night on 51.3 percent is ridiculous guard production. And Mitchell’s résumé is stacking up. She just took home a second Player of the Month award; only A’ja Wilson has more this season, with four. Indiana’s 26-14 record gives those scoring numbers a team result behind them. Plus, Mitchell is doing this while every defense knows where the bailout possession is headed. Late clock, tight game, the ball finds zero—and she keeps getting to 25. That lineup call matters for her case, too. Indiana needs the spacing and defensive balance around Mitchell to hold through four more games, because an MVP push gets stronger if the Fever improve their seed. Peachtree Hoops, with Collin Jones:
The eight WNBA playoff teams are mathematically locked. However, there is still plenty of time for playoff seedings to change, based on regular season game results after the FIBA Women’s World Cup concludes. Atlanta currently sits in a tie with the Indiana Fever for fourth place in the WNBA standings with identical 26-14 records, behind the league-leading Minnesota Lynx, second-year Golden State Valkyries, and reigning champion Las Vegas Aces.
Same 26-14 record, Atlanta owns the tiebreaker. Four games left, and that tiny line in the standings can decide who gets home floor and who gets a very unpleasant road series. There’s a useful split in Atlanta’s record: 17-3 against eliminated teams, 9-11 against the playoff field. Their record is strong, but their postseason résumé is a little shakier. The Hull-Cunningham call matters well beyond the starting lineup. If you’re chasing Atlanta, every late possession and every bit of spacing matters. The eight teams are locked. Now it’s seed math: Indiana needs to finish ahead of Atlanta, because a tie won’t do. Here's Noa Dalzell at SB Nation:
The Minnesota Lynx have signed guard Aari McDonald, a 28-year-old guard who took the Indiana Fever by storm last year before going down with an injury. McDonald averaged 9.8 points, 4.7 assists, 2.4 rebounds, and 1.3 steals per game in 20 contests last year, including 13 starts.
Oh, great—the league-leading Lynx added Aari McDonald. The same guard who put up 9.8 points and 4.7 assists in 20 games for Indiana last year before that broken foot ended it. Minnesota waived Eliška Joklová to make room, and this is a straightforward playoff-depth move: McDonald is 28, she can pressure the ball, and she already knows Indiana’s personnel from the inside. And Minnesota is one of Indiana’s two remaining opponents before the playoffs. So yes, Stephanie White gets a very immediate scouting report—but McDonald gets one, too. Four games left, Atlanta owns the tiebreaker, and now a Fever-Lynx series has one more problem in it. That makes the rotation call even more important. If Indiana gets out of that five slot, it may be walking straight into a Minnesota roster that just got harder to guard for 40 minutes. Have feedback, story ideas, or a correction? Email us at indianafeverdailyfancast at lantern podcasts dot com. Your notes help us make the Indiana Fever Daily Podcast better, and we’d love to hear what’s on your mind.
We’ll be watching Thursday’s Team USA World Cup quarterfinal against the Japan-Hungary winner.
Links to every story are in the show notes, so take a look at the ones that caught your attention. Thanks for listening, and we’ll be back with the next episode. That’s Indiana Fever Daily Podcast for today. This is a Lantern Podcast.