Sophie Cunningham's 'One Defensive Scheme' Comment Is a Challenge to Fever Teammates
The Indiana Fever's blowout loss to the Portland Fire on Saturday had plenty of fallout.
Coach Stephanie White's substitution patterns came into question after the game, mainly because she pulled Caitlin Clark (along with Aliyah Boston and Lexie Hull) just minutes into the first quarter, which was followed by a Fire run—though White defaulted to saying the pattern was typical.
White also had an exchange with Clark on the sidelines that made national news, an interaction both said was overblown by the media in emphasizing their bond.
Then there was the defense, which appeared to be what the spirited conversation between White and Clark was about, as Portland hunted Clark in switches, leading to her getting into foul trouble. Clark's backup, Raven Johnson, also compiled 6 fouls in just 10 minutes.
It was all enough to warrant a team meeting. And at the first practice since, Sophie Cunningham made some telling comments about the team's defense.
"Something that's hurting us right now is we're only playing one defensive scheme, and in this league, it's too good, you can't. And people are going to pick us apart, and so, we gotta dial in, we gotta focus, your IQ has to be on point. You have to know what schemes we're doing. And if you can't do that, then you can't play, and that's the point where we're at right now," Cunningham said.
The scheme in question is a switching one, which has allowed opponents to hunt Clark, or any matchup they choose, as the Fever are switching 1-5. The Fever have switched at a higher rate than any team in the league, leading to Clark defending more isolations than anyone.
Cunningham's Comments Meant for Players, Not Coach
When hearing the comments about only one defensive scheme, the first criticism could go toward the coach. However, that clearly wasn't the point of Cunningham's pointed remarks.
When asked whether the team has more schemes to fall back on, Cunningham cited execution.
She said the team has a ton of other schemes but emphasized, "if you can't execute them, you can't do them."
"This team really does have to focus. We have a lot of young guns. We have a lot of people that are very talented. But at the same time you have to dial in and know what we're doing, otherwise it just won't work," she added.
Cunningham clearly was challenging her teammates, and by the context of her words, this was not specific to Clark.
However, she did discuss how she interprets being challenged by a coach, as Clark was by White.
"You have to put your ego and pride aside for what's best for the team and what the team needs. If everyone is willing to do that and wants to see the person right next to them be more successful than them, we're going to be really really good, and we're going to be where we want to be at the end of the season," Cunningham said.
"You need a coach that's going to challenge you, you need a coach that's going to believe in you when sometimes you don't believe in yourself. And Steph is that for all of us," she added.
Fever Search for Identity
Cunningham seemed to make it a mission to step into a leadership role during this rough stretch and laid down the gauntlet for a squad she admitted is still searching for an identity.
White was asked about Cunningham's comments on the defense and stated that she was trying to hone in on one scheme and scale back based on the matchup in order to build confidence since they weren't executing others well.
"But then you've gotta be able to expand. I think part of that is challenging them to be able to do that and do that consistently. I think part of that's ownership of our players to be able to do it," she said, before adding that they have a lot of new players who are used to different things.
Which again hints at the defensive scrutiny not being specific to Clark—who did hold herself accountable on that end after the loss to Portland.
Regardless, the entire team is being challenged right now, with the silver lining being their obvious top-end talent and the timing.
"I'd rather be in this position right now, than I would later in the season," White said.
The Fever need to figure out who they are before it gets late early.
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Robin Lundberg is a media veteran and hoops head who has spent the bulk of his career with iconic brands like Sports Illustrated and ESPN. His insights have also been featured on platforms such as Fox and CNN and he can currently be heard hosting shows for Sirius XM and on his popular YouTube channel. And now he brings his basketball expertise to Women's Fastbreak On SI and Indiana Fever On SI!
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