Stephanie White Wants More From Fever Frontcourt Before Facing Angel Reese
Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White surely knows that her team has a tough task ahead of them when facing star forward Angel Reese and the rest of the Atlanta Dream on June 4. And White got clear about what she wants to see from her frontcourt during that matchup.
While there's still a ton of basketball left to play and no regular season WNBA game in June is truly must-win, the Fever might be feeling the pressure heading into this matchup against Atlanta.
They've lost two straight games, have a 4-4 record, and have had to navigate past an exchange between White and Caitlin Clark during their recent loss against the Portland Fire, which has been the talk of the women's basketball community and brought a lot of scrutiny to the organization.
However, that seems to have now blown over, which means the focus can be back on what's happening on the court.
White spoke with the media after her team's June 3 practice and was honest about what she wants to see from her frontcourt (which includes star center Aliyah Boston) in upcoming games.
"We need more boards. We need more rebounding," White said, per a YouTube video from Tony East. "But that has to come from the guards, too. That has to be a collective effort. Oftentimes, the bigs are occupied with keeping the other bigs off the glass.
"You know, I'd like to see a little more off-ball cutting. And getting out of screens quicker," White added.
Frontcourt Rebounding Will Be Paramount Against Angel Reese, Atlanta Dream
While Angel Reese has been criticized for several aspects of her game to this point in ther WNBA career, nobody can deny that she's a world-class rebounder.
Reese is leading the league in rebounds per game right now, with 11.3. And she is particularly lethal on the offensive boards, often generating second chances for her Dream teammates because of how tenacious she is in securing the offensive glass.
This is why Aliyah Boston, Monique Billings, and the rest of Indiana's frontcourt must take care to box Angel Reese out on Thursday. And as White alluded to, guards will need to crash the boards as well, since a lot of the frontcourt's focus will be keeping Reese contained rather than trying to beat her to the ball on misses.
This will be one of the most compelling parts of Thursday's game to follow, and could be the difference between Indiana winning and losing.
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Grant Young covers women’s basketball for Women’s Fastbreak and Indiana Fever On SI. His coverage centers on league trends and the growth of women’s basketball, both on and off the court. He also creates digital content focused on the sport’s biggest moments and personalities.
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