So, the Indiana Fever are playing against the Nigerian national team, and I’m going to be real here — I’m talking about this game like it’s already a formality that the Fever destroyed Nigeria. If Nigeria somehow comes back and wins this game, I promise you I will delete this YouTube channel.
We need to talk about this game, the little things I noticed, the players I’m impressed with, and the players I’m not impressed with. It’s been a weird day because I’m recording this quickly during my cousin’s wedding while trying to find a quiet spot with decent Wi-Fi. I’m basically recording this and then going straight back into the wedding. The job doesn’t stop.
The Indiana Fever looked good. Seeing Mo Billings hit a three was impressive. I liked seeing her confidently pull that shot. But I’m going to be honest here — the most important player on the Indiana Fever, by an absolute mile, is Aliyah Boston. It’s not even close.
I think their best player is Caitlin Clark. Their best scorer is Kelsey Mitchell. But the most important player on this team is Aliyah Boston by a country mile. If this team ever goes to the Finals, it’s not because of organizational brilliance. It’s because they lucked into getting back-to-back number one overall picks in years where it really mattered.
It’s similar to the Las Vegas Aces. The Aces are not some perfectly run organization. They succeeded because they drafted multiple number one overall picks and built around elite talent like A’ja Wilson. The Fever are going to be good because they have elite top-end talent, not because of scouting genius or front-office excellence.
The Fever betting on Damiris Dantas over Emma Čečková still makes no sense to me. Emma Čečková would genuinely start for this team. If Mo Billings is hurt, the Fever are in trouble because Dantas struggles badly against confident competition.
Raven Johnson deserves praise. I’ll defend Raven Johnson every single time as long as she’s on this Fever team. I love role players, and Raven Johnson is exactly the kind of player I’ll go to war defending.
Aliyah Boston looked incredible. Kelsey Mitchell just continues to score naturally. Sophie Cunningham impressed me too, especially the transition three she took confidently. Caitlin Clark looked really good again. Twelve points on four shots is impressive. She got to the free-throw line, knocked down her free throws, had four assists to one turnover, and finished plus-32.
One player I’m genuinely impressed with is KK Timpson. I was extremely low on KK coming into this season because I thought she looked terrible playing for Prague. I watched her in EuroLeague games and she looked completely lost. But right now, the gap between KK Timpson and Dantas is massive.
KK brings energy. Yes, her awareness still needs work, but awareness matters less when you’re bringing constant effort and intensity. Dantas, meanwhile, plays with absolutely no motor. She doesn’t screen well, she doesn’t roll hard, she doesn’t run the floor, she doesn’t defend consistently, and she watches plays happen around her. She needs to shoot over 40% from three just to be a neutral player on the court.
Right now in preseason, she’s shooting 25%. That’s simply not good enough considering everything else she struggles with.
What I really love is the trio of Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Boston, and Kelsey Mitchell together. Everyone talks about Caitlin Clark having an MVP season, but this might honestly become Aliyah Boston’s MVP season.
The strides Aliyah Boston has made since 2024 are unbelievable. I tweeted that Caitlin Clark arriving forced Boston to adapt her game because she realized she had to run the floor more and evolve offensively. People got upset and claimed Boston was always this player. No, she wasn’t.
That’s completely okay to admit. It’s similar to Steph Curry becoming the best player in the world once Steve Kerr changed the system. Same stats, different impact, different role, different player.
Aliyah Boston used to be more of a back-to-the-basket passer. Now her entire game is face-up basketball. She’s attacking from the perimeter, handling different actions, and evolving constantly. We literally watched Aliyah Boston run a pick-and-pop action with Caitlin Clark as the screener leading to an open three for Clark. That’s insane.
I’m genuinely happy watching this development.
Also, Alicia Gray is not really a Dawn Staley-produced player considering Dawn only coached her briefly. The Fever genuinely have two of the best players Dawn Staley has ever developed.
And again, I’ll proudly defend Raven Johnson. I didn’t love the draft pick initially, but I’ll admit when I’m wrong.
Ty Harris looked rough in her return, but it was her first game back, so I’m not overreacting.
As for Megan Connolly, Kianna Trahan, and Jessica Timmons — I don’t really rate them highly. Timmons has shot-making ability, but she takes way too many dribbles to create anything at the pro level right now. Kianna Trahan simply isn’t good enough, and Megan Connolly, while defensively active, doesn’t offer enough offensively.
There’s honestly no excuse not to bring in players like Marta Suárez or Jordan Canada on development deals instead. Those are simply better options.
I didn’t care much about the second half because once the game got out of hand, it stopped mattering. I watched a few minutes before jumping on here to record this immediately.
At the end of the day, the Fever looked solid, but they were playing the Nigerian national team. That context matters.
The biggest concern now is Mo Billings. Hopefully she’s not hurt. Because if Mo Billings is seriously injured, the Fever need to make a trade immediately. The power forward position on this roster genuinely might be cursed.
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