It could have been worse, I guess. It could have been worse. That was not a good game. That was not a good game at all. That was a game that clearly the Dallas Wings really wanted to win, and clearly the Fever didn’t care about the results. Okay, and Clark looked good.
She looked good. Defensively, she struggled big time. But, the Indiana Fever were letting her get caught on an island, but everyone on the Fever struggled defensively not named Raven Johnson. And I mean this, she also wasn’t the worst defender on the Fever. As crazy as that sounds. They really, really struggled.
Paige unbelievable for the Wings. Caitlin really good offensively. Paige, again, I think Paige struggled a bit defensively. Caitlin burned her a couple of times on defense. Kelsey Mitchell was like it was one of these games where you just watch and it’s just funny.
But I’m going to go in more depth about whether we should be worried or not about the Indiana Fever from this game. I’m not. I’ll say that much. It’s preseason. The results don’t matter in preseason. There are a couple of process things that I wasn’t the biggest fan of from this game.
One of them is that Caitlin Clark got hit with a landing zone foul. I did not love that. Did not love the fact that she got landing zone fouled. That’s not really what you want to see. Not really in preseason, two people diving at her to stop a 30-footer. She got landing zone fouled. I think she’ll be fine. I don’t think she’s hurt. But, I don’t know if she plays on Saturday. I really don’t know.
I don’t think there’s any long-term issue. She literally went over to the bench and said, “I’m fine.” She’s flexible enough with the ankles. So, yeah, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it, to be honest.
That being said, Kelsey Mitchell was hilariously bad. For the Wings, Odyssey was good. Paige played 20 of the first 23 minutes of the game and then got subbed out. AZ bad. Really, really bad.
She got cooked on defense. She couldn’t hit a shot. She looked uncomfortable with the ball in her hands. I’m going to be real, AZ looked really, really bad. It was one of the weaker performances I’ve seen from a rookie in this class that played 16 minutes.
The rest of the team, Zia Cooke-Jones was so good. She was so good. I get it, she missed shots. But she was so, so good. She was going at people. She was ramming down people. I’d never seen somebody go from being this finesse player to literally just bullying people.
I’m going to say I was very impressed with Zia Cooke-Jones. I think as a bench option she’ll be good. If I’m being real here, I wouldn’t be that opposed to Dallas looking to move on from Arike.
Alanna Smith had a comedy game. She was just dropping the ball out of bounds. It was hilarious. Her having a greater offensive role is not a good thing in any context.
Also, I got to be real here. For the Indiana Fever, the starters, I don’t mind Myisha Hines-Allen. I thought she does mad stuff, but she does a lot of good. She is this season’s roulette wheel. She is a roulette wheel in the way of like on any given possession she could do anything.
She could literally do anything. She could make a pass through five arms and dot a shooter right up in the corner. Or she could miss someone wide open and dribble the ball off somebody else’s foot. It’s mad.
Kelsey Mitchell was the comedy game for Kelsey Mitchell, to be honest. Other than the two back cuts where Caitlin got her for open layups, she was horrific on both ends of the floor.
I thought Caitlin really, really good on offense. The first 12 minutes that Caitlin Clark was subbed off, the Indiana Fever made one field goal without her being on the floor. And that field goal was Raven Johnson Jose Alvarado-ing somebody and throwing it to KK Timpson for a wide open layup on the break.
That’s the only field goal they made in the first 11 minutes of Caitlin Clark being subbed off. That’s not ideal.
Monique Billings, in hindsight, paying 800k for a career bench player who was on a hardship contract in 2024 because she played really well against Senegal and Puerto Rico and New Zealand might have been an overpay. Might have been a bit of an overpay because I mean this, the best power forward today was KK Timpson.
KK looked real good. Her awareness is better than Mo Billings’. I’m not saying it’s better than Myisha Hines-Allen, definitely not Aliyah Boston. But Mo Billings just kept slapping people in the face.
She would be late, and then just slap someone in the face. The ball would be in the air, and she would get late, swing across her body, and hit someone in the face. I’m like, “What are you even attempting to do? You’re not even attempting to get the ball. You’re just swiping at air. What are you trying to do, Billings?”
Sophie Cunningham was nonexistent. She shot a corner three in the first possession of the game and got fouled and went one of three from the free throw line.
But now we got to talk about what I believe is the worst performance I’ve ever seen in a Fever uniform. Damiris Dantas. Oh my god.
She looked like she didn’t know how to play basketball. She was 0 of 8 from three. She made an open layup and hit a bank shot and got fouled a couple of times off the ball.
There were times where she was running away from help side defense and giving up open layups. I’ve never seen anything like it before.
There was a stage where the Indiana Fever were two of 13 from three and 0 of 11 non-Caitlin Clark threes.
Mo Billings seems like she has butter fingers on rebounds. The All-Star break might change with Aliyah Boston, and that’s kind of what I’m hoping for. That Mo Billings is fine with Aliyah Boston on the floor. That is the hope. That she’s fine when Aliyah is there. That a lot of her negatives are because she’s just not a center.
But holy hell, she looked bad.
And again, let’s not forget Damiris Dantas dealing with jet lag. Did Damiris Dantas deal with jet lag for a season last year too? Because she went on a 20-game run where she shot 10% from three.
This is a player who doesn’t bring anything else. This isn’t like Lexie where she brings something else. This is a player who’s meant to do one thing and one thing only, shoot threes, and she doesn’t do that.
Someone said, “Why so hard on Damiris Dantas?” Because she’s taking a roster spot. Just cut her and bring in Kalani Brown or something.
And also, jet lag from Brazil to Indiana? It’s the same time zone. Am I wrong? What’s the difference? One time zone?
Dantas’s contract isn’t protected. She doesn’t play defense. She doesn’t hit shots. She doesn’t move. She runs like she’s got bricks in her feet. Just not good. Just not good at all.
And yeah, Caitlin did well. And if you’re a Wings fan, you should be excited. Paige Bueckers shooting threes. Paige looks really good. Paige looks really, really good.
So, if you’re a Wings fan, you should be happy. Paige looks real good.
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