So, today we’re going to be talking a little bit about the Indiana Fever versus the Dallas Wings and what to expect very specifically for the Fever and the Wings, what did we see out of this game? I’ve talked a little bit about a very short preview and we’re going to go into depth about what we expect to see from both of these teams and we’re first going to talk about the Indiana Fever.
So, these two teams play each other in a week. They play each other Saturday. And they play each other second day of the season. It’s going to be a fine one. I’m going to be recording from a hotel in Rome. It’s a 6:00 p.m. Irish time game. So, it’ll be 8:00 p.m. in Italian time. I’ll be doing my live watch along from Rome. I will not be doing a live watch along for the Nigeria game. It is my cousin’s wedding. So, I’m at a wedding in France on Saturday. And then I’m at a wedding the following Friday in Rome.
So, I’m going straight from the wedding in France to the wedding in Rome. So, you’re going to see me in hotels till Tuesday week. So, for another after today, it’ll be about 10 days.
Either way, my expectation is the Dallas Wings are going to go all out. The Dallas Wings are going to go all out here. They are going to especially to start the game, they’re going to try to get Paige and Azzi very involved. My guess maybe is that they’re trying to see how it would look with Arica. So, they might start Azzi James. Just because she is the closest thing to Arica they have, just to see how it works. Azzi might not play a preseason game. Just to kind of get an idea of the type of game that you’re going to be playing and the type of looks you can get with a Paige, Arica, and Azzi backcourt.
So, Azzi Fudd’s obviously there. I think they’re going to run a lot through Azzi. And if Paige knows she can get hers, I think they’re going to try to figure out ways of getting Azzi involved.
It is so funny the Paige and Azzi stans, how little they know about basketball. Azzi was doing a shooting drill and then she shot the ball like 10 times and then one of the times she just didn’t hold her follow-through and it’s like, “Oh my god, she never did that.” It’s a new thing to her game, not holding her follow-through. And I’m like, “What the [ __ ] is going on?” That is what people do a lot of the time when they’re in a rhythm. You see it with shooters everywhere. It’s not a new thing to anyone’s game when they get into a zone and they almost don’t even go to their form. They just chuck the ball into the basket. And it’s like, “Oh my god, it’s the fastest release ever.” And I’m like, “Her release is super quick, but not holding your follow-through does not make your release quick.”
Everything up to that point. And then they were going mad being like, “They’re trying to add a dip into her shots.” Trying to add a dip into her shot because she caught the ball here, brought it to here. And I’m like, “Oh my god.”
And the thing with Azzi Fudd is that most people dip for rhythm. Like 99% of shooters dip for rhythm. Azzi Fudd, the more I look at her shots, she brings it to here. Her dip is just higher. It’s the same with Kayla McBride. People are talking about it like she just kind of throws the ball from wherever she catches it. No. She brings it to here instead of here.
The difference between what Azzi Fudd does versus someone that dips into a jump shot, as long as it’s not like a big deliberate massive dip, it’s fractions of a fraction of a second. As long as there is a set point for rhythm, you can be confident that she’ll shoot the ball.
I think we’re going to see a lot of Azzi dribbling the ball and trying out shots because let’s be real, she’s the number one pick. She’s supposed to be more than just a spot-up shooter. That is what she was meant to be.
Especially with what Flo Jo is doing, if Azzi’s a spot-up shooter, and I’m so happy. I’m so happy. I said it from the very start and I was like, “Flo Jo, I would take Flo Jo over Azzi. I would take Flo Jo.” And it’s looking like that might be a right decision. Flo Jo might be the Rookie of the Year. And I was like even basketball wise, yeah, sorry. I would take Flo Jo number one.
Azzi’s definitely going to project to be the super role player. But it’s like do you use number one on a super role player?
But yeah, it is an interesting one.
I don’t see Paige looking for her shot very much. I think she knows who she is. She knows that she is the best isolation scorer in the WNBA. I think she kind of knows who she is and what she does and what her game is at this level.
We’re seeing her with the amount that she’s bulked up. If you look at Paige last year, like if you look at Paige facing Caitlin versus Paige now, Paige bulked up like Caitlin. Paige is much bigger. Paige really bulked up as much as Caitlin did going into year two.
Which, Paige doesn’t rely as much on speed, so it’s not going to make that much of a difference. Or it’s not going to be a negative. But Paige here, Caitlin’s bigger than Paige a year ago by a decent chunk. And if you look at Paige this year, even for Team USA, she has gotten huge in comparison to where she was.
So, I think Paige maybe tries playing a bit of bully ball, plays a little bit in the post. Which is funny because Paige has bulked up, has put her body in a way where it’s like yeah, if you look at Paige now, that’s a different human. That is a legitimately different human being. That versus this. That is bulk. That is absolute bulk.
And she is someone that doesn’t necessarily, because she doesn’t shoot the three that much, it’s not really going to affect her three-point shooting as much putting on that muscle. And even if she gets slower, she’s not someone that relies on her speed necessarily. She relies on her craftiness and her ability to change direction.
Basically she’s able to get her handle into a position where it’s one of those things where it’s what slow players are good at doing. Really high-level slow players. This is how they’re able to get by people on the wing. They can make moves and then get you into positions where they can get you out of your defensive stance, where they can get you to lunge at something. They can get you up out of your stance. They can get you moving forward. And then they can burn you. And that’s what Paige Bueckers is really good at.
And again, putting on the extra bulk was a big negative for Caitlin because it really affected her ability to sprint. Paige Bueckers rarely gets into a full sprint. Very rarely.
What to expect from the Indiana Fever in this game? My expectation is YOLO ball. That’s what I’m just going to call it.
I don’t think they’re going to run a single set. I think they’re going to start spamming plays for random players. I think we’re going to start seeing training camp and cut players chucking. I think we’re going to see a lot of Megan McConnell minutes today. I think we’re going to see a lot of Shatori Walker-Kimbrough minutes today. I think we’re going to see a lot of minutes for Aari McDonald. I think we’re going to see a lot of shots from Aari McDonald today.
Kelsey Mitchell, I think her minutes are going to be limited. I think Caitlin is going to go out chucking. I’m going to be real here. I think she’s going to go out chucking. Another two of 10 game happen? Yeah. I think she’s just going to try to shoot her way into a rhythm. I think that’s what they’re going to let her try to do. She has the ultimate green light in these games. I think she’s going to try to shoot her way into rhythm.
I don’t know if it’ll work, to be honest. I really don’t.
I think Caitlin Clark a lot of times when she scores, she scores in bunches. I’ve never seen it before and I’ve been saying this since Caitlin’s rookie season. I’ve never seen a player that assists in bunches, but Caitlin Clark assists in bunches. I’ve never seen or heard of a player that does that, but Caitlin does.
So, that’s one of the things with Caitlin where it’s like okay, it’s not too big of a worry, but as long as we see even one good quarter of Caitlin, I’m happy. I’m happy. One good quarter from Caitlin, and I’m like, “We’re good. We don’t need to worry too much about what she does.”
I don’t expect her to play more than 16 minutes. They’re not going to do an Atlanta Dream where they sit their starters the second half. And maybe the Fever might. Maybe the Fever might.
It’s preseason. This year has been significantly less competitive outside of the Tempo game. It’s been significantly less competitive than last year. Every team ordered like the Liberty kind of went for it in preseason, whereas this year they’re like, “Nope, we are not doing that.”
So, maybe 16 minutes for Caitlin at max.
I think maybe you give MAJ some minutes with the bench crew. I think Raven Johnson’s going to play a lot of minutes. I think Raven’s going to play a lot on Paige. Could Raven start today? No, but I think Raven might be first sub off the bench guarding Paige Bueckers.
It is one of these things where I feel like it could genuinely be a positive game and a really, really good game here to start us off and it could be a good game trying to figure out what Raven Johnson can do.
But anyway, yeah, that’s the video. See you guys.
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