The pressure and stakes were high for the Indiana Fever organization entering the 2025 season. In fact, it was labeled by many, including some of their players, as a 'championship or bust season'. Big names entered the scene to help Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Boston and company, they have a brand new front office and coaching staff and not to mention all eyes were on them coming into the new year.
But unfortunately, things haven't lived up to the anticipated expectations. After playing in 24 games thus far, the Fever currently find themselves hovering around a disappointing .500 record.
The Fever have yet to have consistency this season after being plagued by several injuries including that of star player Caitlin Clark. Due to the many injuries, fans have yet to have seen a full squad on the floor for much of the season. This has made things extra tricky for head coach Stephanie White, who returned to the helm this season after having previously coached the Fever.
Much of the workload has landed on the shoulders of the team's former first overall pick Aliyah Boston and veteran two-time All-Star Kelsey Mitchell, both of which have been the team's most reliable pieces.
Aliyah Boston has honest admission of the Fever's struggles
During an episode of the Post Moves podcast with co-host Candace Parker, Boston contributed the Fever's overall lack of success to the absence of consistency. Both her and Parker made their podcast debut in Indianapolis during All-Star weekend when Parker asked her what the Fever's biggest challenge will be moving forward into the second half of the season.
"I think it's just the consistency piece, that we just have to do. There has been some games, like you said, we beat New York, and we beat Minnesota. But showing up and making sure that that's what we're doing every single night, because we have the talent," Boston said.
The biggest question for the Fever now is, can they win without Caitlin Clark? Well, they kind of have to. There is still no clear timeline on when and if she will return this season. She has missed half of the team's games this season. Referring back to what Boston said, the Fever know they can win.
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They've played clean, smooth games even without Clark in the lineup. However, on the flip side of things they've also had some ugly losses to teams with losing records. The team has not lived up to the hype yet this season, which is disappointing to fans given the big pieces they added in the off-season.
"And I think it's hard, when you look at all the pieces we have on our squad, for teams to actually contain us. And so for us, it's about not letting ourselves get in our own way," she added.
The Fever have to put it all together quickly with just under two months left in the regular season. It'd be ideal if they can keep themselves in a playoff seed until the very end setting up a Clark return in the post-season. They're currently ranked seventh in the standings where the top eight teams earn a playoff bid.
Head coach Stephanie White will need to lean heavily on her big pieces, Boston and Mitchell, to lead the way and set the pace for the Fever. The team's overall success will be dictated on if they can figure out a way to win without Clark. Their game planning moving forward will need to be centralized on the anticipation of her not returning this season so they can continue to build on the chemistry of the players that are full time.