Stephanie White Conveys One Way Indiana Fever Are an Upgrade Over Connecticut Sun
The Indiana Fever have received a lot of praise for their hiring of former Connecticut Sun coach Stephanie White ever since the move was made in early November.
Not only does White have direct ties to the Fever franchise and has already established a strong relationship with star player Caitlin Clark, but the two seasons she spent as Connecticut's head coach made it clear that she's one of the brightest minds in the entire women's basketball community.
However, White now has a completely different roster with completely different strengths in Indiana compared to what she had in Connecticut.
And she explained why this is a good thing for her during a December 1 appearance on the "Coaching U" podcast, where she said, "One of the downfalls of having a veteran team like we had in Connecticut was we weren't very fast. We didn't play fast very. One of the great things about Indiana is they love to play fast.
"I want to play with great pace," White continued. "I also want our players to use their instincts and to play free. We want to make plays and not run plays, right?... We’ll have certain play calls that give us space to operate, and then whichever pass we make determines one of three actions that our players can read from."
She then added, "Giving [Fever players] the freedom to play within a system, to get to the matchups, and really challenging them to find the matchups, the reads, the shots that we want. And I think that's going to be the next step for our young team.
"The goal for us is to put them in positions to make plays, and allow them to do what they do best," White said.
steph white’s offensive philosophy: “i wanna play with great pace...i also want our players to use their instincts and to play free...we’ll have certain sets that give us space to operate, and then whichever pass we make determines 1 or 3 actions that our players can read from.” pic.twitter.com/rGLB55LSJj
— cc akgae (@clrkszn) December 3, 2024
The basketball world can't wait to see White's offensive philosophy in action next season.
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.