Fever part ways with Sides

[hahkize]

The subject wasn't whether Sides should or should not be fired. The subject was whether players, and Caitlin Clark specifically advocated for her or against---in October. There is no factual narrative on that until you hear it from the players.

As for Sides sitting players? Idk. Respect goes both ways.
Did the Fever improve going forward from that game early in June? Yes they did. Whatever the method, they started playing better together, and their chemistry grew. That is objective.

Everything else is a guess from those not in the locker room. Speculation.

And there is no factual narrative that Sides was the one who put Wallace, Samuelson and N Smith on the bench in favor of Hull, and Fagbenle either. Or made the decision to let Clark handle the ball more instead of go stand in a corner. Or to let Clark open up the floor instead of running set plays for Wallace, Smith and Samuelson.

 

[hahkize]

I would guess Miller or White

Looks like you might be right.... White.

Indiana Fever’s Head Coaching Search Narrowed Down to One Name, per Report

'Hours after the Indiana Fever fired head coach Christie Sides on Sunday, the franchise reportedly already has its eyes on Sides’s successor.

Sides, who was hired in November 2022, led the Fever to a 20-20 record in 2024 and the team’s first playoff appearance since 2016. But on Sunday she was dismissed in a surprising move as the franchise looks to shake things up from the top down.

Stephanie White, currently under contract with the Connecticut Sun, is expected to take the helm in Indiana, according to Annie Costabile of the Chicago Sun-Times.'

 

[hahkize]

White would make sense, not only b/c of her strong ties to Fever and Indiana, but

Way-Too-Early WNBA Power Rankings....

#7 Connecticut - Are the Big three returning? (all free agents) Alyssa Thomas, DeWonna Bonner, Brianna Jones.
Kelsey Plum (Aces) and N Ogwumike (Storm) are free agents also. Lots of front line help w/ scoring and especially defense, which Connecticut was very good at, is available.

Seems this (White) may have been discussed even before the season was over

 

[longliveCS40]

Can't believe it. There is hope yet for this organization. She held them back.

 

[spiderland]

Can't believe it. There is hope yet for this organization. She held them back.

Now about two-thirds of the league refs need to get sh!t canned and we’ll be cooking.

 

[Franisdaman]

 

[Franisdaman]

 

[HawksGoneWild1]

That's completely right. You will likely never know. All people can do is create a narrative that fits a bias.

@0:29 - 1:19 is most likely the closest we will get of whether Caitlin "liked" the Sides firing or not.
Caitlin Clark is The REASON Why The Fever Fired Christie Sides... (Discussion)


Here's the post:

 

[Bro D]

Sorry, but Sides is an idiot. Anyone who didn't think she should be fired or that she "led" this team anywhere is cluelesss

 

[F5n5]

I've never advocated for a coach to be fired...
I was against the firing of Todd Lickliter.

but Christie Sides is the single worst head coach of any team from any sport at any level that I've ever seen
she has absolutely no business at all being a head coach.

she was gifted the golden goose and had no idea what to do with it.
to me... there is only 2 possibilities here..
either she is completely incompetent as a head coach
or she was deliberately sabotaging the team to spite the legacy of Caitlin Clark

its hard for me to imagine somebody to be that stupid

 

[Franisdaman]

Before bonuses, Lisa Bluder was reported to be on a $1.4 million annual salary as the Hawkeyes' head coach.

WNBA Head Coach Salaries (As of June 13, 2024)

Rank	Coach	Team	WNBA Titles	Total Compensation
1	Nate Tibbetts	Phoenix Mercury	0	~$1.2 million
2	Becky Hammon	Las Vegas Aces	2	$1 million
T-3	Curt Miller	Los Angeles Sparks	0	$700K
T-3	Cheryl Reeve	Minnesota Lynx	4	$700K
T-5	Sandy Brondello	New York Liberty	1	$500K
T-5	Christie Sides	Indiana Fever	0	$500K
T-5	Eric Thibault	Washington Mystics	0	$500K

 

[twindman]

Can't believe ANYBODY wanted to keep Lickliter! I would think he is worse than Sides.

 

[Bishop_71]

Why is that?

It's the Fever, not the Pacers

 

[Tenacious E]

It's the Fever, not the Pacers

Same dude owns both teams.

 

[Bishop_71]

Same dude owns both teams.

Cool

 

[dbookie2004]

Throwing CC under the bus is NEVER a good look.Watching the interactions between CC and Sides was very telling.Now if only the WNBA could get rid of the Commisioner and clean up that bag of garbage called officiating.

 

[dahar]

Catlin like LeBron gone get a lot coaches fired.

 

[longliveCS40]

Catlin like LeBron gone get a lot coaches fired.

No she won't.

 

[UpstreamHawkeye]

I see White was just fired by Connecticut Sun. Maybe she told them she wanted out to coach the Fever and the Sun fired her out of spite.

Edit: OK it looks like ESPN edited the article. It no longer says White was fired.

White out as Sun head coach after two seasons

Stephanie White is out as head coach of the Connecticut Sun after two seasons, the team announced Monday.

www.espn.com

 

[Chuck C]

It's the Fever, not the Pacers

Pacers Sports and entertainment own the Fever. Before this year, it was just a tax write off, losing tons of money. They’re the ones that installed the new front office. The decision definitely came from the Pacers brass.

 

[Bishop_71]

Pacers Sports and entertainment own the Fever. Before this year, it was just a tax write off, losing tons of money. They’re the ones that installed the new front office. The decision definitely came from the Pacers brass.

Do they share execs and others?

 

[Bishop_71]

Pacers Sports and entertainment own the Fever. Before this year, it was just a tax write off, losing tons of money. They’re the ones that installed the new front office. The decision definitely came from the Pacers brass.

I was under the impression that the NBA in it's entirety, owns 60% and individual teams are part of a conglomerate. I'm no wnba expert except CC took 17% of all intentional fouls, the refs suck, and techs are meaningless.

 

[Chuck C]

Do they share execs and others?

The new President of Fever Basketball and business operations was working as the Pacers assistant general manager before taking the position. She also held the position in the past, so it does look like they go back and forth.

Kelly Krauskopf, Basketball Trailblazer and Longtime Executive, Will Return to the Indiana Fever as President of Basketball and Business Operations

INDIANAPOLIS – Kelly Krauskopf, who shaped the Indiana Fever into one of the WNBA’s winningest franchises as President and General Manager, will return to the team as President of Basketball and Business Operations when the 2024 season concludes, the Fever announced today. Krauskopf led the...

fever.wnba.com

 

[Chuck C]

I was under the impression that the NBA in it's entirety, owns 60% and individual teams are part of a conglomerate. I'm no wnba expert except CC took 17% of all intentional fouls, the refs suck, and techs are meaningless.

All I could find is that Herb Simon owns both the Pacers and the Fever.

Indiana Fever - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[Bishop_71]

All I could find is that Herb Simon owns both the Pacers and the Fever.

Indiana Fever - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Thanks

 

[dahar]

No she won't.

Watch.

 

[Franisdaman]

 

[Beattheohiostate]

Lisa Bluder anyone ???

At least one article mentioned Lisa as one of three candidates along with Cheryl Miller and the Connecticut Suns coach who recently resigned and who has many connections with the Fever franchise. Whether there's any interest on Lisa's part is unknown, but I would highly doubt it. At any rate, it appears the Fever are making big moves and are finally recognizing they have a generational talent in CC that they'd better stop wasting. Christie Sides was in WAY over her head.

 

[Menace Sockeyes]

Catlin like LeBron gone get a lot coaches fired.

No she won't.

Agreed that she won’t. Much more likely that Christie was Caitlin’s Stan Albeck, and the next is her Doug Collins, with eventually her Phil Jackson.

 

[Tenacious E]

Agreed that she won’t. Much more likely that Christie was Caitlin’s Stan Albeck, and the next is her Doug Collins, with eventually her Phil Jackson.

White is a legit coach, assuming that is a done deal

 

[dahar]

Agreed that she won’t. Much more likely that Christie was Caitlin’s Stan Albeck, and the next is her Doug Collins, with eventually her Phil Jackson.

So she gets one more coach fired.

 

[Bro D]

So she gets one more coach fired.

you're trying too hard

 

[Hawksfor3]

Lisa Bluder anyone ???

It sounds exciting, but I would wait awhile and let Lisa enjoy retirement. Who knows? Maybe down the road...

 

[Hawksfor3]

She's probably smart enough to understand that she'll have to put much of that offense in CC22's hands or she'll be gone quick also. As for defense, they can get better enough to where even as a marginal defender CC will be fine. What about the gal from Dallas who was also fired last week, or the Sparks coach. Supposedly he is well thought of in the coaching community..

I initially thought that either of those two would work. I had heard good things about Trammell and Curt Miller during the season.

 

[Hawksfor3]

I believe players can tell what players can do what when playing with other players to give them a better chance to win. Sides roster combinations and game management were detrimental to putting the team in the best position to win. She gives me very little indication she has the goods to elevate a team. To me she does more times than not try to stifle momentum. This gives a player a feeling of being stuck in the mud. I surely don't want to play for a coach like that and I'm pretty sure other high achievers don't want to either.

I watch this woman for her take on things. She's almost like a psychic savant with her evaluations.
New Fever President's Comments Suggest Christie Sides Will NOT Coach Team Next Season / The Adrienne Ross Show

View embedded media

After listening to enough of her shows, I believe I'm not creating some outlandish speculation or narrative that's dumb.
'FireSides' Chat 2.0 | Caitlin Clark & Indiana Fever Deserve Better / The Adrienne Ross Show

View embedded media

Regarding "for all anyone knows, the players actively advocated for Sides":
I just don't see how high level winning players could accept this kind of thinking with Sides player and game management temperament. It doesn't pass the smell test.

I'm a big Adrienne Ross fan and subscriber as well. She was definitely 💯on the Sides firing when a lot of fans were upset at the thought of her staying.

 

[DanHawkPella]

I'm a big Adrienne Ross fan and subscriber as well. She was definitely 💯on the Sides firing when a lot of fans were upset at the thought of her staying.

Ross' one video take where she discusses how Diana T's comment before the season about Caitlin not playing with teenagers anymore was a "dog whistle" to the rest of the league not to let her succeed this year (and they started in game one doing full court denials and blitzing the ball screens!!) was a very insightful one and spot on. I think the league really wanted to send a signal that rookies couldn't come in and succeed and Clark proved them wrong.

 

[Hawksfor3]

Ross' one video take where she discusses how Diana T's comment before the season about Caitlin not playing with teenagers anymore was a "dog whistle" to the rest of the league not to let her succeed this year (and they started in game one doing full court denials and blitzing the ball screens!!) was a very insightful one and spot on. I think the league really wanted to send a signal that rookies couldn't come in and succeed and Clark proved them wrong.

And then there's Geno lol.

 

[dahar]

you're trying too hard

Not trying at all. To easy ,

 

[Bro D]

Not trying at all. To easy ,

*too

But thanks for outting yourself as a (pretty bad) troll. Dork

 

[MitchLL]

If it ends up being White hired in Indiana, it's conceivable one of the Sun FAs could follow her to Indiana.
And White will have way more cred with officials and you likely won't see the bullying of CC and ghost fouls called on Boston.

I'm calling it...the Fever will at least make the semis next post season.