Fever Frustrated In Lynx Loss!

both a frustrating and semi encouraging loss for the Indiana Fever against the Minnesota links frustrating because the fever were frustrated throughout the game and because the links are really maybe the worst matchup I think specifically for Indiana because of their personnel and their play style you know they are are long and athletic they play defense across the board they can shoot it it's the kind of thing that can frustrate and muck up what the fever like to do with their fast-paced offense especially when Minnesota is getting away with some physicality as they did in this game and especially because the lynx's best player goes up against the weakest position on the fever I still think the fever are probably one player away from being like dominant and that player is a power forward who is also versatile enough to cover Wings regardless despite all the frustration why I say it's encouraging is a couple of reasons number one the fever let it get the best of them for a minute and they were upset with the refs as well U maybe rightfully so at times um but you can't let that you know make you lose your head and number two Caitlyn Clark continues to hit shots that are going to make her Unstoppable if she can do them consistently you're seeing her more and more taking aggressively the mid-range shot and the floater when you add that to her deep three and her playmaking and her ability to finish it's really really going to be tough to deal with but you know the the frustration was apparent throughout the the game uh in this one including from Caitlyn Clark you could see her walking to the sidelines here it looks like she is mouthing some sort of exploitive Laden rant about called the foul um you see it on her face right there so that was one instance she also sarcastically clapped for the refs on one instance in the game as well uh this one right here you could see Caitlyn take it to the rack and then she finally gets rewarded with a foul call and gives them a little mock Applause she's getting away with a lot out there um lucky she didn't pick up a technical foul to be honest on that play but you like the competitiveness of course I'm sure somebody will find that and try and make it into a big deal as is often the thing with Clark but one of the the biggest moments in this game to me is when Lexi Hull picked up a foul late in the fourth quarter that made it so she had to sit on the bench to you know try to come in at the very end and they kind of fell apart defensively there after that fifth foul for for Lexi Hull and that's when ktie l samelson came into the game and when you combine Katie Lou with Nelissa Smith at the same time defensively you're gonna have a bad time just too slow defensively and you saw it on this play right here Katy L just gets cooked on the crossover can't stay in front and lazily reaches in for the foul and an and one on hide in there that was kind of you know one of those seal the deal type of plays late in the game and it happened after had to take a seat for a moment maybe you know you could argue side should have let a ride uh definitely could argue that I also get you know Lexi plays very feisty very aggressive so I get wanting to save her but it shows how integral Lexi Hull has been for this team a as a hustle player as a defensive player as somebody who can just move quick and obviously a a shooter in in moments as well and there was a play Early in the game that I thought was very Inc caging and it's all Hull attack a close out if she can start making plays off the bouns off of her open shot making that adds yet another dimension to the team so you know she had to sit down and and they they kind of fell apart at that point because Nelissa Smith had another one of her games that she just didn't have it um mentally physically didn't have it and and really didn't produce um dtis barely got any tick in this game f benley got some and and she's better defensively I think but limited offensively and that's that position that they don't really have that perfect do-it-all player yet and that's that that position I think that takes them over the top nonetheless they're able to fight back in the game and they get right there I mean this was anybody's game with a couple of minutes left uh after the Kelsey Mitchell 3 especially the one that got Tyrese halberton out of his seat and you know you see the the score there after that anybody's game at that section you know after this Kelsey Mitchell three another one where she just not afraid to take it and knock it down one-point game onepoint game at that juncture with four minutes left in the fourth quarter so despite getting frustrated and letting the game get away from them the fever fought back and were right back in the game with a chance to win it they just didn't and I also thought this was Kelsey Mitchell's worst performance in a long time um overall she you know took some shots that were frustrating and I usually don't get mad at her shot selection because she's such a bucket but she took some difficult long twos over defense when I I thought she could have um passed it back out but it is what it is you know it happens not everybody plays great all the time she's been so good that it's really hard to take issue with her I just didn't think it was one of her best games and you know she's a little bit on the smaller side defensively which also amplifies the weaknesses against a team like the lyns that can punish you with that pullup game that that we saw from them in this one you know their ball movement and their their shooting prowess but again Caitlyn Clark taking the ball into the in between taking the ball up strong all these things are really encouraging for playoff matchups and playoff type defense shots like that you know the Link's maybe the best defensive team in the league and you see her in traffic there not afraid to put it up and then I think the thing that has really unlocked Clark post Olympics is her three ball is fallen and it just makes it so tough because you have to go all the way out to contest her and guard her and that's just a problem for anybody the way she can you know hurt you with her passing as well and you you see it here I think this was her fifth three-pointer of the game this the one where she fired the crowd up again another big shot that got them right back in Striking Distance and Caitlyn fired up the crowd right after that so you know that that deep three ball falling consistently for Clark has been a huge um C change as far as her scoring because now you're going to start seeing her hit you know 25 30 35 points with regularity when when that is going down so the fever frustrated with the the refs the fever facing an opponent that maybe best suit suited to go against them and Lexi Hull getting a a foul that takes her out of the the game for a minute um Kelsey Mitchell not playing her best game and yet they're right there in the game at the end they're right there in the game at the end so yes it's frustrating but I also think in a sense it's encouraging because it shows where this team is headed in the the near future and then of course the the future beyond that it shows they can compete with anybody and they already clinched a playoff birth so a loss here or there the rest of the way ain't going to hurt um you just don't want to see a Minnesota matchup early