Caitlin Clark & Kelsey Mitchell spoke After The Indiana Fever's Dominant Win over the Chicago Sky.

[Music] west side side [Music] west top we on the top we on the top had to get it with my guys never stop Mr going B down 13 in the middle of that first quarter let flip the switch for this group and we'll get you guys going in the second quarter I think our defense got a lot better especially in transition um and honestly like they just made some threes on us and you know we just kind of pushed through that that part of the game and I thought minus the first six minutes we were really really good um I don't know what they scored out and I think I had 21 at that point when we called timeout and then after that I thought we played pretty good defense so I'm proud of us nobody panicked um we kind of just settled in into the game but we definitely need to get off to a better startel see this offense almost seems frantic at times watching it from a distance but you all seem to find the focus when the shots start to go how does that Dynamic work like it's just a level with uh I think it's a a matter of our chemistry um we've really taken time as teammates to really get to know each other on enough to on and off the court and I think it serves to what you see now and I think even though it might look a different way to you we've already established what our chemistry is and how we want to play and I think um for us we got a unbelievable chemistry now to where it's unspoken and so you get to see it even if you don't understand it trust me we get it we we understand Kaitlyn you seem to be having a very fun time at the end of that game can you describe kind of your feelings that say great shooting great assists the numbers and and just the exhilaration Jo whatever honestly like I felt like it was like just a smooth game for us like I just felt like we were flowing well out there like it just felt like pretty basketball like and sometimes I think as a basketball player like you can just feel it um I thought that's what we had like I said minus the first six minutes I thought we played really well and you know this was a big one for us it almost counts towards two when you're in the playoff race of like a loss and a win so um we knew it was a big one but also like we wanted to win the season series with them um that was kind of a focus point and the last time we were here we were up 15 in the fourth quarter and kind of you know fumbled it away so I thought it was another opportunity for us to come in here and show what we're about and I thought we were really good and um honestly like I just had a lot of fun playing like I thought we played with a lot of joy we played at uptempo we shared the ball well um I thought Tammy was really good especially defensively when she came into and um that was fun for me to see you mentioned the playoffs um this moves you guys up to how important is that especially knowing the stretch that you have coming up at you only have three games against yeah I mean I think you can't really look at a team's record at this point in the year I think um you're seeing teams play really well like I think I just heard the wings beat the links the other night the Sparks beat the Liberty like it doesn't really matter team's record at this point everybody's fighting for something and fighting for a playoff birth fighting for seating or positioning so it doesn't really matter you better come in into every single game um with the mentality of to win and I think our group has done a really good job of taking it one game at a time and um it's honestly impressive how we started the season and now sitting at sixth place with eight games remaining nine games remaining whatever it is um but you know you have to continue to execute down the stretch and lucky for us we have quite a few of those at home and we've been playing really well at home so using that to our advantage will be important as well when you guys like you said you started the season you have faith you would get to this point you know maybe you guys play together and you have three yeah I mean I certainly did I think I remember saying early in the season like I know there's going to be a moment where we look back on this in the season later in the season and be like you know this one and eight start is like going to help us somewhere down the line and I think this is now that moment um did it stink absolutely like it was not fun um you know I was I was frustrated or everybody was frustrated um you know fans were probably frustrated but at the same time like we have a young group we're trying to learn we're trying to figure out and it's a tough transition you know coming from college and then trying to come in here and lead a professional basketball team and be their point guard so um I'm just really thankful for my teammates that like just stuck with me and you know have helped make the transition easy and learning one another and I think once we've really figured it out it's been a lot of fun for everybody on this team um Kelsey this is the first time you guys have been 500 since started 2 and two in 2022 just for you what does it mean to kind of be part of this rebuild and kind of see it these past couple years oh kind of give yourself some Grace about you know where I started as a as a player and where the fever organization was and where it is now you go to appreciate you know the evolution of the game um the players that came in it people like C squ even like you know this group that draft class that came out you know they've taken really good leaps at making teams better and I think C square has done that for us and I think now it's about focus on taking it to the next step and I look forward to that Journey so to go off that if the message against Connecticut was that you guys weren't going to be bulli Wen to be pushed around what was the message tonight I mean just to come in here by 20 points to uh obviously keep the main thing the main thing uh we knew that uh Chicago had a lot of like up and down as far as you know their roster and who was planning who wasn't and that thing for us who was about keeping the main thing the main thing and stay focused on that and this game was about rebounding um you know we all kind of like said it and I think we had that Focus especially with players like Angel and so get them off the glass and then run so I think that Focus kind of maintained throughout the course of the 40 minutes today it seems in this stretch any combination of five you all have out there you got five scores what's the just the confidence you have in everybody right now put them in the hand points are going to be there yeah I think it we're just tough to guard especially like you know especially when we just playing transition like we're just playing pretty basketball playing fluid basketball we're playing off one another we're just reading each other and that's not something other team can like Scout for like you don't know what we're going to do we don't know what we're going to do it just happens it's just basketball like that's the best way to play basketball like be a basketball player make reads play off your teammates set them up for Success um and I think we do a really good job of finding each other in positions where we know they can be successful um I'm pretty sure we had a high assist number on High made field goals tonight and I think that just shows you know we're making the next pass to get our teammates a good shot and taking the right shots the other you talking about how much C you just Ser you the veteran presents but specifically on the court how do you think she's helped you the most on the floor off the floor on the floor on the floor um I mean I think it's pretty similar on and off the floor like she's just been a voice that's been there she's been through this league for what seven years now like she knows what to expect she knows how things are going to go um and I think more than anything like we are just starting to understand each other much better like we could just make eye contact and she knows to go back doors she knows to come get the ball like that just comes with playing with one another so um it's been a lot of fun for me I mean she's she's playing so well right now just as good as anybody in this in this league so I feel very lucky and fortunate to have her by my side how confident is this team right now coming in hot wow opening the door I mean I feel like we're confident but that's like that's any team in this league when you're able to stack some wins like that's everything right and I think coming out of the break we start with two big wins at home versus Phoenix and and uh Seattle and then we go on the road and we drop one but then we knew Atlanta was a huge game for us and I thought we played really well there so um I'm just proud of our group I think we're really just approaching it day by day even though like you know these games are so important we're not we're not really looking that far down the stretch of what's at the end of September what's in the middle of September it's what's in front of us today and just approaching it like that and um that's how you build your confidence it's just one day at a time but I think our confidence is you know at an all-time high where it's been this all season going back to the offense you guys have had the best offensive rating the league since mid June is that something that you guys envisioned like was possible or I mean during that losing stre Le season maybe not but just like to reach that height to be able to say you know you guys are the hottest offense right now yeah for sure I think that I think that I think that people fa to real that basketball is something that takes time you don't just come in and you get it right after the back I don't know what people expect I'm not gonna hop in their brain and figure out what they expect but this stuff takes time and I think that to see good basketball and see it manifest into what you see now it took time you know you got to give yourself some Grace that's why I tell our team like just have some fls right now cuz we could have been a lot worse and to see where we are now I think the sky is dmit for us and I think our offense and what you see and our Fierce competitiveness it's just kind of in our DNA and we want to kind of like stay like that you know we want to do the right thing the right time all all the time not just sometimes but we do it right all the time and that's what you're saying last one man yeah toward the end of the fourth a rare s is that you pointing up to the scoreboard I think it was a fan I was just having fun with it fan nothing to do with Cam I love cam Cam's awesome um but yeah I mean I just launched one for fun it was kind of a bomb it was a good airball had to get a good airball in you guys pray for [Music] me on the top we on the top we on the top we on the top had to get it with my guys never stop miss the go and split the pie never stop we on the top w we on the top we on the top we on the top