Sandy Brondello knew exactly what she was up against. “Caitlin’s the head of the snake, so we have to do a great job against her,” she said before the game tipped off. And that’s precisely what her team did, managing to keep Caitlin Clark relatively quiet. Ten turnovers and seven missed three-point attempts to start the game made one thing clear: Brondello’s snake-charmer strategy had worked. So foolproof, in fact, that no matter how strong a comeback the Fever mounted, they couldn’t tip the scales in their favor. It all came down to the final play, and Coach Brondello later had to admit how scary and true the other possibility looked.
In the end, though, the Fever couldn’t overcome the Liberty’s superstar trio of Sabrina Ionescu, Breanna Stewart, and Jonquel Jones. After leading the Liberty to their first championship in franchise history last season, the trio was firing on all cylinders. Ionescu scored 23 points, Stewart added 16, and Jones dominated with 26 points and 12 rebounds. Jones finished the fourth quarter with 14 points, single-handedly outscoring the entire Fever team. And to keep Clark quiet was all the more necessary this time, as they didn’t have Betnijah Laney, who did a phenomenal job containing Clark last season. That’s where Natasha Cloud stepped in this Saturday. The Indiana superstar had one of her worst shooting nights against the Liberty, going 6-18 from the field and 2-11 from beyond the arc—a performance she’d surely want to forget soon!
Honestly, though, some things slipped through the cracks, but no one expects a second-year player to execute everything flawlessly anyway, except it is Clark. That’s exactly why Brondello gave her the deserved credit.
In the postgame conference, she said, “We knew it was going to go to another level, and their level went a little bit harder than us. They were playing more physical. We were taking too many quick shots, not the best shots always. I think we played into their hands. So I think once we settled down, you know, early in the fourth I called that timeout. I think we came out executed and the rest of the game it was just much better. We have to be intentional with how we play. You know, 52 points in the paint, that’s way too much. It’s a really good team, really good team.”
BASKETBALL CANADA AUSTRALIA, Head Coach of Australia Sandy Brondello before the 2022 FIBA Women s Basketball World Cup match between Canada and Australia at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Monday, September 26, 2022. ACHTUNG: NUR REDAKTIONELLE NUTZUNG, KEINE ARCHIVIERUNG UND KEINE BUCHNUTZUNG PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xJAMESxGOURLEYx 20220926001707961946
Yes, that’s true. The Liberty opened the third quarter with a 9-point cushion, but the Fever refused to back down. They turned the tide and charged into the fourth quarter with an 8-point lead, sparked by Caitlin Clark draining two threes, including a buzzer-beater that brought the house down. After the Fever butchered Liberty’s 15-point lead and were ahead by 12 points, Brondello began to rethink things, and majorly enough that she called a timeout after a Natasha Howard putback gave Fever a comfortable lead. Comfortable enough to be the largest one of the night. So, despite being a relatively small team, Indiana showed just how good they could be. The Fever managed to outmuscle their opponents in the paint, 52-42, earning this praise from the New York head coach as a result.
Aliyah Boston was a real nightmare for the Liberty to handle, especially in the pick-and-roll with Clark. In the first three quarters, she scored 23 points, dominating the paint with a perfect 5-for-5 shooting in the first and 3-for-3 in the third. She accounted for 24 of the Fever’s 52 points in the game. This marked her third double-double of the season and puts her second in Fever history for the most games with 25+ points and 10+ rebounds, just behind the legendary Tamika Catchings.
So, naturally, Brondello had to huddle her team during the timeout and get things straight to them. “Get out of your heads. We’ve got to stay together. Everyone’s worried about s— out there … worry about playing team basketball,” Brondello told the team. “Whatever happened before, let’s get it out of our brains. The only way we do it is if we execute at a high level, the way that we’re capable of.”
Rebounding, inside defense, and self-interrogation are only some of the things that Fever challenged the Liberty to look into after they had been cruising on nicely padded seats. Hence, fair enough that Brondello is so thankful.
However, Stephanie White isn’t and won’t be, of course, as the game ended in controversy that didn’t bode well for her team. Natasha Cloud blocked Caitlin Clark from getting a clean look at the basket to tie or win the game. The play sparked a huge debate online, with coach White visibly unhappy. Now, the former Mercury guard has given her thoughts on the whole play as well.
Natasha Cloud talks about the final play stop against Caitlin Clark
The Fever had one final chance to tie or win. With 2.9 seconds remaining, Clark received the inbound pass from Sophie Cunningham. However, as she looked to make her play, she was poked by Natasha Cloud, who stripped Clark of the ball. Despite the obvious contact, no foul was called. Clark couldn’t get her shot, of course, sealing a heartbreaking 2-point loss for the Fever.
After the game, Cloud explained her defense of Clark when asked about it in the post-game conference.“I knew they–obviously, they’re gonna go to Caitlin,” Cloud shared. “I knew that it was gonna be, ‘You gotta get your big dog pants on right now. The way they set up I knew she was gonna set a cross screen. I knew that Coach [Stephanie] White was hoping that. I bumped on that cross screen to allow her to get open on the down screen. I knew my help was on the backside, so I didn’t bump. I top-locked her, so she couldn’t come off so easily. I knew she was gonna go left as soon as she brought that ball up. I just poked it out.”
The Fever is having a decent start to the season. A 2-2 record isn’t the worst, especially considering this is a pretty new team with a new head coach. They’re still finding their rhythm, so it should not matter much even if a couple of games slip away in the process. But the team is right there, competing with the best of the best. There’s plenty to be excited about!
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