Indiana Fever Postgame Media Availability (at Dallas Wings) | September 1, 2024

Head Coach Christie Sides coach record from the 9450 coach um looking Beyond this season what are your thoughts on the team's potential areas of focus just continue growing um you know throughout this transition period just trying to get to the playoffs yeah I think our our focus is just finding ways to get a little bit better every day taking what we need from this game um cuz we're going to face them again in a in a week and a half and you know these guys are just growing together uh building confidence building confidence in each other um building confidence on the defensive end um I think just some things that are happening that are when we weren't successful at certain things we were trying early and now we're finding some success in those things it just it's just an overall it gives them confidence in when we're making adjustments on the fly to try to you know hque and satu just they shot the hell out of the ball today I mean they had some big shots um but we just stayed with it I mean you know there's some shots that those guys make that you just got to be like hey good shot get on you know now it's our turn and we kept matching them with baskets which was good um you know I thought AB came in she you know had a hard time getting started early she came in at at the half we went to her but her defense was really good thought her defense was excellent and then just the other post that came in were very like Nelissa Smith was awesome in the first half I mean she did some good stuff she kind of set the tone for us and then we just kind of flowed Caitlyn and Kelsey combined I think it was 63 points today and they've been doing that a lot over after the Olympic break just what has been working for them and how has that given them them confidence yeah I think both of them get a lot of open looks or freedom because of each other because of the attention that they draw and so that's allowing them to be open when at times you know with last year Kelsey really had to fight for a lot of shots that she was getting but right now if she's open and going into finding a window when the defense is collapsing or or double and Caitlin or when the ball goes in the post and there's collapsing she's able to find a window and get her open looks and those Closeouts are hard cuz you're coming hard to contest her but then she's able to get downhill on you so between the two I mean just got a lot of confidence right now shooting the ball extremely well could you just speak to your team's offensive capabilities or production rather you shot nearly 53% from the floor and 50% from three yeah you know we're we're um right now during this time of the Season you can't really keep them do a lot of up and down um in practice and so we just feel like we did a lot of shooting during that break during the Olympic break more than we had and a lot more game likee shots we use our practice guys to come out and put a lot you know it's not just shooting drills where you're just getting shots like we're contesting every shot I feel like all that plays into it you know not just letting them shoot I game a horse they're shooting uh contested shots people running out on them so they're focused on that Rim can I get one on Zoom Mike Vel go ahead yeah coach sides I know you come in every week want to win every game but when you're starting this week you've got four games three of them on the road um to to win all four of those in the way that you won them you talked about this team's growth but is this one of the most I guess impressed you've been in terms of a week's long performance by your team 100% M 100% they you know they just they come out they're they're so they're tired right now I mean this has been a five G five games in nine days I think Ryan um and they've they've laid it out there like we just keep talking about emptying our tank um empty the tank whenever you're out in those 40 minutes um just the confidence that they're playing with I mean I'm proud of the the the road games have been hard like the road games have been tough I mean we fought we fought Minnesota and and lost that one by 10 that one could have gone in way either way um but just to to go to Atlanta to go to Chicago and to keep doing what we're doing we just keep talking about momentum keeping our foot on the gas keep doing what's working and just keep making it about us and I feel like they're just doing a great job of that um and again their chemistry with with each other and they're the way they're you know they're talking a lot on the bench which is good they the bench players are talking a lot to the players on the floor it's just for a coach watching that it's awesome hey coach speaking ofic the end of the game K went took a pretty hard foul caught a lot of attention from fans and media like and you mentioned the streak of games that you're on right now these games are getting tougher B are getting harder how how do you how does she respond to it what do you talk to her about and then what do you think about the response the fans gave Diamond to Shields after that foul yeah I think you know there's there's been some hard fouls of course there has and the officials have to step up and make those calls if that's a flagrant you know that needs to be just make the call and then we can shoot the free throws throw the ball in on the side maybe make a three and we've got a four-point swing right um make the call um as it relates to the fans I you know you can't control what fans are saying um on these message boards and social media I don't think there's any room for any vile language or hatred or awful talk to anybody I mean this is basketball we're all just trying to play a game 40 minutes and um do the best we can um but that that's that's unacceptable for it to to get real personal it's just unacceptable got one on Zoom Matt go ahead yeah hi Christie for you guys to go from one and eight to now 17 16 a lot of that took time a lot of that I was team chemistry um but have you noticed anything different in how the team has been handling the TR I mean you guys just played three games or two games in three days and scored 100 at both yeah man I think all that travel we did early I think that prepared us for we kind of knew what was coming I think you know now I think everybody else is going through that a lot of other teams are going through that travel right now and uh we get to to get on that Charter plane and get home and uh and they've earned every every minute of the day off tomorrow that they're going to they're going to get and then just get get back and get ready to play a an LA team that's playing well too else anything thank you that put you up by four in clutch and you have two free throws that put you up what what's your mentality in those situations oh man I Kelsey Mitchell just try to i' I've always been a Hooper man I just like to play the game and I think uh for me I'm always on the next shot whatever that is um next play mentality and I think my number was called got transition play um and I think for me it's about finding Rhythm um and staying confident in that Rhythm and utilizing Pace to kind of like find my spots to get what I want I I mean I had a follow up K on here which is fine but two of you combined for nearly 60 plus points and your shot 54% each hitting five threes I mean what is what is going on in the back court for you to uh I think that me and kayin um as well as our group I think we just found a way to um for one understand and know one another but I think our pace is just kind of setting us apart um from a lot of different teams because we like to get you know the ball up and down the court at such a hot pace and I think think the way that we play just kind of like it just makes our games Thrive even more I think in a way K uh K and if you just you just walked in but I just asked Kelsey the two of you combin for 60 plus points you both hit 5 threes 54% shooting I mean could you what's working in the back cour between you two I think Caitlin Clark just playing fast playing off one another um I think that's probably the biggest thing and you know when you have two guards that are both making plays like it puts other team in tough position of you know what to take away who to put on who um so I feel like we're definitely shooting it well we're playing off each other well we're looking for each other um and we're getting downhill too so um I think it's been a good balance of everything and my last question for kayin was I mean this is your seventh game 2010 double double I mean how much do you feel like you've developed as a point guard your first preseason game was here so now mhm yeah I think I just understand the game better um more comfortable with my teammates more comfortable on the floor um I think just playing a little more free I think being more aggressive um yeah I think all of that kind of combined how does it feel coming in tonight you broke another record always breaking records you came in with 594 points your 595th point made you pass T catches in front of cynia amaz how does that feel I mean I think it's it's obviously cool but at the same time like I feel like we play basketball the right way and then that's just what kind of comes along with it um and it's fun like we've been winning like that's what makes all of this so much better like I feel like we're just playing such better basketball than we were you know know even a month ago before the break like it just feels like our chemistry is better it just feels like everything flows a little bit better it just like feels better I think as a basketball player like that's something you can feel when you're out there um you know the flow just seem seems really good you know we're not we're just playing off of one another so um you know it's cool obviously there's been a lot of really good players to put on this jersey and you know to be up there with some of them it's it's special s games them how they confidence help you guys to try to go ahead and close that be under and lead into the playoffs yeah I think just one game at a time and now I think we have six straight at home so um you know winning the the games at home are super important you can't come let people come in and beat you on your home court and you know we still have a lot of challenges left but um you know we're still fighting to get into the playoffs it's been our goal since day one so um I think just you know take it one game at a time you can't look too far ahead you can't you know let any day go by because every single one matters for positioning and um also like you know these opportunities like they they end very fast it feels like we were just at the beginning of the season and now we're here at the end so not taking it for granted it's important and quarter from the 9450 um you know you had a great game again uh 28 and 12 um what was your approach coming into this game and how were you able to counter the the wings with their High PRI offense yeah I mean it's hard like you know you got definitely got to be able to score with him and I think you know honestly like we tried our best on defense but I'm I'm really proud of the last five minutes of the game I thought that's when we played our best defense and that's when it really mattered for us um you know Enrique I mean she's one of the best players in this league she's going going to do what she does um she's going to make shots she just makes tough shots like you got to live with it sometimes and you know just get back on and go go down and play offense after she made a basket so I thought it honestly was just the last five minutes of the game we came up with some huge stops we made free throws um you know kelse made some big buckets for us so um I'm just proud of our last you know stretch there where we really dug in and got some critical stops and kind of able to push us over those got two more what was um you know this is back to back wins against two very very tough teams um this must be a huge confidence booster how do you plan to carry this momentum forward um going into the final Church of season U I think the second half of the Olympic break was the stretch of the season and I think it's a focus it's a mentality it's a mindset and I think our group has prepared you know ourselves over the course of that break to be in these moments and I think that going forward um we going to continue to keep the main thing main thing and that's winning um one game at a time focus on the right moments focus on what matters um focus on what actually intent for our our confidence as a group so we can keep going in the right direction last one Kelsey I'm not sure how aware you were of a closing in on the record for threes in a game that you shared oh really she ended up tying it oh man you guys are both three-point Shooters you knew what she was doing early in the game she had five in the first quarter I mean you see a competitor doing that from three what do you have that sense of we better watch out for that um I think the the record for me if you didn't tell me I would have never known um um so one half of the records like I salute people like R because off the four really great friends um really good really good good mates and so we get we tend to like work out and train together on the off offseason side and um I wouldn't expect it any any other way coming from a personing like that and I think for me personally um I'm focused on my team and what we got going on right now the record can mean nothing to me so all right thank you everybody BR coach next than you