Indiana Fever Media Availability | April 29, 2024

yeah I think just the way we come back after having a long day yesterday being able to add plays in and how we respond to that I think we did pretty good we went up and down against each other against the guys and the energy was there we had great passes great team efforts it it was a great day can you tell from the newcomers kind of who's physically up for this from from a conditioning and a pace standpoint yeah I think everyone honestly I think you know when you come into training camp you know that you want to be at your best and so everyone especially people they came from overseas um um even the rookies that came in you know them just getting straight from college I mean I think it helps a lot because they're just able to continue that stamina that pace and so everyone looks really good can you talk about Candace Parker's retirement I saw I know how much she means to you yeah I mean I got out of training camp and I was like wait what happened I was like when did this what happened but I mean Candace Parker has always been someone that I consider a role model I think she's the reason that I've just love basketball so much because at her size being able to do what she does handle the ball the way she does shoot the ball the way she does like someone that's tall growing up wanting to continue the sport I mean she was just a major piece to me a year ago I know having no real offseason was kind of a challenge for you to go right from college into Camp have you given Caitlyn and the other rookies any advice on how to kind of manage that because on one hand conditioning is great on the other hand the body needs the rest yeah we've talked to them especially at the beginning just about how like your body is going to tell you and honestly just Embrace that and know that at some point it's you're going to feel it some people feel it earlier some people feel it later on I told them for me I felt it really after Allstar and that's when I felt like I kind of went through my little slump and so honestly just be ready but at the same time like we have your back like we know what you're capable of and if your body's telling you hey this is not my not my day then you you take it easy what are the biggest differences you've noticed year one to year two so far just both on off the court yeah for uh for me I think it's just my ability to just step into that leadership role that being a more better Communicator U on and off the court and off the court I think I mean I don't know yet I'm still trying to I need to start wandering Indianapolis so if you guys have spots I I have to start I can't I come back from practice I'm like in my bed I'm like dang where the time go so I have to start wandering I'm GNA get my toes done tomorrow but I need more what's different about list to you this season and how that front Court partnership will mesh around Kay yeah I I told list before we even got to training camp that you know like our goal is to be that best post Duo I mean I heard Camila talking about her and Angel rebind I sent to list I said girl listen they are coming and so I think just being able to see just her ability to continue to shoot the ball make plays attack from the perimeter have that pull-up jumper and also be able to get down low and bang I think sometimes you know with list playing at the four they're smaller fours and so she's able to post them up really um get to score and so I'm really excited about what we can do and with Caitlyn too just adding her in I think you guys can see it when you guys come in and watch practice Caitlyn's ability to pass that ball Caitlyn's ability to get it into the post um at the right angle and so it's going to be really good for us to be we know that hey we run Kaitlin's gonna find us and we got to make the right play is the versatility of this lineup just as important as the death because you've got you got some four FS some two threes you got a lot of girls that can go out there and play a lot of a lot of different spots on yes and that's definitely going to help us just because you know you want to be able to put people in different positions because there's going to be a m mismatch whether that's in the post whether that's in the guard defensively offensively and so just being able to have so many people that are great at their positions and able to do multiple things at different position is only going to help us especially moving forward in the season you spent some time in the offseason doing this and analyzing the game a different visual do you see it now when you're in it a little different than you maybe did before spending some time in a TV setting I feel like I just it just gets clearer I feel like before that's why I got into being an analyst because of how I saw the game and so being able to be on both sides like I understand I know what all you guys are thinking right now actually and so it's just I think I just continue to have just more patience I feel like understanding like okay this is happening this happening I need to communicate this way do you feel the excitement in the city surrounding the sports scene right now oh absolutely absolutely it's super exciting and I think it's just like we're really going to feel it once the game start because you hear about the ticket sales you hear about the numbers going up and that's that's specially you hear about when we're on the road and just people going moving to different Arenas like there's just so much energy around the fever around the WNBA right now and I think that's just special because that's what we need for the game did it become hard to be objective analyst when South Carolina was oh my gosh I thought they were going to fire me I thought they're going to fire me they're Leah thank you for your time you cannot come back but I think for the most part I did good it was just when they won I was like get me off air this is not my job anymore what stands out to you about year three camp for you and how it's different than last year with Chris things uh I would say the energy the energy in here is just huge like everybody's pulling for each other you could tell we have one big goal that's make it to the playoffs and even further so you could tell we're all pulling for each other and it's just genuine love here er er was just talking about how last year maybe there wasn't a culture you're trying to re establish everything so for you what do you want to see that that culture to be about with you guys this season uh like I said just genuine love like everybody pulling for each other you know we before me and you know we all just have that same goal you mentioned playoffs to see the environment the other night and think to yourself that's going to be what you guys get this summer how exciting is that for you as a player man it's super exciting it's like playing for a national championship every single game so you know just you know Indiana is one of the biggest states of basketball so just bringing that here consistently is going to be huge for us you tweeted about it yesterday but Candace retiring what did that mean to you you got uh it's that was huge you know that was one of my role models you know the reason I started playing basketball the reason I was number three you know when I was young so just playing against her and you know her giving me tips on the floor you know that was big for me and you know congrats on a huge career for her what have you thought of kayin so far playing with her for a few practices man she's insane like you could just tell like like there's no hype behind what everybody be saying like that girl could really play she could shoot she could pass the hell out the ball so you know I got to get in shape and keep running so I can get my little layups but n she she's nice do you feel the excitement here in Indie in Indiana just with you know drafting Caitlin and the Pacers Colts young Stars everything just feels like sports here is trended in that way do you feel that as a player no yeah absolutely like you just it's fun being here you know it's fun just walking around seeing posters of us in and you know just the men doing what they do and then we're going to do what we do and just it's a fun environment to be in as a post player how much does somebody like Caitlyn open things up for you on the floor man I think for everybody like it's going to open up things for everybody cuz you guard her ab's open you guard AB I'm open you guard me Kelsey Mitchell's open and so forth like we have so many scores that it's like you can't focus on one person because everybody can score everybody's great on this team L what are you seeing from Aaliyah Boston as she makes that year one to year two jump the jump that you just made last year yep confidence ab's playing with so much confidence you could tell she's been in the gym working on her body working on her post moves just being patient like just the ab you seen in college on steroids only day two of practice but there's a ton of energy from this group kind of oh yeah not really not really not really just kidding just kidding we'll it Z from the transcript two though a ton of energy still from this group just what's the intensity been like y'all come out the gate kind of a level 10 right now trying to find it pretty quickly oh yeah like I said the energy is high you know we're competing every single day everybody is just coming out here and playing their hardest Christie is leading us we're putting things in fast cuz we got a big game on Friday so everything's just coming fast so it's all about just being attentive and just playing hard how this is a very short turn to get ready for a game yeah that quickly how how's the learning happening there's a mental part of this that we don't see from the physical part of it I mean just talking to your teammates you know getting in with coaches watching film breaking stuff down you know taking time individually to work on you know basketball and just the mental aspect because when it comes it's going to come fast your first camp at the factory seven rookies there to now here I mean how much change have you felt in your time in the pros in just two years um a big change you know we used to play in a b like he's playing a barn with with six fans now we're going to be playing in slow down Arenas and people are moving Arenas to watch us play like it's just going to be huge for us this year you don't miss the barn I don't miss the barn everybody else car one more what um growth do you see from yourself coming out a year two into year three I'm just in way better shape you know I'm a lot more prepared this year than I was last last year and you know I'm just staying healthy working on the mental aspect of my game and you know I'm just excited to play with such great players for my third year and just happy about the success that's about to come to the fever I mean we expect it um I think the moment Clark announced that she was um coming out I think it started from there so we expect it um and we ready for it day two from day one what was kind of was there a bit of a jump here was you as you get past kind of the newness of it all from Sunday to Monday um I think um the newcomers are still adjusting um I think today was more so a mental day because yesterday we had two practices which is hard um and today I think everybody pushed through because those two days is real tough then you got to get up in the morning and go right back at it um you don't really have much time for recovery so I think um they did a great job just coming with energy and just retaining the information that we got yesterday to today so this practice was good you could talk to Rookies a lot about a lot of things what can you tell them about that two a days though just to get them mentally ready for the phys when you tired just keep pushing um and also lean on your vets um if something is wrong or if you feeling a little pain just ask them to kind of stay on you and push you um nobody has asked that yet so they doing a pretty good job um pushing through so um it's a good practice today for everybody the rookies is definitely adjusting well yesterday Caitlyn mentioned learning from you and I saw you guys kind of chatting up when you guys had the appearance of the caser game on Friday too I'm curious uh how you've taken her under your wing a little bit to kind of show her the ropes of being up at this point um I put it as like you know when you go to a different School the first day of school you don't know anybody and you find that one person that says H to you that become your best friend um for me I just wanted to get ahead of it because I know this transition is tough just being undrafted and being a rookie it's very unlikely that a vet you know just take you in when you got the same position and I think often times people forget that I'm a great person before a basketball player so for me as a big sister I'm just like I'm going to take this first step first to just let her know like we here we got you to whatever you need for me as your vet and even you're in the same position I got you and she just been doing a great job with just accepting it and receiving it from me um because as you know she's one of the biggest players in the world right now and she don't act like that she's just like help me you know in any way you can it's it's definitely in a sweet way it's no ego at all she's not selfish um you can tell she want to be here and she wants everybody around so just welcomeing to me because she's a high caliber player but her actions is not selfish at all she she wants to learn she wants to be a family and I'm like a big sister to how are you able to do that considering not putting ego aside realize it's about the team did someone maybe do that to you in the past um that's how I was raised um I don't have no hate in my heart I want everybody around me to win um whether you are winning or not I still want to push you to be great um so for me um I just thought like if I get ahead of it um just make her comfortable right away when she get here it's just a easy smooth transition and for me um I actually love it cuz I like being a big sister I like help first um I don't really like getting help so it's um it's refreshing for me to be able to help her and be her big sister chy said the bar was higher at the start of Camp versus last year you feel that on these first oh yeah absolutely I felt that in our team meeting before we even got on the court I think um the expectations that the coaches have for us and for this organization is High um and we are just um you know taking Christy lead and just trying to follow whatever Direction she gives us we just trying to do it to the best of our ability you mentioned the excitement that kayin brings you feel that as a player that excitement just with the city right now Pacers I mean you hyped up the crowd at the game the other day and just all the young stars and the direction is trending here so yesterday I was on Twitter and someone said that Indiana is the new Hollywood so I thought it was pretty cool that um people feel like Indiana because when you think about Indiana you think it's it's boring it's nothing to do but now everybody wants to be in Indiana you got the Pence who just won the game gonna go to Milwaukee and possibly get to the second round so I think we all Hollywood right now everybody wants to be here every all eyes on both teams so the organization is just moving up and I it's a great feeling for me to be here three years ago and then come back to you know be able to have all these eyes on us I think it's we deserve it I mean we we worked hard to get to this point obviously Caitlyn Clark does play a big part of it and um and she knows it and she's embracing it in the the best way possible so um Indiana definitely deserve the the light that we getting for sure when you were at that Pac again did you take a moment to look around and be like hey this is this is environment could be what we have with all these sellout games upcoming yo that's the first thing I said I was like yo see it's about to be us she was just like oh my God I'm like what you saying that for you play in crowds like this all the time so she was just like no I'm ready and for me I'm excited I haven't played in front of the crowd like this since I was in college when we played against Yukon that was when my was playing um against Ruckers in Yukon game that was the probably the biggest game far as like a crowd for me so to be able to go out here every night on on the in the summer to have a soldout crowd is going to be super special what stand that about chrisy now that she's had a year under her belt now she's running camp that we having more fun you know I think last year the team really didn't have culture we didn't have real leadership and it's one of the reasons why I'm here um and all that bad juju is out you know and now everything is just about fun and now we have pieces and players that you know that want to be here um and that's just bringing good culture cuz I think ultimately yes we're a good team but we have great people and it's also making my job as a leader super easy because I don't have to tell people things two and three times the moment I say it it happens they do what they need to do you mentioned obviously you and Caitlyn play the same position just how have you seen your role evolve on the courts in in these first few days um actually yesterday I told her I was like yo you made me want to be better like we was um we was in a drill and she just hitting shots and she hitting shots I'm like y I got to make shots she making all these shots so for me I told her she has this energy about herself that just makes me want to be better makes me want to be better leader for her in the team then also just be able to just keep up with what she's doing because she's doing some awesome stuff how did it hit you when you heard that Candace retired yesterday honestly I was like Dam you ain't gonna just give us a fair World Tour I would love for that like just to just get a hug on her I think I think the basketball coacher would want that but um what she's done for the game is tremendous um she's also Adidas athlete so I've spent some time with her um she's tremendous you know she's she's changed the game for us you know on and off the court just being able to be on TV and always present you know just showing up for the women's sports and then as the B the basketball stuff it's a whole resume of things that she's done just to kind of change the game and I'm sure she's still going to change the game with just being on TV and just still being around basketball I think it's exciting um second session of yesterday was a little lighter so I think the biggest thing especially now as a pro is like taking care of your body um quick turnaround so being able to do that and um cold tub hot tub whatever it is I think those are the most important things but um there's a lot to fit in in a little amount of time like I said yesterday so um there's no time for breaks no time to you know take one single play off and um putting a lot in so you got to learn out of quick speed you seem to have embraced the Intensive nature of the learning go out of this has your basketball brain kind of always worked like that on a fast track yeah I think for sure I think I like learning at a quick Pace like I think as a point guard and obviously that's what I played a lot in college and then coming here is like you got to be able to know things and move fast and I think I'm a very fast learner and um that's something I'm grateful for once we put it in once or twice I usually have it down and um you know there's a lot of people that I can rely on to help me too and I think our coaches have done a great job I think UB has done a really good job of helping me too and I've had questions and um really everybody like you know across the board all 15 you know 13 people who whoever we have in the gym nobody really needed to go over things again today everybody really you know did their homework and was prepared coming in today too hey at what age did you realize you kind of had that gift of not only div Vision but also being a quick study so that you can quickly absorb things yeah I think it's something that's kind of developed over the course of you know my basketball career I've always been somebody that's like loved watching basketball and I think the more you watch the game and like study the game whether it's been men's basketball whether it's been women's basketball at the pro or college level or even growing up like I loved going to high school games um in the city that I was from so I think I just like loved being around the game I loved watching it I think that's the best way to learn is like watching players watching other people play um I always film throughout High School I would always go in and watch film um those are just the best ways to learn and I think that's kind of helped my basketball IQ kind of grow and Advance sometimes you know you're kind of born with it and you have a little knack for basketball but at the same time like I just love the game I love being around it I love watching it and I think that's helped me you know learn more than anything the coach point guard synergies can be so important for a team what struck you about Christie her energy and her style so far yeah I love Christy's energy like it's it just you know affects every single person around her like more than anything she wants to win and she wants us to be really great she wants us to be you know great people that's going to help us you know have really great culture and um yeah I think you know her positive attitude about everything she does I think she just instills values in us that are you know obviously going to make us really successful on the basketball court but also make us really successful people in life and that's something that I'm really grateful for youever to coach that mobile oh gosh she gets down there like she's down in a stance I'm like geez you want to play defense for me right now um she's ready to go ER sort of talked about U being a big sister to you you advice how how has that been yeah she's awesome I think she's somebody that she simply just like wants the best for people no matter what um and like people can say that but like she really lives it every single day and you can like tell that and you know she's going to push me she's going to you know hold me accountable she's going to find ways to help me learn but at the same time like she's going to have my back every single day and you know that's something I'm very grateful for coming into this league like having a vet that really wants the best for you is is special and um something that I won't take for granted and you know I couldn't think of coming into a better situation and having somebody like her to to learn from is um you know I'm just you know really thankful more than anything is there one piece of advice that she's given you so far that um I think more than anything she just like encourages me to be myself like don't come in here and you know not be me like that's the reason the fever took me at number one is like they saw you know everything that I can do so continue to do that and but also she knows like give yourself some Grace um I think those two things are the two biggest things that she's told me and is will help me um with as we move forward here too you were at the Pacers game the other day and the Ovation the fever got you got re the engine everything do you feel the excitement as a player just coming here at this city just feels like a lot of excitement about the sport for sure I think uh totally I think you know this state loves basball obviously they love the Pacers and the Pacers getting back to hosting the playoffs for the first time in you know five years I think is absolutely incredible and then just the energy surrounding our team in the summer obviously 36 games on 36 of our 40 games on National Television that's pretty incredible and um you know there is you know kind of a Target on our back but at the same time that's something you Embrace and you love you wouldn't want it any other way and um but yeah I think you can definitely feel the buzz and the excitement from you know the fans the city you know people just walking around you know town like the way jerseys have sold the way tickets have sold but even you know all cities across you know the country all the 12 uh WNBA cities whether you know we're playing there their teams are playing there you can just tell the excitement of the league is at an all-time high and I think that's really good and obviously expansions come I mean that will definitely help too and um yeah we're just lucky to be a part of it and continue to help grow it he compared Indiana to Hollywood when we talk excitement has kind of followed you for a little while Indiana particular I'll agree with UB there I guess I don't know I mean um I think you know more than anything the excitement part of it like people are excited about coming to our games and watching like even I expect to on when we play our second preseason game at home like I'm sure there's going to be a great crowd and you know that's a game that really doesn't count but I think that'll just show the excitement regarding our team and you saw that during the draft party too like there's like more than 7,000 people here or whatever the number was like just to watch on a screen they could have watched at home but like they want to celebrate and enjoy these moments because they're really special and they're really special for this league and this organization so um I think it just shows like you know where things are going to go like this is only the beginning we haven't even played a game yet um and our schedule is really hard um but every single team in this league is really good and that's what makes it so fun and I think there's going to be a lot of new fans coming into the WNBA there's already a lot of fans here and just continuing to grow that and attract that and keep those fans um will be super important couple of days in practice what's your take on this roster when you look at it from above you have a lot of great players yeah a lot of really good talent I think more than anything everybody just plays so hard like nobody takes a possession off um and that's even like what coach Christy said after after practice today is like everything seems to be like a whole level up from last year already and obviously I don't know that I wasn't here last year but I can feel it just by the way everybody competes every single possession and for me like we got to play a lot live today that's like the best part of basketball so I had a lot of fun doing that but um I think everybody's just you know raising the bar they know we're going to have to be really good in a lot of areas and you know it's only day two and you can feel the excitement and energy from everybody but it's going to be able to withstand that you know it's easy to be excited on day one and day two but being able to you know be excited the entire year when things get hard or things get tough or you lose a game or two I think that's going to be the real challenge I know it's only day two and we're talking about practice but how are you finding the level of play compared to Iowa yeah I think it's it's obviously a level above you know what the college game was um I think the biggest thing is like my IQ and being able to pass the ball that's always something I can be able to do um at times you know it's not as easy to get shots off maybe as easy at as it was in college but still you know a able to get some shots we you there's a lot more screening action than there was in college the shot clock's a little lower or shorter than it was in college but that's really probably was never a problem for me in college and our team because of how fast we played um but you know I think the talent across the board there's not somebody you'd go on the court and you're like oh like I can sag off of them that's not the case in the WNBA there it's the most competitive league in the world there's only there's less than 144 spots so um you know you can't take a play off you can't rest on a player um but I think you know continuing to be myself there's obviously going to be learning curves I'm 22 years old and never played a game in this league but um I have so much of talent around me like the passing part of it like I can always get my teammates open and set them up for success and I think I've been able to find that with through the first two days of you know that's always something I can rely on you been keeping teammates off guard a little bit as they learn crap I really have to pay attention Falls in your hands yeah maybe a little bit um I there's been a couple passes I've thrown where they're not even looking but they'll like look at the last second um and I think that's just like a point guard thing like the best way to learn is just try it and if you make a mistake you continue to go back to it and that was the same case in college is you know you'll find that chemistry as you continue to play with each other more obviously you don't have much time and the pros to like learn and you know have as much practice with one another but you know the skill level and talent you don't need as much time because everybody's really good so and ab has really great hands list has really great hands like both those two are four and five player like they're really solid really athletic um so I don't really they're they're ready to go they want to score they're looking for the ball with limited spots in the W versatility is something that gets talked about a lot as opposed to the college game have you noticed the versatility as you know lineups change in practice and you get different looks with different teammates for sure yeah I think that's you know whether you're playing a little small or whether you're playing bigger and I think also like every team like maybe they have a four that rolls to the basket more maybe they have a four that pops to the basket more like it's going to vary on Scouting Report to scouting report but yeah I think there's a lot of different lineups you can look to and go to and in college it was really always like that you kind of knew what what teams were going to do you knew what we were going to do um so I think that's going to be another mental aspect of like you got to prepare a little more for things like that and um but that's what makes the game so fun that's what's makes people want to watch um you know people are able to do a lot of things whether they're post players shooting threes whether it's you know guards driving to the basket you know having that versatility is going to help our team go a long way

Channel: Indiana Fever

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Length: 25min 22sec (1522 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 29 2024