Kelly Krauskopf, the president of the Indiana Fever, recently addressed the media during her first news conference. Only a few weeks after joining the Fever, Krauskopf has already made an impression on the team’s supporters. Krauskopf was questioned about her thoughts on head coach Christie Sides during her media appearance. After joining the Fever in 2023, Sides had a great season and led Indiana to its first WNBA playoff appearance since 2016.
Krauskopf stated that she was impressed by what the Fever accomplished in 2024, suggesting that she was a fan of what Sides is creating in Indiana. Krauskopf remarked, “I mean, it’s hard not to be impressed,”
According to Krauskopf, building a team takes time, thus having a coach who can complete a long-term strategy is crucial. Although supporters disagree, she appears to think Sides is the solution. “It takes time,” noted Krauskopf. “It takes more than four months. A few years pass.
The improvements they achieved and Christie’s resilience as a leader truly impressed me. She is a culture builder, as you know. I just know that she is a wonderful person and an excellent leader, and she has the type of stamina to follow through on her plan. The manner in which they concluded impressed me. When Krauskopf credited Sides and her “plan” for the Fever, WNBA supporters expressed their displeasure with her remarks to the newspaper. “I truly believe this had very little, if anything, to do with sides.” stated a fan.
As one fan put it, “Fever won in spite of Sides not because of.” “If it was up to sides, they would have stuck to that timeline – only cc getting her teammates to buy into a faster pace actually led them to wins.” said another fan. “In spite of Christie Sides, they succeeded. One fan said, “It took her half the season to build relationships with her players and get them to trust and listen to Caitlin.”
“Sides had nothing to do with it, Sides was a major obstacle,” a supporter stated. “They could have advanced more had it not been for her get a good coach in there,” a different supporter stated. With a 20–20 record, Sides helped the Fever secure the sixth seed in the WNBA rankings. They recorded their first 20-win season since 2015 and advanced to the WNBA playoffs for the first time since 2016.
The Fever were responsible for rookie Caitlin Clark’s success, as many fans noted. Clark averaged 19.2 points, 8.4 assists, and 5.7 rebounds per game in her debut campaign with the Fever. In her debut season in the league, she was selected to the WNBA All-Star game and went on to win the WNBA Rookie of the Year title. Christie Sides, head coach of the Indiana Fever, and Caitlin Clark, a guard (22)
think Sides is impeding the team’s expansion. Although she undoubtedly contributed to a significant shift in her second season with the team, her failure to nurture Clark and poor lineup management incited online indignation from supporters. “She knew CC was coming and had zero game plan for it,” a fan commented. “Put her in the nook. To see what even casual viewers could see, she had to spend half the season. If they want to win, she must leave. We are eager for her to become a coach.
This group is now prepared. “No CC, KM and AB got them to the playoffs lol the only thing Sides did was stop the momentum the team would get in 90% of the games,” stated one additional fan. “Also the lack of her ability to draw up actual plays for her top players is concerning.” “Stop,” one fan said. “Stop, please. She cost them that playoff series as well as six games. No true basketball fan will dispute this.”
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