Indiana Fever
| Indiana Fever | |
 |
|
| Conference | Eastern Conference |
| Founded | 2000 |
| Arena | Conseco Fieldhouse |
| City | Indianapolis, Indiana |
| Team Colors | Blue, Red, Gold |
| Owner | Herbert and Melvin Simon [1] |
| General Manager | Kelly Krauskopf |
| Head Coach | Brian Winters |
| WNBA Championships | None |
| Conference Titles | None |
| Mascot | Freddy Fever [2] |
The Indiana Fever is a professional women's basketball team that plays in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The Fever are based in Indiana's capital and largest city, Indianapolis. Their first season of play in the league was in 2000. The team is the sister team of the NBA's Indiana Pacers. Both Fever and Pacer games are currently broadcasted on FSN Indiana.
Franchise History
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The Indiana Fever came into existence in 2000, when the state was granted an expansion franchise to coincide with the opening of Conseco Fieldhouse. In their first two seasons, they were coached by women's basketball legends Anne Donovan and Nell Fortner. Led by center Kara Wolters, their inaugural campaign was a losing one, as the Fever posted a typical expansion record of 9-23.
The Fever drafted University of Tennessee star Tamika Catchings in the 2001 WNBA Draft. The Fever went into the year with high expectations of a playoff berth, but Catchings tore her ACL during a college game and missed the entire WNBA season. The Fever posted a 10-22 record in 2001.
After missing the entire 2001 season, the 2002 season proved to be the breakout season for Tamika Catchings and the Fever. Catchings came out strong and became one of the most versatile players in the WNBA, easily winning Rookie of the Year honors as well as making the WNBA All-Star team. Her team competed well all year and would post a respectable 16-16 record, tying for the final playoff spot with the Orlando Miracle. Indiana would win the tiebreaker and earn their first playoff appearance in franchise history. They drew the #1 seed in the playoffs, the Liberty; it was a competitive series but the Fever lost 2 games to 1.
The 2002-2003 offseason brought a lot of change for the Fever. The team added Olympian Natalie Williams and Charlotte Sting star Kelly Miller before the 2003 season. The pre-season expectations were very high for the upstart Fever. The team stumbled out of the gate, leading to the resignation of the original coach and GM Nell Fortner. Kelly Krauskopf would replace Fortner as GM and immediately hire Brian Winters to be the head coach. On May 29, 2003 the Fever registered their first sellout of 18,435 and defeated the Washington Mystics on national television. The team would do better under the new coaching, but missed the playoffs, posting a 16-18 record.
The 2004 campaign was very similar to 2003's. The team played average basketball, posting a 15-19 record. But the Fever only missed the playoffs by one game in a weak Eastern Conference.
The Fever would finally live up to expectations in the 2005 season, posting a 21-13 record, and easily making the playoffs. In the first round, the Fever would sweep the New York Liberty 2 games to none, earning their first playoff series victory in franchise history. In the Eastern Conference Finals, the Fever would face the heavily favored Connecticut Sun. Game 1 was close throughout but Katie Douglas would hit a crucial three to save the game for the Sun. Game 2 was also very close, going into overtime, although Fever just didn't have enough in the end and thus were swept 2-0.
In the 2005-2006 offseason, the Fever would acquire All-Star Anna DeForge from the Phoenix Mercury in exchange for Kelly Miller. Later that offseason the Fever made another All-Star addition by signing free agent Tamika Whitmore from the Los Angeles Sparks. In the 2006 WNBA Draft they selected athletic swing-forward La'Tangela Atkinson from the North Carolina Tar Heels along with Kasha Terry from the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.
The Fever had a very stong start to the 2006 season, starting off at 4-0. Teammates Tamika Catchings and Tully Bevilaqua led the league in steals 1 and 2 respectively, the first time teammates led the league in 1 statistical category. The Fever posted a 21-13 record, making the playoffs for the second year in a row. In the first round, the Fever would face arch rival Detroit. The Shock came out hot in Game 1 and won the game going away. Game 2 in Detroit was a see-saw battle with both teams hitting big shots. Tamika Whitmore scored a WNBA Playoff record 41 points in Game 2 but she had little help from her teammates and the Fever were swept 2-0.
Going into the 2006-2007 off-season, the Fever were unhappy with their shortfall in the 2006 postseason and set out to improve their much maligned post play. In the Dispersal Draft, the Fever would add veteran forward Sheri Sam from the Charlotte Sting. Kelly Krauskoft and the front office then set their eyes on key Free Agent Center Tammy Sutton-Brown, signing her on March 22, 2007. The Fever would also select 6-7 center Alison Bales from Duke University in the 2007 WNBA Draft to go along with Sutton-Brown.
Going into the 2007 season, the Fever had their eyes set on the WNBA Finals. They started out very hot, winning 16 out of their first 20 games. Then on July 20th tragedy struck. In a key game against the Detroit Shock Tamika Catchings suffered a partial tear of her plantar fascia, forcing her to miss the rest of the regular season. The Fever would finish 5-9 without Catchings. They managed to hold onto the #2 seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs, beating out the Connecticut Sun. They would play the same Sun team in first round of the playoffs. Game 1 in Connecticut was an epic battle, going three overtimes with the Sun hanging on to win Game 1, 93-88. The Fever would win Game 2 at home by double digits forcing a decisive Game 3. In game 3, the Fever would find themselves down by 22 points late halfway through the 3rd quarter. It seemed the Fever would lose in the first round again but somehow managed to fight back and win Game 3 in overtime by the same score as Game 1 93-88. The 22-point comeback was the largest comeback in WNBA Playoff history. In the Eastern Conference Finals, the Fever would play their other hated rival, the Detroit Shock. The Fever would grab an early lead in the series, winning Game 1 at Conseco Fieldhouse. With the team just 1 game away from the WNBA Finals the Fever traveled to Detroit. In Game 2, the game would be close until the 2nd quarter, when the Shock would blow the game wide open with a 14-0 run, and would easily win the game. With a spot in the Finals up for grabs in Game 3, the Fever would start off the game with an early 17-3 lead. Then misfortune struck yet again for Catchings and the Fever. Late in the 2nd quarter she fell to the court in pain and had to leave the game, later revealed she completely tore her Achilles tendon. Her teammates battled valiantly but were no match for the defending champions and lost Game 3, 85-61. The Fever's season ended in disappointment yet again.
Media Coverage
FSN Indiana provides television coverage for Fever games that are not on ESPN or ABC. Chris Denari and Debbie Antonelli are the play by play announcers for Fever games on both FSN Indiana and WIBC, however when Denari and Antonelli are doing TV coverage WIBC will have other radio broadcasters from WIBC fill in. WIBC covers every single Fever game even if it is televised. WIBC is a local radio station that covers Sports, News, Weather, and Talk for the Indianapolis Metro Area. For the most part only home games for the Fever are televised but during the 2007 season a road game at Phoenix was televised in Indianapolis, the 1st road game to be broadcasted on local TV.
Rivalries
Detroit Shock: The Fever and Shock have always played tough defensive battles whenever they meet. The rivalry really heated up when Shock center Ruth Riley broke Fever star Tamika Catchings nose with a swinging elbow, knocking Catchings out for 2 games and requiring her to wear a mask for the rest of the season. The Fever and Shock have matched-up in the last 2 postseason's (2006 & 2007) only intensifing their rivalry. The series between these two Eastern Conference power houses has always been close and very physical.
Connecticut Sun: The Fever have struggled with the Sun throughout the years including a 2-0 Eastern Conference Finals sweep in 2005. During the 2007 WNBA Regular Season the Fever lost all 4 matchups with Connecticut although 2 were played superstar Tamika Catchings due to injury. Katie Douglas has played very well against the Fever even scoring a career high 30 points on June 22, 2007 at Conseco Fieldhouse. Tamika Catchings and Douglas have often gone after one another when the team matchup. Katie Douglas was born in Indianapolis and played college basketball for the Purdue Boilermakers making this rivalry important to the Fever fans. This rivalry is sure to intensify in 2008 after the Fever knocked the Sun out of the playoffs 2-1 in 2007. The 3 game series is one of the most intense and closely contested series in WNBA Playoff history, including a 22 point comeback in game 3.
Season-by-Season Records
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, % = Win-Loss %
| Season | W | L | % | Playoffs | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indiana Fever | |||||
| 2000 | 9 | 23 | .281 | ||
| 2001 | 10 | 22 | .313 | ||
| 2002 | 16 | 16 | .500 | Lost First Round | New York 2, Indiana 1 |
| 2003 | 16 | 18 | .471 | ||
| 2004 | 15 | 19 | .441 | ||
| 2005 | 21 | 13 | .618 | Won First Round Lost Conference Finals |
Indiana 2, New York 0 Connecticut 2, Indiana 0 |
| 2006 | 21 | 13 | .618 | Lost First Round | Detroit 2, Indiana 0 |
| 2007 | 21 | 13 | .618 | Won First Round Lost Conference Finals |
Indiana 2, Connecticut 1 Detroit 2, Indiana 1 |
| Totals | 129 | 137 | .485 | ||
| Playoffs | 6 | 9 | .400 | ||
Stats updated: September 3, 2007
Uniforms
The home jerseys are white with red, dark blue and yellow on the sides. On the front, Fever is written across. The road jersey are dark blue with red and yellow on the sides. Indiana in red letters trimmed with white on the chest.
2007-Present
These new home jerseys are white with blue and yellow strips/trim from the neck down the side. Fever is written in red across the front and on the back the player name is written in all dark blue under the number also in red trimmed in dark blue. The new road jerseys are dark blue with yellow and white trim/strips. Indiana is written on the front in red with white trim and on the back the number is in red with white trim with the player's name underneath in all white. Each jersey has the Fever's alternate logo at the top on the back.
http://aol.wnba.com/fever/news/070501_newuniforms.html (Shows current uni's and link to view photos).
Team and Coaches
Current Roster
Starting Line-Up
Coaches and Staff
Current
- Brian Winters, Head Coach (2004-Present)
- Lin Dunn, Assistant Coach (2003-Present)
- Julie Plank, Assistant Coach (2000-Present)
- Holly Heitzman, Athletic Trainer (2000-Present)
Past
- Nell Fortner (2001-2003), now coaches the women's team at Auburn University
- Anne Donovan (2000) (Hall of Famer), now coaches the Seattle Storm of the WNBA.
Not To Be Forgotten
- La'Tangela Atkinson, currently playing for the Sacramento Monarchs
- Coretta Brown, now an administrative assistant for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets women's basketball team
- Linda Frohlich, currently playing for the Sacramento Monarchs
- Gordana Grubin, retired 2004
- Sonja Henning, retired 2004
- Niele Ivey, currently an assistant coach at Notre Dame
- Deanna Jackson
- Nadine Malcolm, retired 2002
- Monica Maxwell, currently an assistant coach at Cal State Northridge
- Nikki McCray, retired 2006
- Danielle McCulley, retired 2002
- Kelly Miller, currently playing for the Phoenix Mercury
- Bridget Pettis, retired 2006, currently an assistant coach for the Phoenix Mercury
- Kristen Rasmussen, currently playing for the Connecticut Sun
- Kelly Schumacher, currently playing for the Phoenix Mercury
- Olympia Scott, currently playing for the Phoenix Mercury
- Charlotte Smith, retired 2006
- Jurgita Streimikyte, playing overseas
- Alicia Thompson, retired 2005
- Chantel Tremitiere, retired 2001
- Coquese Washington, currently head coach for Penn State Nittany Lions women's basketball team
- Stephanie White, retired 2004, currently an assistant coach for the Chicago Sky and at the University of Toledo
- Natalie Williams. retired 2005
- Rita Williams
- Kara Wolters, retired 2004
Retired Numbers
- #22 Stephanie White
- #52 Kara Wolters
External links
| Eastern Conference | Western Conference |
|---|---|
| Chicago Sky | Connecticut Sun | Detroit Shock | Indiana Fever | New York Liberty | Washington Mystics | Houston Comets | Los Angeles Sparks | Minnesota Lynx | Phoenix Mercury | Sacramento Monarchs | San Antonio Silver Stars | Seattle Storm |
| Defunct teams: Charlotte Sting | Cleveland Rockers | Miami Sol | Portland Fire | |
| Media: WNBA on ESPN | List of WNBA Finals broadcasters | |
| Other Women's Leagues: National Women's Basketball League | Women's National Basketball League (Australia) | |
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