Indiana Fever rookies taking their knocks (plenty of them) in hopes of a future payoff
The Indiana Fever’s lineup reflected a team looking toward the future. The ship sailed long ago on the Fever being competitive this year.
As their season crawls to a close amid a 17-game losing streak, interim coach Carlos Knox’s focus has shifted from wins and losses to maximizing the development of his young core. Four rookies — NaLyssa Smith, Queen Egbo, Destanni Henderson and Lexie Hull — were slated to start the season’s penultimate game against the Mystics.
An axle started to wobble on the youth movement before the game started. Veteran forward Emma Cannon took the floor instead of Egbo, who had injured a knee during warmups.
Minutes into the game, the wheels fell off. In the first five minutes alone, Hull clanged a 3-pointer and tried to force a drive to the rim that went nowhere. A Henderson midrange jumper glanced off the side of the rim. Closer to the end of the first quarter, Smith missed badly on a jumper and picked up a technical two minutes later in the 82-70 loss. For the Fever, it was another learning experience in a season that has been heavy on them and light on victories.
It was only days ago that Henderson was knocking down baskets in the final minute to send a game against Dallas into overtime, and Hull was setting career scoring highs in consecutive games. Friday, the duo combined for six points on 2-of-14 shooting. Smith missed nine of her 14 attempts from the field, all reminders that growth in young players isn’t tidy and linear.
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"They have to understand the game from an intensity standpoint," Knox said. "When you have good games in this league, your next game is gonna be tough defensively. People are gonna gameplan for you. They're gonna push up on you. They're gonna make sure that you are not the one that comes out and beats them. That's a part of experience. You gotta learn how to turn your game up and be at that level when that actually happens."
The most productive Fever rookie was Emily Engstler, who set a career high with 18 points and added five rebounds. Fittingly for a game in which the final score was close to an afterthought, Knox experimented with different lineups and had Engstler, usually in the post, play small forward.
The Louisville product responded by contributing from the perimeter. She knocked down both of her attempts from 3-point range and attacked the basket, leading to a lone assist but collapsing Washington's defense in a way few were able to throughout the night.
"That's something I try to remind myself every day and we talk about as rookies: the fact that we get to play really will make a difference for us these next couple years," Engstler said. "We just got a head start, and I think that no matter where we end up, whether it's here or somewhere else, that will really allow us to have great careers, so I'm excited to go into next year with more comfortableness."
That's been the theme of the Fever's season: small victories, experience, hope and Knox and the players trying to find positives in what has turned into one of the worst years in WNBA history. Indiana (5-30) has one more game of sporting seven rookies. In a year, it will be heavy on second-year players, and the journey will continue in the franchise's ambitious rebuild.
"It is the best thing that could have happened to us is our seven rookies are getting experience on the floor, and once that happens, now they can go back," Knox said. "After this season, they understand the physicality. They understand exactly how the WNBA operates. And now I can go home. I can go overseas. I can go to my personal trainer and I can get things done at a level to where it makes sense and it's conducive to when we come back here. Now I can really implement it."
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: WNBA: Fever fall to Washington Mystics as season comes to a close
