Indiana Fever
| Indiana Fever | ||
|---|---|---|
|
||
| founding | 1999 | |
| history |
Indiana Fever since 2000 |
|
| Stadion | Hinkle Fieldhouse | |
| Location | Indianapolis , Indiana | |
| Club colors | blue, red, gold-colored | |
| league | WNBA | |
| Conference | Eastern Conference | |
| Head coach | Marianne Stanley | |
| General manager | Tamika catchings | |
| owner |
Herbert Simon Melvin Simon |
|
| Championships | 2012 | |
| Conference title | 2009 , 2012 | |
|
|
||
The Indiana Fever is an American women's basketball team of the Women's National Basketball Association based in Indianapolis , Indiana . The Fever are the sister team of the Indiana Pacers in the NBA .
history
Foundation and start in the WNBA (2000 to 2003)
On June 7, 1999, the WNBA announced that a new franchise was being set up in Indianapolis , which will play in the WNBA as early as the 2000 season . On August 17, 1999, the Fever appointed Nell Fortner as the first female head coach and general manager in their franchise history. Fortner announced, however, that she will coach the US basketball team in 2000, so on October 20, 1999, Anne Donovan was named temporary head coach for Fever for the 2000 season. On December 15, 1999, an expansion draft took place for the Fever, Storm , Fire and Sol , where each team could select 6 players from the 12 WNBA teams according to a previously drawn order. On December 17, 1999, the franchise announced that they would call their team the Fever. The team logo was also presented. In the WNBA Draft 2000 , which took place on April 25, 2000, the Fever decided on Jurgita Streimikyte (total of 26th pick), Usha Gilmore (total of 42nd pick), Latina Davis (total of 50th pick) and Renee Robinson (total of 58th pick) . Pick). Shortly after the draft, the Fever Davis and Robinson transferred to the Houston Comets for Latavia Coleman . On May 28, 2000, the Fever announced their roster for their first season in the WNBA. The Fever played their first WNBA season game on June 1 against the Miami Sol that the Fever could win with 57-54. The Fever ended their first WNBA season with 9 wins and 23 losses, which meant the seventh and penultimate place in the Eastern Conference.
From the 2001 season Fortner took over the post as head coach of the Fever. In the WNBA Draft 2001 , the Fever decided in the first round for Tamika Catchings , which, however, could not take part in this season due to an injury. After the Fever were able to win 16 of 32 games in the regular season in their second season, the Fever made it into the playoffs with Catching's support in the 2002 season . However, the Fever already failed in the Conference Semifinals at the New York Liberty . Catchings was named Rookie of the Year after the end of this season . After Fortner narrowly missed the playoffs in the 2003 season, she resigned as head coach and general manager of Fever.
Back in the playoffs (2004 to 2007)
After Fortner resigned, Kelly Krauskopf took over her post as general manager and Brian Winters as head coach. In the 2004 season, the Fever clearly missed entry into the playoffs. But already in the 2005 season , the Fever won 21 of 34 games under Winters. This was the second time in their history that the Fevers qualified for the playoffs, where they won 2-0 against Liberty in the conference semifinals. However, they failed in the Eastern Conference finals clear to the Connecticut Sun . Before the start of the 2006 season, the Fever All-Star brought Anna DeForge from the Phoenix Mercury to Indiana. Shortly thereafter, All-Star Tamika Whitmore signed with the Fever. With this reinforcement, the Fever started the 2006 season accordingly. In the end, the Fever won 21 of 34 games, as in the previous season. In the playoffs, the Fever failed in the conference semifinals due to the Detroit Shock . As in the previous season, Catchings received the WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Award . Furthermore, Catchings was elected to the WNBA All-Decade Team . In the 2007 season , the Fever won 16 of their first 20 games. This secured them first place in the Eastern Conference for the time being. However, Catchings injured his foot on July 20 and missed the rest of the regular season games. The Fever lost 9 of the remaining 14 games without catchings. As a result, the Fever ended the regular season in the Eastern Conference only in 2nd place. In the playoffs they won the Conference Semifinals just against the Connecticut Sun 2-1, with each game being decided in overtime. However, as in the previous season, the Fever failed due to the Detroit Shock, this time in the Eastern Conference Finals with 1: 2.
Renewed restructuring (2008 to 2016)
On October 26, 2007, the Fever announced that they would not renew Brian Winters' contract. On December 12, 2007, Lin Dunn took over from Winters. On February 19, 2008 there was one of the largest transfers in the history of the WNBA. The Fever transferred Tamika Whitmore and her first round pick in the 2008 WNBA Draft to the Connecticut Sun for Katie Douglas . In the 2008 season , the Fever again reached the playoffs, but where they failed for the third time in a row due to the Detroit Shock. After this disappointing season, the owners of the Indiana Pacers announced that the Fever was not doing well financially. A dissolution could only prevent a sportily and financially successful 2009 season . The sporting successes came in 2009. The Fever were able to achieve the best record in the Eastern Conference for the first time and only failed after successful playoffs in the WNBA finals at the Phoenix Mercury with 1: 3 wins. In 2010, after a few seasons, the average attendance rose above the league average for the first time. The season ended in the first playoff round despite a 21-13 record. In the 2011 season the best record of the Eastern Conference was achieved for the second time, but the postseason ends prematurely after a loss in the Conference Finals against the Atlanta Dream . In 2012 , the team achieved only the second best record in the east, but was more successful in the playoffs and were able to bring the WNBA title to Indianapolis for the first time with a 3-1 win against the Minnesota Lynx . In 2013 and 2014, despite negative results, the playoffs were reached in the regular season and the first round was successfully survived there. 2015 WNBA finals could be reached again. They defeated on the way there in both playoff rounds teams that had home advantage due to the balance sheets achieved in the decisive game. This time the team had to admit defeat to the Minnesota Lynx in five games in the finals. In 2016 , the team reached the playoffs again despite a balanced record. There, despite the home advantage, the team failed as the fifth-best of the WNBA in the new playoff system in the first round against the Phoenix Mercury team, which had a weaker record in the regular season.
The time after Tamika Catchings (since 2017)
After the long-standing support of the team Tamika Catchings ended her career after the 2016 season, the Fever 2017 team played the worst season in franchise history to date and won only 9 games. This also ended the series of 12 playoff appearances in a row, which is the longest in league history. In 2018 the team played an even weaker season and only managed to win 6 of their 34 games. This is one of the worst records for an existing team. In the 2019 season , the Fever played a little more successfully again. As the ninth-best team, they narrowly missed the playoffs with 13 wins.
Venue
|
|
The Indiana Fever have played their home games at Bankers Life Fieldhouse since their inception . The hall is named after an insurance company and was called Conseco Fieldhouse until the end of 2011. The hall is also currently home to the Indiana Pacers NBA team . The Indiana Firebirds Arena Football League team played there until 2004 . Due to an extensive renovation of the bankers Life Fieldhouse, Fever will play its games from the 2020 to 2022 season in the Hinkle Fieldhouse with 9,200 seats.
Audience numbers
The team started with a very good audience response, which slowly adapted to the WNBA cut in the following seasons. After a few seasons with weaker attendance figures, thanks to the team's increasing sporting success, the average attendance in the last few seasons was once again higher than the league average. In 2016, after a significant increase, the third-best audience attendance in the team's history was achieved. With the upheaval before the 2017 season, the popularity fell back below the WNBA average and continued to decline in the weak sporting seasons of 2018 and 2019.
Achievements and honors
Sporting successes
The franchise got off to a weak start and could only reach the playoffs once in the first five seasons. From 2005 to 2016 , the Fever always reached the playoffs and thus achieved the longest series in the history of the WNBA with 12 playoff participations in a row (as of the 2018 season). During this period, the WNBA finals were reached three times and the WNBA title was won in 2012 . In 2009 and 2011 , the team achieved the best results in the Eastern Conference in the regular season.
Individual awards
The players of the team were able to win many individual awards, also due to the consistently good team performance. Particularly noteworthy here is Tamika Catchings , who alone was able to win eleven of the annual awards.
Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award : The team has now been named the fairest player in the league four times. Tamika Catchings is the first to receive this award three times.
- 2007 - Tully Bevilaqua
- 2010 - Tamika Catchings
- 2013 - Tamika Catchings
- 2016 - Tamika Catchings
Most Valuable Player Award : With Tamika Catchings , a member of the team was also able to win the most coveted award for best female player in the WNBA.
Finals MVP Award : After the team won the WNBA championship in 2012, the final MVP award went to a member of the team as usual.
Most Improved Player Award : Two Fever players have won the award for the most improved player so far.
Rookie of the Year Award : After the young Tamika Catchings had to sit out the entire 2001 season due to an injury, she played an impressive season in 2002, making her the best newcomer of the season.
Defensive Player of the Year Award : Tamika Catchings received the award for the best female defensive player of the regular seasonfive times, making it the record winner of this award. None of the other WNBA awards have been given to a player that often.
- 2005 - Tamika Catchings
- 2006 - Tamika Catchings
- 2009 - Tamika Catchings
- 2010 - Tamika Catchings
- 2012 - Tamika Catchings
WNBA All-Decade Team : On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the WNBA in 2006, fans, media representatives, current players and coaches chose the ten players who had the greatest influence on the success of the WNBA. With Tamika Catchings a player was also selected by the Fever.
Season overview
Abbreviations: Sp. = Games, S = victories, N = defeats
| season | Sp. | S. | N | Wins in% | space | Play-offs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 32 | 9 | 23 | 28.1 | 7th, Eastern Conference | not qualified |
| 2001 | 32 | 10 | 22nd | 31.3 | 6th, Eastern Conference | not qualified |
| 2002 | 32 | 16 | 16 | 50.0 | 4th, Eastern Conference | Conference semifinals lost, 2-1 ( New York Liberty ) |
| 2003 | 34 | 16 | 18th | 47.1 | 5th, Eastern Conference | not qualified |
| 2004 | 34 | 15th | 19th | 44.1 | 6th, Eastern Conference | not qualified |
| 2005 | 34 | 21st | 13 | 61.8 | 2nd, Eastern Conference | Victory in the Conference Semifinals, 2-0 ( New York Liberty ) Defeat in the Conference Finals, 0-2 ( Connecticut Sun ) |
| 2006 | 34 | 21st | 13 | 61.8 | 3rd, Eastern Conference | Conference semifinals lost, 2-0 ( Detroit Shock ) |
| 2007 | 34 | 21st | 13 | 61.8 | 2nd, Eastern Conference | Victory in the Conference Semifinals, 2-1 ( Connecticut Sun ), Loss in the Conference Finals, 1: 2 ( Detroit Shock ) |
| 2008 | 34 | 17th | 17th | 50.0 | 4th, Eastern Conference | Conference semifinals lost, 2-1 ( Detroit Shock ) |
| 2009 | 34 | 22nd | 12 | 64.7 | 1st, Eastern Conference | Victory in the Conference Semifinals, 2-0 ( Washington Mystics ) victory in the Conference Finals, 2-1 ( Detroit Shock ) defeat in the WNBA Finals, 2: 3 ( Phoenix Mercury ) |
| 2010 | 34 | 21st | 13 | 61.8 | 3rd, Eastern Conference | Conference semifinals lost, 2-1 ( New York Liberty ) |
| 2011 | 34 | 21st | 13 | 61.8 | 1st, Eastern Conference | Victory in the Conference Semifinals, 2-1 ( New York Liberty ) Defeat in the Conference Finals, 1: 2 ( Atlanta Dream ) |
| 2012 | 34 | 22nd | 12 | 64.7 | 2nd, Eastern Conference | Conference Semifinals win, 2-1 ( Atlanta Dream ) Conference Finals win, 2-1 ( Connecticut Sun ) WNBA champions , 3-1 ( Minnesota Lynx ) |
| 2013 | 34 | 16 | 18th | 47.1 | 4th, Eastern Conference | Victory in the Conference Semifinals, 2-0 ( Chicago Sky ) Defeat in the Conference Finals, 0-2 ( Atlanta Dream ) |
| 2014 | 34 | 16 | 18th | 47.1 | 2nd, Eastern Conference | Victory in the Conference Semifinals, 2-0 ( Washington Mystics ) Defeat in the Conference Finals, 1: 2 ( Chicago Sky ) |
| 2015 | 34 | 20th | 14th | 58.8 | 3rd, Eastern Conference | Victory in the Conference Semifinals, 2-1 ( Chicago Sky ) victory in the Conference Finals, 2-1 ( New York Liberty ) defeat in the WNBA Finals, 2-3 ( Minnesota Lynx ) |
| 2016 | 34 | 17th | 17th | 50.0 | 3rd, Eastern Conference | 1st round loss, 0-1 ( Phoenix Mercury ) |
| 2017 | 34 | 9 | 25th | 26.5 | 6th, Eastern Conference | not qualified |
| 2018 | 34 | 6th | 28 | 17.6 | 6th, Eastern Conference | not qualified |
| 2019 | 34 | 13 | 21st | 38.2 | 4th, Eastern Conference | not qualified |
| total | 674 | 329 | 345 | 48.8 | 13 playoff appearances in 20 seasons 24 series: 12 wins, 12 losses 68 games: 35 wins, 33 losses (51.5%) |
Trainer
| Surname | season | Regular season | Playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GC | W. | L. | GC | W. | L. | ||
| Anne Donovan | 2000 | 32 | 9 | 23 | - | - | - |
| Nell Fortner | 2001 to 2003 | 98 | 42 | 56 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| Brian Winters | 2004 to 2007 | 136 | 78 | 58 | 12 | 5 | 7th |
| Lin Dunn | 2008 to 2014 | 238 | 135 | 103 | 41 | 23 | 18th |
| Stephanie White | 2014 to 2016 | 68 | 37 | 31 | 12 | 6th | 6th |
| Pokey Chatman | 2017 to 2019 | 102 | 28 | 74 | - | - | - |
| Marianne Stanley | from 2020 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
On August 17, 1999, the Fever appointed Nell Fortner as the franchise's first head coach and general manager. Since Fortner coached the US basketball team in 2000, Anne Donovan was appointed interim coach for the 2000 season. The Fever had a good first season in the WNBA under Donovan. In the 2001 season , Fortner took over the helm of the franchise. Since the Fever reached the playoffs only once under the leadership of Fortner, she resigned in 2003 as head coach and general manager. Thereupon Brian Winters appointed the first male head coach of the franchise. Brian led the Fever regularly into the playoffs, where they never got beyond the conference finals despite a high-quality squad. When the Fever did not reach the finals again in the 2007 season, his contract was no longer extended. On February 19, 2008, Lin Dunn was named the franchise's new head coach. Under the leadership of Dunn, the franchise moved into the WNBA Finals for the first time in 2009 , where the club failed 3-2 in games at the Phoenix Mercury .
Players
Squad of the 2020 season
As of August 4, 2020
| No. | country | Surname | position | Date of birth | Experience in WNBA |
college |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 |
|
Kelsey Mitchell | Guard | 11/12/1995 | 2 seasons | Ohio State University |
| 2 |
|
Kathleen Doyle | Guard | 06/11/1998 | Rookie | University of Iowa |
| 4th |
|
Candice Dupree | Forward | 08/16/1984 | 14 seasons | Temple University |
| 8th |
|
Kennedy Burke | Guard | 02/14/1997 | 1 season | University of California, Los Angeles |
| 11 |
|
Natalie Achonwa | Forward | 11/22/1992 | 5 seasons | University of Notre Dame |
| 13 |
|
Lauren Cox | Forward | 04/20/1998 | Rookie | Baylor University |
| 15th |
|
Teaira McCowan | center | 09/28/1996 | 1 season | Mississippi State University |
| 17th |
|
Erica Wheeler | Guard | 05/02/1991 | 5 seasons | Rutgers University |
| 20th |
|
Julie Allemand | Guard | 07/07/1996 | Rookie | - |
| 23 |
|
Stephanie Mavunga | Forward | 02/24/1995 | 2 seasons | Ohio State University |
| 25th |
|
Tiffany Mitchell | Guard | 09/23/1994 | 4 seasons | University of South Carolina |
| 35 |
|
Victoria Vivians | Guard | 11/17/1994 | 1 season | Mississippi State University |
WNBA championship team
(Participation in at least one playoff game)
|
WNBA champion 2012 |
Guards: Briann January , Erin Phillips , Jeanette Pohlen , Shavonte Zellous Guard Forwards: Karima Christmas , Katie Douglas Forwards: Tamika Catchings (Finals MVP) , Erlana Larkins Center: Jessica Davenport , Sasha Goodlett , Tammy Sutton-Brown Head Coach: Lin Dunn General Manager: Kelly Krauskopf |
First-round voting rights in the WNBA Draft
|
|
In the 18 seasons since 2000, the Fever team had 16 draft rights in the first round of the WNBA draft . The franchise had twelve draft picks in the first round. The franchise did not have a draft pick in the first round three times due to trades ( 2000 , 2008 , 2015 and 2017 ) and two players could even be selected ( 2001 and 2014 ). It is remarkable that the team was able to select the 9th team seven times out of 16 picks.
The earliest pick the Fever had to date was the second overall in 2005 and 2018 . In 2005, the Fever decided on Tan White , which increased over time, but never really made a breakthrough. After the 2008 season, White moved to the Connecticut Sun . In 2018, the Fever chose Kelsey Mitchell , who will stay with the team in 2020.
The long-time leader of the franchise Tamika Catching was selected third in the 2001 WNBA Draft . Catchings is also the first ever player to be selected by the team in the first round of the WNBA Draft . In addition, the American is currently the only player in Fever to win the Rookie of the Year Award in her first season .
In the 2017 season , Briann January , Natalie Achonwa and Tiffany Mitchell were three of the players selected by the Fever in the draft in the club's squad.
Web links
- Official website of the Fever (English)
- Official website of the WNBA (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Indiana Fever Draft History. WNBA, accessed April 3, 2017 .
- ^ All-Time WNBA Draft Picks. WNBA, accessed November 30, 2016 .