INDIANAPOLIS (WRTV) -- The Indiana Fever (11-8) have a full week of rest before hitting the road to face the reigning WNBA champions, the Las Vegas Aces.
As the Fever navigate their longest break between games so far this season, guard Lexie Hull said the downtime will let her team take a deep breath and focus on key areas of improvement.
One of those areas is Indiana’s defense. Through the first 19 games, the Fever have allowed opponents to score 100 or more points seven times and are giving up 90 points per game, the fourth-worst mark in the league.
On Wednesday, Hull noted that the extended break gives the Fever valuable time to address those issues and sharpen what needs the most work.
“I don’t remember the last time we had a practice to work on ourselves,” Hull said. “It’s always been getting prepared for the team that we’re playing, scouting, doing all that. But now we get a chance to work on the things that I think we’ve been lacking. We spent a lot of time yesterday on defense. We’re spending a lot of time on specific actions that we know we can improve.”
The Fever’s most recent game was on June 27, when they took down the Los Angeles Sparks at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, 111-87. Indiana doesn’t suit up again until July 5, when the Fever visit the Aces.
With so much time off, Hull said the gap has also allowed the team to participate in bonding activities, even checking out some virtual reality games.
“Off the court, we got to do team bonding after practice yesterday,” Hull said. “Those are things you don’t have time for during the normal season, so to have a few days here has been awesome. We went to a virtual reality thing, some of us played Squid Games, some of us shot zombies. It was fun; it was a good time.”
More importantly, Hull said the time away from the hardwood has allowed her and her teammates to take a mental reset.
“It’s huge," Hull said. "It’s an opportunity to take a breath, take a breather. There’s a lot of stress and anxiety around playing the game that we love. That’s part of this, and for us it’s just a chance to do things outside of basketball, not worry about our performance on the court. Just have fun and have a chance to fall in love with the game again.”
At 11-8, the Fever hold the third-best record in the Eastern Conference and the seventh-best record across the league.
