Playoff experience

The Fever looked ready for their first playoff game since 2016. As they looked back to their remarkable surge after the Olympic break, they found themselves armed with the confidence of players with nothing to lose. And so they vowed to stay loose and have fun in their postseason inaugural against the favored Sun. It likewise helped that their chemistry was at a high, with the Big Three of Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell, and Aaliyah Boston as certain of their roles as others in the regular rotation.

If there was anything the Fever lacked heading into Game One of their first-round set-to, however, it was experience. and the fact that the Sun had a surfeit of it ultimately told on their capacity — or, to be precise, evident inability thereof — to be at their best. The vaunted pace that catapulted them to the top of the WNBA in offensive rating was nowhere to be found; instead, they elephant-walked their way to mediocre halfcourt sets, as if the esprit de corps that hitherto enabled them to punch above their weight was nothing but a mirage.

Considering how badly the Fever played, the end of the contest could not come sooner. The final score, a 93-69 shellacking in favor of the Sun, was utterly reflective of their lack of competitiveness. They didn’t just lose every quarter, and the fourth by leaps and bounds. They failed at producing points with precision, failed at preventing stabs at the basket with a modicum of consistency, failed at just about every item necessary for success — especially against highly touted competition.

That said, the Fever are, if nothing else, resilient and proud. It’s how they were able to claw back to .500 ball after an atrocious 1-8 start to their 2024 campaign. And, given their responses in the post-match presser, it’s how they believe they can still win the series. Whether they can truly translate belief into action remains to be seen. In any case, they deserve props for staying undaunted by the task at hand, and for recognizing that the journey of vindication needs to be embarked a step at a time.

Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and human resources management, corporate communications, and business development.