Indiana Fever Coach Comments on Caitlin Clark’s Technical Foul

Getty Caitlin Clark reacts to a call against the Los Angeles Sparks on May 28.

Indiana Fever head coach Christie Sides spoke with reporters after the team’s May 28 loss to the Los Angeles Sparks and shared her thoughts on Caitlin Clark‘s technical foul.

“We’re spending too much time talking to the officials,” Sides told reporters. “We’ve got to leave that alone. We’ve got to just play our game and let them do their job. … We shouldn’t get technicals. Let me get the technicals.”

Clark finished the game with 30 points, which is the most of her WNBA career to this point. She also had a technical foul with 2.7 seconds left in the first quarter after arguing with a referee about a foul call.

This is the second technical foul Clark has picked up this season. The first came against the Connecticut Sun on May 20. During the fourth quarter of that game, Clark told the referee, “It’s a [expletive] foul” after turning a ball over, per Fox News. 

The Fever are now 1-7 during the 2024 WNBA regular season.

Christie Sides Doesn’t ‘Feel Good’ About Her Performance

“It’s really hard to feel good about my performance at all right now,” Sides told reporters after the game. “This was a home game. This was a game we were supposed to win.”

She cited too many turnovers and fouling instead of “having our teammates’ back.” 

“Instead of us stepping over and stopping them [and] having our teammates’ back, we’re reaching and fouling,” she said. “That’s just lack of discipline.”

Sides was hired as the Indiana Fever’s head coach on November 4, 2022. She had previously served as an assistant coach for the Chicago Sky (2011-2016), Fever (2018-2019) and Atlanta Dream (2022). She also held collegiate coaching positions at Northwestern University and Louisiana State University and helped coach teams in Russia and Slovakia, according to her team bio.

“Christie has all the traits I value. She is an excellent teacher with a high basketball IQ. She is a relationship person and a connector,” Fever general manager Lin Dunn said at the time of Sides’ hiring. “Christie will be demanding, pay attention to detail, and will also make sure we defend and play hard. I love her energy and believe she is a perfect fit for our young, talented team.”

The Fever went 13-27 during Sides’ first season as head coach. Now that they’ve started this season 1-7 (despite now having Clark), some fans are blaming Sides for their failure.

“Christie Sides deserves to be fired,” one person wrote on X on May 28, saying she doesn’t know “how to move her pieces” and “which players to count on.”

The Fever Have Faced Tough Competition

The Fever have now completed 20% of their 2024 regular season. While their 1-7 record is not what they were hoping for, it’s worth noting that they’ve faced a difficult schedule so far. 

Two of the Fever’s losses have come against the Connecticut Sun, who are 6-0 in 2024. Another two losses have been against the New York Liberty, who are 4-2 on the year and lost in the 2023 WNBA Finals to the Las Vegas Aces — who the Fever have also lost to once this season.

No team aside from Indiana has played more than 7 games so far in 2024.