Indiana Fever

"I didn't play at all during the season just with some of the back stuff that I was dealing with" said Indiana Fever's Caitlin Clark, on giving up golf to keep her body right. Back on the course this offseason: "I stepped up to the first tee and I swung and whiffed."

"We went into this season with the goals of winning a championship. So anything less than that is disappointing." Lexie Hull on Indiana's early exit. The hardest part: "we're not going to get this group again, just like we didn't get last year's group again."

Tyasha Harris, a pending free agent, is coming off surgery, and Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White gave no timeline for her recovery: "I don't have a status update. She had successful surgery."

"At the end of the day, it's their decision about whether I return or not." Stephanie White, asked if she will coach Indiana Fever next season, said she feels supported by the organization but left her future in its hands: "I'd love the opportunity."

"Priority number one is Kelsey." Stephanie White said re-signing Kelsey Mitchell tops Indiana Fever's offseason list, then "complementary pieces" around Mitchell, Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston, starting with a long, athletic wing who can defend and rebound.

Raven Johnson will be a big piece of Indiana Fever's future, coach Stephanie White said, pointing to her ball pressure, rebounding and driving to the basket: "I think she's got an opportunity to slide into a larger role because she can do that."

Bree Hall and Grace VanSlooten "have an opportunity to really continue to improve and be solid rotation players," Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White said. She called settling the backup rotation "challenging at times" and wants more consistent rotations.

"Our teams in the old days, you know, had Tamika who really set that tone." Stephanie White said Indiana Fever's defensive mentality was not consistent this season, unlike the Tamika Catchings-era teams, and the staff will re-examine its defense this offseason.

Aliyah Boston "improved tremendously in stretching her range, the ability to play outside," Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White said. But Boston is also "very good in the 2-man," the two-player game with a teammate. "Like, how do you balance that?"

"Wanting to win a title and then learning what it takes to win a title. And, you know, those are 2 different things." Stephanie White blamed Indiana Fever falling short of a title on inexperience: it was only the Big 3's second playoff run together.

"It felt a little bit like the beginning of the year again." Stephanie White said travel and fatigue after the FIBA international break made reintegrating Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston hard for Indiana Fever. She wanted more practice days before games resumed every other day.

The microscope Caitlin Clark described "also unites our team," Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White said, "different than any team that I've ever experienced." The noise can't be silenced, only minimized, she said. Clark's biggest growth: "her being collaborative with us."

"We get a lot of flack ... for being on her team." Kelsey Mitchell said Indiana Fever players get hate in their direct messages simply for being Caitlin Clark's teammates, and asked people to give them grace.

Too early to say, Kelsey Mitchell said of returning to the Fever as an unrestricted free agent: "I think that I have to be selfish." Staying with one team her whole career makes it hard, and her backcourt with Caitlin Clark will matter. Content to finish in Indiana? "Heck yeah."

No decision yet on an offseason plan for Aliyah Boston's injured leg. "I'll be talking to medical," the Indiana Fever star said. The leg left her starting the year uncertain: "there were definitely some games where I was hindered a little bit," and she missed others.

Caitlin Clark on a review with 2 minutes left in Indiana's season-ending loss to Las Vegas: "if the challenge ... is called correctly when they go to the monitor, it's a 1-possession game and we have the ball." The Aces shot 35 free throws to Indiana's 20. "It stops the game."

"Kelsey, in my opinion, had the best season of any guard that there's ever been in this league." Caitlin Clark on Kelsey Mitchell after Indiana's season-ending loss to Las Vegas. Mitchell on the Aces' size inside: "sometimes they make it tough by being trees."

Indiana rookie Raven Johnson's playoff role is growing, and she says she'll fill any role, even guarding Las Vegas's Jackie Young. At shootaround, Myisha Hines-Allen said: "we all knew what Raven could do. It's just a matter of now she's getting an opportunity to do it."

Myisha Hines-Allen has been in and out of Indiana's rotation, and coach Stephanie White praised her either way: "whether she's been in the rotation or not in the rotation, she is still actively engaged in communicating with our team on the sideline."

"I thought we played about 35 minutes of really great basketball. We got to play 40." Stephanie White wants all 40 in Indiana's elimination game against Las Vegas: protect the ball, lift the Game 2 defensive energy a level. She expects Las Vegas to hit the shots it missed.

"It's championship or bust." Facing elimination against Las Vegas, Indiana's Myisha Hines-Allen said the team has "everybody that we need in this locker room to get the job done." Coach Stephanie White agreed a title is the goal but said it still takes time to reach.