Akin to previous seasons, the Indiana Fever continues to play like a bottom-feeder squad. After a 19-point loss in the 2024 regular season opener, they suffered an even worse fate in the home opener. The 2023 WNBA Finalists New York Liberty gave them a thorough 102-66 beatdown to worsen their woes.
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Fever’s Center Aliyah Boston led the way with 12 points and 7 rebounds but shot just 33.3% from the field. Despite her shooting struggles, the South Carolina Gamecocks alum went out of her way and clicked selfies with a group of diehard fans.
As she was leaving the arena around 10:30 PM, some fans urged her to have a photo with the low-block phenom. Sports photographer Bri Lewerke captured the moment and reported on X that she spent around five minutes with them. Users appreciated her heart-touching gesture, amidst a turbulent start to the season.
At 10:30pm fans found Aliyah Boston leaving out the back of the arena and ran to take photos with her
Despite her clearly just trying to get home she stayed and took photos with each one (for like 5 more mins after this) pic.twitter.com/DHgHYxshEd
— Bri Lewerke (@brilewerke) May 17, 2024
A fan hailed Boston as a ‘queen’ for entertaining the fans while highlighting it to be tiresome,
“She’s a queen for this but i get her being exhausted of this bc it’s a lot”.
she’s a queen for this but i get her being exhausted of this bc it’s a lot
— rads (@rads619) May 17, 2024
Another fan pointed out how these five minutes made for precious memories, “I like this. 5 mins of her time can give a fan a lifetime of memories.”
I like this. 5 mins of her time can give a fan a lifetime of memories.
— adario backus (@createdbyadario) May 17, 2024
Meanwhile, a fan stated that the culture of athletes interacting with fans is dying, therefore, Boston’s actions are a breath of fresh air, “That’s the sort of thing professional athletes used to do all the time. But nowadays they don’t want to be bothered. So good job out of you Ms Boston.”
That's the sort of thing professional athletes used to do all the time. But nowadays they don't want to be bothered. So good job out of you Ms Boston.
— james walkup (@jwwalkup) May 17, 2024
These comments prove that Aliyah Boston is carving out an exceptional image among WNBA fans. However, her Fever squad will need to pick up their game in the upcoming season to keep them around.
Aliyah Boston and Co. have their work cut out
The Fever started the season against two of the best teams in the league which more or less justifies the results. However, their offensive struggles are unprecedented, considering they have elite scorers Caitlin Clark, Nalyssa Smith, Aliyah Boston, and Kelsey Mitchell.
While many thought that the Clark-Boston Pick N Roll action would be the staple of the Fever offense, the two are yet to click on all cylinders. Additionally, Clark added just nine points, seven rebounds, and six assists.
Apart from that, Fever has been unable to generate quality three-point looks even though they have the best NCAA women’s deep shooter in history. It is clear that coach Christie Sides is struggling to find the required spacing and the players are still not clear about their roles.
The team needs to showcase more resilience on the defensive end too as they have given up a ton of easy buckets and have been overwhelmed by their opponent’s physicality. Unfortunately, they will have little time to moor over their deficiencies as they are again going to take on the loaded Liberty. Fans would love to see Caitlin Clark shoot more efficiently from the floor.
