Indiana Fever Coach Conveys Team's 3-Word Mentality Before Chicago Sky Game

The Indiana Fever are a few hours away from tipping off against their rival Chicago Sky, on June 7, in a contest that will be taking place in Chicago's United Center.

The Fever will be shorthanded in this game, not only on the court, but among the coaching staff. In addition to star guards Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham both being sidelined with injuries, news broke on June 7 that head coach Stephanie White will not be at the game, which means that her assistant coach, Austin Kelly, is stepping up in her role.

Kelly spoke with the media during his team's Saturday morning shootaround and sent a strong message when asked about what he has learned about the Fever through the team's early-season adversity.

"I think it's just our growth. I can speak specifically about Aliyah [Boston], and kind of her efficiency, and her ability to do a lot of different things for us," Kelly said, per the Fever's YouTube channel. "She's an excellent playmaker, she makes great decisions with the basketball in her hands, she can score from multiple areas on the floor. And so seeing her growth, seeing her take ownership of that, seeing Kelsey [Mitchell] with her playmaking off the bounce has been really good."

He later added, "Seeing our team as a whole, just step up. And it's just kind of 'next man up' mentality... That has just kind of been our mentality. It's next person up, ready to go. And I think that the players have a lot of trust in each other."