Sophie Cunningham has admitted that Indiana players initially struggled to accept Stephanie White‘s demanding approach to training as the Fever guard weighs in on her head coach’s winning mentality.
When White took charge for the 2025 season, she brought with her a championship-driven mindset, and an intensity in preparation that some players, including the 28-year-old, found overwhelming.
Replacing Christie Sides, White overhauled both the team’s roster and its daily workload. High-profile additions such as DeWanna Bonner, Natasha Howard, and Cunningham were brought in to fortify a defensive-first identity.
“The most important thing for myself and the team is communication,” White said. “We all have the same goals here, and that’s to put ourselves in a position to compete for a championship.”
That vision translated into practice sessions running up to three hours, coupled with extensive film review in a bid to drive up standards at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
“And all of us are like, we didn’t sign up for this,” Cunningham recalled on her Show Me Something podcast. “But I think it did help us.
“There were times where we’d watch hour of film… There’s been times that we’ve been in there for 45 minutes to an hour, just like watching our defense, watching our offense execution.”
The intense preparation became even more critical when the Fever‘s offensive centerpiece, Caitlin Clark, was sidelined early in the season – first with quad soreness, then a left quad strain.
White leaned on Sydney Colson and Cunningham to stabilize the backcourt, but further adversity struck in a matchup against the Connecticut Sun, when both point guards suffered injuries.
With the rotation depleted, the Fever turned to Aari McDonald, who was eager to prove herself. Integrating midseason into a team chasing a playoff berth was a challenge, and McDonald relied heavily on the Fever’s hallmark preparation.
“That part made me anxious,” McDonald admitted on the show. “Just coming in, not knowing the system, not really playing with the players.
“But it was a lot of film, a lot of film sessions by myself, just rewatching stuff, and a lot of film with [assistant coach Austin Kelly] just asking questions.”
Her debut was a success with seven points, five assists, and three steals in 27 minutes, helping snap a losing streak as Aari proves White knows what she’s talking about when it comes to winning.
Now sitting at .545 in the standings and in sixth place heading into the final stretch before the postseason, the Fever continue to embrace White’s formula, and as Cunningham explained, “We’ll watch like, depending on when our next game is, we’ll watch like 45 minutes of that film.”
Who do the Fever play next?
The Fever are next in action on August 16 as they welcome the Washington Mystics to Indianapolis on Friday. Tip-off is from 19:30 ET/16:30 PT at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
With an 18-14 record and just 3.5 wins ahead of the Mystics, Indiana will look to take command of their place in the Eastern Conference of third or above with 11 games to go.
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