The Indiana Fever won a great battle last night. However, it wasn’t the greatest night for their star rookie. Despite playing for 35 minutes, Caitlin Clark only added 7 points and 6 assists. Reason? According to many fans, Christie Sides chose to keep the rookie away from the ball. Pleading since the beginning of the season to get the coach removed, the Fever loyalists’ aim has only gotten clearer after the postgame press conference.

Impressed with Indiana’s defense against Atlanta, Sides said, “I’m gonna go home and watch that over and over because we just did an excellent job.” Talking about the plan that the team brilliantly executed, Sides added, “Rhyne Howard got hot. She’s an excellent player. That’s what she does. We decided to trap her coming off those dribble handoffs, she was gonna come back into a no-ball screen. Just did it perfectly. The timing was perfect, we were impressive, we didn’t foul. It was just a huge moment for our team, growing up right there, in that time.”

As Sides pointed out, Rhyne Howard was on one on Thursday night, scoring 26 points, with 12 of them coming in the 4th quarter. However, she did not score any field goals in the final 3+ minutes of the game. Nonetheless, the focus on social media, as has become the norm, was on Caitlin Clark.

Last night was the first game for Clark after she failed to pick a spot on the Paris Olympics roster. She did not get many open looks as she only shot 3 of 11 from the field and 1 of 6 from beyond the arc. However, the talented player did fulfill her duties in other aspects with 4 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 blocks. But more often than not, she was standing in the corner, waiting for the ball to find her. Something that has not thrilled the Indiana Fever fans.

Caitlin Clark fans turn on Christie Sides as they predict Fever’s “status quo” game plan

Last night was not the first time that the spectators were not happy with Indiana’s lack of strategy and inclusion of their golden rookie. Previously, Sides riled up the Fever fans for benching Caitlin Clark against the LA Sparks. In their last matchup with the Connecticut Sun as well, the 2x Naismith Player of the Year only added 10 points in a season-low 22 minutes. Then too, the basketball world speculated that Christie Sides will not even last the entire season like this. Something similar happened last night as one fan simply suggested that the Fever should get rid of the coach.

“Fire Christie Sides”

Another fan suggested that everyone expect a similar pattern throughout the season. The fan said that Clark will continue to feed the ball to her teammates with no open looks for herself. Accusing the team of not having Clark’s back, they said that this is how the entire season will be.

“Tonight’s game plan will be the status quo for Christie Sides for the season. Expect more of CC being turned into a bit player standing in the corner or feeding the ball to her teammates who won’t help her get open. This miserable team doesn’t have her back.”

One WNBA follower also suggested that Clark’s game against the Dreams showed how the coach now lives in her head. Apparently, this was a take on the fact of how Sides told the rookie, in the beginning, to pass the ball if she cannot find the space to shoot. Last night, there were a few open threes that Caitlin Clark would have normally made. However, she hesitated, and either went for a layup or passed the ball. Ultimately, the fan asked Indiana to fire Sides.

“Fire Christie Sides for relegating CC into the corner and treating her like a bit player. Coach has gotten into her head. She hesitates when she has legitimate looks.”

Another Caitlin Clark fan stated that Christie Sides had mentioned her intentions quite early. While praising Aliyah Boston, she told the press how she was her girl. Bringing everyone’s focus back to that, the X user suggested how the coach would ruin Clark. They accused the head coach of calling the rookie’s scoring a fault and wasting her talents in the corner. Boston tied her career high tonight with 27 points and 13 rebounds while Clark only added 7 points.

“@IndianaFever From Day one Sides stated AB was her girl. Christie Sides is 100% ruining Caitlin Clarks career. You said at the start of the season you had to correct Caitlins faults. Well to you her offense was a fault & congratulations you have demeaned her & are ruining her.”

Simply saying that Indiana needs to get rid of the coach does not seem to sit well with one X user. They took the request one step further with an online petition to take action. They also shared a link for others to participate in the same. Certainly, they wish to see Sides gone and quite quickly.

“Oh, hi. Sign petition to get rid of Christie Sides.”

After Caitlin Clark did not get a spot on the Team USA roster, she told Sides that they had woken a monster up. While the fans are yet to see what that monster can really do, seems like everyone is quite stuck with the thought of letting the head coach go. Although the 2x National Player of the Year has not been able to average high-scoring numbers so far, we are seeing her contribute to every other aspect. But only time can tell if getting the team a win will be enough.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the Reese-Clark rivalry and more, watch this video.