Katie Douglas and the Indiana Fever are currently sporting a league-best six-game win streak. While an injury to starting point guard Briann January was cause for concern coming out of a win over the Phoenix Mercury, Douglas is confident the team is prepared to adjust and adapt to the changes around the perimeter. See what she has to say about Indy's hot streak, newcomers Shannon Bobbitt, Erin Phillips and Tangela Smith, and the team's depth as it heads into the midway point of the season.
WNBA.com: The Fever as a whole is really playing some solid basketball right now, but you yourself are putting up some big numbers too. Would you say you're just finding your groove early here?
Katie Douglas: Yeah, definitely. I feel extremely rested. I feel energized. I just feel engaged and I'm in a good rhythm and I think as a shooter and as a scorer, any time you can find that good rhythm you just try to stay with it. So my teammates definitely do a great job setting me up or getting me open and I've just been able to throw it in this year. It's a good start for me individually and I just hope to keep this pace for the rest of the season.
WNBA.com: In terms of teammates you have a few familiar faces you're working with, but how quickly did Tangela Smith work her way into the Fever's system?
KD: I think she did it pretty quick. Obviously with us all being back in training camp really helped her adjust. After about a week or a week and a half of going over all of our schemes offensively and defensively she's done a great job of adjusting. You know, she's a veteran and she's a player who's played for a lot of teams and a lot of systems so she's just done a great job adapting herself and really finding herself on our team.
WNBA.com: Between you, Tamika Catchings and Tangela, there are a number of scorers to defer to on any given night. But then you get a big night from a player like Jessica Davenport who dropped 25 points on Phoenix about two weeks ago. Are you guys just finding the hot shooter early in the game and putting the ball in her hands?
KD: Yeah, we really do. I think this is definitely a team by committee. Whether it's me or Catch or J-Dav or anybody that's able to have a big night, we're going to go with the hot hand and we're going to feed whoever's hot. In this league you need three or four people to have double-figures. You can't really ride on one person and I think that's what makes us a really good team this year. There's all different kinds of threats and we're playing to our strengths and everybody's a threat on the court. We're definitely unselfish and if that person's hot we're going to get them the looks that night.
WNBA.com: You mention playing to your strengths but you're also playing through a weakness of sorts too. With Briann January going down with a season-ending ACL injury, there seems to be a bit of a question mark around the Fever's perimeter. Is there any concerns with running the offense through Shannon Bobbitt or Erin Phillips?
KD: I don't think about that so much like how outsiders think. I definitely think that there was a little bit of a question and we tried to solve that through practice ever since Briann went down against Phoenix. We fortunately had a week to kind of breathe and then try and figure out what we're going to do, and I think the management did a good job of keeping two point guards on the roster. They weren't getting as many opportunities when Bri was healthy but now they've had several practices to get acclimated and get comfortable and they had the game against probably one of the most dynamic point guards with Sue Bird and actually had a really good test the other night. They passed that test and we continue to work with them and I think they're going to be fine. Each one of them brings different strengths. It's a good compliment. They compliment one another really well and I think that they'll handle a majority of the point guard duties and I think that we'll be fine. We have so many veterans on this team that can help them and also myself, I can play a little bit of the point guard for them, so everybody's just going to have to do a little bit more and I think that that's what we're going with.
WNBA.com: A lot of responsibility at the point guard position relies on instinct and knowing the players on the court. For both Shannon and Erin, they came on board this past offseason. They may not know those little tendencies for you or Tamika or Tangela.
KD: Well yeah that's something they've been running these past few practices. They just have the ball in their hands more and they're getting more reps than they were getting when Bri was out there with them. I think they're definitely learning where we like the ball. I have my sweet spot and they now kind of know where that is. And like you said, where other people like the ball and just trying to learn how to play to people's strengths. Our team chemistry is at such a high level that they just did well.
WNBA.com: When I spoke with Briann during the offseason she didn't necessarily concede that she was happy with how the season ended last year, but she did say that it was an opportunity to hit the reset button. Would you agree with that?
KD: The standard every year is championship. So every year we set such high expectations and last year we just weren't playing to any expectations. We were just so inconsistent and it was such a rocky road last year playing wise and results wise. We just couldn't get over the hump and I think a lot of teams found themselves in that predicament like win one, lose one. We could never get on the streak like we're on right now last year. I felt like it was just a long year mentally. I felt extremely tired mentally and physically. A lot of us were coming from overseas and we didn't have a break and we were just a little bit off. We were kind of behind the gun and never able to get in front of it. So I think this year, as Bri was saying, we were able to hit the reset button and came back really fresh and rested and again mentally and physically that's the most important. When you come in with a great mindset like we did this year it definitely helps and it helps us be in the position that we're in right now.