Catchings Embracing Role As Leader Of Fever
As Tamika Catchings took the court for her pregame shootaround, her routine was put on pause time and time again. Opposing players made their way onto the opposite side of the court, but not before stopping to greet Catchings. It seemed only appropriate that one of the WNBA’s most respected players was met with such high regard from opponents.
Catchings, who will surely go down as one of top players to ever play in the league, met each greeting with the same kindness – a handshake, a hug, a few kind words. And then it was business as usual. She continued her routine, returned to the locker room and made final preparations before taking the court for the Fever’s June 19 game against the New York Liberty.
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Things are different nowadays for Catchings. No longer the young star that she once was, but still undoubtedly one of the premier talents in the league, she’s the leader of a Fever team that’s finding its way under a new coach.
Catchings plans to retire at the end of the 2016 season, so it’s no wonder that the final two years are important to her. She’s the face of the Fever franchise and is focused on leaving the team in a good spot, leading by example and grooming the next era of stars in Indianapolis.
“I think my role has definitely changed as far as my approach to my teammates,” Catchings said. “Over the years I’ve developed into a better leader, and every year I get better and better. But these last two years I’m kind of focusing on shifting out of that role of being the main leader and kind of getting other players to step up, because you don’t want this huge gap between, ‘Oh gosh, Tamika’s gone and now what?’ So I’m really trying to empower my teammates to kind of pick up the burden on that.”
If her final two years are meant for Catchings to make that mark on the Fever’s future, it couldn’t come at a better time. The Fever are ushering in a new era led by first-year head coach Stephanie White, who took over for Lin Dunn after serving as an assistant for several years. Coupling a WNBA legend with a new coach focused on implementing her system and establishing an identity surely has its benefits.
“Having [Stephanie White] come in I think has been good for the team,” Catchings said. “The whole atmosphere is just a little bit different. … Once we get used to each other and kind of being able to play free, I think our offense will really click a lot better.”
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Just under an hour after she was greeted in kind by player after player on the Liberty, Catchings took the floor just as she has for every other game during her career – focused, confident and aware of the challenge ahead. Head coach Bill Laimbeer’s Liberty team entered the game with heads held high after a hot start to the season.
But at the end of the night, the Fever were the victors, using an explosive performance from guard Maggie Lucas to overcome a series of Liberty runs. If the game’s story ended there it would feel like a run-of-the-mill WNBA matchup.
The story behind the story was told in the boxscore. Catchings was 0-10 from the field and couldn’t manage to make an impact in other areas, which was perhaps more uncharacteristic than her lack of points.
“If you look at 0-10 from [Catchings] and only two assists,” White said after the game, “because usually if she has a poor shooting night she has a high assist rate. … Overall, I’m most proud of the toughness of our team .When we started to lose composure, we regrouped mentally and we slowed down and we came together versus falling apart.”
It’s not often Catchings has been on the negative side of WNBA history, but her performance that night was one of those nights. It was only the second time in her career that she was held scoreless in a game, ending a streak of 168 games with at least one point. The only other time she was held without a point happened on July 23, 2009.
Perhaps it’s the off nights that put such an illustrious career into perspective. The five-time WNBA Defensive Player of the Year is revealed to be, well, fallible. But even more so, it’s those nights that serve as motivation for a player who has accomplished so much. And yet, still, she isn’t satisfied with her craft.
“I want to be the best that I can be when I’m done playing,” Catchings said. “When I walk away from this game, I want to be like, ‘When I started off, I was bad in this area. And I got better here and then I got better there.’ But then overall as a player, I think the biggest thing for me now is just my leadership, continuing to build that.”
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As Catchings continues to focus on growing as a leader in her final two years, she knows she has the attention of a roster full of players that are ready to learn. But unlike some situations where veterans have their eyes set on players they feel are fit to lead, Catchings has a different approach.
“Being a leader, a lot of people will put that on the best player or the second best player, but it’s really something that when you look at that sole leader having that soul of your team, that’s not something you can pick out somebody and say, ‘You’re going to be it.’”
The Fever roster features players with a wide range of experience, but rookie Natalie Achonwa is a player who has already made an impact during her young career. So much so that White says the beyond-her-years maturity she carries reminds her of a young Catchings.
And during her short time around Catchings, Achonwa has taken notice of her every move, from how she interacts with the fans to how she carries herself on the court and in the locker room.
“There’s so much that [Catchings] brings, from her work ethic to her passion to her energy,” said Achonwa. “There are so many tangibles, and there are so many things she brings off the court. … She’s a great person. It goes beyond basketball for her. It’s great to look up and to have a leader like that on your team.”
For Catchings, that Achonwa – and assuredly others – are looking up to her as a leader is exactly why she remains focused on leaving the Fever in a good situation when her career comes to a close.
“Over time you kind of figure out who the players on the team respect, who they’ll follow, who they’ll listen to. I think for all of them, what they do is they just watch me. They really just watch me. Somebody will step up and be ready.”