Indiana Fever name Pokey Chatman as new head coach


The Indiana Fever announced on Friday that Pokey Chatman will be their new head coach.

The 47-year-old Chatman will succeed Stephanie White, who coached the Fever for two seasons before accepting the head coaching job at Vanderbilt.

Chatman spent six seasons with the Chicago Sky as both head coach and general manager, leading them to four playoff appearances which included winning the Eastern Conference title in 2014 before the Sky let go of her last October.

She has a WNBA head coaching record of 106-98.

Briann January and Tamika Catchings, who just concluded her final season in the WNBA this year, were among those who welcomed Chatman in her introductory press conference.


It will be interesting to see how Chatman handles the Fever, which were one of the best teams in the league in three-point shooting and spacing the floor under White.

Chatman has utilized the ability of Elena Delle Donne to stretch the floor and the aggressiveness of penetrating guards like Courtney Vandersloot and Cappie Pondexter during her time with Chicago.

Indiana has some players who play similarly, at least in terms of skill set. Brianna January and Shenise Johnson are both capable scoring guards and facilitators on the squad. Marissa Coleman can play both inside and out. It will be interesting if Chatman uses Coleman at the four. Coleman has played some power forward for White particularly last season.

This is a great move for the Fever. Obviously, they won't have Tamika Catchings anymore for the 2017 season, but having a great basketball mind on the sidelines to guide them should help them finish another competitive season -- the first in the post-Catchings era.

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