The Portland Fire began a series of road games in Indiana Wednesday night. The team left home with an even 2-2 record that's included wins against the New York Liberty and the Connecticut Sun, as well as a loss against the Liberty (who they hosted twice at the Moda Center last week) and Chicago Sky.
Head coach Alex Sarama hit the WNBA this year with his Constraints-Led Approach (CLA) to basketball, something he prefers to refer to as a set of guiding princples that's been collectively determined, as opposed to a system that he's come up with and others are expected to follow to the last detail. Part of CLA is all about encouraging players to find moments in a game in which they can create opportunities in real time, even if that goes against the initial game plan.
The Portland Fire will be tested this week
The CLA style of play was tested at home, but going on the road will bring a new dimension to the process: the Fire won't be playing at the Fire Pit, aka the Moda Center. The team's home arena has a capacity of over 19,000 people, and the Fire has so far brought just over 12,000 to each of their games (the team's first home match sold out, and subsequent games played on week nights have still attracted a strong and passionate crowd).
While speaking to reporters ahead of the team's match against the Fever Wednesday, Sarama noted that not too much has changed since he published his book about CLA in April 2024. Working in the WNBA has definitely added new dimensions, but the heart of CLA still functions the way it always has. "I'm always trying to find new ways to coach and find new ideas," he explained. "So I do look back on some of the things I wrote before."
His ideas are evolving, often in realtime, "but i do think that framework of the guiding theory is really what's underpinning everything we're doing here with the Fire." To make things even more special, Sarama is now working alongnside many of the people featured in the book in Portland. He added that it was important to bring in people who believed in the process from the beginning, because CLA applies to everything the Fire does — not just how plays are conceived and executed.
In addition to the Fever, the Fire will also travel to Toronto to play the Tempo and to New York to go up against the Liberty for a third time.
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