Wings' coach gives passionate postgame response to reasonable but direct question

The Wings were outrebounded 44-30 in a 10-point loss to the Indiana Fever in their third matchup of the season. It's not completely abnormal for this team to get beaten on the boards. However, considering they had to deal with Aliyah Boston and Natasha Howard, it was confusing to see Li Yueru only get eight minutes of playing time, continuing a downward trend for the Chinese center's impact.

"Even when our bigs were in the game, I don't think they did a good job of rebounding either," Koclanes said. Coach wasn't asked specifically about rebounding here, but since he went there, it's fair to note that the 6'7" center grabbed three boards—more than half of their leading rebounder—in fewer than half the minutes on the floor. So, that part of the answer doesn't really pass the smell test.

The Wings are searching for answers in the wrong places

It's one thing to desire a faster pace. That's all well and good, but Haley Jones had four fouls in the first half and had to sit down. Her insertion into the starting lineup coincided with Li Yueru's benching. If Jones is not in the game to give that extra boost, it doesn't make much sense to leave your best rebounder on the bench when you're getting killed on the boards and the fast pace isn't working.

Boston and Howard were monsters on the glass, pulling in 27 rebounds between the two of them. Meanwhile, no player on the Wings roster could grab more than five. When Koclanes was specifically asked about his team being dominated in the paint by two players, he got more animated than we've seen him in past postgame press conferences.

Coach mentioned an important detail about the struggles of rebounding when you can't win at the point of attack. That's fair. But there can be somewhat of a counter to that struggle if you have a 6'7" player on your roster who can go after those boards.

Yueru averaged seven per game, leading the team. If the perimeter players aren't staying in front of their woman anyway, why not put Li on the floor to help clean up when the Fever miss a shot? Fans expect the coach to make that kind of adjustment when the original game plan isn't working, and as Indy pushed the lead to double digits in the second half, it was clear that it wasn't.

It was the second time they faced this team without Caitlin Clark, and they dropped both games. They're 0-3 against the Fever, with one more trip to Indiana on the schedule to finish the season series on August 12.