It's time to ask the Sophie Cunningham bench question for Indiana Fever

It's time to ask the Sophie Cunningham bench question for Indiana Fever originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

>The Indiana Fever continue to bring Sophie Cunningham off the bench.

>To ask a very blunt question: Why?

>At this point, Cunningham is getting the minutes of a starter. She just isn't on the floor at the start of the game.

>Sure, there are reasons coaches do this. They want to stagger certain lineups and whatnot.

>But at this point, it's time to start Cunningham.

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>In Thursday night's 108-101 loss to the Atlanta Dream, Cunningham played 30 of the possible 40 minutes.

>That was much more than starters Monique Billings (13 minutes) and Lexie Hull (11 minutes).

>Hull would be the player to move out of the lineup for Cunningham, and while there are aspects to Hull's game to appreciate, too, Cunningham seems more polished at this point.

>Against the Dream, Cunningham had 12 points, two rebounds and two assists. She shot 4-for-5 from the floor, including 2-for-3 from 3-point range. She added 2-of-2 at the foul line.

>The only three Fever players to get more minutes than Cunningham were the big three stars of Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston.

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>Cunningham is a de facto starter, but is there any actually good reason to leave her on the bench at the start of games?

>At this point, it's worth changing it up for Indiana. The defense has been bad, and Cunningham at least has a positive reputation on that end of the floor, whether it is legitimate or not.

>There's no reason not to try it. Indiana is 9-6, with its defense letting it down on multiple occasions.

>It can't get worse with Cunningham in the starting lineup, and it might actually get better.

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