The Indiana Fever WNBA team is on vacation, or Olympic break, taking a deep breath from the pace of the 40-game regular season as the Paris Olympics play out.

It is an appropriate time to review what has transpired with the showcase women’s basketball team for the state since the league draft occurred in April and the season began in May.

From a report card standpoint, using the typical A, B, C grading system it is not easy to assign marks to the Fever in certain areas while it is very easy to give out grades in other areas.

In some ways, the Fever have been the WNBA phenomenon of the last quarter century. In other ways, the Fever is still very much a work in progress.

DRAFT. The Fever deserves an A for selecting Iowa guard Caitlin Clark with the No. 1 overall draft choice. No doubt about Clark being the right pick, for the present and the future. She is a transformational player, a starting point guard with extraordinary floor vision, a crowd-pleaser, and an All-Star as a rookie.

HOME ATTENDANCE. A-plus. Almost every game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse has sold out with the Fever’s turnout crushing last year’s numbers as full houses of 17,274 are routinely recorded.

ROAD ATTENDANCE: A-plus. Wherever Clark and the Fever appear, their hosts sell out the arena, sometimes for the first time in years, or just about ever.

MERCHANDISE: A-plus. Fans in the seats just keep shopping for Caitlin Clark No. 22 jerseys and Fever gear. It is as if the team store has replaced all other clothing outlets when it comes to wardrobe selection.

RECORD: C-plus. After seemingly being overwhelmed by the tough schedule faced at the start of the season when the club went 1-8, the Fever improved to 11-15 at the break. No one pretended a lottery team was going to burst through to the top of the standings immediately, but the avowed goal of qualifying for the playoffs for the first time since 2016 remains realistic.

RESILIENCE: B-plus. With few exceptions in recent games, particularly, the Fever has demonstrated enough grit to fight back and make the kind of comebacks that can stun opponents in the end.

DEFENSE: C. The Fever has suffered major, lengthy lapses on defense with other teams able to penetrate and score at will. Those walkabouts must cease for the Fever to become a consistent winner.

OFFENSE: B-minus. At times the Fever seem capable of scoring on anyone anytime. Clark is terrific running the offense and pushing the ball on the fast-break. If a teammate is open, she will find them. Yet more consistency is needed across entire games. Playing well for one or two quarters isn’t going to cut it.

THE STARTING LINEUP: B-minus. The Fever usually has four double-figure scorers in Clark, center Aliyah Boston, guard Kelsey Mitchell (those three all being all-stars) and forward NaLyssa Smith. After that the firepower drops off. Fifth starter Katie Lou Samuelson can be explosive, but not every game.

DEPTH: C-minus. Rarely does coach Christie Sides go to the bench for someone to spark the scoring. The substitutions are very situational. Lexie Hull has become a defensive stalwart at guard. Damiris Dantas, late arriving from Brazil, and whose roster addition resulted in second-round pick Celeste Taylor being cut, has shown some spark. Victaria Sexton and local favorite Grace Berger, the former Indiana U. star who in 2023 was the seventh player drafted overall, never get off the bench.

Guard Erica Wheeler seems to have lost her scoring touch. Guard Kristy Wallace was a starter, now is not, but is a member of the Australian Olympic team. Frontcourt player Temi Fagbenle is the X factor. She has been injured twice, but if healthy her scoring and rebounding could influence the rest of the season.

CAITLIN CLARK: B-plus. One way to view the Caitlin Clark Effect is through finances, a grand success. The other way is impact on the court. Clark made her college reputation with long-range shooting and fantastic scoring. Although she is still getting her points (17.1 per game), her accuracy has been off, making her less feared from afar than expected. Yet she is leading the WNBA in assists and that is making her a good friend to Fever teammates.

By shaking her shooting slump, Clark will likely raise that B-plus to an A-plus before long.

COACHING: B-minus. Christie Sides, the second-year Fever coach, has been brutalized by nasty comments on social media. People were calling for her to be fired within two weeks of season’s start. It was extreme and wacko. She told everyone the team would improve with practice and when the schedule was less demanding and both things have come true.

REST OF SEASON: The 2024 season will be judged a success if the Fever reach the playoffs and the young players continue to improve. To do so, they must play more consistently than they did before the Olympic break. Until then, a sub-.500 record can’t earn an honor- roll grade.