Fever have a Sophie Cunningham, Lexie Hull problem originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Sophie Cunningham and Lexie Hull are both high-quality basketball players who can make strong contributions to the Indiana Fever on occasion.

The problem is that on some nights, the overlap in their roles can hurt the Fever, and that's a bit what happened on Saturday in a loss to the New York Liberty.

Relative to the Fever's main scoring trio (Kelsey Mitchell, Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Boston), the likes of Hull and Cunningham don't shoot much.

But when they both find themselves not shooting in the same game, it can actually limit the Fever's overall offensive upside.

On Saturday, for example, Hull was 2-for-2 from the floor, including making the only 3-pointer she attempted, to score five points. But that was in 19 minutes.

Cunningham played 17 minutes and went 1-for-2 from the floor (missing a 3), scoring two points.

So the combined wing duo of Hull and Cunningham played 36 minutes and attempted four shots.

These are both good shooters, smart movers off the ball and key connecting pieces to the Fever system when they're on the floor.

But some nights, they both end up being extra passive.

Yes, the Fever need to get plenty of shots for their best players. But sometimes they don't fall.

Mitchell was 7-for-21 on Saturday.

Clark was 4-for-14.

Boston was 6-for-15.

It's going to be hard to win a game with those lines, but it's done by players like Cunningham and Hull. When the stars aren't making, the role players have to take on more of a scoring role.

Cunningham had scored more lately, but overall, neither she nor Hull is particularly equipped to be a high-volume offensive player.

The Fever won't need them to be that every night, but on the nights Indiana wants to try something different, it's hard to know if Cunningham and Hull provide the skillset the Fever need.

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