Sophie Cunningham Says She’s ‘Not Satisfied,’ Plans to Expand Her Game With Drew Hanlen

Sophie Cunningham says she is not satisfied with where her game is, and that it is time to expand it.

She said it on Thursday’s episode of No Hesitation, the podcast she co-hosts with trainer Drew Hanlen, after the two went through film of her own game. Hanlen’s clips showed her coming off screens and getting her feet and hands ready before the catch.

Some of the footage went back to Missouri, where she was doing the same thing in college. Hanlen wants her running more pin-downs. He also wants the ball out of her hands faster when she shoots on the move.

Cunningham shot 41.9% from 3 in 2026. She had stopped working on shots off movement.

“I just don’t get enough of those in a game,” Cunningham said. “So I’m like, all right, I get to catch and shoot, but this is — I’m limiting myself. So I need to get back to repping this type of stuff.”

Hanlen placed the pin-down in a Fever set with Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell, if Cunningham returns to Indiana.

“Let’s say you come back to the Fever, Caitlin’s on a ball screen on one side and you’re on the other side coming off a pin-down,” Hanlen said. “What is the defense going to do? ’Cause if the defense doesn’t stay attached to you, you’re free for a shot. If they do stay attached, it creates even more space for a Caitlin or a Kelsey.”

Cunningham signed a one-year, $665,000 contract with the Indiana Fever in April, and it expired after the 2026 season. She and Mitchell are both unrestricted free agents. Clark said on NBC’s TODAY on Nov. 3 that WNBA free agency begins at the start of February. Las Vegas eliminated the Fever in three games in the first round.

Hanlen also suggested dribble handoffs, with Cunningham getting off the ball and back on it before shooting or turning the corner. He said the action would cut down on how much pure ballhandling she has to do, and that she would need repeated reps to run it.

Cunningham said she would see more of those actions if she executes the ones she already gets.

“I think that within the offense, I don’t really get that opportunity much, truly,” Cunningham explained. “But when I do, I need to be able to execute it and make the right read and make my shot. And so if I do that, then I could get those in the offense more. They’re like, ‘Oh, she can do that.’ And so that’s on me to rep it.”

Cunningham said defenders in practice knew the reads each set called for.

“As an individual, that’s what I made my career on in Mizzou, is making reads,” Cunningham said. “I think I’m really good at making the right read. I’m saying overall as a team perspective, I don’t think — I don’t think we were good as a team of just allowing people to make the read and then playing off of that. Do you get what I’m saying?”

Hanlen had been pushing backcuts, telling Cunningham she does not have to follow the scripted action when a defender denies the screen or loses sight of her.

“It was too much of this is the play, run the play,” Hanlen said, “instead of, hey, this is the free-flowing kind of make the right read depending on what the defense is giving you.”

Cunningham made three starts in 2026 and played 22.2 minutes a game.

“But owning my spot, I should be making the read anyway and being able to produce and make my shot because if I’m doing that, then they’re not going to say anything,” Cunningham said. “So that’s on me to get better at the reads and then making my shot off the reads.”

Later in the segment, Cunningham asked Hanlen why her finishing touch had fallen off since she was drafted. Hanlen said mastering her role as a shooter and floor spacer had pushed other skills out of her workouts. To earn a bigger role, he said, she has to show those skills consistently in practice and then in games.

By the end of the segment, Hanlen had boiled the offense down to shooting off the bounce, shooting on the move, and attacking closeouts. On defense, it came down to getting comfortable guarding closeouts, isolations, and ball screens.

“I like this,” Cunningham said. “And I know it’s — I like it now, and I know it’s going to be freaking hard, but I think this is what I want. I am not satisfied with where I’m at. I think there’s so much more in my tank, and I just need people like you to help me, first of all, be aware of what I’m not doing. Be aware of what I am doing.”

“But it’s like, it’s time to expand,” Cunningham continued. “This is going to be a great offseason. So, this is good.”

Phoenix drafted Cunningham in the second round in 2019, and she spent six seasons with the Mercury before the Fever traded for her.

“I’m at the point in my career where I feel like I’ve done some good things, but I feel like I have so much more in my tank,” Cunningham said.

Hanlen said they will move the cameras from the podcast set to the court to show the workouts.