Marine Johannès Serves as Liberty's Humble Magician
Like any good magician, French-born New York Liberty sharpshooter Marine Johannès refuses to yield her secrets.
It's more for the practitioner's sake than her own.
Johannès' on-court sorcery has allowed the Liberty to embark upon an improbable late playoff run, turning her into one of the breakout stars of the young WNBA postseason. Though some observers would label the Liberty as reeling after dropping Game 2 of their best-of-three first round series against the defending champion Chicago Sky in the wrongest of historic fashion, those same detractors can't stop watching the pass of the playoffs that came from her hands.
Trapped by a tenacious Sky defense looking for a Chicago clincher, Johannès lobbed the ball over her head to find a streaking Natasha Howard for an open two-points. A possession that started as a silencer thus became a stimulant, as the Liberty turned a six-point deficit in a 13-0 game-endng run over the final three-plus minutes to secure a 98-91 victory in the opener last Wednesday night. It was the Liberty's first WNBA playoff triumph since the 2015 semifinal round.
Even with the Game 2 loss, Johannès also assured that the Liberty would be able to host their first-ever playoff game as full-time tenants of Barclays Center, a dream that will be realized in a do-or-die Game 3 on Tuesday night (9 p.m. ET, ESPN).
The pass was far from Johannès' only touch upon the Liberty's victory: with Chicago trying to stifle the upset bid in the final stages of the first half, the Normandy native turned a steal into a four-point play before another takeaway gave way to a Bec Allen fast break. She ended the night with eight points, seven assists, and two steals off the bench.
Someone initialed "M.J." and wearing the No. 23 on their jersey making the difference in a Chicago-based basketball playoff series? Surely unheard of.
Howard likened the famous pass to something from former championship teammate Sue Bird's repertoire, a lob that vindicated every Liberty representative's hopes and dreams to see Johannès return to action after the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and international duties kept her overseas in the two years after making her WNBA debut.
It's possible that Johannès is indeed working with a magic wand: she's a fan of the Wizarding World franchise and previously treated former French-speaking teammate Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe to a showing of "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" on Broadway for the latter's birthday as one of her first New York excursions. Johannès herself, however, feels it's more likely she's working with a four-leaf clover instead.
"I was kind of lucky (that) this happened," Johannès declared in Game 1's aftermath, extending more of the credit to Howard's roll and awareness in an open Chicago paint. "She caught it, so it was a good play. I don't think it's the best pass in the world. It's just something like that happen."
It, in fact, took Johannès direct questioning about the play call to address the inner machinations of her fateful heave: when first queried in last Wednesday's postgame, she was more worried about the franchise rather than her budding brand.
"I think (the pass) is something big after the (Game 1) we had," Johannès said. "It's the first win since 2015 In the playoffs, so I think it does something really big for the franchise, and we have to continue like that."
When Johannès made those comments, fellow passer Crystal Dangerfield tried to indulge her teammate by telling her that she has "better passes than that." That directly contracted the scene Dangerfield described on the bench as Johannès ignited the New York comeback.
"She likes to shrug it off like it's nothing we're over on the losing our minds over it," Dangerfield declared. "It gives your team energy and I think that really sparked our run. After that, you see what happens."
Even if Johannès is willing to downplay her highlight as little more than luck, she's made her own brand of fortune: one could argue that she'd be nowhere near Wintrust Arena to let it fly if not for another sterling shooting showing in the Liberty's playoff clinching victory over Atlanta in the regular season finale on Aug. 14.
In that 87-83 win that penned the Liberty's name on the eight-team playoff bracket, Johannes sank six triples, becoming the third New Yorker to do so in a relief effort (joining Allen and Liberty Ring of Honor member Crystal Robinson). That included a one-legged heave early in the shot clock that staved off a comeback from the pursuing Dream and sent Barclays Center into hysterics.
As her uncanny jumper floated through Brooklyn airspace, Johannès felt herself destined not for the SportsCenter Top 10 but rather the Barclays bench.
"It was not really a good shot, to be honest," Johannès declared as teammates stifled smirks. "It was really early in the offense. I was just thinking that if I miss, I'm going on the bench and everyone will be mad at me."
If her teammates are any indication, Johannès couldn't cause those emotions if she tried.
Though her attempts to leave a lasting metropolitan legacy have been somewhat stymied by her expansive list of international duties (which afforded her only 24 regular season games in seafoam this season), Johannès has left an impression on her fellow bearers of seafoam.
"She stresses me out a lot because of the things that she does on the court, but I'm learning to deal with them. She's really easy to cheer for. I think one she's one of the flashiest players I've seen. She's just so humble ... it can be that she just is a really sweet person. It's why I've spent so much time with her off the court. We've become really close and I just personally get really happy for her.
"I know how hard she works and how much she wanted the playoffs. She's really easy to be happy for."
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
