Breanna Stewart On Target For Desired Liberty Goal
BROOKLYN—Breanna Stewart is planning an epic birthday party and, like fellow New York Liberty Finals heroine Kayla Thornton before her, she's inviting 19,000 of her best friends.
Though she'll still be sidelined when the Liberty face the Minnesota Lynx in another rematch of last year's epic Finals fracas due to a bone bruise on her knee, the injured Stewart continues to inch back toward a return: the two-time WNBA MVP was a partial participant in Monday's rare practice at Barclays Center and all signs point to her being on track for "non-negotiable" return of Aug. 27, her 31st birthday.
"She looked good. We didn't really go live, so we'll keep building her up these next few days," Brondello said on Monday. "She feels good, she looks good. So hopefully we can get her back when we can, it's not tomorrow, it's not probably next game either, but we'll get her back sooner."
In terms of the celebratory deadline, Brondello remarked "that’s the plan and it hasn’t changed."
Stewart, fresh off her seventh All-Star Game appearance, has not played since leaving July 26's loss to Los Angeles with a knee injury. Tuesday will mark her 11th straight missed game and the Liberty have gone 4-6 in her absence.
Brondello remarked that one of the fleeting positives of the lack of Stewart is that the team has been able to integrate newcomer Emma Meesseman on a grand stage: despite the team's struggles on the scoreboard, Meesseman has been an instant fit in the Liberty's championship defense, averaging 15.3 points and 5.7 rebounds in her first seven showings.
"It's a collective effort. It's one of your best players. There are areas where we struggle too, without Stewie, with the ability to put the ball in the hands and her ability to switch and rotate and rebound, but I think we've grown," Brondello said. "It allowed us to integrate Emma. I think that was one positive out of it, if you're going to see anything out of a positive in an injury. I think Marine (Johannes) has gotten more comfortable and playing really good defense. Everyone's had their moments, but we got to have more moments."
In addition to Stewart, the Liberty had fleeting updates on other injury list entrants that won't play on Tuesday: Nyara Sabally put on practice gear and mostly took in the proceedings on the sideline before she underwent an evaluation, though Brondello mentioned she was "working out" and "progressing really well." Isabelle Harrison, on the other hand, remains in concussion protocol and is considered day-to-day.
Geoff Magliocchetti is a veteran sportswriter who contributes to a variety of sites on the "On SI" network. In addition to the Yankees/Mets, Geoff also covers the New York Knicks, New York Liberty, and New York Giants and has previously written about the New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, Staten Island Yankees, and NASCAR.