Natasha Cloud Stays Positive Amidst Liberty Struggles
It's going to take more to dissipate the New York Liberty's Cloud.
Cloud Nine continues to be a place of seafoam serenity despite a recent summer swoon, as Natasha Cloud once again stressed the lack of panic in the ongoing turbulent stretch the defending champs are facing.
"I just want everyone to just take a deep breath with us," Cloud said following a 79-70 loss to the Seattle Storm on Sunday. "We're missing two starters for like, the last few weeks, that's about 35 points off the board, that's about 20 rebounds off the board, and we're still missing a 20 point, double-double player out of our starting lineup."
"If you take any two starters out of any other starting lineup in this league, they're going to have the same turbulence, or whatever it may be."
After wins in each of their first nine, the Liberty (12-6) have dropped six in their last ennead.
Most of that stretch has been staged without reigning WNBA Finals MVP Jonquel Jones, who has been sidelined with an ankle injury since June 19, and Leonie Fiebich, who was repping her native Germany in the EuroBasket Women's competition. Fiebich rejoined the team last week after seven games off while Jones continues to rehab.
"The fans that are with us, not the May weather fans, because we know May weather fans, they like to jump on a on a bandwagon when everything is good, but real fans stay when you hit a little bit of adversity, because that's just bound to happen during the season. So there is zero panic from this f***ing team, zero ... We're going to be fine."
The lack of panic was enough for Cloud to keep her prevalent smile amidst a rollercoaster afternoon: the Liberty got off to a decent start after Sabrina Ionescu sank five three-pointers in the opening half but they scored only six points in the ensuing third quarter, all of which were earned by Cloud.
The first-year New Yorker was then held out of the entire fourth quarter despite keeping the Liberty offense afloat in the anemic third. Head coach Sandy Brondello mentioned that Cloud "got hit" and was unable to return.
For her part, Cloud briefly addressed her status in the aftermath, labeling herself "fine" while dismissing the idea of any last damage. Cloud was not on the initial injury report for Tuesday's game against Las Vegas (8 p.m. ET, ESPN), which labeled her partner Isabelle Harrison as questionable after she left Seattle's visit with a knee injury sustained in a defensive tangle-up with Fiebich. (Cloud was added to the list late Tuesday morning as questionable with a hip injury while Harrison was downgraded to out)
Having stepped as a leader and a fan favorite fairly early in her Liberty career, Cloud offered challenges through the challenges, believing that the New York turbulence can be countered through a balance of not panicking and holding each other accountable amidst a lengthy homestand that offers some incoming relief: New York faces Las Vegas on Tuesday before they get four days to prepare for a visit from the Atlanta Dream.
"In the game of basketball, things aren't going to be perfect, but we give effort here every single day. So we're going to continue to challenge each other," Cloud said. "We're going to continue to get into practice ... We got one practice tomorrow. We've played Vegas, and then we have four days to finally just give our bodies a break. So that mental and physical break is going to be really great."
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.