Liberty Weekly: Seafoam Comes Home
A unfriendly road trip has sacked some seafoam momentum but home cooking awaits the New York Liberty as the WNBA nears the July 4th landmark.
Team | Wins | Losses | Games Back |
|---|---|---|---|
1. Minnesota | 13 | 2 | |
2. Phoenix | 12 | 4 | 1.5 |
3. LIBERTY | 11 | 4 | 2 |
4. Atlanta | 10 | 6 | 3.5 |
5. Seattle | 10 | 6 | 3.5 |
Where the Liberty Stand
It's been a cruel start to the summer for the Liberty, who continue to navigate without starters Leonie Fiebich and Jonquel Jones.
Fiebich's time in EuroBasket has ended with a fifth-place finish for the Germans and she could join the Liberty as soon as this Thursday's game against Los Angeles. Jones, on the other hand, is a more difficult case, as she's out for at least the next four weeks due to an ankle injury reaggravated earlier this month at home against Phoenix.
Two losses to Phoenix broke the New York-Minnesota monopoly on the early WNBA leaderboard, where the top nine teams are separated by a mere six games shortly after the first quarter checkpoint of the season.
Last Week: 1-2
The Liberty kept pace with the Seattle Storm on Sunday and took care of clutch business in its maiden voyage to San Francisco three nights later.
But the bottom fell out in a visit to the desert, where the surging Phoenix Mercury took control from the get-go and downed the Liberty by a sizable 106-91 final, never going down by less than seven after building a 19-point advantage in the opening round.
New Yorkers have insisted that this early turbulence, featuring losses in four of the last six games after a 9-0 start, goes beyond the mere departures of Fiebich and Jones, but it's easy to see where the two are missed: the floor has gotten way more open for Liberty opponents and a metropolitan price has been paid from deep. The Liberty has let up 72 three-point tries over the last six, breaking a dire franchise record in any such span. Phoenix took particular advantage on Friday, hitting 18 triples to come one short of the Liberty's WNBA single-game record that they've set twice this season.
Player of the Week: Marine Johannes
(12.7 points, 58.3 field goal percentage, 47.3 three-point percentage, 4.3 rebounds)
The magic is coming back to the Liberty's so-called wizard, who reaping the benefits of staying in New York over a trip to EuroBasket.
Johannes has come up big in relief for the shorthanded Liberty, as her three-point shooting has helped overcome sluggish metropolitan starts that serve as the harbingers of long days on the hardwood. While her initial 7-of-7 out from the field was negated by an equally clutch output from Nneka Ogwumike, a Bay Area heat check in the second half against the Valkyries served as the turning point in New York's lone win last week.
Seeking silver linings amidst this early summer swoon, Liberty reps have praised the long-term impact games like these could eventually carry when it comes to reforming a championship mindset. If Johannes has built lasting momentum (alongside fellow deep-shooting reserve Kennedy Burke), the meaning of this painful week could take on a rosier tone come fall.
Honorable Mentions
- Breanna Stewart: 19.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 47.8 field goal percentage
- Kennedy Burke: 13.0 points, 43.8 three-point percentage
They Said It
"I don't care who's not with us. I don't care. [Fiebich and Jones] not going to save us here. We what we've got, this is it. We've got to find a way to dig deeper. I just think we just got to play tougher. If you don't bring effort, you're going to get exploited ... A lot of teams have lost EuroBasket players too. Competing is just something that's within. Are you willing to do it or not? It's early days, so I'm not going to totally panic. I'm disappointed in the way that we played [tonight]. They were a way better team than us tonight [but] then so it's more how we're going to respond. I kept saying that we're missing two important players, but we can play harder than what we did tonight." - Sandy Brondello after the Friday loss to Phoenix
This Week
Sunday: @ Atlanta
(3 p.m. ET, WWOR)
One last road showing against one of their chasers awaits the Liberty, as they'll face the Atlanta Dream at Gateway Center Arena for the first time this season. New York defeated Atlanta in their first get-together earlier this month, but the Liberty was far from satisfied with the effort considering that they had to come back from a 17-point deficit to earn an 86-81 victory. That loss has helped bring the Dream (10-6) back to Earth a bit after an 8-3 start, but they've enjoyed a breakout from second-round rookie Te-Hina Paopao. In her prior four games before going 0-for-5 in consecutive losses, the South Carolina alumna shot over 73 percent from three-point range, including a 4-of-6 mark against the Liberty on June 17.
Thursday: Los Angeles
(7 p.m. ET, WNYW)
A preview of Independence Day fireworks will tip-off an eight-game homestand for the Liberty, who won't leave Brooklyn as a unit again until July 28. They'll face a West Coast group enjoying the antics of Kelsey Plum (20.5 points a game) while biding its time for the return of sophomore sensation Cameron Brink with the struggling Rickea Jackson also holding down the fort. Even without Brink or Plum, rebuilding Los Angeles (5-11) proved to be a thorn in the Liberty's side last season, as a sterling shooting night from Jackson, Rae Burrell and Dearica Hamby guided them to a 94-88 triumph last late August at Crypto.com Arena.
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.