This is not how the New York Liberty wanted to start to the season. Sabrina Ionescu is out two weeks with an ankle injury, Satou Sabally, a stunning free-agent addition, did not appear in either of New York’s preseason games. Rebecca Allen ain’t ready to play either. Leonie Fiebich and Raquel Carrera likely won’t arrive stateside until the end of May. on account of Valencia’s playoff run in Spain’s top league.
The Liberty signed two players to hardship contracts just to field nine players for their
opener against the Connecticut Sun on Friday night, starting the season in survival mode under a brand-new coaching staff. Welcome to W, Chris DeMarco.
“I learned that there’s never enough time; there’s moving pieces, stuff comes up,” he said of his first training camp.
Friday night should put him at relative ease. DeMarco started an all-French backcourt of Marine Johannès and newcomer Pauline Astier; maximizing New York’s ball-handling court proved fruitful…
In the first half alone, Johannès hit four triples, Astier had 5/1/4, and hardship signing Julie Vanloo put up 9/6/5 in her ten minutes about 16 hours after getting off a plane. Even with Sabrina Ionescu sidelined, New York’s guards were too much for Connecticut to contain.
“We talked about it earlier today,” said DeMarco, “but [Vanloo] is just a basketball player, and the more basketball players you get on your team, the better off you’ll be. And I know it’s a quick turnaround, but she’s been playing our brand of basketball her whole career, so she’s a really good fit for what we do, and she’s competitor.”
Not that the Sun, particularly without their most exciting player in Leïla Lacan, provided much of a challenge. The Libs were awesome. But the league’s schedule-makers handed DeMarco quite the welcome gift. The score was 36-13 after ten minutes, the most points the Liberty have scored in a first quarter since 2023. Betnijah Laney-Hamilton opened the second quarter by dropping Gianna to her Kneepkens. It was gross…
Despite the occasional turnaround 8-footer from Brittney Griner, Connecticut was overwhelmed on the interior too. Breanna Stewart shot 10-of-13 from two and 11-of-12 from the line, finishing with 31/10/2 and a couple of highlight blocks. The Liberty shot 69% from two as a team.
In so many words: a blowout. The third quarter was aggravating, with a million whistles and 11 Liberty turnovers energizing the Sun toward belated competitiveness. Griner and Diamond Miller were the only two double-digit scorers for the visitors, as the Sun missed more than half their free-throws and shot 18.2% from deep. Yuck.
New York frequently ran in transition, but early returns on the new half-court offense were also positive. Again, Connecticut got in front of the bulldozer without much resistance, but the Libs lived at the rim and at the line. Players rarely drove into traffic, with off-ball movement resulting in open looks…
Said Stewart: “We played faster than I expected … we were able to push in transition a lot more, and just the way we were moving offensively, everybody was on a string. And we scored a lot of points.”
Aubrey Griffin, the other hardship signing, entered during garbage time, scoring New York’s final two points of the night and ensuring everybody got on the board. Han Xu hit a couple threes which lit the place up, Rebekah Gardner scored nine points, and Vanloo more than flirted with a triple-double, posting 12/7/11. Even the mayor was impressed…
The New York Liberty have to get healthy and whole. They also have to keep treading water against better opponents. But for a couple hours on Friday night, all was well. Liberty basketball is back.
“The pride I had of, like, seeing the crowd going nuts in that first quarter when we were finding great shots, we’re competing, we’re defending. Like, this is exactly why I love this game. That’s why I love to coach. It’s watching the players figure it out and just compete. So that’ll be the memory, just watching the crowd go nuts.” — Chris DeMarco
Final Score: New York Liberty 106, Connecticut Sun 76
Kennedy Burke honored
The New York Liberty played a tribute video for 2024 WNBA champion Kennedy Burke just after they destroyed her new team in the first quarter. But that didn’t damper Burke’s mood; she was clearly touched by the raucous ovation she received…
“I hope I don’t cry and get emotional,” said Burke last week to the New York Post’s Madeline Kenney, anticipating a video. “I know I will because I’m just an overall emotional person but to be back in Brooklyn, it’s an amazing feeling no matter what – if you’re playing with Brooklyn or you’re against them, but the vibes are always great.”
Next Up
The Liberty hit the road for three games before a week-long break. They’ll start in the capital, facing the Washington Mystics on Sunday afternoon, with tip-off scheduled for 3:00 p.m. ET.
