The New York Liberty are three days into training camp, their first under Head Coach Chris DeMarco. It’s not a full house quite yet. Among the late arrivals are Breanna Stewart and Marine Johannès — they just faced off in an all-Turkish EuroLeague Women’s championship round, with Stewie’s Fenerbahce squad defeating Johannès and Galatasaray…
DeMarco said both Stewie and Johannès are expected to arrive soon, and will participate
in training camp within the next week or so. Leonie Fiebich, again playing with Valencia in the top Spanish league, isn’t expected to arrive until mid-May. Last season, Valencia won the championship on May 11, so don’t be surprised if Fiebich misses regular season games.
But the late-arriving players are not the biggest story of training camp thus far. With everybody getting used to a new regime, the majority of questions have been about DeMarco, and he and his staff have gotten rave reviews…
“I would say he’s very relatable,” said Jonquel Jones. “He’s easy to have a conversation with. I think he puts himself in our shoes pretty often, in terms of just understanding the demands of the game and just what it takes to be successful.”
Jones’ sentiment has been echoed throughout the roster. Training camp invitee Anneli Maley called him a super “dope” person: “He doesn’t make you feel like an asset, you know, he makes you feel like a human. And I really like that, and I really value that in coaches. And he’s a good communicator. When he asks questions, he asks to listen and hear the answer, not just to respond, which I think is a really invaluable thing in a coach.”
But the bigger story is how drastically DeMarco seems to have changed the Liberty’s offensive principles. Last season’s 9-0 start was quickly derailed by injuries, and Sandy Brondello’s offense never recaptured its spark. Statistically, their major drop-off in offensive rebounding seemed was the biggest culprit, though anecdotally, the synergy clearly wasn’t there, culminating in a first-round loss to the Phoenix Mercury where they averaged under 70 points per game.
So what’s different this season?
According to Sabrina Ionescu, just about everything: “It’s nothing like last year. Yeah, it’s going to be completely different. I’d say, like, the sense of we’re all going to be playing to our strengths is always going to be the same. Like, he came in understanding what everyone does really well and how he can incorporate it. But I’d say the spacing that we’re playing with is going to be kind of different than what we’ve seen.”
Rebekah Gardner agreed with Ionescu but didn’t offer specifics, simply citing “a lot of ball-movement and player-movement” in the new offense. We’ll have to wait and see what it looks like, but it seems that DeMarco’s staff is off to a pretty good start:
- “He’s able to really paint that picture very clear for us to just understand, like, ‘this is what you need to be doing offensively, and this is where you need to be.’” — Sabrina Ionescu
- “I think the word that comes to mind straight away is: He’s very clear. He’s clear in what he wants. And I think that clarity just helps with everyone knowing, ‘hey, where am I meant to be? What’s my position? How does the ball move?’” — Rebecca Allen
- “It’s just really simple. Honestly, it’s simple basketball, but like, playing off each other.” — Rebekah Gardner
It’s only been half-a-week of training camp, and DeMarco himself has emphasized that getting the team to peak form is going to be a “slow build.” Liberty fans should be pleased with these quotes but unsurprised if they look a bit sluggish in their first preseason game on Saturday night. For now, the staff and their players appear to be on the same page.
“A confused player can’t play fast, and so, we’re trying to make it simple so that we understand what we’re trying to get to right now,” said DeMarco. “There is this way of playing faster, and I think we’re relying more on execution. That’s how we want to play, make sure we actually get a good shot. But it is a build, right? Like, you can’t just throw in seven sets right away.”
It’s going to be a fun year to track New York’s offense; over on Substack, I’ll be keeping track of every offensive possession they have this season, broken down by play-call, personnel, defensive coverage, and more! Looking forward to the actual games.
A couple old new faces
Rebecca Allen and Han Xu are back in town! Drafted by the New York Liberty in 2019, Han is embarking on her fourth season with the squad after a successful season with the Perth Lynx of the WNBL, Australia’s top league, where she won DPOY…
Han is only on a camp contract, meaning if she makes the regular-season roster, her deal will be converted to a one-year minimum. But given the Liberty’s lack of true bigs, she’s nearly guaranteed to stick around this season.
“I’m already 26 now, and I have a little bit of experience,” said Han. “So I know what my advantage is … I needed to use more thinking on the court, how to play vs. a strong defender or a tall defender or something, and how to work with shooting teammates, or who can attack. Just thinking about the whole thing on the court, this is what I got better at.”
Though in a limited sample (53 attempts), Han shot 39.6% from deep on four attempts per 100 possessions over her three seasons in New York, and has continued to take threes in both the WNBL and with the Chinese national team, where she is of course a star. Can she make an impact this season? She’ll certainly have the chance.
So will Spider, AKA Rebecca Allen, who spent the first seven seasons of her career with the Liberty before playing for three different teams the past three seasons. The Aussie is absolutely thrilled to be back on a one-year deal.
“This is a different free agency for me than the one that I had two years ago,” Allen explained. “It was one where I only wanted to come to New York. That was a big thing for me, especially with where I’m at in my career. I wanted to go back to a place that means something to me. I want to be in a winning culture. I also really loved my chat with the coach, and I felt like, ‘hey, this, this really resonates with me.’”
Few can appreciate the Liberty’s growth from Westchester afterthought to premier sports brand like Allen. Now, in her 11th WNBA season, Allen can reap the benefits of her hard work during all those losing seasons earlier in her career: “I’m someone that likes to move off the ball and cut, and this offense really serves to that. I’m also, I would say, a selfless player … I really see myself fitting in well offensively, but defensively in particular, you can tell that we’re already developing that trust defensively, and that’s pretty cool after after three days.”
But for all the joyous reunions (including, to an extent, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, who was around the team last season but sat out with a knee injury), there is one absence felt. Said Jonquel Jones of losing Nyara Sabally: “My heart was broken. Not gonna lie, my heart was broken. That’s my sister. Man, that’s my little sister … She came down to the Bahamas and worked out with me and stuff like that. We were on the court together, we was on the beach together, jumping in the canal, all that good stuff. So I was really sad. I didn’t expect to see her leaving.“
The Liberty are loaded, obviously. They are the overwhelming betting favorite to win the championship. But they’ll have to do it without a beloved teammate who had heroic moments in the 2024 run to the title.
Preseason basketball begins on Saturday afternoon, when the Liberty will take on the Indiana Fever at Barclays Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. ET.
