Did the FIBA World Cup break save the New York Liberty? Leonie Fiebich described competing for host nation Germany as “very draining” both emotionally and mentally. Breanna Stewart played 139 stressful minutes en route to winning tournament MVP. Marine Johannès said, “I really know my body; I know what I need and how I feel,” as a 31-year-old veteran but admitted that she’s never faced scheduling whiplash quite like this: “It’s hard. You know your mind is still there, like, we are thinking about
the tournament.”
So it would seem unlikely. And yet, the Liberty opened post-FIBA play with their best weekend of the year, notching a fluke-less road win over the league-best Minnesota Lynx that Cheryl Reeve chalked up to a simple case of getting “out-executed” by their potential first-round playoff opponent. The Toronto Tempo have long been eliminated from playoff contention. Still, the Liberty handled it on Sunday, notching a 37-point win that won’t get a ton of coverage in this piece but was vital nonetheless.
Standings Watch
Here’s a current standings snapshot:
New York has two home games against Atlanta to end the season. They’d own the tiebreaker if they swept ‘em. They already have the tiebreak over Indiana and the Mystics, but not with the Wings. However, the Libs do place first in a potential 3-or-4-or-5-way tiebreak between those squads. It’s a lot going on — I opine that the best-case scenario for New York is to be the four-seed and host not Indy in the first round. Barring that, the Liberty match up decently with the Aces. If they are the WNBA’s #6 seed, they wouldn’t see a suddenly wobbly Minnesota team until the WNBA Finals, should both teams make it there.
In any case, it’s best for New York to keep winning. Even after their victory over the Lynx on Friday night, that’s a scary first-round matchup.
Defending the Lynx
It’s less scary than it was a week ago, though. New York played perhaps their best game of the season on Friday. They executed throughout and climbed a level (particularly their shot-making) at momentum checkpoints, and their mistakes weren’t fatal. New York turned it over 16 times but only seven were live-ball giveaways; they tidied up after a sloppy, seven-TO first frame.
The Lynx did not play their best game, but some of their struggles are attributable to New York. More than any other team, the Liberty are, on paper, armed to slow Olivia Miles, and they did it on the hardwood. Leonie Fiebich got the bulk of the assignment, with Pauline Astier and reserve Rebekah Gardner also on the job. The Liberty can credibly switch Miles-Collier pick-and-roll with Fiebich and Breanna Stewart. If Jonquel Jones is the defending the screen, she’ll sit in drop — Miles did not thrive against either coverage, particularly with Fiebich skilled and spindly enough to get over screens and rearview-contest Miles’ jumpers:
The Rookie of the Year missed her first couple jumpers and hesitated to take many more. That may not continue in a rematch. Still, New York has the length and defensive talent to take Miles out of her comfort zone if they execute — on Friday, they did.
It wasn’t just PnR defense vs. Miles. They played hard, they played connected, all the clichés — here’s what that looks like against the other Minnesota threats, namely Kayla McBride and Napheesa Collier…
The Liberty aren’t flush with options, but it takes a leap of faith to assign the frequently distrait Sabrina Ionescu to Kayla McBride, an all-time great mover, shooter, and naturally, movement shooter. She just has to be competent chasing McBride off screens, or if she falls asleep like she does in clip #3, communicate early enough for New York to switch the action. McBride missed some open ones (5-of-15 feels fortunate), but the Liberty did enough to contain her even with the occasional Ionescu lapse. For a team that’s often struggled to execute Plan A this season, it’s a tremendous sign that even Plan B was working: when New York was forced into a switch (like Ionescu on Phee), they did well to double and rotate, and rotate and rotate.
To that end, this was an insightful nugget from Josh Felton…
Napheesa Collier hit some tough middies in the second half, but her 7-of-11 shooting tells only half the story that her six turnovers make complete.
The Bec(k)s
Rebecca Allen and Rebekah Gardner are going to get real playoff minutes. Allen is shooting over 50% from deep since the All-Star break, while Gardner has made up for lackluster shooting with her defense, rim-running, and other general activity. These two shared the court in each Liberty victory, as Chris DeMarco has found a tape-job facsimile for the length + depth lineups Liberty fans had become accustomed to.
Allen is not the closeout/on-ball defender she used to be. Gardner isn’t really wing-sized. And unless the latter has a clear-ish lane to the rim, neither player should be putting it on the floor. But they each play hard and rarely slack on defense.
New York’s defense did well to take away Minnesota’s many empty-side actions, in part because their weak-side help came quite early. Rebekah Gardner made a couple impact rotations on Friday and got a steal doing the same thing on Sunday:
Meanwhile, Allen had two great blocks in help. Set to retire in a couple weeks, Allen does not move as quickly as she once did, but the length and instincts are still there. That counts for something.
During Sabrina Ionescu + bench minutes, I assume Gardner will be a defensive-minded sub and Marine Johannès an offensive-minded option, while Allen is fully entrenched as the backup small forward. The Aussie is also in semi-competition with Han Xu for playoff minutes, really, because the Han alternative is Stewie-at-the-5-and-switch-everything lineups, where Allen-Gardner-Fiebich form a sensible trio.
Coaching credit
I highlighted my favorite play call from the Lynx game on social media…
Chris DeMarco & Co. also turned in a great performance on Friday, a huge reason why the Liberty held on. Breanna Stewart played 38 minutes. Alas, that is a superstar’s burden, a franchise player’s cross to bear. However, nobody else exceeded 30 minutes in that game, and the high on Sunday was 24 minutes from Leonie Fiebich. Will Stewie and the Liberty be fresh Monday night? That remains to be seen, but DeMarco has put them in a decent position. (Again, it helps to be able to resolve nearly every issue by putting another spoonful on Stewie’s plate.)
Marine Johannès scored 13 points in 11 minutes on Friday, including a barrage of 3-pointers at the end of the third quarter. She got up eight shots in her brief appearance, swinging the game by doing what she does best — Marine is taking 17.2 FGA per 100 possessions this season and nearly fourteen 3PA per 100, easily career-highs. This is largely because DeMarco and offensive coordinator Will Sheehey call tons of plays for Johannès when she’s out there, be it Iverson action or pick-and-roll. After her incredible shooting display, she made a couple rough plays to start the fourth (such is the experience) and they were quick with a hook.
Soon thereafter, DeMarco made the right call by leaving Astier in with five fouls, sometime in the middle of her 10-point fourth quarter.
It’s been a long, maligned season for Head Coach Chris DeMarco. But he’s started the post-FIBA stretch strong.
Sabrina summary
Sabrina Ionescu made two wild 3-pointers to begin her night in Minnesota. They — a half-leaner from the top of the key over a contest, a catch-and-fire falling out of the right corner — were shots that, if anybody else could make them, they certainly wouldn’t take them given the cold stretch Ionescu’s been having. But that’s Sabrina Ionescu. Should you ever really dim her green light?
She finished the game shooting 6-of-15 with four turnovers. Every make felt huge in a game like that, but after her 1-of-8 performance in Toronto, she’s just 7-of-23 out of the break. When is it going to turn around? Does she need to play differently for the Liberty to make a deep playoff run or just shoot better?
It’s a bit of both. Sabrina needs to embrace the difference between these first two floaters — each blocked — and the last one, on balance and with little defensive pressure:
Her first two shots were blocked by help defenders. Ionescu tossing nine assists on Sunday was a good sign, but the Liberty would benefit from her driving to pass more often. Whether she’s trying to consciously shoot herself out of a slump or practicing immunity to her 53% true shooting, it’s a major win for the defense when Ionescu is taking on multiple defenders right now. She will get her fair share of late-clock opportunities to create something anyway.
Overall, the Liberty did a better job driving to pass against Toronto, not that they were terrible vs. the Lynx:
This all starts with their star guard. If Sabrina Ionescu continues to shoot poorly, the Liberty aren’t going to win many playoff games. I think dialing down the volume so she can get to two feet more often in the lane and spray to shooters is the first step in elevating Ionescu’s game down the stretch.
Next Up
That’s about it. Breanna Stewart is incredible and can hopefully sustain her energy despite the toll of this season + FIBA. Jonquel Jones needs to keep playing like this on defense. Han Xu should have to apologize to every single teammate if she passes up another semi-contested 3-pointer. And the Liberty are right back at it to begin the week.
In a matchup with huge seeding implications, the New York Liberty host the Atlanta Dream for the first of two meetings in three days at Barclays Center. Tip-off is scheduled for Monday evening at 8:00 p.m. ET.
