{"id":626957,"date":"2026-05-06T14:05:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T14:05:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/626957\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T14:05:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T14:05:14","slug":"libertys-big-offseason-decision-will-be-tested-after-sabrina-ionescu-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/626957\/","title":{"rendered":"Liberty\u2019s Big Offseason Decision Will Be Tested After Sabrina Ionescu Injury"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New York Liberty already encountered their first obstacle. Sabrina Ionescu injured her ankle<\/a> in a preseason game and will have to miss at least two weeks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ionescu\u2019s injury will immediately throw rookie head coach Chris DeMarco into the fire and reveal how ready he is to handle a team with championship expectations and a margin for error so small that it\u2019s pretty much non-existent.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hiring a first-time head coach (with absolutely no WNBA experience) to lead a veteran team trying to win it all was a bold move. The start of the season will immediately reveal how good a choice it was.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Chris DeMarco will have to answer some big questions to start the season\"Chris<\/p>\n

Apr 25, 2026; Brooklyn, NY, USA; New York Liberty head coach Chris DeMarco speaks at a press conference before the game against the Indiana Fever at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images | John Jones-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Ionescu\u2019s injury poses two questions DeMarco will have to find an answer to quickly: How does he navigate rotations and ball-handling responsibilities with Ionescu out, and how can the team overcome the fact that its most important players haven\u2019t even played together yet?<\/p>\n

The Liberty opted to move on from Natasha Cloud this offseason and make Ionescu the primary ballhandler. They also don\u2019t have a ton of depth behind her except for Marine Johannes, who is not a traditional point guard, and Pauline Astier, who is a rookie (assuming that she will make the final roster).\u00a0<\/p>\n

DeMarco has several options here. The simple solution would be to start Astier or Johannes and see if they are up to the challenge. He could also turn to Breanna Stewart as a point-forward and just throw a ton of size out on the court in the starting lineup.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Another issue is that the Liberty\u2019s most important players haven\u2019t even played together yet in preseason and will have to build chemistry well into the regular season. Satou Sabally didn\u2019t play in any of the team\u2019s preseason games, as she was returning to conditioning. Leonie Fiebich also didn\u2019t play because she is still competing overseas.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Liberty have the advantage that Ionescu, Stewart, Jones, Fiebich, Johannes, and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton know each other very well at this point. Sabally also has experience playing with Ionescu from their college days, shared a court with Fiebich as a member of the German national team, and teamed up with Stewart in Turkey for a season a few years ago. Still, adding an All-Star-level player like Sabally to an already established big three is a challenge, and not getting to play all four of them together before the start of the season only creates a longer learning curve.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Aces proved last year<\/a> that a slow start doesn\u2019t necessarily mean that you can\u2019t win a championship, but if DeMarco cannot figure these two things out quickly, the Liberty could be in for a bumpy ride.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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