{"id":660649,"date":"2026-05-23T15:29:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T15:29:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/660649\/"},"modified":"2026-05-23T15:29:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T15:29:09","slug":"wnba-spotlight-the-new-york-liberty-know-where-they-want-to-go-getting-back-there-wont-be-easy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/660649\/","title":{"rendered":"WNBA Spotlight: The New York Liberty know where they want to go \u2014 getting back there won\u2019t be easy"},"content":{"rendered":"

The bright lights of Barclays Center, loud fan engagement, an ebullient elephant mascot named Ellie, and some of the most prominent stars in the WNBA define the reputation of the New York Liberty.<\/p>\n

After 28 years as a franchise, the team finally reached its zenith in 2024 by winning its first championship in the same year the WNBA welcomed Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. The Liberty\u2019s dramatic five-game Finals against the Minnesota Lynx in October of 2024 was one of the most-watched<\/a> series in league history, which averaged 1.57 million viewers across all five games.<\/p>\n

A season later, a revolving door of injuries<\/a>, and irreconcilable differences between the coaching staff and the front office defined the Liberty\u2019s 2025. In a season where the goal was to return to the WNBA finals for a third-straight year, they lost in the first round of the postseason and two-time WNBA champion coach Sandy Brondello, who helped lead the team to two previous Finals, was fired. <\/a><\/p>\n

New York will make its return to NBC for the first time since the 2002 WNBA Finals on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET against the Dallas Wings at home. On Monday, they\u2019ll take on the Portland Fire at home as they play for a third time this season on Peacock<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Liberty remain in a championship window that revolves around their three superstars Sabrina Ionescu, Jonquel Jones, and Breanna Stewart, a group that came together in 2023 when both Stewart and Jones took their talents to New York to join Ionescu in the largest media market in the United States.<\/p>\n

But with a new coaching staff led by former Golden State Warriors longtime assistant Chris DeMarco, plus a revamped supporting cast around the Ionescu-Jones-Stewart trio \u2014 including free-agent signing Satou Sabally, the return of Betnijah Laney-Hamilton after missing the 2025 season with a knee injury, and 24-year-old \u201cpro rookie\u201d<\/a> Pauline Astier \u2014 the Liberty are not in a position to simply pick up where they left off.<\/p>\n

Those new ingredients yield to some growing pains especially when rosters were constructed just days before training camp due to the prolonged negotiations of the WNBA\u2019s new collective bargaining agreement. Players couldn\u2019t get a head start and be in-market like they could be during previous offseason periods.<\/p>\n

As a result there\u2019s an understanding that a perfect season and dominance across the entire season, including trying to win the mid-season Commissioner\u2019s Cup Championship, aren\u2019t obligatory as long as the team is hoisting their second WNBA Finals trophy by October.<\/p>\n

New York Liberty general manager Jonathan Kolb expressed as much back in late May when he addressed the media for his state of the Liberty press conference. He reiterated New York\u2019s championship intentions while also understanding that head coach DeMarco\u2019s brand new style was going to take time to master.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s just about being patient with the process,\u201d Kolb said. \u201cBut again, we know what we\u2019re here to do. We know where our goals are, which is a championship.\u201d<\/p>\n

But that philosophy can be in conflict with where the Liberty are now versus where they were as many as four years ago. Four years ago the fanbase didn\u2019t match the fervor that it has now and that\u2019s a result of much more eyes on the team and the league writ large. Four years ago the Liberty didn\u2019t have a roster with five WNBA All-Stars.<\/p>\n

Stewart explained this friction and how there\u2019s nuance in the team\u2019s progress this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s still pressure because this is New York, because we are the Liberty, and people still want to beat us because of what we have and who we have here,\u201d she said during training camp. \u201cAnd embracing that and really knowing that every single time. We\u2019re not just gonna not care about May just because we have new concepts.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"WNBA:<\/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<\/p>\n

So what exactly are these new concepts? DeMarco, Kolb and Liberty players have spoken openly about how there aren\u2019t many scripted plays but rather there are general rules of spacing that DeMarco wants the players to follow.<\/p>\n

Golden State Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase sees some homage being paid to where DeMarco came from in how he has the Liberty playing. \u201cI do see a little bit of resemblance of the five out and the spacing of Jonquel Jones handling the ball [like] how Draymond Green handled the ball in the five out.\u201d<\/p>\n

When DeMarco describes his new Liberty offense, however, he mentions that he wants his team playing one-on-one basketball, initially a phrase that\u2019s associated with more \u201cselfish\u201d NBA-branded basketball. But how is that so, especially when the Liberty have the highest assist percentage<\/a> in the league as of now? Are the Liberty really playing \u201cselfish\u201d basketball?<\/p>\n

DeMarco explained to reporters that one-on-one basketball doesn\u2019t mean selfish basketball but instead refers to players trying to create advantages via one-on-one drives which design open shots for either the driver or their teammates. \u201cIf you\u2019re open, shoot it,\u201d he said. \u201cIf not, make a play for someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve been following the WNBA\u2019s evolution since 2022, that phrase should sound awfully familiar. It was almost eerily close to the catchphrase that Las Vegas head coach and three-time WNBA champion Becky Hammon uttered ad nauseum during her first season at the helm of the Aces.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re open, you shoot it,\u201d she would say<\/a>. \u201cIf you\u2019re not, pass it.\u201d It\u2019s almost identical to what DeMarco said. Hammon would always tell reporters how simple of a concept it was. That same vibe is now present in New York.<\/p>\n

Aside from a different system for the Liberty to continue to work through, other obstacles remain, some of which were anticipated and some of which weren\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Leonie Fiebich, the team\u2019s six-foot-four staunch perimeter defender and three-point sniper, was always going to report to the WNBA late due to her commitments playing in the Spanish league for Valencia. And her teammate in Valencia, Spanish forward Raquel Carrera, is also going to play a critical role coming off the bench for the Liberty in 2026. Carrera, whose rights the Liberty acquired in 2022, is another 24 year-old \u201cpro rookie\u201d.<\/p>\n

But what New York couldn\u2019t anticipate was that Ionescu and Sabally began the regular season on the sidelines. Ionescu has yet to make her season debut after she rolled her ankle during the Liberty\u2019s second preseason game against the Connecticut Sun on May 1. That could happen on Sunday, especially since the Liberty waived Julie Vanloo on Friday afternoon, a hardship player who the New York signed in Ionescu\u2019s absence.<\/p>\n

Sabally made her debut on Thursday night against the Valkyries, her first game of organized basketball since October. That was when she sustained a concussion during Game 4 of the 2025 WNBA Finals while playing for the Mercury. She wasn\u2019t just reconditioning from her time away from the court. During training camp she sustained a cyst that kept her from participating in game action for a couple of weeks.<\/p>\n

This all presents yet another challenge for the Liberty: How are some of these key players coming back from injury and joining the team from overseas integrated in? And, how do the players who have been playing in their place in the rotation adjust to coming off the bench?<\/p>\n

French guards Astier and Marine Johann\u00e8s, who have stepped up in the first few weeks of the season, could see their roles shift. DeMarco explained this situation as one where with the players the Liberty had out, they could \u201celevate\u201d their role players and get the most out of their stars.<\/p>\n

This is a concept to keep an eye on, as Kolb is known for constructing his rosters with playable depth. In the past under Brondello, this was both a blessing and a curse because talented players like Johann\u00e8s would either not see the floor as often or would get shoehorned into a role where they couldn\u2019t play at their most free. Brondello valued the core rotation gaining chemistry, and when she shepherded the Liberty\u2019s core group through its first couple of years together, that\u2019s what they needed.<\/p>\n

But under DeMarco, New York\u2019s depth has the potential to be just a net positive rather than a point of contention.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I think is even when you see our offense playing at quite a fast pace, I don\u2019t think you can really consistently night after night having players play 40 minutes,\u201d Liberty wing Rebecca Allen told NBC Sports. \u201cSo I think the rotation piece does come in there, where you do need to have fresh legs. You do need to have that turnover. That plays into the role of really the system that [DeMarco] has put together as well, and then to have the depth, so that there\u2019s no drop off every single time you do have those rotations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Assuming no injuries, the name of the game the Liberty will need to continue to play throughout the season will be testing out their versatility and lineup combinations. That\u2019s part of the patience that\u2019s required for the team to be peaking at the right time and get to where they need to go.<\/p>\n

But there also lies the tension once again. How do the Liberty experiment but also win games at the same time? This is a roster that has the largest collection of talent in the league and therefore the highest ceiling. What happens when they underperform? How will the team respond to the criticism that being a team in New York demands?<\/p>\n

After a handful of games into the season, that pressure has already come into focus.<\/p>\n

The Liberty got blown out 87-70 on their home floor against Golden State on Thursday night. Sure, this was Sabally\u2019s first game in around six months and Ionescu didn\u2019t suit up either. Laney-Hamilton was out with a personal issue. Fiebich was still en route to New York, and Carrera didn\u2019t play after appearing for the first time at the team\u2019s shootaround on Thursday morning.<\/p>\n

New York turned the ball over 15 times against one of the most disciplined defenses in the WNBA. New York also struggled defensively and was late to closing out on shooters. According to Sabally, players were overhelping and struggling to trust one another.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s disappointing to lose no matter what, and I think it\u2019s just obviously a learning experience for us,\u201d Jones said postgame. \u201cIt\u2019s still early in the season, we\u2019re not making excuses, but we do understand that we\u2019re not where we want to be, and we\u2019re definitely not in playoff mode yet, nor do we expect to be. So we\u2019re still learning, we\u2019re still going to grow from this, and we\u2019ll be okay.\u201d<\/p>\n

How do they reach a point of being \u201cokay\u201d amid all the newness along with expectations up the wazoo? That will be New York\u2019s central storyline this season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The bright lights of Barclays Center, loud fan engagement, an ebullient elephant mascot named Ellie, and some of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":660650,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":["post-660649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=660649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660649\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/660650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=660649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=660649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=660649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}