High Post Hoops
Fansided

Without Tina Charles, the Liberty experimented with their Identity

By Jackie Powell

WHITE PLAINS, NY - AUGUST 30: The New York Liberty huddles up against the Connecticut Sun on August 30, 2019 at the Westchester County Center, in White Plains, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Steve Freeman/NBAE via Getty Images)
WHITE PLAINS, NY - AUGUST 30: The New York Liberty huddles up against the Connecticut Sun on August 30, 2019 at the Westchester County Center, in White Plains, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Steve Freeman/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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SEATTLE, WA – JULY 3: Natasha Howard #6 of Seattle Storm shoots the ball against the New York Liberty on July 3, 2019 at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle, Washington. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Scott Eklund/NBAE via Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WA – JULY 3: Natasha Howard #6 of Seattle Storm shoots the ball against the New York Liberty on July 3, 2019 at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle, Washington. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Scott Eklund/NBAE via Getty Images) /

The last time New York scored 84 points

The Liberty beat the Seattle Storm on July 3 in a one-point thriller. In the final quarter, Tina Charles scored 11 points in the final five minutes of the game to give the win to New York. The Liberty had just lost Hartley and Zahui B. to Eurobasket and remember that hand injury, which kept Allen out for ten games?

But, this team stops while Charles has the ball. With the exception of Nurse at times, against Seattle in early July, most of New York would stop when the 7X All-Star retained possession.

With 5:31 left in the fourth, Charles had the ball inching on the block and there was no one to her left. Her teammates are all on the weakside and were barely moving. When the offense hangs tight and lets Charles move in insolation, that’s not great basketball.

There were a bunch of similarities between both of these 84-point games: over three players scored in double figures, five players shot over 40 percent from the field and New York had 20 assists or over in both contests. In addition to no Charles, a jarring difference was the roster and its depth. Eurobasket was the depleter-in-chief and Charles and Nurse were in fight-or-flight mode. But that’s no way to discover an identity. Two players don’t win championships.

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