Like many other teams, the Liberty had to play without key players regularly this season. First, Jonquel Jones missed time with an injury. Then, Breanna Stewart, Kennedy Burke, and Nyara Sabally went down. Now that Stewart is back, the Liberty still haven’t been able to catch a break. Sabrina Ionescu is out with an injury and missed three consecutive games.
The issue isn’t just that the Liberty miss a lot of production when one of their stars or key reserves is sidelined. Sandy Brondello also hasn’t been able to see what her team looks like when healthy since Belgian superstar Emma Meesseman joined the squad.
Meesseman joined the Liberty after competing with her national team in June. She played her first game in a Liberty uniform on August 3. Stewart, Burke, and Sabally all had to miss that game as well as significant time afterwards. The latter is still out. Stewart, meanwhile, returned to the court on August 25 against the Connecticut Sun. Natasha Cloud missed that game, and Sabrina Ionescu has been out ever since, meaning that the Liberty haven’t played with all of Cloud, Ionescu, Stewart, Jones, and Meesseman available at the same time yet.
After a crushing 66-58 loss to the Golden State Valkyries, Sandy Brondello spoke about the team’s lack of chemistry.
“It’s been a tough season for us in terms of injuries with having so many people injuries and just trying to work it out on the fly and not getting the chemistry that we need, that other teams probably get with more players on the court there,” Brondello said in the postgame press conference.
The Liberty can still cause problems in the playoffs
Due to their late-season struggles, the Liberty fell to fifth place in the regular-season standings and will enter the playoffs in a worse position than they would have liked. Phoenix separated itself from New York, creating a 2.5-game advantage that may very well keep the Liberty out of the top four.
That doesn’t mean that the Liberty are destined to falter in the playoffs as well, though. This is still an incredibly talented roster that has the potential to win big games in the postseason if healthy.
After the loss to the Valkyries, Brondello pointed to an encouraging silver lining. “It’s just trying to find out now what works best because we haven’t had enough experiences,” Brondello said. “[Rebekah Gardner] hasn’t always played a lot of minutes for us this year, but she showed us exactly how she can help us…knowledge is power that will help us as we move forward.”
Thanks to the Mercury’s win over the Fever, the Liberty clinched a playoff spot despite losing a second consecutive game. So, they can use the final three games of the regular season to build chemistry—hopefully with all key players available. Ionescu is considered day-to-day.
New York could be part of a thrilling first-round series
If the season ended today with the Liberty in fifth place, they would have to face the Mercury in the first round. That would make for a thrilling series if both teams are healthy. Between Alyssa Thomas, Kahleah Copper, Satou Sabally, DeWanna Bonner, Jonquel Jones, Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, and Emma Meesseman, that series would feature a ton of star power and playoff experience.
It has the potential to be the most thrilling first-round series this year, even if the season series was not overly competitive. New York played Phoenix four times this season and lost three times.