"Confusing" is appropriate for everything that is about to follow. The New York Liberty currently sit at 13-11 halfway through the year, well below most analysts' expectations and certainly below the expectations of those flocking to Brooklyn to take in the performance of the team on a regular basis.
Right now, the Liberty are 1-4 in their last five games, with their latest defeat coming against the Tempo on a back-to-back. Sandwiched in-between that losing steak, however, is a Commissioner's Cup title—and just before that, New York won EIGHT straight games and held the honor of hosting the final.
That's where the confusing part comes in.
Head coach Chris DeMarco, in his first year, has coached his team to very big victories already—he has a trophy in his cabinet and we're not even out of season yet. The numbers also seem to like his team a lot (more on that in a second). However, given the skid they're on, and the manner in which some of these recent games have been lost, it's hard to look at those things and believe this Liberty team is headed where they want to head. Or is it hard to believe?
New York's ecstacy
New York actually has a few things going for them at the moment.
Of course, they still employ and are blessed by the services of both Sabrina Ionescu and Breanna Stewart. The latter is, per usual, scoring at a high clip whilst going under the radar (again) for her phenomenal defense, while the former has finally found her legs, averaging 22/4/6 over her last five outings.
The third member of their big three, Jonquel Jones, is having one of her best years in a long time. Named an All-Star for her brilliance, Jones is walking into 15 points and 9 rebounds pretty much every night, showing efficiency not just from inside the paint, but beyond the arc—she's shooting 40% from three-point range this year.
Alongside them, the emergence of rookie sensation Pauline Astier, contributions from her French compatriot Marine Johannes, and the return of Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, Rebekah Gardner, and Han Xu, the ability from top to bottom is on display for all to see.
The numbers are pretty buddy-buddy with the Liberty, too. Statistician Dan Falkenheim laid out some numbers to highlight the efficiency of every W team on both sides, and the Liberty possess a top-five half-court offense and defense within his calculations (adjusted for opponent).
In terms of simpler numbers, the Liberty allow the 4th-fewest points per game, the 5th-lowest FG%, and are more efficient at the line than any team in the W. All of that is before mentioning that they have wins against the Lynx, Liberty, Dream, and Fever, teams most would consider in the upper echelon.
New York's Misery
Of course, for all of the good they've accumulated, the Liberty are loaded with problems. Focusing on one simply doesn't tell the whole story, so it's better to point to the big ones instead.
Firstly, DeMarco is, understandably, still adjusting to the league as a whole and trying to figure out how he wants things to move for his Liberty team. A huge drawback to this is that his rotations and quickness to make substitutions, especially to start a game, are a step or two behind the best in terms of quality and consistency.
That, of course, isn't helped by the fact that New York has had every key player not named Breanna Stewart or Jonquel Jones miss significant time with injury. Ionescu's fought off two separate knocks, Satou Sabally's head injury is currently accompanied by Leonie Fiebich's foot injury on the sidelines, and key role players like Laney-Hamilton have been in and out of the lineup with injury,
Then, there's the fact that New York is good for at least one quarter of absolute futility every night—take the 29-11 detonation they suffered in the 2nd quarter against the Dallas Wings a week ago, for example. They then spend a quarter or two—usually the 4th—trying to make up for that.
Combine all of the above, and you get the exact reasons why, despite the numbers in the previous section, the Liberty sit in the #7 seed at 13-10.
There's still time
There is good news, New York. All those issues are fixable, and there's ample time to fix them.
Firstly, the Liberty doesn't just need to get healthy, they need to stay that way. The one time they did that was around the time of the 8-game winning streak.
Then, the other changes are going to have to come from within. DeMarco and the coaching staff will have to iron out the aforementioned hindrances if they plan to get to where they want to get to—Titletown.
The glimpses of what the Liberty could be have already revealed themselves. Now, it's about extracting those performances consistently, and eliminating all confusion surrounding the team.
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