The New York Liberty were escorted out of the playoffs by the Phoenix Mercury, losing a nailbiter 79-73. It’s a disappointing end to a season that started on a heater, went flat, and really just hovered on mediocrity through the end.
Every trope that encapsulated the New York Liberty’s season showed itself in their final moments as the WNBA Champions — a title they will now be relinquishing come October.
So, where did it all go wrong for New York?
The Liberty have a mantra they’ve lived by for a while: “We all we got, we all we need”. Usually, that holds extremely strongly, but on Friday, they needed a little something extra.
No Rebounds, No Rings
A few weeks ago, I stated that the Liberty had a rebounding issue, which was linked to their issue with giving up second-chance points. My final verdict?
“It’s killer. Totally killer.”
Indeed, it ended up being absolutely killer on Friday. It’s one thing to get outrebounded 58-42 in an elimination game. It’s another that in the last 40 minutes of the Liberty’s season, they could only corral two — yes, two — offensive rebounds. Phoenix managed eight on the night, leading to 11 second-chance points.
Of all the disheartening things from the elimination game, the fact that the Liberty couldn’t capitalize on their great defense is up there. From the field, Phoenix only shot 36%. One player shot above 50% — Monique Akoa Makani on 2-of-4 shooting.
Furthermore, the Liberty won the turnover battle 13-10. However, they couldn’t capitalize due to their inability to shut possessions down after missed shots. A genuinely elite defensive showing amounting to absolutely nothing, simply because the Liberty couldn’t grab rebounds.
The confusing thing about this is, again, this was the No. 1 team in rebounding last season, and not much changed roster-wise. Perhaps the Liberty, who were already eager last offseason, need to go even harder this time around in free agency.
The solution isn’t concrete, but the problem is, and it needs fixing fast.
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Shocking Disappearances
This whole first-round series was a huge enigma in which the Liberty’s brightest spots were largely absent in terms of impact. Some simply went missing due to poor performance, and perhaps the most shocking example of this was Jonquel Jones.
Jones is a large part of what makes the Liberty train go. She’s one of the most dangerous stretch bigs in the league, and when hot, there is no stopping her. She was instrumental in the Liberty’s title run, winning Finals MVP in the all-time classic five-game series. The Mercury holding her to 17 total points throughout the first round, including three points on 1-of-10 shooting in Game 3, just sounds inconceivable.
Yet, that’s exactly what happened.
She wasn’t the only one, either. Emma Meesseman, seen as the biggest free-agency pickup of the year, was in a straitjacket throughout the whole series. Outside of her brilliant Game 1 performance, Natasha Cloud also failed to get going. Three players who have all won championships and performed under the bright lights numerous times — two doing so to the tune of Finals MVPs — just doesn’t happen.
Then there are bench disappearances. Isabelle Harrison, Marine Johannes, and Nyara Sabally played pretty solid roles for the Liberty this year. Just last year, Sabally was really instrumental in the Liberty’s championship run.
One would think that those players would see significant time, but none of them even saw the court until Game 2 was out of hand, and they never saw the court in the decider Game 3. Could they have turned this series around? Maybe, but that will forever be a question without an answer.
Between the stars losing their spark and the bench seeing DNP’s, this series was filled with really odd disappearances. They were all huge in derailing the Liberty.
Where to Go From Here?
Well, wherever they’re going, the Liberty are hellbent on getting there quickly:
GM Jonathan Kolb was extremely candid when talking about his decision to let go of Sandy Brondello, saying that, “We need to be more innovative, we need to be more adaptable.” He also said the Liberty isn’t a results-based organization, implying that he values the journey more than the destination or the end product.
His decision is sensible. Based on the results alone, Brondello had been fantastic. She is the winningest coach in Liberty history, and the only one to lead them to a title. However, many questioned the way that she got those results — winning the ’24 title despite blowing Game 1 immediately comes to mind — and evidently so did Kolb. Otherwise, Sandy would still be here.
The question now becomes: Who replaces her? One can question the process as much as they want, but replacing the most successful coach in franchise history will be far from easy.
It’s not just a quick replacement, either — Kolb clearly wants to go dynastic in New York. Whoever takes that spot would, in theory, have to be better than Brondello. Finding someone who could better the achievements of a two-time champion coach is rare. However, if anyone could find that person, it’s Kolb and the Liberty front brass.
One thing is for certain – the Liberty feel the sting of this first-round exit, and they’ll do everything in their power to make sure it doesn’t happen again for a long, long time.
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