Liberty 89, Sun 81: Optimism
"Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement; nothing can be done without hope.”
After tough losses early on in a season, players, coaches, and even media have two choices: believe in the doomsday that could come, or soldier on and trust the process. New York Liberty coach Sandy Brondello encouraged everyone to subscribe to the latter. Her early optimism after a 63-57 loss to the Connecticut Sun a month ago rang in my ears as I watched the final seconds of Tuesday’s 89-81 Liberty win in Connecticut.
Game day coincided with the 143rd birthday of Helen Keller, who wrote the optimistic quote about optimism above. Keller sheds light on the importance of a positive goal in order to achieve something. For the Liberty, this optimism is embodied by every player and led by Brondello. After last night’s close win, Coach had this to say: "It shows our resiliency and staying true to how we want to play . . . our players have the ability to execute.”
The resiliency she is speaking about stood out late in the game, when things could’ve gotten messy. Up one with 2:25 to go in the fourth, Betnijah Laney drained a three to put New York up four going into the home stretch. The minute before, on the other end of the court, the Sun’s Alyssa Thomas bodied Breanna Stewart down low, sinking a layup while securing her third triple-double this week, adding to her total as the WNBA’s all-time leader. Mohegan Sun Arena went crazy. It could have been a momentum killer for the road team.
They were not fazed.
Courtney Vandersloot inbounded to Laney. Jonquel Jones and Stewie set up screens towards the top of the key, Kayla Thornton cut low and Laney was able to pop out and drain a deep one. The Sun couldn’t answer on the other end, and the Liberty secured their 10th win of the season. Only two teams have moreL the Sun and the Las Vegas Aces. The Aces also only have one loss on the year, when the Sun pulled off the home win 94-77 earlier this month.
The point is these could be the top three teams in the league come playoff time in September. This win, however close, showed that Lib fans should join Brondello in her optimism. After all, these kinds of wins are exactly what Brondello spoke on earlier this season.
“We’re not winning championships in week one,” she’d said, acknowledging that for the Liberty to hoist a trophy at the end of the season, they would have to stick to a plan, and not let early failures and stumbling blocks get them down. After all, the squad didn’t even have the whole roster of players for training camp in 2022. Brondello reflected on stepping in as head coach at that time.
“Shit does happen, right? I can’t control it. I’m not gonna leave. I just got to deal with what I have there. And you try and do your best in that moment. My goal was like, ‘Yeah, you know, let’s be the best we can today. How do we get better with our five players we have on court?’”
Now this season, with the additions of Jones, Sloot and Stewie, the Liberty have more offensive options; unlike some star-studded teams, they have found a way to share the basketball. Players like Laney show up and contribute every single game, filling their role and even finding ways to go above it. She is used to playing the majority of minutes, and scoring a majority of the points, but doesn’t have to this year. She can create space on the floor for Jones and Stewie, who notched 14 and 24 points, respectively. Sloot is consistently a playmaker and led the team with nine assists last night to go along with her 17 points. The roster also gives Sabrina Ionescu the freedom to post triple-doubles and career-highs in points, and with five rebounds last night she became the fastest WNBA guard to reach 500 rebounds. These milestone achievements wouldn’t be possible if the Liberty hadn’t found synergy in the past two months. Brondello credits individual selflessness for this success.
"It’s something we spoke about at halftime,” she said after the Connecticut win. “We’ve been in this spot and lost. Credit to these ladies. We really showed some growth. We’re understanding how we want to play, and they’re so selfless. That’s why we have such high assists."
For a team with as much talent as they have, these tough wins are only going to make them sharper as time goes on. Plus, back-to-back-to-back road games against tough opponents are another way for the Liberty to refine their skills and learn their weaknesses. Their next two matchups are against the Aces and the Seattle Storm. I’ll retain optimism after those games. Will you?
