Mystics 80, Liberty 64: Super takes time
The journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step. The Liberty’s was more of a stumble.
Most things that are “super” take time to get there. The last son of Krypton, Kal-El, endured an intergalactic escape and decades as Clark Kent before becoming Earth’s Superman. The 20th century saw the U.S. and U.S.S.R. dominate the globe as its two superpowers, something predicted as early as 1835, when de Tocqueville wrote “each of them seems marked out by the will of Heaven to sway the destinies of half the globe.” Even “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” doesn’t show up until Mary Poppins’ fifth song.
The New York Liberty may be a superteam someday, but not yet. Their 80-64 opening game defeat in Washington was a perfect illustration of this. The Liberty are trying to fit three new All-Stars, including two former MVPs – Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones and Courtney Vandersloot – into a starting lineup that holds over Sabrina Ionescu and Betnijah Laney, a pair of All-Stars themselves. But the last time New York was simply a winning team was five years ago. Bill Laimbeer was the head coach. It took time to get here. It’ll take time to get wherever comes next.
The Mystics also made a big offseason addition in former L.A. Spark guard Brittney Sykes, a three-time All-Defense honoree who last year led the league in steals. Stacking her alongside Ariel Atkins and Natasha Cloud, with seven All-Defense nods between them, is another example of our nation’s capital helping the rich get richer. After the Liberty led for most of the opening quarter, the D.C. D locked in, forcing 14 misses on New York’s last 15 shots. A 19-4 run bridging the first two quarters put Washington up 10; they’d spend the rest of the night comfortably ahead in front of an approving sellout crowd.
The Liberty, as is often the case with embryonic superteams, were off-balance, alternating excessive deferrence to one another with the heliocentric urge for one star to try and do everything themselves. Meanwhile, the Mystics were a study in intelligent design and indomitable will – every loose ball, they were quicker to grab it. Natasha Cloud is a player who practically hums with electricity, she’s so active; I imagine she vibrates while tying her shoes. Rookie big Shakira Austin showed relentless aggression and a confidence well beyond her years. New York needed a relatively hot second half just to finish the night shooting 34%.
The Washington offense flowed from the full repertoire of Elena Delle Donne, who was hitting pull-up 3s, driving 25 feet to the cup, drilling baseline turnarounds, breezing down the baseline for buckets, facilitating from the perimeter and from down low.
The Mystics were quicker, smoother and deeper; by halftime they enjoyed a 10-0 advantage in fast break points and a 13-2 edge in bench scoring. Kristi Toliver may not make every shot she takes, but every shot she takes looks like a make. Presumably the imminent return of Marine Johannès will help the Liberty with their depth. On this night, they were out of their depths.
For now, New York is a promise in search of its premise. Late in the third, Cloud was defended by Laney while taking a dribble hand-off. Laney careened into Jones, essentially setting a pick on her teammate, creating an open look for a clean J that Cloud swished. On the Liberty’s last possession of the quarter, with time winding down, Laney tripped over Epiphanny Prince, leading to a turnover. It was that kind of night.
On New York’s first possession of the game, Jones took a 3-pointer that bounced around the rim a bit before falling. It wasn’t pretty, but it did the trick. Coach Sandy Brondello and her team will try to find the fullest, bestest version of themselves as soon as possible, but in the meantime scrapping and clawing may be what they have to do to survive until they learn to fly. Next game is the Lib’s home opener; tomorrow they host Indiana and #1 overall pick Aliyah Boston. The Fever look to have landed some kinda marvel in Boston, but it’ll take time for them to get where they’re going. The Liberty know the feeling.
