How New York Liberty asserted themselves atop the WNBA

The crowd of 13,694 people inside Barclays Center roared while some fans stood watching Ionescu — who led the team with 30 points on 7-14 shooting, 7 rebounds and 5 assists — take time off the clock. A group of over 20 teenage boys stood up in section 112 chanting the refrain from the song “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye,” a song covered by rock band Steam in 1969 that has become a staple at sporting events for fans looking to taunt the opposition. 

The Liberty were up 80-72 at that point. As the clock continued to tick down, the Sun were running out of time. 50 seconds later, the Liberty gave up a pair of free throws to Rachel Banham, scored two more free throws of their own and forced DeWanna Bonner into an airball. 

With the score finally set at 82-74 with the Liberty in front by a comfortable 8 points and just 40 seconds left on the clock, Ionescu once again slowed it down and listened to the crowd take in what was going to be yet another New York win. Once Ionescu handed the ball over to the officials, she joined the four New York players who closed out the game with her. Ivana Dojkić  wrapped her arms around Ionescu’s shoulder and then Jones, Kayla Thornton and Leonnie Fiebich huddled around them embracing each other. 

The Liberty defeated the Sun, the current second best team in the league, convincingly without two starters in Breanna Stewart and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton. This simply couldn’t have happened a year ago, but on Tuesday night in their last game before All-Star and then Olympic break, New York protected their home court, a place where they haven’t lost since May 23. 

“I think it’s just the buy-in of this team and understanding it can be anyone’s night, any given night and making sure that everyone stays ready and capitalizes on those moments and those opportunities that you know we do get,” Ionescu said about her team’s performance without two starters. 

She continued: “I said something before the game of just not not taking any moment for granted, and that’s what I think we did tonight. Every time we play, every time you step out there it feels like someone else is making some magical plays, someone else is stepping up and that’s the beauty of this team is we’re all bought into trying to succeed for one another.”

We’ll come back to that idea. 

Is Sabrina Ionescu the best facilitating guard in the league this season?

After telling ESPN’s Holly Rowe on Saturday that her shot “hasn’t been so great” after shooting 4-12 from three in the Liberty’s 81-67 win over the Sky, Ionescu bounced back on Tuesday night hitting 6-11 from deep including a 25 foot pull-up off a Jonquel Jones screen, the first New York possession to begin the game. 

But with Stewart and Laney-Hamilton out, Ionescu had to do a little bit more. She handled the ball for most of the 36 minutes she was on the floor, found teammates in transition and in the halfcourt, and rebounded the ball staying by with plays. On Tuesday night she also set a laundry list of Liberty and league records too. 

She has made at least one three pointer in 50 straight games, the third-longest in WNBA history. She notched her 13th game of 30 or more points, the most in Liberty history and then recorded 25 points and 5 assists in her career for the 18th time in her career, which ties her with league legend Cynthia  Cooper for the second-most in a player’s first five seasons. 

“It’s just big time, just her growth from last year,” head coach Sandy Brondello said postgame. “It’s my third year but from year one to year two to year three. I mean, I didn’t expect her to be as good as she is right now.”

While she turned it over 7 times, she didn’t let those mistakes frustrate her. Carrington and the Sun’s traps made Ionescu uncomfortable, but in her fourth full year in the league, she’s used to this, and coaches around the league also notice her exponential growth including Sun head coach Stephanie White.

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“Number one, she’s in fantastic shape, White said. “She can play a lot of minutes. She plays at a high, high pace and speed. Her change of speed is as good as anybody in the game — not just in our league, in the game. Her ability to use screens at the right angles to put you under duress, her release is so quick, and she’s become a better finisher going to the rim. You can tell that she’s put in the work. She’s not even the Sabrina of last season and that’s just a credit to her and the work she’s continued to put in to make herself a player that you have to guard at all three levels, and not even taking into consideration the fact that she’s a terrific facilitator as well.” 

How did Kennedy Burke filled in some of the gaps? 

While Ionescu took on some of the scoring, playmaking and rebounding of both Stewart and Laney-Hamilton, it was Kennedy Burke who executed at a high level defensively and brought the hustle necessary for the Liberty to walk away with the win. 

“She brought the energy that we were missing,” Dojkić said to reporters postgame about Burke. “So I think she did a great job in the most important parts of the game. I’m very proud of her.”

Burke started for her second game in a row at the four in place of Stewart and had 9 points and 4 steals, a career-high, in 24 total minutes. Burke scored in a variety of ways including a trey, a slash to the rim, off a turnover she forced and via running the floor hard in transition. 

Burke’s 4 steals, one in each quarter, allowed the Liberty to put pressure on the Sun’s transition defense, and half of those steals lead to timely Liberty field goals on the other end. The first came in the last minute of the third quarter when the score was tied at 61 a piece. Burke contested Carrington’s drive, then poked the ball away from Bonner and took it straight to the cup the other way. 

But the most flashy yet also impactful sequence came at the beginning of fourth quarter. After Liberty guard Dojkić fought over a Bonner screen, Dojkić signaled to Burke to make sure she didn’t miss Bonner on the switch. Burke followed Veronica Burton’s eyes and used her 6’3” wingspan to tip the ball up to herself away from Bonner. She dribbled the ball and waited for Ionescu to catch up in transition. Burke fired the pass to Ionescu on the left wing with not a defender anywhere near to close out. 

It didn’t stop there. While playing the five and guarding Olivia Nelson-Ododa, Burke executed the drop coverage on a Carrington drive and was able to provide backline help to Ionescu to alter Carrington’s shot at the rim. Burke got to the spot first and no foul was called. On the ensuing offensive possession for the Liberty, Burke cut to the basket and scored in a wide open restricted area. 

“I think she’s just crafty,” Brondello said about Burke postgame. “I think KB anticipates so well. She got those steals. She’s good heads up player in the transition phase, just finding the open and players if not herself, so I’m happy for her because I think she gets more and more comfortable in what we’re doing here and and just going out there and playing her game and has been really big for us these last two games especially.”

What remains fascinating about Burke is there was a time when she was mostly considered a guard, a player who mostly played the three. But after spending seasons playing in France, her coaches shifted her to the four because of her size at 6’1” and strength. The Liberty’s front office noticed this and believed that Burke could provide that same mismatch here, back in the United States.

Could Liberty have the best bench in the league? 

Since the Liberty assembled their 2023 roster, the goal has always been to have the best and deepest bench in the league. If unforeseen injuries occurred and load management had to take place for New York’s best players, the bench would allow the Liberty to continue to be competitive and allow for that extra rest and recovery in a 40-50 game season, including the playoffs. 

On paper, the Liberty had a lot of talent on their roster last season. The types of talent coming off the bench, however, didn’t quite complement the stars and starters. In 2024, the idea was to build a group that was versatile on both ends and valued both ends of the floor. 

Burke has filled in to allow more rest for Stewart white also being mindful that Nyara Sabally is still returning from her back injury. Fieibich and Thornton have taken the parts of Laney-Hamilton’s game that are categorized as 3-and-D. 

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Dojkić has been trusted to fight around screens, guard the point of attack, and play make off of Ionescu, all roles that Laney-Hamilton took on when Courtney Vandersloot missed time due to the death of her mother. The Liberty’s bench has looked more like cogs able to fit into holes rather than Jenga blocks that can be stacked upon each other. 

Brondello revealed pregame on Tuesday night that Laney-Hamilton’s surgery was a loose body removal, which is a procedure surgeons do to take out fragments of bone, cartilage or scar tissue that float around in the knee from previous injuries. With Laney-Hamilton out for presumably two more weeks following the W’s return to play in mid-August, this reliance on the Liberty’s new 2024 bench trio will be integral, especially with even less time in between games following the Olympics. 

“This league is about being aggressive on the court and just doing it no matter what to win,” Dojkić said postgame. “I’m really competitive and I will do whatever I can at that moment. Sometimes there’s going to be a little thing, sometimes a little bit bigger, but it doesn’t matter how much you want to be on the court, I always try to win. And also if I’m not on the court, but on the bench, I’ll do whatever it takes to support my teammates and get that win.”

This is a sentiment that exists throughout the Liberty, including within the team’s brightest stars. 

While Ionescu was doing her postgame interview on Tuesday night on court with sideline reporter Meghan Triplett, there were fans beginning MVP chants in the background. But, that’s not what this is about for Ionescu. Winning and playing for each other is more important for the Liberty’s 3X All-Star guard.  

“It’s something that I love being a part of,” she said. “I love being every single one of these players’ teammates because they support me just as much as I support them. I think that’s the beauty of this team.”

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