NFL
By: Sameer Kumar
The New York Liberty suffered a 87-70 blowout loss to the Golden State Valkyries on Thursday.
For fans who are used to hot starts and winning essentially every game, plenty of alarm bells were set off.
However, it’s important to remember that this is a team still looking to reintegrate Satou Sabally into the lineup and get Sabrina Ionescu healthy.
The Golden State Valkyries’ defense was tough for the Liberty to solve. New York was held to just 6-of-24 shooting from 3-point range.
The Liberty’s defense also simply did not match up to their opponent. Golden State dished out 18 assists while committing just five turnovers.
A team committing five turnovers in a basketball game is incredibly rare. Heck, most superstars single-handedly commit that many in a game fairly often.
On the other hand, the Liberty had 20 assists to 14 turnovers, which helped the Valkyries score 17 points off turnovers.
What Needs to Change for the Liberty?
The Liberty are operating under first-year head coach Chris DeMarco, who was an assistant coach for the Golden State Warriors throughout their dynasty years.
“We got to find a way to execute better offensively but also create more turnovers defensively,” DeMarco said. “We’re still trying to attack the rim. I thought we had some good looks from 3 and we just had a lot of momentum killers whether it was fouling 3-point shooters or turning the ball over when we had opportunities in early offense.”
It might take a while for players to adjust to his system, given their long-standing relationship with Sandy Brondello.
The Liberty’s ball movement is going to need to change. Breanna Stewart cannot keep playing hero ball and be put in a position to carry the team each night.
The Liberty could also benefit from giving Jonquel Jones most post-up opportunities. That could cause defenses to collapse inside and encourage better ball movement around the perimeter.
In years past, New York operated best when the ball was hopping around the perimeter. An occasionally deep 3-pointer from Ionescu was allowed, but that should always be seen as a last resort.
Pauline Astier and Marine Johannes have stepped up admirably for Ionescu so far. However, both would be better served in complementary roles rather than focal parts of the offense.
Assuming everyone eventually gets healthy, a healthy Ionescu could turn out to be the sparkplug this Liberty team so desperately needs to win it all this season.
