The WNBA playoffs are here, and the New York Liberty are off to a good start. They are playing the Atlanta Dream in the first round, and lead the series 1-0 after winning on Sunday afternoon. The star of the game was Leonie Fiebich as she had the best game of her WNBA career and had the Barclays Center on their feet
Fiebich’s entered the starting lineup in place of Courtney Vandersloot and it paid immediate dividends. In addition to the great scoring, it was Fiebich’s defense that set the tone.
“Leo is a great defender,” head coach Sandy Brondello said in postgame. “She’s got that length. [Breanna Stewart] talked about how we can be a bit more versatile with the bigger lineup. That helps out.
But Leo, she started off on Rhyne Howard [and] made it really tough [on her]. They couldn’t get open on those stagger screens just by committing to playing defense and playing hard and executing a scout with putting a body on the line.”
On the season, New York was second in defensive rating and third in opponent’s effective field goal percentage. With Fiebich in the lineup, the Liberty have the maximum blend of length, quickness, and disruptiveness. As Fiebich and her teammates got more comfortable with each other, their cohesiveness on defense grew by leaps and bounds.
On a play like this, we get to see the Liberty execute at a high level. Fiebich and Breanna Stewart disrupt what the Dream try to run. Betnijah Laney-Hamilton closes out hard on Rhyne Howard. Fiebich steps up to contest Howard, and Jonquel Jones rotates down to Naz Hillmon to put a body on her.
As Steve Jones Jr of The Dunker Spot noted, the Liberty controlled the flow and tempo of the game
On an individual level, we got to see Fiebich use her length and timing to short-circuit a Dream possession before it could truly get started
When asked what made Fiebich so great on Sunday, Dream head coach Tanisha Wright said:
“Her length, her physicality, her ability to be able to blow things up and stay in the play so you can’t run things smoothly. I thought those were all things she brought in the starting lineup.”
For the Liberty, they’ll look to repeat their performance on Tuesday evening. If they’re able to slow Howard down again, they will advance to the semifinals.
How can Howard and the Dream adjust?
The great thing about this current WNBA playoff format is that it’s no longer single elimination. For the team that loses the first game, they have another chance to get a win and get back in the series. If the Dream win, they’ll tie the series and have the deciding Game three in their arena on Thursday night. It’ll take some doing, but there are some adjustments they can make.
“They were super physical, and we didn’t handle it well,” Tanisha Wright said following the game. “But we’ll go back to the drawing board, figure it out, and be ready for Game Two.”
When the Dream look at the drawing board, they’ll see that Rhyne Howard started to find some success after intermission. Howard went 5-8 from the field in the third quarter and finally had room to operate against the likes of Fiebich and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton. In postgame, she discussed what adjustment the team made to generate more offense:
“We just started spacing them out a bit more, using the full extent of the court to try to create easier looks and that’s what helped my success.”
Along with that, they have 40 minutes to correct a season long flaw. During the broadcast, ESPN commentator Monica McNutt observed that the Dream took too long to get into their offensive sets. Atlanta didn’t get into things quickly, which allowed the Liberty to control the flow of the game. It’s been an issue all year long and one the coaching staff has been working to fix. From Tanisha Wright in early June:
“Our pace in terms of our half-court offense is where we’re harping on the most. [For example], not walking into our sets and [instead] getting into our spots quickly and cutting off actions quickly.”
And on Sunday evening:
“Before we can get to shots and different things like that, I think our mindset has to change in terms of what to expect going into a playoff game. When you’re not able to run your things smoothly, it affects how many shots you’re going to be able to get off, or the kind of shots that you’re going to get off. Today, we held the ball a lot and didn’t get shots off until 5,4,3,2,1 [seconds on the shot clock]. A lot of bombs and stuff like that. So I think part of that is our pace.
We have to do a much better job in a half court with our with our pace, getting to spots, running off things hard. But kudos to New York, they did a good job.”
If the Dream want to win, they have to move quicker and be more intentional about getting out in transition. Playing with increased tempo helped Rhyne finally get clean looks from three point range
Howard sat the entire fourth quarter, so look for her to have extra energy on Tuesday evening. She was second in the WNBA in minutes per game following the season ending injury to Cheyenne Parker-Tyus on August 18, so she’s used to a heavy workload. This is a must win game for Atlanta, so look for Howard to be out there all game long.
The playoffs are basketball at its best. The stars shine brightest, long lasting memories are made, and we get to see history made every night. It’s also a chance for teams to come up with their best strategies and game planning as they only have to prepare for one opponent at a time. In this matchup, how the coaches game plan around Rhyne Howard will tell the story. If the Dream are able to create good shot opportunities for her and she cashes in, Atlanta will host their first home playoff game since 2018. If the Liberty are able to slow her down one more time, they’ll move on to the second round and continue their quest for the championship. We’ll see how the back-and-forth unfolds this time around.