The New York Liberty’s season began this past weekend, and it was a roller coaster ride. In the opener against the Mystics, the Libs looked lost on both ends of the floor. Unsurprisingly, the team looked like one that had not played together before and needed time to gel.
On Sunday, though, they gelled quickly. The final scoreboard does not reflect how much New York dominated Indiana, and the Liberty looked like a team that has the pieces to win a title.
Let’s try to make some sense of the weekend.
The Superteam Era Opens With a Loss
No one should be surprised that the Liberty opened their 2023 campaign with a loss. This is still a team that is learning to play together, and Courtney Vandersloot’s preseason concussion put the team even farther behind in that process. Besides, the Mystics are the third-best team in the WNBA—and I feel certain enough about that that I deleted the word “arguably” from this sentence.
Still, the way New York lost was disheartening.
New York shot 34.3% from the floor in the loss and was 7-for-31 from deep. The team finished with just two fast break points and committed 22 turnovers, which the Mystics turned into 18 points—a number that could have been worse. New York, for example, turned 13 Washington turnovers into 16 points.
It became clear that the Liberty have some things to figure out. Stefanie Dolson was 1-for-5 off the bench and Han Xu was 0-for-1. With Jonquel Jones not yet at 100%, the Liberty need more from the backup five position.
Breanna Stewart Goes Off
In the opener, Breanna Stewart took just 10 field goal attempts, going 3-for-10. She was 0-for-5 from three, finishing with 12 points and 12 rebounds in the team’s 84-64 loss to Washington.
But because Stewie is–well, Stewie–she bounced back in a big way on Sunday, shooting 15-for-21 from the floor and 6-for-9 from deep on her way to scoring a franchise-record 45 points, tying her for seventh on the all-time single-game scoring list. The most impressive part? She went scoreless in the fourth quarter. If Indiana’s offense had kept the game closer, Stewart might have had a real shot at the single-game record.
It is a little soon to have the “what changed” conversation because some of it might just come down to who the opponents were, but Sabrina Ionescu taking just eight shots is definitely part of why. Ionescu’s a great player, but she is on a team with two former MVPs now. She has to be more willing to give the ball up, and she was on Sunday, finishing with eight assists. In fact, she and Courtney Vandersloot combined for 16 assists. Having those two high-level ball handlers on the floor to set up Stewart and Jones seems like New York’s recipe for success.
The Marine Johannès Situation
The expectation with Marine Johannès has been that she would come over for a bit after the French season ended, then would head back to Europe for EuroBasket. But that changed on Sunday:
To put it simply: if Johannès doesn’t play EuroBasket, this is huge for the Liberty—though it is worth noting that this decision seems to be coming from the French Federation, not from Johannès herself. Jackie Powell went on to say “the French could easily change their minds and then Marine would adhere to the CBA which states that players can leave two weeks prior to the start date of their international competition.”
So, it sounds like Johannès wants to play EuroBasket, but the relationship between French basketball and the WNBA is notoriously sticky. Remember that while a lot of international leagues moved their seasons up to account for the WNBA’s new prioritization rules, France did not. That is something that is worrisome long-term about Johannès—as long as France keeps its season where it is, prioritization could make it tough for fans to see Johannès in the WNBA again after this year because playing her third season this year will mean she is no longer exempt from the prioritization rules.
There is more to discuss on what Johannès brings to the floor once she is in New York, but the development is worth keeping an eye on.
Next Week in Seafoam
The Liberty play once this upcoming week, hosting the Connecticut Sun on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET with the game broadcast on CBS.
That will be a tough game—the Sun are 2-0 this season with wins over Indiana and Washington. Even without Jonquel Jones, this team is not missing a beat. New York will have to find a way to stop Alyssa Thomas, who has averaged 16.0 points, 13.5 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 3.0 steals and 1.0 blocks per game so far. The game also marks the return of former Liberty guard/forward Rebecca Allen, who spent seven years with the Liberty and experienced the franchise’s highs and lows. It should make for a fun game, and Allen figures to get a rousing ovation from the fans.