The Liberty Are Reinventing Themselves

The Liberty will not be positive what the total identification of their revamped group must be. However they’re sure about one facet of it.

“I would like groups to sort of be fearful of us after they must be on offense,” stated ahead Natasha Howard, who gained the W.N.B.A.’s Defensive Participant of the Yr Award in 2019, when she was with the Seattle Storm.

This might be Howard’s second season with the Liberty, however in some ways, and for a lot of causes, it appears unlikely to be very similar to her first. The group has a brand new head coach (Sandy Brondello), a brand new veteran middle (Stefanie Dolson) and, gamers stated, a brand new dedication to turning into a championship contender as soon as the season begins Could 6.

“There’s a way of urgency,” guard Sabrina Ionescu stated throughout the Liberty’s media day on Thursday. She added that the group didn’t wish to wait years to turn out to be higher, and had a “Why not us?” mentality.

The Liberty completed final season with a 12-20 document and slid into the playoffs because the eighth seed. They misplaced to the fifth-seeded Phoenix Mercury in a first-round single-elimination sport. The group had harm woes all season: Jocelyn Willoughby tore an Achilles’ tendon in a preseason scrimmage; Howard missed 15 video games due to a knee harm; Ionescu handled a lingering ankle harm.

All three are again and stated they’re feeling good.

“I’m approach forward of the place I was,” Willoughby stated.

One other returner is guard Asia Durr, who goes by AD. Durr, the second general draft choose in 2019, missed the previous two seasons as they recovered from Covid-19. On Thursday, Durr stated they have been nonetheless coping with confusion and mind fog however that Liberty teammates had been useful.

“It’s fairly difficult to remain affected person each single day,” Durr stated, punctuating the final three phrases.

Like Howard and a number of other others, Durr talked about protection as the main focus of this 12 months’s group. Brondello, who coached the Mercury to the finals final season in her eighth 12 months with the group, stated she needed the Liberty to have an “aggressive mentality.”

Extra factors within the paint. Fewer turnovers. Not settling for outdoor photographs. Drawing extra fouls.

“We’re making an attempt to develop a tricky group,” Brondello stated.

On the core of the group are gamers like Ionescu; Howard; Betnijah Laney, who was named to her first All-Star group final season; and Michaela Onyenwere, the 2021 W.N.B.A. rookie of the 12 months. “I’m at all times trying to develop,” Laney stated, including that she’s surrounded by nice gamers.

Becoming a member of them is Dolson, who gained a championship with the Chicago Sky final 12 months.

Dolson, a 6-foot-5 middle getting into her ninth season, stated she likes to publish up — despite the fact that folks don’t assume she does — and that will probably be tough for groups to face off in opposition to her and the 6-foot-2 Howard.

“It’s arduous to scout when each publish gamers can sort of do all the things,” she stated.

Dolson averaged 7.5 factors and three.5 rebounds per sport final season, and shot 40.4 p.c from 3-point vary. Howard averaged 16.2 factors and seven.2 rebounds in 13 video games final season.

Veterans like Howard and Dolson might be key to the Liberty’s success, however so will the youthful gamers, who spoke on Thursday about how they’ve grown and what they nonetheless want to enhance.

“I used to be so misplaced final 12 months,” stated DiDi Richards, a second-year guard-forward.

Richards stated she typically was in her personal head whereas on the court docket, as a substitute of being vocal, however she is engaged on altering that as coaches ask her to tackle an even bigger management position. “I’m prepared for it,” she stated.

Onyenwere spoke confidently about protection — “not likely a ability; it’s all effort” — but additionally stated she needed to enhance on offense after capturing simply 32.7 p.c from 3-point vary final season.

Guard Sami Whitcomb, who went 42.5 p.c from 3-point vary final 12 months, is the group’s most prolific and finest long-range shooter. She got here to the Liberty final 12 months after 4 seasons in Seattle, and she or he stated she was enthusiastic about serving to the group create a brand new identification. However, she stated, it gained’t occur “in a single day.”

Some issues do occur rapidly in sports activities, although — like going from W.N.B.A. prospect to Liberty rookie.

The Liberty traded with the Storm to get the 18th choose within the draft on April 11 and used it to pick out Lorela Cubaj, a 6-foot-4 ahead from Georgia Tech. 4 days later, she signed a rookie contract with the group. Three days after that, coaching camp started.

On Thursday, she stated that she had developed as a facilitator whereas at Georgia Tech and hoped to make use of that ability with the Liberty. “I simply wish to put my teammates in the very best place to attain,” she stated.

One factor she needs to depart in Georgia: the meals. Cubaj, who’s from Italy, joked that she wouldn’t miss the pizza from Atlanta now that she is in New York.