The New York Liberty hoped to rebrand their struggling franchise, move into their new Brooklyn digs at Downtown’s Barclays Center and rebound from the two worst seasons in franchise history this year.
Most of those hopes were based on the arrival of the most productive draft selection, Sabrina Ionescu, who is a transformative player for both the team and the WNBA.
However, less than two weeks after this shortened 22-game season, Liberty (0-4) has no victory and can’t even celebrate a single game in our borough because the league is organizing its entire crusade into a bubble in Bradenton. Florida due to the continuous coronavirus pandemic.
Worst of all, New York doesn’t even have Ionescu to hang its hopes on anymore.
The rookie and two-time wooden award-winner suffered a sprained left ankle in the third year at the time of last Friday’s 84-78 loss to Atlanta’s dream, knocking her out at least next month and in all likelihood for the rest of her. first season as a pro.
“It’s a massive loss,” Liberty’s first-year head coach Walt Hopkins said of Ionescu’s injury, which occurred when he stepped on Betnijah Laney’s foot in Atlanta when he threw the ball last week.
Life with Ionescu produced instant effects for Liberty, who went 0-3 in games in which the first-year phenomenon took part.
New York suffered a 96-67 beating at the hands of Diana Taurasi and the Phoenix Mercury on Sunday in their first game without their young star announced, leaving Hopkins and his fees in a way to win the No. 1 victory on Wednesday night when they face off the Minnesota lynx (3-1).
“There’s not much time to adjust the X and O’s when injured,” Liberty Layshia Clarendon’s veteran guard admitted.
“Then, emotionally, Sabrina only gives her a tenacity and a fireplace and competitiveness that we could say we lacked, especially towards the end of the game [on Sunday].”
Although it is a small sample, Ionescu showed a lot of courage and showed his formidable skills in the two games he played.
After struggling with her fireplace touch in her WNBA debut against Seattle at the opening of the WNBA season on July 25, the NCAA leader in triple-double in her career lit the Dallas Wings by 33 points, seven rebounds and seven assists last Wednesday. , albeit at a loss of 93-80.
The 22-year-old walnut Creek, California, made a prolific effort friday, scoring 10 out of four shots in 12 minutes before collapsing on the pain court.
Although his injury requires surgery, Ionescu is too valuable for the freedom race to run again, especially with the team’s hopes of reaching the playoffs that are already in doubt due to his poor start at Bradenton.
In addition, New York showed that it was in a position to overcome some difficulties this year by downloading former WNBA MVP Tina Charles and several other veterans during the off-season in the hope of building around Ionescu and an organization composed basically of the first and second year. Players.
“I told her at least it was this year, when it was a rebuilding year,” Clarendon said of her exchange with Ionescu following the injury diagnosis.
“He was given an idea of what it was like to play in this league. Now you can have a smart and healthy off-season and be in position for next season.”
The rest of Liberty has this option.
After Wednesday’s tilt to Minnesota, New York will play 17 games in the next five weeks, none of which will feature the only player Liberty expected to make a possible playoff finalizer until the end of the year.
Kia Nurse, who missed last Friday’s game with an ankle injury, led New York with 17 problems opposed to Phoenix and Clarendon added 12 for Liberty at a numerical disadvantage.
But none of that was enough to help them ward off a furious fourth-quarter rally by Phoenix, which outscored New York 34-11 down the stretch.
“We just lost our fight and gave up,” Clarendon said of Liberty’s due past.
“It’s embarrassing to see and everything we just discussed in the locker room. It’s something characteristic where we keep growing.”
They will have to continue this expansion and the progression of their character without their maximum player.
At least until next year.
New York’s most populous district, Brooklyn, has a population of approximately 2.6 million. If Brooklyn were an independent city, it would be the fourth largest city in the United States. While Brooklyn has the fifth essence of “cool and fashionable” in recent years, for those born here, raised families here and given way to communities over the years, Brooklyn has never been “not cool.”
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle and brooklyneagle.com canopy Brooklyn 24/7 online and five days a week in print with the slogan “All Brooklyn All The Time”. With a history dating back to 1841, the Eagle is New York’s only true of Brooklyn alone.
© 2020 All Brooklyn Media
Follow
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle and brooklyneagle.com canopy Brooklyn 24/7 online and five days a week in print with the slogan “All Brooklyn All The Time”. With a history dating back to 1841, the Eagle is New York’s only true of Brooklyn alone.
© 2020 All Brooklyn Media