New York Liberty takeaways from their two ferocious battles with the Minnesota Lynx
Photo by Catalina Fragoso/NBAE via Getty Images
If anybody didn’t believe before, they know now that the Lynx are a team to be reckoned with. And because of that, we learned a couple valuable lessons about the Liberty. The Minnesota Lynx, sitting atop the Western Conference and just a game back of 2nd place in the entire WNBA standings, are for real.
“The Lynx have been sneaky; they flew under the radar for many heading into this season, but there’s no denying their potential now,” wrote Jordan Robinson in WNBA.com’s most recent power rankings.
Liberty fans were early to this party after Minnesota dusted New York in late May, but after two recent games — a loss to the Lynx in the Commissioner’s Cup Final and a bit of revenge a week later — it seems silly that Minnesota flew under anybody’s radar after the season began. All it takes is one game watching Cheryl Reeve’s team make the right decision, over and over again, to say nothing of the talented players making these passes and defensive rotations, to understand that this is a real contender.
To that end, two hard-fought games against the Lynx were the perfect measuring stick for the Liberty, now exactly halfway through their 40-game season, sitting at a pristine 17-3. So, what did we learn?
Breanna Stewart, working on offense
“Last year we probably put Stewie more in the action, and now because we see a lot of the switching, we put JJ more in the action, and they all get a piece of the pie.”
That was Sandy Brondello at practice Thursday, explaining that New York’s offense hasn’t changed amid Jonquel Jones’ return to MVP form. It’s just the pieces have shifted around, whether that’s by necessity — like Sabrina Ionescu stepping into more of an on-ball role with Courtney Vandersloot’s absence — or by choice, like Jones becoming a primary screener and play-finisher for New York.
So, where does that leave Breanna Stewart? Not left out exactly; she’s leading the team in points-per-game and shot attempts (factoring in free-throws). And yes, part of Stewie posted the second-worst true-shooting percentage of her career is that she went through a brutal slump from three to start the season; it happens.
But there’s been other bumps in the road, especially against Minnesota’s defense, which swarms the paint on drives with what I want to call reckless abandon, but is far more calculated and principled than that.
“They’re just super loaded up. It seemed like anytime I was in the post, anytime I was trying to get downhill, there was a double team,” said Stewart after a 5-of-20 shooting performance against them on Tuesday.
Sure, some of those are missed shots it’d be no surprise to see her swish, but Stewart’s offense can’t continue to be this difficult against smart, physical defenses. There are systematic solutions to be implemented, and we’ll get those, but the two-time MVP also has to be better herself.
Which is not an easy sentence to write, especially when she also had 17 rebounds in Tuesday's win and deflected what felt like 9,000 balls on defense. Hell, she’s in the midst of a second-highest assist-rate (on a per-possession basis) and two-point percentage season of her career. But Minnesota was able to limit her offense in part because she didn’t always leverage her drives to hit open teammates...
On that second play, Stewie gets a foul call on the help defender, but when she goes into her shooting motion, all five Lynx defenders are in the paint, all eyes on her. At 6’4”, with the ability to see over just about all help defense she’s in a perfect position to skip that ball to the perimeter and likely create an open three or driving opportunity for one of the Libs on that side.
Minnesota can also afford to do this, though, because of the shifting around Brondello discussed. With less screening and post-up opportunities, more of Stewie’s opportunities are starting 20-to-25 feet away from the rim, giving the Lynx ample time to get in her driving lanes.
But New York did find some solutions. Stewie started 1-of-13 before finishing 4-of-7, and while getting to play in transition as her Libs racked up stop after stop helped, so did catching the ball closer to the basket, exemplified here...
At Thursday’s practice, Stewie said ut helps “anytime I’m able to catch it at the nail, so at the free-throw line, because defensive 3 [seconds], and also there is no strong-side [help].”
“We’re trying to get her on the nail a little bit there too, because if they want to bring a trap, it [helps] decision-making,” added Brondello.
While the above possession came with Jones off the court and Stewie as the screener, it provided a blueprint for New York later in the game. The ex-UConn Husky could cut to the middle of the floor and catch it there, or even attack closeouts after Jones had drawn all the attention to the paint with her screen-and-rolls. Perimeter attacks are less daunting against a defense like Minnesota if Stewart isn’t creating from a stand-still, after all.
Breanna Stewart surely struggled in the 2023 Playoffs in part due to fatigue, which isn’t so much an excuse given how much of the post-season field battles it, but also because of the defense the Lynx have showed the Liberty in the past week. New York faced a handful of great defenses last year, and all didn’t just try to get physical with Stewie, but bring that physicality from multiple defenders, not letting her drive into an inch of clean space.
The Liberty got some valuable reps against playoff-level defense this past week against Minnesota, and while Stewie and her teammates have room to improve, and even showed progress on some solutions, the Lynx gave the rest of the league a lot of enticing tape to chew on.
Bench units are here
Halfway through the season, the New York Liberty have a bench. Not just a pine full of players, but actual rotations, different looks that they can apply in different situations.
Courtney Vandersloot started in the second matchup after coming off the bench in the Cup Final — her first game after nine straight absences — but watched from the sidelines as Leonie Fiebcih was the fifth Lib on the court to close it out.
Fiebich played 25 minutes in Tuesday’s win, and despite only scoring five points, earned every second of that tick. The 3-pointer she hit was a big one, immediately after Minny jumped out to their largest lead of the game, and of course, drew some pretty aggressive closeouts from a Lynx squad who read the scouting report.
But at 6’4” with guard-like quickness, Fiebich is a fine play whether she’s hitting threes or not, given her defense.
After Naphessa Collier won Cup Final MVP in Long Island, she jumped out to a 13-point first half in the rematch, before scoring just two points in the second half. Brondello noted the adjustment of refusing to switch, except on “emergency switches,” which the Lynx did a great job of forcing. (They are so precise, intentional in their actions.)
On this one, Kayla McBride runs over and then under a pair of screens on the baseline, all but forcing Stewart to switch off Collier, leaving Fiebich on the All-WNBA forward. Fiebich holds up just fine...
No, it's not a matchup the Liberty want to see every time down, but it’s not one to panic at either. Note the lack of help that comes her way as Collier starts to get into her bag.
Fiebich’s emergence as a truly reliable closer off the bench provides some insurance for Kayla Thornton, who’s seen her minutes fall in the last two games with Sloot back in the starting lineup. But Brondello isn’t marking that as a definitive trend, and noted Fiebich’s minutes don’t necessarily have to eat into Thornton’s.
“I suppose [Kayla Thornton] and Leo are kind of similar in a way. Leo probably gives us more ball-handling and driving and stuff like that, so with Sloot and [Laney-Hamilton] coming back, you just have to make a decision, but now, what I learned ... KT and Leo can play together. At the start of the year, I didn’t think they could, with only one handler, but we see that they can.”
Most of that comes from lineups that feature Stewart at the ‘5’ without Jones on the floor. Lineups with Ionescu, Stewart and any three of the Laney-Hamilton/Fiebich/Thornton/Kennedy Burke wing foursome are absolutely destroying teams with size and respectable-to-deadly 3-point shooting from all five spots on the court.
The uncomfortable question now becomes, is Sloot becoming a courtesy starter? Eh.
The veteran point-guard has been pretty good since returning, with some impressive drives off the catch in the Cup Final, fitting in right next to Ionescu’s ball-handling improvement. And on defense, while pure size is an issue against a team like the Lynx, she’s a sneakily solid Kayla McBride defender, as the best screen navigator on the team.
The Liberty would really get into trouble when trying to switch off McBride after getting caught on screens, either on or off the ball...
The easiest way to combat that was just having Sloot chase her, which she did admirably.
The future Hall-of-Famer may be at a different stage of her career at 35, but regardless, she provides the Liberty a distinct look. When sharing the floor with Ionescu, Sloot can direct the offense and get the combo guard 3-point looks with off-ball movement, a staple of the 2023 Liberty. Sloot’s catch-and-shoot ability from three is the swing skill off the ball, but having your most talented passer on the floor (who can still get to the paint) inevitably finds a way to pay dividends.
Last season, it didn’t matter what the matchups were. Marine Johannès is a small-guard dependent on shot-making, while Stef Dolson is a drop coverage big who’s going to set good screens and hit the occasional three, while Thornton (still good!) is a true 3-and-D disciple. Not much optionality there.
In 2024, Sandy Brondello has options. She even cited Burke on Thursday as a strong inside-out offensive player who can match up with smaller post players on the other end. Some nights that is valuable, and other nights, Nyara Sabally (who has to regain her pre-back-injury form upon return) brings a little bit more rebounding and size, when necessary.
Sure, that’s all true, but just the way Brondello discusses her bench pieces is what stands out.
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