BROOKLYN — The Liberty may be a superteam heading into the upcoming WNBA season, but head coach Sandy Brondello hasn’t lost focus that any great team still needs time to gel. When New York practiced on Wednesday, the team had only less than a handful of practices together with the full group on the court.
Brondello has been quick to point that out with the regular season slated to begin on Friday and the Liberty eyed as a title contender. The Liberty’s coach is to win a WNBA title with the roaster that boasts Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones and Courtney Vandersloot, however, the process of getting things down fully will take some time.
“Well, we didn’t have our full team preseason, so now it’s just trial and error,” Brondello said. “We’ve got to be patient early. It’s not it’s not going to always look pretty and stuff. We just got to build out momentum and the more times we can play and then practice together, the better we get. We know that. I mean, I just saw that. We weren’t great in Vegas. And then the next day, you know, we had a scrimmage and we were way better, 100 percent.
“Just they’re quick learners. Last year, that would have taken me a little bit more time just because they were younger. Players have been in these situations before and you can see visuals and go put it on the floor.”
New York has a ton of experience on its roster with the additions of three of the best women’s players in Stewart, Jones and Vandersloot, along with a talented crop of players that returned from last season. Chief among them is Sabrina Ionescu, who signed a contract extension on Tuesday.
Vandersloot was back on the court this week after going through concussion protocol and was the final member of the club superstar trio to get in practice. Jones and Stewart had gotten into practices at the end of last week and played in Saturday’s preseason game in Las Vegas.
While Brondello figures out how to utilize the talent on her roster to the best of its ability, she’ll also have to balance the minutes she gets everyone.
“You got to think about the big picture and I don’t want to overplay any of them too early,” Brondello said. “But the goal is to be in a position to win and can we put ourselves in that? Relying on our debt, going to the bench there and that’s important for us because that’s what will get us to where we want to go. It’s not beating down everyone that we’re tired by the time the playoffs come. And We’re not playing our best ball. So it’s a bit of a science there too and giving them days off.”
The Liberty opens the 2023 WNBA season on Friday night in Washington.
