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Sandy Brondello is on the verge of making Liberty history.
Friday’s 88-77 road win over the Wings was Brondello’s 100th in charge of the Liberty — tying for the franchise record.
Adubato reached that mark in his sixth season. Brondello is only in her fourth season.
“She’s got our backs,” Leonie Fiebich said after Friday’s win. “You can just tell she’s been a player and she really understands the process we go through as players. You can just build a relationship with her because she’s a good person and you can always come talk to her. That just adds to the basketball stuff, the coaching stuff on the court. To have that combination is pretty rare.”
After a rough first season in charge, the Liberty have been contenders each of the past three seasons under Brondello. They reached the WNBA finals the past two years, winning the title last year by beating the Lynx in five games.
“It’s a great organization to be coaching for,” Brondello said on Friday. “To get 100 wins, this is my fourth year, it means I have a pretty good team, we’ve been winning. A lot more wins to go.”
A few of the current Liberty players previously played under Brondello and jumped at the opportunity to play under her again.
Isabelle Harrison and Stephanie Talbot played under Brondello with the Mercury, and Brondello also coaches Talbot on the Australian national team. Brondello coached Emma Meesseman while she was an assistant at Russian club UMMC Ekaterinburg.
Clearly, Brondello’s coaching acumen is elite. But it’s who Brondello is off the court that players particularly appreciate.
For a team that has so many stars and talent, Brondello is the glue that holds them all together. And she gets the best out of them as well.
“I know Sandy as a family person,” Meesseman said. “Her two kids, they were always there. As a coach, that’s really important to show that side, too. Because you’re away from home, you have to come in every single day, so you want to have a relationship where you trust your coach, really feel like she has your back and that you can be human, you’re not just a product on the court. That’s what I love about Sandy, this staff over here. The basketball side, obviously it’s 100 wins. So you don’t get that for nothing. She’s gonna keep going and she’s gonna build her legacy.”
