PORTLAND, Ore. — New Liberty coach Chris DeMarco knew he had a loaded roster at the start of training camp.
The first week of the season only confirmed his belief in this team.
The Liberty weathered this opening stretch without star Sabrina Ionescu, who’s expected to be reevaluated early next week after hurting her left foot in the team’s last preseason game.
New York also didn’t have Satou Sabally, who’s dealing with discomfort from a cyst, and Raquel Carrera and Leonie Fiebich, who are playing in the Spanish League championship.
Despite missing several key players, the Liberty opened the season 3-1.
They destroyed the lowly Connecticut Sun in their home opener and gutted out an overtime win against the Washington Mystics before splitting a pair of games in Portland.
It’s a small sample size, but the Liberty’s start, despite being shorthanded, is likely going to create a good problem for DeMarco.
“We have a ton of depth and when we are whole, there’s gonna be a lot of decisions that we have to make and a lot of minutes out there for people to compete for,” he told The Post after Thursday’s 100-82 win.
General manager Jonathan Kolb may have once again struck international gold with the addition of rookie Pauline Astier, who has exploded into the season.
Astier showed fans unfamiliar with her game why she was such a highly sought after free agent.
The 24-year-old French guard stepped up in a major way with Ionescu sidelined.
So much so that it makes you wonder where the Liberty would be without her services.
“I have no idea,” DeMarco said. “She’s a phenomenal player. She’s so steady and she really takes what the game gives her. I’m open, I’m going to shoot the 3, you play up, I’m going to go by you, you help, I’m going to pass to the open person.”
Astier is doing things very few rookies have done.
She averaged 16.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, four assists and 1.5 steals while shooting a wildly efficient 62.5 percent from the field and 45.5 percent from deep in the first four games.
Astier is far from the only player off to a good start.
Marine Johannès already posted career-high performances in scoring (25 points Sunday) and assists (11 Thursday).
Rebekah Gardner and Julie Vanloo have been reliable sparks off the bench.
Even Alex Fowler, just hours after she signed a developmental contract with New York, showed out, scoring 12 points off the bench Thursday.
“We have a lot of talent but we also have a lot of thinkers,” DeMarco said. “And I think as a basketball coach, there’s nothing more satisfying than having a group of players who think the game. We just had Alex right here, who, her IQ is through the roof. She’s very smart and so when you have players like that, when you have the Stewies [Breanna Stewart] and JJs [Jonquel Jones] and players who’ve been there and understand, it’s easier, I think, to start and change things offensively on the move, change things defensively on the move.”
It’s been a promising start, but there’s plenty to work on.
The Liberty can be too turnover-happy at times, which hurts them on defense.
They’re also a below-average rebounding team.
But Jones is overall pleased with where things stand.
“[Tuesday’s loss was] a good learning experience for us,” Jones said. “We’re fixing a lot of the things that we are seeing as early problems and I think that’s all you can really ask of a team so early in a season.”
