First-year Liberty head coach Chris DeMarco decided to do something a little different Sunday.
After giving the team Saturday off following a grueling stretch of playing five games in nine days, DeMarco put 60 minutes on the clock. As long as the time was ticking, the team was going to be putting in a full effort. The goal was to make the most of a condensed yet efficient practice.
“Even when they talk, like, we don’t stop,” guard Marine Johannès recalled Monday. “So it was like we just keep going. … It was the first time we did it.”
There was a list of things he wanted to get through. In general, DeMarco addressed the live-ball turnovers and wanted players to get reps with different pairings as the team is almost fully healthy for the first time all season.
The practice structure was different from previous ones, according to Johannès. But she thought it was successful.
“Practice [Sunday] was good,” she said. “It was short, but really interesting and intense. And today was a good practice for the entire team here.”
The Liberty (5-4) hope the three days of thorough practice propels them forward as they continue to settle into the season.
“We had a gnarly stretch. Five in [nine] is really tough, especially when we were like in and out of the lineup all the time,” Breanna Stewart said. “But this practice time is crucial, especially being almost 100 percent. And really just making sure that we’re locking in, we’re paying attention because while this week is a little more chill, I think next week is a little bit more chaotic.”
WNBA Commissioner Cup action began Monday, and the Liberty’s first in-season tournament game is Wednesday against Sandy Brondello’s Toronto Tempo. New York is scheduled to wrap up this seven-game homestand Saturday when Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever come to town.
This homestand hasn’t been easy. The Liberty opened with three straight losses to fall below .500. They rebounded with back-to-back wins against the Phoenix Mercury.
A lot of the Liberty’s early-season issues pertain to the changing lineups and a new system.
New York has deployed four different starting lineups in the first nine games.
Sabrina Ionescu has played only one game because of a left foot injury and back soreness. That left rookie Pauline Astier as the team’s only true point guard.
Satou Sabally and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton also missed some time for various reasons, and Leonie Fiebich and Raquel Carrera joined the team late because of their overseas commitments.
The Liberty’s biggest red flag is the turnovers.
New York ranks seventh in the league in turnovers (15.7 per game) and opponents points off turnovers (16.7).
It ranks seventh in offensive rating (107.3) and 12th in pace (95.28).
“What will still improve is just our chemistry and our flow, that’s just going to come by having more practice reps,” Stewart said. “What we’re paying attention to is making sure no live-ball turnovers. We know that’s kind of an Achilles’ heel of ours, just being aggressive offensively.”
Ionescu did an individual workout Monday as she continues to deal with back soreness, according to DeMarco. She’s considered day to day, with DeMarco saying the “goal” is for her to be available Wednesday.
Point guard Marine Fauthoux, a developmental player who’s been on the mend from a knee injury, was a full participant in Monday’s practice and is “close” to being able to play.
Jonquel Jones believes the Liberty are trending in the right direction. The past few days have been a chance to “get right, have practice time and also just take a breather for a second,” she said.
“It was good to kind of have that time to just decompress a little bit, enjoy being home,” she said, “and then also work on the things that we need to work on to be a better team.”
