The season is now history for the Liberty after the WNBA Finals didn’t end with the championship they sought in their superteam clash against Las Vegas. So the business of the offseason is now a fascinating topic of conversation.
The Liberty’s two best players, Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones, were in the running to become unrestricted free agents.
But general manager Jonathan Kolb said Friday during the team’s exit interviews with the media that the plan was for Stewart to be designated as the primary player, effectively eliminating her free agency.
The 2023 WNBA MVP sounded good with that.
“This is the first time I’ve been gutted,” Stewart said. “I’m excited about what we’re doing here in New York and with the Liberty…The way we finished things is overshadowed by the disappointment of the loss, but overall it’s been an extremely successful season.
“From (the media) to everyone involved with the Liberty, to the fans, to the general outside public, it’s been incredible to be a part of it, and I look forward to doing it for many years to come .”
Jones could be right next door. The 6-6 center said she was “definitely leaning back here.” She averaged 17 points, 11.5 rebounds and 2.4 blocks in the playoffs.
“I think she really shined in these playoffs, arguably our best player, just her consistency, the effort she put in defensively, on the glass, on protecting the rim,” Kolb said. “She was incredible. So for us, he’s a player that we absolutely want to retain.
The Liberty used the Big 3 of Jones, Stewart and Courtney Vandersloot last offseason, then posted the winningest regular season in franchise history at 32-8 and finished two wins shy of win the crown against the Aces.
“We beat them three times (before the final) and were close to beating them in another one,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said of the 70-69 loss in the final of the fourth game. “That means we are here. So that’s all the 1% we need to do better. It is therefore not a question of reinventing the whole wheel. I think we are on the right track. I think we are playing the right way. We just have to do better for longer periods of time.
“You can’t win without talent in this league. That’s what we did. Now you have the talent, you have to put all the right pieces together… I hope we can go back.
But what else do they need to claim the No. 1 title? More athleticism in the backcourt?
“It’s definitely an area we need to improve in,” Kolb said.
Kolb mentioned improving off the bench by possibly adding “a winger or a ball handler.”
“For the first time in a long time, we have stability in terms of spots on our roster,” Kolb said. “I think our pillars are there. It’s about seeing what we can tinker with. It’s going to come from the bench… Look at Stewie’s minutes this year, Sloot’s minutes this year – how can we save them a little more over the course of the season? We don’t want to drive them into the ground. »
Brondello sees other areas for improvement.
“Defense is part of it,” she said. “It takes tenacity.”
Sabrina Ionescu struggled at times on both ends in the final. But she said she suffered a hip injury during the Game 4 semifinal at Connecticut. There were consequences for the first two matches of the finals, and she didn’t feel well in another match.
“I had to get an injection before the games, just to be able to play those first two Vegas games,” Ionescu said. “Obviously, it’s not ideal. But that’s just kind of what happened. There’s no excuse, but I wasn’t really able to walk. The timing was not ideal.
The Liberty also didn’t feel great about what Aces guard Kelsey Plum said about them after Game 4, that “they’re not a team” and “they don’t don’t worry about each other.” Plum apologized in a social media post Friday, but wrote that what she said was taken out of context.
Brondello said the description was “not true.”
“She doesn’t know what’s going on in our locker room and in our groups,” Jones said. “I think it’s easy to kick people when you’re down and they’re up. For me it was a bit classless.
