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00:00Back with another edition of Liberty Lately, Dexter Henry, the great women's sports reporter
00:08for the New York Post, Madeline Kenney.
00:09We are back.
00:10It's the offseason, but we're here to talk some Liberty basketball, and we're coming
00:13to you right after the new Liberty head coach, Chris DiMarco, was just introduced to the
00:17media for the first time.
00:19I guess I'll start with this, Maddie.
00:20When we looked at the introduction, and GM Jonathan Kolb also spoke here today, too,
00:26we learned about what Jonathan Kolb was looking for in this hire through the search, which
00:31was very thorough.
00:32He meant to say that multiple times.
00:35What did you learn about from his process in the hire and what he said today?
00:38What did you gain from that in terms of how thorough this search was and what exactly he
00:42was looking for as new head coach at Liberty?
00:44Yeah.
00:44I mean, obviously, the search went on for two months, and I had reported previously that
00:47Chris DiMarco emerged kind of late in the process.
00:50And what Kolb said today was it was the tactical meeting that they had, which was a lengthy
00:54meeting where they go through different scenarios.
00:57It's different film breakdown.
00:58It's give him a clipboard, see how he's going to run a team in those late-game situations.
01:03And that's what really set him apart and made them want to have him.
01:07I mean, I think when you look at DiMarco, there's so many things that they were looking for that
01:11he fits the bill.
01:12I mean, between his championship pedigree, he's been a part of a dynasty.
01:16He has seen the integration of star players, like how that works, the net dynamic to add players
01:21to a locker room where the hierarchy is already established, because obviously that can always
01:25be a challenge at times.
01:27And I think also, you know, he's worked his way up.
01:30He's done every single position that you can as a coach, except for, I mean, he was a head
01:34coach of the Bahamas men's national team, I guess.
01:37But like in the Warriors, he was everything except for Steve Kerr.
01:39He was his right-hand man the last two seasons.
01:42So I think that essentially, you know, it makes sense that what we learned is why, I guess,
01:49they decided to go with him.
01:50Yeah, and I wanted to start with there because the process of what Jonathan Cole was looking
01:53for mattered so much here.
01:55But then the big question, I think, for all of us in the media and the fans was, okay,
01:59what's the vision of Chris DiMarco?
02:01What vision does he have for this New York Liberty team?
02:04And he got asked a lot of questions today.
02:07He was asked about, okay, what's the offense going to look like?
02:08We'll get to that in a second.
02:09But from what you heard from him today in addressing the media for the first time, what do you think
02:14his vision is and how do you think it aligns with this franchise?
02:16I mean, obviously he has championship expectations and he even said like 2026, they're going
02:21to be contending for a championship.
02:22And I think that that's really exciting.
02:24I think the fact that he knows how hard it is to win a championship and knows how 10 times
02:30more difficult it is to get back there.
02:31I mean, and have that sustained level of success and that constant connectivity within a locker
02:36room and within a team, like that's what set dynasties apart from, you know, one-hit wonders.
02:42And I think that the Liberty have made it very clear that they don't want to be a one-hit wonder.
02:45They want to build something special here that is like going to be sustained success.
02:49And so he's coming in with the mindset of like, how do we get that?
02:53What is, you know, that connectivity going to look like both in the locker room, on the
02:57court, off the court, out of Barclays, you know?
02:59And so, I mean, the biggest thing that stood out to me is he's already contacted every
03:03single player via text or phone call.
03:06And he said that the biggest thing before he does anything, it's about earning the respect
03:10and the trust of the players.
03:11And so I think that that kind of speaks volumes about like his, just the way that he's approaching
03:15this.
03:15Like he's coming from a very like human element and level.
03:18And, you know, he's, he was very honest today.
03:21Like he has no background in women's basketball really.
03:24And he's been, he's bought every single book out there about the Liberty.
03:27He's spending all of his off time when he's not, you know, doing stuff with the Warriors.
03:31He's spending that, like really investing and diving into the Liberty, Liberty basketball,
03:36WNBA basketball, like looking at players that are playing internationally.
03:39So I think that obviously he's really excited and very committed.
03:42I want to follow up on that because he did mention that and he was asked about that, not
03:46having the experience of coaching women's basketball.
03:48Does that matter here at all whatsoever?
03:51Do you think it does, especially when it comes in terms of men coming into women's sports
03:55and maybe don't have that experience?
03:56Does that matter here at all?
03:57Or should the experience that he has from the NBA, the vast experience that he has also
04:01coaching internationally, should that also factor into how we look at this hire?
04:05You know, I think that basketball is basketball.
04:08And, and so like the X's and O's and all that, what is going to be interesting is like how
04:11he's preparing himself to coach women.
04:13Cause, and that's something I asked him and that's when he kind of started talking about
04:16like, you know, talking to players and building their trust and like getting them to know
04:20him as much as he's getting to know them.
04:22And so I think that does it matter?
04:24I mean, time will tell.
04:26I mean, we've seen successes of people coming from the NBA side with little to no background
04:32in women's basketball and having success.
04:33I mean, Nate Tibbetts is the most recent example that we can just point to right now.
04:37Yep.
04:37We saw that with the, with Phoenix Mercury.
04:39And so he came from the Orlando Magic.
04:40We saw that happen there.
04:42One of the things that I found interesting that he talked about, Maddie, was that he
04:46talked about how he thought that the best success for teams was when it's player driven.
04:50He talked about wanting to be collaborative.
04:52That seemed to be something that was attractive to Jonathan Kolb and the organization.
04:57Do you think the empowerment of players and having a voice in this Liberty system
05:01will bode well for them under Chris DiMarco?
05:02I think so.
05:03And that's very like warrior-esque of him, right?
05:06Like the Warriors are all about like, you know, taking everyone collaborating and stuff.
05:11I think it was Phoenix Mercury's now GM, Nick Uren, was the one that suggested having
05:14Andre Iguodala go to the starting lineup in the finals.
05:17That one a few years, well, more than a few years ago, I guess now.
05:22But, but yeah, but, but you know what I mean?
05:24Like, I think that that's going to be really good for an organization like this, especially
05:28when you have established leadership within that locker room.
05:32Obviously, Sabrina Unescu and Brianna Stewart are free agents, but all signs point to them
05:37resigning.
05:37I mean, Sabrina Unescu and Brianna Stewart both said that they plan to be back in 2026
05:41here.
05:42And so I think we can take them at their word for that.
05:44And because of that, like the bones of this roster are really strong, but it'll be interesting
05:49to see how they continue to add, you know, to the pieces around it and what type of players
05:52that they're going to be targeting in free agency, which is a long ways away, obviously,
05:56because the CBA is still unsettled.
05:58We still have that to settle.
05:59Now, I think one of the big questions is interesting because his background, Chris DeMarco, that
06:03is, is a defensive coach.
06:04But so many people have questions because he comes from that warrior system about the
06:08offense.
06:09You asked him about this.
06:10I asked him about this as well.
06:12He didn't give us too much about what he thinks the offense will look like, right?
06:15And then I want to get specifically into players, but what do you think this offense could
06:19look like under him?
06:20Are you excited?
06:21Because it is different.
06:22It's going to be very different from what we saw in the Sandy Brundello.
06:24It feels like a change that was probably needed there.
06:27What do you think this offense could look like potentially under Chris DeMarco?
06:30I think that obviously the Liberty's offense overall was a strong part of their, their
06:34game last season.
06:35Yes.
06:35There was times when they got stagnant or where the ball like was not moving the
06:40way that it needed to be moving and humming.
06:42And so I think that there is going to be some Warriors influence into this offense.
06:46I mean, yes, DeMarco is a defensive minded coach, but as being, and he said this today,
06:50like as being a defensive minded coach, he has to study offenses to understand.
06:55Which I thought was a fair point.
06:56I thought it was a great point.
06:57It's very, it's very fair.
06:58I mean, and so I think that, you know, he's been around, he's seen how Steph Curry moves
07:03without the ball.
07:04And I think that that's something they really want to work with Sabrina about is her off
07:07ball movements and like relocation.
07:09And what's that going to, and what's that going to look like?
07:11I think, you know, it'll be really interesting to see the type of players that they bring in.
07:16Like who, who are they going to pair Sabrina in the backcourt with?
07:18That's like one of the biggest questions I have right now.
07:20Yeah, that's one of something we're definitely going to talk about through the offseason.
07:22The other thing that kept coming up, you heard this from Jonathan Cole.
07:25You heard this from Chris DeMarco as well.
07:27Player development, which he has a very strong background in too.
07:32This is a Liberty team with championship expectations.
07:34Sometimes you'll hear this Maddie in basketball.
07:36You can't have two timelines.
07:37You know this from your time.
07:38I know that too well.
07:39You know this very well.
07:40Don't get to start about two timelines.
07:41Two timelines.
07:41You heard a lot about this.
07:43Do you believe that?
07:44Do you think it's possible you can still have the player development while you have a championship window?
07:48I do because I think that even when you look at like Sabrina Unescu's game, like it's not done being developed.
07:53And so I think when we're talking about player development, it's not just taking like young players and like, you know, developing them along so they can have breakout seasons.
08:01I mean, that's a huge part of it.
08:02That's the easiest way to look at player development, taking a role player and making them into a starter, obviously.
08:07But I think that player development has like layers to it.
08:10Right.
08:10And so I think the biggest thing is, you know, he has experience in that role.
08:14Like we've seen his success with Jordan Poole leading into the 2021-2022 season, how Jordan Poole was able to step in when Steph Curry went down with an injury and obviously played a huge part in that title run.
08:25You know, he's worked very closely with Klay Thompson, one of the greatest shooters of all time.
08:30And he's he's those are just two examples of players that he's worked with.
08:34I mean, he named off a laundry list of like, you know, future Hall of Famers and NBA All-Stars.
08:40So I think that it'll be really interesting to see like his support staff that he builds around him.
08:45Obviously, Andrew Wade is the director of player development right now, but it'll be interesting to see like how much like is he mentioned he has some names in mind, you know, some people that he's worked with in the past.
08:55So I'm curious to see, like, is he going to be targeting to build out his staff, people that have backgrounds in player development?
09:02Yeah, that's going to be very interesting to watch.
09:04I guess last thing for me here, Maddie, because it was very interesting.
09:06We saw some players show up today.
09:08Sab was here today. We saw Benajelani Hamilton was also here in the building.
09:11But when you come from this press conference that we both just sat in and we saw Chris DeMarco also interact at a clinic with some kids and all that stuff.
09:19What's your major takeaway from what you heard from Chris, Jonathan Kolb today?
09:24What's the major takeaway as we look at this new era of Liberty basketball?
09:27Yeah, I mean, I think the major takeaway for me is that DeMarco is going from a world class organization with the Warriors and he's coming in with into like a world class organization with the Liberty.
09:38And that's a word that he kept repeating.
09:39And I think that the thing that can benefit the Liberty is like he knows like the standard to excellence and what it takes to have that sustained success.
09:48And so Liberty haven't had sustained success like over a long period of time.
09:53And so that's something that he's going to be really targeting.
09:55And that's what he's going to bring here.
09:56And so I think that, you know, it's exciting.
09:59He's going to have a lot of pressure on those shoulders.
10:01Oh, yeah.
10:02And I think it'll be interesting to see, like, you know, how I'm like ready for the season to start now.
10:07Like, I really wish that we were starting the season.
10:10You're saying that, but then it's a long season and you're traveling and you're everywhere.
10:13That's true, that's true.
10:14But we'll have more of these videos to do.
10:15But you're right, it did give some excitement here in Brooklyn that you're ready for some W basketball starts.
10:19Still got a lot to do, CBA negotiation and all that good stuff.
10:22We'll see how that is.
10:24But it was a good day for the Liberty.
10:25New head coach, Chris DiMarco, introduced.
10:27He did use the term world class a lot.
10:30He did say that a lot.
10:31There were some words he used a lot, but world class was a lot.
10:33And Liberty are a world class organization.
10:35They're trying to win another world championship.
10:37We will see.
10:38That is the great Madeline Kenney, our fantastic women's sports reporter for The New York Post.
10:42I'm Dexter Henry.
10:43We'll catch you next time, another edition of Liberty Lately.
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