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00:03Welcome back to another edition of Liberty Lately. I'm Dexter Henry alongside my co-host
00:07Madeline Kenney, the fantastic women's sports reporter for us with the New York Post.
00:12Maddie, Liberty head into this final week of their seven-game homestand. They have a
00:16five-and-four record, but the story of the season so far hasn't just been about wins
00:21and losses. His team has spent the first month of the year trying to find his footing
00:24through injuries, international absences, new rotations, and new faces, and now for the first
00:30time all season, they're starting at least to trend maybe closer to looking like the team that many
00:35people expected to see when training camp opened. We've got Satu Sabali. She's back. She's trying
00:40to find a rhythm. Leonie Feebich is back. But Najalini Hamilton, she's returned to the floor,
00:45and then we've got the Commissioner's Cup set to begin this week. The game's about to carry even
00:49more significance. So I think one of the big questions that we're going to have here is,
00:53are we finally about to see the real New York Liberty? So what we're going to try to do,
00:59Maddie, on today's show, we're going to try to look at Satu's fit, the offensive issues holding
01:03back this team, what the ideal starting five might look like, and a bunch of other questions also
01:08along with what needs to happen for this team to start looking like the championship favorite
01:12that many expected to enter this season. We're going to try to break it on. It's a lot,
01:16but we're going to try to get through it. Maddie, how are you doing?
01:19I'm good. I'm good. Let's go.
01:21Let's go.
01:21Ready to have a conversation.
01:23All right. Let's go. Because I think people feel many different kinds of ways about this
01:27Liberty team. Because they're 5-4 right now. They've spent, as I just mentioned,
01:31much of the season dealing with injuries, international abscesses, the line of changes.
01:36Now that the roster is getting closer to full strength, how much would you say,
01:43or how much do you think that we should judge this team based on the first nine games,
01:48and how much should we view these games as an adjustment period for Liberty?
01:52Yeah. I mean, I've put out like a little temperature check after the Liberty lost three
01:57at the first three home games of this home stand. And fans were not too pleased at what
02:04they had seen from the Liberty to start the season. Look, I mean, like the injuries,
02:08the absences, it's feeling a little familiar to a year ago when they would say like that wasn't
02:13excuses. But again, they're kind of using them as excuses. But also at the same time,
02:19I understand it, right? Like we're not even 10 games into the season. We're not a court. We're not
02:48concerned about it. But I think that there is a lot of things that need to change over the next
02:59several
02:59weeks in order to feel really good heading into the rest of the season. And I think that there is
03:06a lot
03:06like players getting into the lineup getting healthy, staying healthy, staying present, like being there and
03:12being a part of the team. Like, I think that's like the biggest thing for Liberty. Yeah, that matters. Ladies,
03:18just being here being part of the team, I'm definitely intrigued to hear more about what you think needs to
03:22change. But I want to talk a little bit about Satu Sabali because when she got here to New York,
03:28there was and we talked about this before in the preseason, we knew there was going to be questions
03:32about fit and chemistry alongside Stewie and then Jonquo Jones. But what have you seen from her
03:37recent play? I know it's just been a couple of games that might suggest that she's becoming a
03:41little bit more comfortable in the system. And what does her best version of her add to this team
03:46and how you see them maybe rolling when she gets right? Yeah, I think Satu has had a tough start
03:52just
03:52between obviously not being able to play in the preseason because of the reconditioning, just ramping
03:57up for the season. And then she had assists that kept her out for the first two weeks.
04:00And then she got sick and left after the first quarter of that one game, missed a game and
04:07was back. But I think that Satu, the fit makes so much sense. And it's just a matter of everything,
04:13again, coming together. I wasn't really concerned about what is Satu going to look like in a Liberty
04:19uniform because her skill set speaks for itself. I think it's just a matter of getting the reps in and
04:25trying to see what this lineup is really all about. We really haven't seen Sabrina
04:30Satu, Leo, Benajah, Brianna, JJ, like all of them playing in a game together.
04:38This is this roster is the best roster on paper. We've said it a million times,
04:42but it just hasn't all been there. And again, there's been a lot of experimentation with certain
04:48lineups and rotations, patterns and stuff like that. And I think that it's just
04:53all that experimenting is great. It's good to do it at the beginning of the season.
04:56It's good to do it against teams. You know, the Liberty have had a relatively easy schedule,
05:01though. I will say the Portland Fire are a lot better team than a lot of us thought they would
05:05be this season. So kudos to them. But I think now, you know, we say that these early games don't
05:11matter
05:12to a certain degree, but also it can in the long, you know, in the bigger scheme of things,
05:19when it comes to like playoff seating and standing and head to head matchups and stuff like that.
05:23And so I think that, you know, you can't just say that this whole start of the season is a
05:28wash and,
05:29you know, let's just see how they all put it together. But I also think, and I'm probably contradicting
05:32myself that again, like the fit, all these players, it all makes sense. It's just about,
05:39is it going to, is it all going to work? Is it all going to click? Is it going to,
05:42is Chris going to be able to maximize the talent of this group?
05:45Yeah. I mean, it comes down to at the end of the day, right? And you, you've got to get,
05:49yes. I don't feel like you're talking out of both sides of your mouth here, right? You got to
05:52get ladies back in the fold. You can also look at certain things and say they need to get better
05:57in
05:57this and whatnot. Some of it takes time, but you're right. The games in this early season matter.
06:02They did lose two out of three to the Portland fire. Portland fire just had a good win the other
06:07night against the fever. So a lot of good things from that team too. Now, I don't know where you
06:12are on this Maddie, because I sometimes like to try to look at numbers early to see, is it also
06:17telling me what my eyes are seeing on the court delivery? They do need the league in assist
06:21percentage, but they're only seventh in offensive rating. When you hear those two numbers, what,
06:27what does that tell you about their, about their offense?
06:31I mean, I think that their offense overall, like has proven to have success and be able to score a
06:37lot of points. I mean, there's just so many like natural, like scores and creators on this team.
06:41And Maureen Johannes has had a really good start to the season. She's been playing with a lot of
06:46confidence. Pauline SDA has been really impressive. And, you know, I know that she played,
06:51she was a professional player before she came to the WNBA, but she exceeded my own expectations. I'll be
06:56honest about that. Brianna Stewart, you know, she's Brianna Stewart. So I think like, there's a lot
07:03of players that can go out there and get a bucket and score and create for themselves and for others.
07:08The thing, the thing I would say is that they've been a little turnover prone at times. Some of that
07:14is just maybe like ill-advised passes or not being like, just taking care of the ball. A lot of
07:22some,
07:23a good portion of their turnovers have been avoidable. But I think that that's part of the
07:27growing pains of this new offense and figuring out chemistry and, you know, maybe you're anticipating
07:34somebody to cut and then they don't cut or, or you're anticipating someone to be somewhere and then
07:38they're not there. And again, I think that's just part of the filling out period. And I do think that
07:43this offense, there's just so much potential for it. And I think that we've seen like glimpses of how
07:49good it can be. But again, we've only had one game with Sabrina Unescu, you know, and she's obviously
07:55a key player in this offense. And so there's still a lot of unknowns, but I think that it's like
08:00been
08:01really promising to see the start. I think there's been times when things have gotten stagnant or
08:05or whatever, but some of that's just like their own doing like a little bit of an unraveling.
08:10Um, and so I think that overall, like the offense is pretty promising start the season,
08:16I would say. Yeah. And I think for me, if you're moving the ball as well as they are
08:21right and lead the league and assist percentage, I think eventually you'll be fine. The other little
08:26things you'll, you'll clean up. And I think the offensive rating goes up a little bit. So next thing
08:30for me is you wrote something on this and I found this very interesting where you looked at the case
08:35for this, but if the Liberty were fully healthy today, what do you think is the ideal starting
08:40five for this team? Because there's been some talk about so to be Benajah and the starting lineup
08:45should be Phoebus who just came back in the starting lineup. What's the ideal starting five for this
08:49Liberty team right now? Okay, let's get the four obvious ones out of the way, right? Like Sabrina,
08:56Satu, Brianna, JJ, like those in my mind are locks. Um, when it comes to that final spot,
09:04Marine only makes sense if you want like an offensive punch to start, but I think that there's
09:09a lot of defensive, uh, liabilities with that lineup. So I wouldn't want to start a game necessarily
09:16unless it's like matchup based with that. I'm, I'm leaning more Leonie Fievich to be totally honest.
09:21I just think that, you know, what, what she brings, how, how good she is. Um, you know,
09:27she is well conditioned. She just won a championship with in Spanish league, um, with Valencia. I think
09:34that Leo makes so much sense just given like her versatility, her size, her length, what she can do,
09:40the tone that she can set on both ends. I mean, if like, I just, I, I think that Leo
09:45should be taking
09:46at least eight shots a game. Um, and if they, if she does that, if she's, she's being aggressive
09:52as a scorer and setting the tone defensively, then the Liberty are in a really good position.
09:56And I think, um, Benajah is another really interesting one because she had, she's coming
10:04back from, you know, an injury that sidelined her for all of last season. And with that comes,
10:10you know, some, some growing pain, some trying to get comfortable again out on the court. Um,
10:17you know, whether it's just trusting your body again, getting your feel back. And I think some
10:22of the early games this season that we saw from her, it just felt like, you know, she was just
10:27trying to put it all together and maybe it wasn't all coming together at the speed or the rate that
10:31she wanted it to, but she has looked really good for this team over the last two games. And I
10:36think
10:36that that is really promising. And Benajah is such a leader, um, and a respected voice in that locker
10:42room and in huddles that it would make a lot of sense for her to be a starter as well.
10:46So I think it
10:47just depends on if you're going to go for which one you're going to go for. I'm leaning more Leonie
10:53Feebich for, for the reasons that I said, but I, but I also think that there's a very solid
10:58argument for Benajah Laney Hamilton as well. Yeah, you're right. And it also just like leads you to,
11:02oh my gosh, look at who they have on the bench, you know? Yeah. Well, and it's like one of
11:07those
11:07things where you're like, okay, this is, uh, this is not a bad problem to have the fact that you
11:11were
11:11even able to write about it, discuss it, even just so well put the fact your case for Feebich
11:17and still say Benajah could be a good option. It's it shows you who somebody is going to still be
11:22good
11:22on the bench. This is not a bad problem to have. Um, yeah, because I mean, you know, Benajah, like
11:27she,
11:28she can score, she can, she can defend and guard multiple, multiple positions. So Benajah is like
11:32another, uh, very worthwhile candidate to be in the starting lineup conversation. I'm glad I'm not
11:40the one making that decision. And I know I say that like every time we do a podcast.
11:44No, you do. You're like, I'm glad I'm not the GM. I'm glad I'm not the head coach.
11:46I can't even decide what I want for dinner. I don't know how, how I would be expected to
11:50decide who should be in my starting lineup. This is fair. We all have some tough decisions to make
11:54sometimes. And then we don't need any more tough decisions. But when you mentioned Leo,
11:58right, it makes me think of the defense Maddie, because so far for this Liberty team,
12:03they've been fifth in defensive rating and you just talked about Feebich.
12:05She kind of brings that unique combination, what you talk about size, versatility,
12:09defensive instincts that we know she has. I like you would like to see her
12:12shoot a little bit more. How much do you think of a difference maker? She can really be for this
12:17team, whether she starts or not, as she works her way back into the rotation.
12:22Yeah. I mean, a huge difference. I think I've written about this, um, just with like Leo and
12:26even Benajelani Hamilton being injected back into like lineups in the rotation. It just like gives
12:31them a more solid perimeter defense. And, you know, Brianna Stewart's kind of that like anchor that kind
12:37of does everything. And JJ is, is the paint patroller of sorts. Um, and it just felt like
12:45their perimeter defense, they weren't really putting a lot of ball pressure, um, or pressure on the ball.
12:50And like, I just think that Leo and Benajel like helped them in a lot of ways with that.
12:56And, and it kind of is like needed. I think that their defense to start the season has not been
13:03that impressive in, in, in long stretches. I think that there have been spurts and runs where
13:08it looked really good, but I just feel like, you know, there's been times when players look a little
13:12lost out there. Um, there's times when there's like clear miscommunication on switches or, or, or whatever,
13:18they were playing a lot of zone to begin with. Some of that I would like to think is because
13:22of
13:23the lack of like personnel that they had, and they had such a shortened rotation because of
13:27the injuries, because of the absences. Um, I think that the defense is definitely a work in progress.
13:34And I do think, you know, there was a lot of talk about like the live ball turnovers being a
13:39killer
13:40on defense, which is like, duh. Um, like that's not rocket science. So if you're cleaning up that
13:46and not giving up so many like live ball turnovers, I feel like that can also help things out.
13:50Um, but yeah, I think the defense is coming together. I think Leo and Benesha are huge,
13:54like difference makers when it comes to that end of the floor.
13:57No, it will be. And this team does have a pretty good ceiling, uh, defensively. Again,
14:02all these numbers that we're looking at, it is very early in the game now can get late early,
14:07but it's still very early. So small sample size. But the other thing too, here, Maddie,
14:11is New York. They currently ranked near the bottom of the league and pace, despite having
14:16multiple players capable of pushing the tempo. Now, to also be fair, they have played one game
14:20with Sabrina Nescu. So we got to take this for what it is. Would you like to see this team
14:24play
14:24faster? Or do you think the current style of where we've seen them play the pace of what we've seen
14:29them play is the best, best way, excuse me, to maximize your strengths? Yeah, I think it's a little
14:36bit of both, right? Um, because you don't want to speed things up so fast that you're like not
14:43like in, in rhythm. Um, but I think that overall the, the, the Liberty just need to do what's best
14:51for them with like the personnel that they have. And I think that the way that they've been playing
14:55has made sense to them. Like, I'm not really worried about their pace at this point in the season.
14:59Again, it's so early. We haven't seen the whole team together. It hasn't been at full strength.
15:04Like, like, let's have this conversation maybe a month from now when hopefully they
15:08play a handful of games with the full roster. And we actually see players like out there and play.
15:13We really haven't even seen like Raquel Carrera come in to, uh, relieve Brianna Stewart for minutes,
15:19you know? Um, you know, that was something that I thought would be huge for like Raquel's addition
15:25would be huge for a player like Brianna, who, um, she really puts the onus on herself to help care.
15:31Like she'll put the team on her back every night of the week, if that's what it takes, you know,
15:34to get wins. And there were a few losses that the Liberty had, especially in this early parts,
15:39this homestand where it's just like, you, you were like, ah, like you, you've, you lost that for
15:44Brianna. Like Brianna did everything she could and they still lost. And I can't imagine how frustrating
15:49that must be as a player, but I do think like, you know, and I'm kind of going on a
15:55tangent,
15:55I just realized, but Brianna, um, she needs to sometimes be saved for her, like save herself.
16:04Like the coaches need to come in and save Brianna from herself is what I'm trying to say.
16:08Um, because she will play big minutes. She'll, she'll take on a heavy load and like,
16:12you want her to be healthy and fresh like later in the season. Right. And so I think that it'll
16:17be
16:17interesting. They've the Liberty have a few days between their last game and their next game and a
16:22few days of practice, which I think will be really good in terms of just giving
16:25Raquel Carrera reps, giving Han some more reps, getting just more of the pieces back together.
16:32Um, hopefully Brianna or Sabrina UNESCO has been out with the back soreness. Hopefully she'll be back
16:37in the rotation soon. Um, and so, yeah, it, you know, when it comes to like the pace and stuff,
16:43I think it's just a matter of, uh, it's hard to take it with a grain of sulfur right now.
16:49Yeah. I mean, that's gonna, that's gonna be the answer to a lot of this stuff when you,
16:51when you look at the stats, not all of it, but I think a lot of it, right? You get,
16:55you gotta take
16:55it with a grain of salt. You still have to see how this team looks when they are actually whole.
17:01Seems like they're starting to get there. This is the point of us having this conversation. I
17:04guess one of the last things is rebounding. Cause that has been something you've seen a lot of
17:08fans talk about and defensively, they've done a good job on the glass, but offensively and
17:12offensive rebounding side, they're near the bottom of the league in terms of offensive rebounding
17:16percentage. Do you think that's simply a strategic choice to prioritize transition defense?
17:21Or is it an area that could be come problematic against the league's top contenders who we've
17:27seen really rebound the ball? Well, because as a team, you want to get those second chance
17:30opportunities, but the Liberty, they're not doing that right now. Do you think that's
17:34a concern or do you think they're strategically just trying to not give up as many buckets in transition?
17:40Yeah, I think it's, um, probably what you just said about like trying to get back on defense and
17:45stuff. And that is like a strategic decision that you have to make, especially when again,
17:49you're playing with, uh, a shorter rotation and don't have a lot of like healthy bodies or
17:55available people to play. Um, maybe you're just sacrificing second chance opportunities to get
18:00back on defense. I think that, you know, look, offensive rebound was a huge storyline for this
18:04team last year. Um, we're going to be talking about it this year. I would think as a team,
18:10you would want those second chance opportunities. I think sometimes there's been issues of like
18:13mixed box outs and, or missed box outs, excuse me. And, um, things of that nature. I, you know,
18:20you really want to see like JJ be just aggressive on the boards and, and that's like an area that
18:26she
18:26can really excel at when she's locked in and you know, her motor is at the highest level possible.
18:32And so, yeah, I think that that's something that, you know, we're going to continue to like monitor
18:36and watch. I'm not again, like totally concerned about it at this point in this stage, but I do
18:41think that it's something that can come back and bite a team if they're not more diligent.
18:46Yeah. Something I'm definitely keeping an eye on the way I've looked at them. I feel like
18:49they've definitely not been as aggressive on offensive glass because they don't want to give
18:53up the transition buckets because as you well pointed out with the lack of bodies that they've
18:57had early to start this season, you don't want to get yourself in a situation where ladies are
19:02getting burnt out or having to run a lot. That's that's not what you want there.
19:05Something I've never asked you, Maddie, how do you feel about the Commissioner's Cup? Because
19:09you know, there's always so much talk in the NBA about the NBA Cup. People don't like it,
19:14you know, in season tournament. How do you feel about the Commissioner's Cup? And with the Liberty,
19:18you know, it's they're trying to, we talked about this is championship or bust
19:21with this team, or at least WWE finals or bust. How seriously do you think the organization also
19:26views the competition and what would it mean for this group to win again? But I'm also curious
19:31about how you feel about the Commissioner's Cup. How I feel about the Cup? Do you like the
19:37competition? Yeah. Yeah. So does it make these games more interesting? Like does it heighten the
19:43storylines and stuff? I don't even know if I necessarily believe that it feels like just
19:49another other another game. And then if you win enough of them, then oh, you have to play an extra
19:53game that doesn't matter in regular season terms, you know, like, that's how I feel about it with
19:59like the NBA too, is it just is this blown up thing that I don't know if people actually take
20:05it as
20:05seriously as it's supposed, I don't want to say they don't take it seriously, because of course
20:10they take it seriously. But I don't know if it comes with that like heightened sense of urgency of
20:14oh, we need to win the Commissioner Cup. Like nobody's talking about winning the Commissioner Cup
20:18when it comes to like preseason training camp conversations. It's all about the WNBA finals.
20:23If if you want to be a team that's contending, nobody talks about contending for the Cup.
20:28And and I think that even the the I think I looked it up and only one team who has
20:36won
20:37the Commissioner Cup has also won the finals that year. So it feels like a little bit of
20:43conspiracy theory. Maybe some we don't want to win the Cup because it might not do well in terms of
20:48odds to win the win the championship. But but yeah, I mean, I think that the Cup it's like
20:54it's interesting. It adds a layer to like regular season games. Those games do matter.
21:01You know, every game matters in terms of like the big picture, like standings head to head matchups,
21:07all that stuff. But I'm not like totally all in on the hype of it. Personally, that's my own personal
21:14feelings. And I think that I had a prediction, like preseason predictions. And I think I even said
21:19that the Liberty would not make the Cup final just because I figured they would be putting all the
21:23pieces together. And I didn't think that the start of the season, the start of the season is going
21:28about what I thought it'd be. Maybe I would I thought they would be
21:33six and three at this point, but
21:37or maybe even seven and two, I guess. But like, you know, at any rate, I'm getting off track.
21:43I'm just saying that I'm not totally buying it. What do you think, Dex? Am I off?
21:48Am I totally off? Are you all in on this? I just don't.
21:52So I had so many conversations about this with the NBA Cup.
21:57And obviously the NBA Cup. Now the two teams that made the final of the NBA Cup are in the
22:01NBA finals. That is true. So maybe I, I'm a, this is how I look at it.
22:09I agree with you. I don't think that anybody beginning of season is talking about winning
22:12the Commissioner's Cup or the NBA Cup. Like, I just don't think that's happening.
22:16I think it's cool to win multiple trophies. I'm a big English Premier League soccer fan.
22:20You play for multiple. I think that's fine. I like it. It doesn't bother me.
22:24I also understand that there's, it's not the main thing. It's cool to have different things.
22:29I think that's fine. I totally think that's fine. I wonder if this is what I wonder for both leagues.
22:35If 10 years from now, there's a new generation is coming into the W and the NBA and they're like,
22:42we value it more than that. It then means more because nothing means something until you have
22:46time, right? Like what's, what's the value of anything? I don't know that that's going to happen.
22:51I'm just theorizing. But that's a fear. That's, that's fair. I see that.
22:55Yeah. Continue though. Yeah. How do you feel?
22:58Like, here's the thing. I was just going to joke with you and I was like, you know what?
23:02I got to, I got to get you a gift and get you a shirt that says, I love the
23:05commissioner's cup
23:06and have you wear it on the show. But like, I'm not, I'm not putting it like this.
23:11Hey, if the Liberty win the commissioner's cup and I got to cover an extra game, I'll wear the shirt.
23:16How about that? Now, I'm not going to say whether Maddie wants to or does not want to cover an
23:21extra game. I'm not going to, I'm not going to comment on that. But I will say this, like,
23:28do I think the average W fan is getting, so we're going to get into this in one second.
23:34Are they getting excited for Wednesday night's game, which is the first commissioner cup game
23:37of the season? And they're like, oh man, I don't think so.
23:43I don't think they're excited because it's the start of the commissioner cup.
23:46I think if anything, it's exciting because of the matchup and the storylines that are heading
23:51into Wednesday. Yeah. I, I, I agree. I, I realized when I was, I was going to talk about
23:57this. I was like, yeah, I've never asked Maddie how she feels about this. So I'm glad to hear you.
24:01No, no, no. I appreciate it.
24:02No, I just, I just, I was curious. I just really wanted to know.
24:06Um, we'll talk about this more. I gotta get, I'm gonna have to get that shirt for you.
24:09We'll have to, or maybe we'll both wear it. Maybe we'll both do something like that.
24:12Okay. So you just mentioned the first commissioner's cup game, Sandy Bondello,
24:16former head coach of Liberty for folks who may be new to this.
24:18Uh, she will be back. It's the first time she's facing the team she formerly coached
24:22and obviously won a title with. What are you, what are you expecting to see in that matchup
24:27on Wednesday? And what kind of reaction do you expect from the crowd when Sandy's introduced?
24:32What, what do you, what kind of, uh, reaction do you think she'll get?
24:35Yeah. So you have Sandy is, it's her first game since, uh, her contract wasn't renewed
24:40or the Liberty moved on from her. It is the first time that Niara is back in New York
24:46since New York left her exposed in the expansion draft and she was taken. Um, and you have Izzy
24:52Harrison who was kind of like, you know, another player that was here last year that's coming back
24:57for the first time. And so I think, I don't, I think that what I think should happen is Sandy
25:06should
25:06get a lot of love coming back. She gave, she delivered the franchise, their first
25:12championship. And I think that that deserves love and recognition from fan base. They should
25:18be appreciative of her efforts. And yeah, down the, down the stretch, maybe there was a, uh,
25:24break in the partnership between front office and the coaching staff or, or whatever you want to
25:28say about it. Um, you know, I, I think that there was writing on the wall that Sandy's time was
25:36probably up after the end of the season. Um, I don't think that that was shocking to a lot of
25:41people that were around this team. Um, maybe it was shocking to some, but as somebody that was not
25:46at every single game last season, you know, um, and had conversations with people, including Sandy
25:51about, you know, expectations and possibly being on a hot seat and all that. Um, it is what it is.
25:58I think Sandy does deserve her flowers. I think she does deserves fan base. The fan does to appreciate
26:04her for what she was able to do with this team. Um, and that's what I'll say about Sandy. Um,
26:12as it
26:13comes to Niara again, like do you win that championship without Niara? No, absolutely not.
26:19Yeah, exactly. So I'm not, I, again, I, I think I said it when we talked about the expansion draft,
26:26I was surprised they left her exposed, you know? Um, I think, you know, in taking a step back and
26:32reflecting on it, you can say, okay, maybe, maybe it's the injury history that was part of it. Um,
26:38the cap hit that she was going to carry, um, especially if you knew there was a potential to get,
26:43um, a marquee free agent, like saw to like, that's when those little percentages
26:49matter, you know, in terms of putting together a contender, um, and doing that salary cap gymnastics
26:55that Jonathan Kolb had to do. And so it, maybe it makes sense, but it doesn't make it easier to
27:01accept. And I think, you know, Niara is another one that deserves to get her flowers and an appreciation.
27:08And so I, I think both of them will get a lot of love in their first game back. And
27:12it is easy to,
27:13you know, is he was only here for one year. Um, and so I always think that like, when players,
27:18you know, are only there for one year, maybe there's like less of, uh, the razzle dazzle
27:25as a player that was like drafted to a franchise. And it's her first time coming back since she was
27:30traded or, or left in free agency or whatever that might be. But, but I do think that, you know,
27:35Izzy, you know, she, she has a part of New York lore to her. So I'm sure all of them
27:41will,
27:42to some degree, get like their flowers and, and, and rightfully so. I think if I think Sandy,
27:47if she, I think Sandy deserves respect for what she did. Oh yeah. I agree. I mean, I mean,
27:55I'd be stunned if she's not given a standing ovation that I'd be shocked by that. Like,
27:59I think the fans really going to have a lot of appreciation. I think you're right about Niara too.
28:03Nobody's going to forget game five, uh, against the links. Uh, they do not win the title without
28:08her. There's this, there's absolutely no doubt about her. So I think she's going to get a big
28:12time love from the crowd too, at the Barclays center on Wednesday. Now, later in the week,
28:17the Liberty do have a big test against the fever. Um, at the time of us recording this,
28:20they're sitting about fifth in the league, four and four record.
28:23Caitlin Clark, it'll be a town. Oh, she's had some interesting recent struggles. What will
28:28you be keeping an eye on in that primetime matchup on Saturday to close the homestand,
28:32which I will be at, I'll be back covering some Liberty games. I'll be there on Saturday. What
28:36do you keep your eye on in that matchup? Yeah. You know, it seems like teams are really going
28:41after Caitlin, like on, on offense, like attacking her, like her defense, you know, and, and driving at
28:48her. Um, and so I want to see Caitlin take that personally, and I want to see her step up.
28:54You know what I mean? Like, I want her to feel somewhat disrespected by like teams targeting her
29:00and trying to get her switched on. And then whoever has the ball and she's that's their matchup,
29:04like go at the rim. You know what I mean? And so I'm, I'm curious about that. I'm curious about
29:08how Caitlin responds. Um, and, and I think the Liberty too, I think the Liberty have a lot to
29:14prove and to show, you know, heading into this final stretch of this homestand and just like ending
29:20it on a high note. And so like, those are some of the biggest things. I think that again,
29:23if the Liberty do get back to full strength, if Sabrina is able to play, like you really want
29:28to see them start to take steps forward in terms of just putting everything back together. And what,
29:34what, what will this team actually look like? Yeah, that's gonna be a big one on Saturday at
29:39the Barclays center. When you look at the advanced metrics, I know we look, I know taking it with a
29:44grain of salt. Um, the Liberty have been good, but they have not been dominant as they try to get
29:48everybody back together. Seventh in offensive rating, fifth in defensive rating, sixth in that
29:53net rating. So again, profiles of a good team, not great. As the roster gets healthier, as you've
29:58talked about, what needs to improve the most for this team to start looking like the
30:02championship favorite, many expected entering the season, or is it just, they gotta get healthier,
30:07or is it, is there more to that? What do you think they need to do to start looking like
30:10that
30:10championship favorite again? I think they need to like form a more solid defensive identity.
30:17You know what I mean? Like they need to be the aggressors. They need to be the bullies. So to
30:23speak, they need to be tougher. They need to be more gritty on defense. Like, I think,
30:27I think that's the biggest thing I want to see with this team. I'm not worried about the offense.
30:31You know, there's so many scores as, as I previously mentioned, and people that can create
30:35for themselves and for others that like, I'm not really worried about that. It's just,
30:38I think defensively, I think they need to make more of a stand. And then it's just about
30:43consistency, right? Like just stringing together good possession after good possession after good
30:47possession. And, and that goes on both ends, right? And I think if they can, they have not put together
30:53a full 40 minute effort. And I think that that's something, again, it's early, but like you want to
30:59start to see that, right? You want to start to see those runs or those stretches of the game go
31:05longer
31:05and longer. So I think that's, that's kind of some of the stuff I want to see moving forward.
31:10I like that. I like to focus being on defense for them to a lot of talk about offense, but
31:14got to get better on defense. All right. I feel like we've talked so much about offense,
31:18like throughout training camp and, and everything like, what about the, like,
31:22defense wins championships. Let's go. I agree. Defense wins championships. I think
31:26fans like to see the ball in the basket and they worry about the offense. That's why I brought up
31:30the
31:30numbers and stuff, you know, and no, the offense is so like, I agree with you. I think it's fine,
31:35right? Like I, I agree. I agree with you 110%. I think the offense is fine. I don't even think
31:42they've hit their ceiling. I think there's just a higher level. They can go. I see so much talk
31:46from the fan base about, oh, well, what about this? And what about that? And that's even why
31:49I brought up the offensive rebounding. Like, yeah, I get it. You want to get second chance points,
31:53but I think they've been protecting the roster in a way and how they've been playing and not
31:57crashing the boards as aggressively. I think you'll start to see some of that. So I agree with
32:01you, the defense, particularly the three point defense. I know we didn't get that specifically,
32:05but I feel like that can get a lot better. We've seen some miscommunication, as you noted.
32:10We'll see if those things clean up as they get healthier. We'll see. We'll also find out if
32:15Maddie becomes a fan of the Commissions Cup. Maybe that'll change after Wednesday. Maybe we'll see
32:21that. That's going to do it for this edition of Liberty Lately. That is the great Madeline
32:26Kenny. Maddie, I will see you Saturday. Sounds good. That's going to be good. I haven't seen
32:32you in a while, in person, just like this. So that'll be fun. Thank you, everybody. Let us
32:36know in the comments, what do you think of the Liberty's offense, Liberty's defense.
32:38We will catch you all next time on another edition of Liberty Lately.
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