The New York Liberty just got swept out of the semifinals by the Atlanta Dream, and honestly, it felt like a fitting, frustrating end to a season that started with so much hype. This team, loaded with talent, was supposed to be a title lock. Remember, they were the preseason favorites, but man, did that vision ever go sideways.
From Preseason Champs to Playoff Chumps: What Happened?
Think about this: they came into the season after re-signing their “Big Three” of Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones, and Sabrina Ionescu. They even convinced Satou Sabally to take a discount and brought in international talent like Pauline Astier, all under new coach Chris DeMarco. They were INSTALLED as preseason title favorites. Opening night, they won by 31, even with Ionescu, Sabally, and Leonie Fiebich sidelined. You’d think that’s a sign, right?
Nope. A few nights later, they blew a 13-point lead and lost on a buzzer-beater to the expansion Portland Fire. That pretty much set the tone for the whole season. Breanna Stewart put it best after their Game 3 loss to the Dream: “We want to win a championship every single time we step on the court, but it’s really hard in this league. And in order to do that, you need to be consistent for the full 44 games, and now it’s going to be 50 and whatever, and I think that I don’t think we were consistent throughout the season.” She totally nailed it. You can’t cram for this test; you gotta be ready from the jump.
Injuries, Instability, and That Insane 25-Minute Stat
So, why couldn’t they find that consistency? It was a straight-up injury nightmare. Sabally didn’t debut until May 21, and by the time she was finally hitting her stride, she got a concussion (her second in under a year!) from an elbow by NaLyssa Smith. That ended her season in August after playing only 13 games. Ionescu? She played one game after her May 24 debut, then was out for another three weeks with a back injury. She rarely looked like herself when she came back.
And Fiebich? She was stuck overseas with her Spanish club, Valencia, until May 27. Then, a month later, she had a foot injury that took her out for seven weeks. When she returned, she only scored double figures three times, and that includes the playoffs. This constant carousel of injuries meant their “ideal” starting five , Stewart, Jones, Ionescu, Fiebich, and Sabally , played together for a measly **25 minutes** the entire season. Twenty-five minutes! That’s insane!
Their most-frequent lineup, Stewart, Jones, Ionescu, Astier, and Rebecca Allen, only saw 157 minutes together. That’s the fewest minutes for any playoff team’s most-frequent five-player unit, and the fifth-fewest in the whole league. On top of that, Coach DeMarco apparently did some “tinkering” that made things even worse. How do you find a rhythm when your coach is shuffling the deck constantly, and your star players are constantly in and out?
This team had the talent to go all the way, no doubt. But with key players always sidelined and the lineups never getting a chance to gel, it’s no wonder they never truly clicked. Heading into next season, the Liberty have some serious questions to answer about player health and how they can finally build a consistent, championship-caliber squad from the jump. You can bet fans are already wondering what changes are coming to make sure that a ‘frustrating season’ isn’t the headline again.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by CBS Sports.
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