{"id":1274,"date":"2023-10-15T17:11:48","date_gmt":"2023-10-15T14:11:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/1274\/wnba-finals-2023-new-york-liberty-2-0-face-elimination\/"},"modified":"2023-10-31T22:26:02","modified_gmt":"2023-10-31T19:26:02","slug":"wnba-finals-2023-new-york-liberty-2-0-face-elimination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/?p=1274","title":{"rendered":"Down 2-0 in WNBA Finals, how can New York save its season?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Down 2-0 in WNBA Finals, how can New York save its season?\u060c<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-meta\">\n<ul class=\"authors\">\n<li class=\"mugshot-shown\">\n<div class=\"author-img\"><\/div>\n<p>Alexa Philippou, ESPN<span class=\"timestamp \">October 12, 2023, 6:15 p.m.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"author-overlay\">Close<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Covers women&#8217;s <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/tag\/college\/\"   title=\"college\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\">college<\/a> basketball and the WNBA<\/li>\n<li>Previously covered UConn and the <a href=\"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/2619\/aces-edge-liberty-to-secure\/\">WNBA<\/a> Connecticut Sun for the Hartford Courant<\/li>\n<li>Stanford graduate and Baltimore native with additional experience at the Dallas Morning News, Seattle Times and Cincinnati Enquirer<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>LAS VEGAS &#8212; The New York Liberty prides itself on never going too high or too low.  Coach Sandy Brondello &#8220;never hits the panic button,&#8221; Courtney Vandersloot told ESPN on Wednesday morning, a big reason why the Liberty hadn&#8217;t lost consecutive games all season before the season finale. WNBA, the point guard said.<\/p>\n<p>Brondello wasn&#8217;t exactly hitting the panic button later in the day after his team&#8217;s 104-76 blowout loss in Game 2 to the Las Vegas Aces handed them a post-elimination loss.  But his bewilderment and disappointment were clear in his post-match remarks to the media.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe didn\u2019t have any harshness.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was all too easy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe had no resistance&#8230; There was no resistance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have to be proud of playing better than we did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Brondello&#8217;s sentiments were echoed by players to his left and right, 2018 and 2023 MVP Breanna Stewart and 2021 MVP Jonquel Jones.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have to dig deeper,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have to look inside and understand,\u201d added Stewart, a two-time WNBA champion whose losses in this <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/tag\/series\/\"   title=\"series\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\">series<\/a> are her first in an NCAA and WNBA championship.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"inline editorial float-r\" data-behavior=\"article_related\">\n<h2 class=\"editorial-title\">Editor&#8217;s Choice<\/h2>\n<p>2 Related<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>The Liberty will fight to maintain their championship aspirations Sunday when they host the game (3 p.m. ET, ABC) at Barclays Center.  Teams that trail 0-2 in a best-of-five WNBA playoff series have never been able to overcome the deficit to <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/tag\/win\/\"   title=\"win\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\">win<\/a> the series, and in Finals history, they have been swept in seven out of eight cases. .<\/p>\n<p>The possibility of a sweep, by either team, seemed far-fetched a <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/tag\/week\/\"   title=\"week\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\">week<\/a> ago.  Las Vegas and New York split the regular season series 2-2, with the Liberty winning the Commissioner&#8217;s Cup championship game in August.  The Aces swept the Chicago Sky in the first round and the Dallas Wings in the semifinals.  New York had to pull off first-round wins against a Washington Mystics team that was much better than its No. 7 seed indicated, as well as a tough third-seeded Connecticut Sun team that inflicted a defeat on New York at home in the first match of the semi-finals.<\/p>\n<p>The Liberty \u2014 which has three players with extensive Finals experience in Jones, Stewart and Vandersloot, their three big offseason additions \u2014 seemed to deepen their grit and chemistry in real time as the playoffs wore on. were unfolding.  They bounced back from a 15-point loss to the Sun in Game 1 by beating them three straight times, including two on the road.<\/p>\n<p>But the team that took the floor this week in Las Vegas looked like a shell of the one that beat the Aces three times in August, or the one that overcame a difficult road to the Finals.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"pull-quote\"><p>&#8220;I know we&#8217;re a lot better than that. We need to prove to ourselves that we&#8217;re a better team than what we&#8217;ve shown the last two.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><cite>Sandy Brondello, Liberty coach<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Brondello, who is in his second year in New York after serving as head coach in San Antonio and with the Phoenix Mercury, recognized the way the defending champion Aces play.  But she believes that her team was not up to par either.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Vegas is playing their best basketball right now. They&#8217;re playing with all the confidence. You see the chemistry they have,&#8221; Brondello said of the differences between their August meetings and the final.  &#8220;And for us, we didn&#8217;t take a step forward. We didn&#8217;t show it. We&#8217;re disappointed, very disappointed because we&#8217;re a much better team than what we showed.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>After allowing 99 points in the first game, including 72 to the Las Vegas guard trio, New York had to execute defensively, be more disruptive, to get back to transition defense in the second game.  <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/tag\/start\/\"   title=\"start\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\">start<\/a> Wednesday, falling behind 19-2 four minutes into the game.  After a barrage of 3-pointers, the Aces scored a WNBA Finals record 38 points in the first quarter on 70% shooting (6 of 10 from beyond the arc).<\/p>\n<p>Jackie Young and Kelsey Plum combined for 8-of-15 shooting from 3 and 47 total points, while A&#8217;ja Wilson couldn&#8217;t be denied, finishing with 26 points and 15 rebounds.  The Aces became the first team in WNBA history to have three 20-point scorers multiple times in the Finals and to do so in consecutive playoff games.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"inline inline-photo full\">\n<figure><picture><source data- media=\"(min-width: 376px)\"><source data- media=\"(max-width: 375px)\"><img class=\" lazyload lazyload\" data-image-container=\".inline-photo\" height=\"320\" width=\"570\"\/><\/source><\/source><\/picture><figcaption class=\"photoCaption\">New York didn&#8217;t look like the same team that beat Las Vegas three times in August, nor did it play with grit and tenacity to get past Washington and Connecticut in the playoffs. <cite>Ethan Miller\/Getty Images<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Everything the Aces did seemed simple, systematic and fluid, the product of that core having played together for years and winning a championship together last season.  Outside of when the Liberty was able to get the ball to Jones in the second quarter, it was the opposite for them.<\/p>\n<p>Even in games where New York did a lot of good, things broke the Aces&#8217; way. On one possession with about four minutes left in the first quarter, Vandersloot and Stewart almost got the ball back after knocking it away from Wilson, before Plum picks him up in the corner.  Stewart and Vandersloot then appeared to stop her under the basket, but she kicked him out and the ball passed from Young to Wilson and then to Young, who drove and hit Alysha Clark in the corner.  Clark then quickly relayed the message to Gray, who nailed a 3 against Vandersloot in the closing stretch as the shot clock expired.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey do things very precisely,\u201d Brondello said.  &#8220;They know where they&#8217;re going to be, where they&#8217;re going to be open and who&#8217;s going to come out and extra checks. And the pace they played at really kept us going in circles.&#8221;<\/p>\n<aside class=\"inline float-r inline-track\">\n<h2 class=\"img-title\">Top stories of the week <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/1697166059_76_NBArank-2023-24-reaction-Snubs-surprises-and-players-who-could.png\" width=\"49\"\/><\/h2>\n<p>Get exclusive access to thousands of premium articles per year from top writers.<br \/>\u2022 Barnwell Ranks Worst <a href=\"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/2504\/patrick-mahomes-eyes-nfl-team\/\">NFL Teams<\/a> \u00bb<br \/>\u2022 Who could enter <a href=\"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/151\/nbarank-2023-player-rankings-2023-24-10-1\/\">NBArank<\/a> in 2024?  \u00bb<br \/>\u2022 10 college basketball recruits to know \u00bb<br \/><strong>    More ESPN+ content \u00bb<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>It wasn&#8217;t much better on the offensive end for New York, which shot worse from the floor (36.1%) and from 3 (22.9%) than in the first game.  Vandersloot and Ionescu struggled once again on that end, combining for 19 points on 5-of-19 shooting (3-of-11 from 3) and currently sits at 8-of-25 on open shots in the series .  Stewart only made six field goals, while \u2013 as in the first game \u2013 Jones was neutralized in the second half after a dominant second period.  Even a more aggressive Betnijah Laney or a helpful Marine Johannes on the bench couldn&#8217;t save them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think their defense has taken a step forward as well,\u201d Brondello said.  &#8220;Their physicality bothered us. We also need to be smarter where we need to make hard cuts, not just soft cuts, violent cuts to be able to actually attract people, put in better screens, just the little details to help us to open up to us.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The Liberty will sit with the embarrassment of defeat \u2013 and the apprehension of being about to finish the season without a championship \u2013 for four days.  Brondello said she wants them to be \u201cunnerved by this effort\u201d as they search for answers.  She challenged them to fight, believing they can bounce back as the series heads east.<\/p>\n<p>Who will bring the courage and tenacity that Brondello wants to see?  Laney often sets the tone on the defensive end, and she hasn&#8217;t played spectacularly in these Finals, but it will take a team effort to slow down Las Vegas.<\/p>\n<p>Liberty&#8217;s defense needs to find ways to make things more uncomfortable for the Aces&#8217; guards, something they had more success with in August.  There&#8217;s no way you&#8217;ll beat Las Vegas if its guards hit like they did, and that confidence is something they&#8217;ll surely bring to Brooklyn.<\/p>\n<p>On the offensive end, can Stewart find her shot?  Can Jones make an impact for the full 40 minutes and take advantage of the mismatches inside?  Vandersloot and Ionescu need to do better defensively, but they also need to be factors offensively.  The Liberty need to play through the paint, either getting the ball to Jones or getting their guards down, anything that could help open up the floor for perimeter players.  Unlocking Johannes \u2013 perhaps even playing her more \u2013 could be essential in this effort.<\/p>\n<p>For the second game in a row, Brondello noted that her team needed to set better screens and, on the other hand, not allow as many open shots \u2014 something that should be allowed in the WNBA Finals.<\/p>\n<p>Even amid their deep disappointment Wednesday, the Liberty focused on what&#8217;s immediately in front of them: not overcoming an 0-2 deficit per se, but winning Game 3 on Sunday and playing the way they know they are capable.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know we\u2019re a lot better than that,\u201d Brondello said.  \u201cWe have to prove to ourselves that we are a better team than what we have shown the last two.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Down 2-0 in WNBA Finals, how can New York save its season?\u060c Alexa Philippou, ESPNOctober 12, 2023, 6:15 p.m. Close Covers women&#8217;s college basketball and the WNBA Previously covered UConn and the WNBA Connecticut Sun for the Hartford Courant Stanford graduate and Baltimore native with additional experience at the Dallas Morning News, Seattle Times and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1275,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1383,597,1555,1553,1554],"class_list":["post-1274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-sports","tag-finals","tag-save","tag-season","tag-wnba","tag-york"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1274"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1274\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6071,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1274\/revisions\/6071"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}