{"id":211817,"date":"2025-09-09T03:38:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T03:38:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/211817\/"},"modified":"2025-09-09T03:38:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T03:38:10","slug":"liberty-already-prepping-for-likely-first-playoff-opponent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/211817\/","title":{"rendered":"Liberty already prepping for likely first playoff opponent"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Liberty are looking ahead, but all eyes aren\u2019t necessarily on their final two regular-season games.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re locked in at the No. 5 seed for the playoffs, and while the Liberty face the Mystics on Tuesday and the Sky on Thursday prior to the postseason, they cannot help but lend time and focus to their first-round opponent.<\/p>\n

During the portion of practice open to the media Monday, the Liberty were working through matchups and schemes in the event they play the Mercury \u2014 their most likely first-round matchup \u2014 in less than a week.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, we just played Phoenix. We just played Atlanta,\u201d coach Sandy Brondello said. \u201cI imagine they\u2019re the two main teams. So, we are just preparing as much as we can now. So, using these days to get on the practice court to simulate what it could look like in the playoffs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NewSabrina Ionsecu looks to move the ball during the Liberty\u2019s June 19 game against the Mercury. Heather Khalifa for the NY Post<\/p>\n

After their loss to Connecticut on Saturday, Phoenix is a near lock for the No. 4 slot.<\/p>\n

Still, the Liberty are prepping for the other possibilities \u2014 the Aces and Dream \u2014 as they have the same record (28-14) but the Aces hold the tiebreaker for the No. 2 seed.<\/p>\n

The Mercury trail both teams by a single game, but a shake-up is unlikely as either the Aces or Dream would have to drop their remaining two games against non-playoff teams.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re making sure our schemes are strong. We have a few sets that we know each team plays and making sure that we\u2019re well versed on what we\u2019re going to do with them and what our coverage is going to be,\u201d Breanna Stewart said after practice.<\/p>\n

The Mercury hold a 3-1 record against the Liberty this season. <\/p>\n

Yet, in three of those games, not every player in the Liberty\u2019s typical lineup was available.<\/p>\n

\"PhoenixMercury forward Satou Sabally tries to attempt a shot against the Liberty on June 19. Heather Khalifa for the NY Post<\/p>\n

Most recently, Sabrina Ionescu was out due to a toe injury. <\/p>\n

Another came without Jonquel Jones because of an ankle injury, and two matchups didn\u2019t involve Leonie Fiebich as she was competing in the EuroBasket for most of June.<\/p>\n

The Liberty had their starters healthy for their single win, 89-76 over the Mercury on July 25.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we know we can beat anybody and I don\u2019t think it matters who we play,\u201d Ionescu said. \u201cIt\u2019s more knowing we just got to be better and focus on ourselves and the things we need to improve on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ionescu (toe) and Nyara Sabally (knee) are available for Tuesday night\u2019s game against the Mystics at Barclays Center. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s the first time the Liberty will be at full strength since the second game of the season May 22.<\/p>\n

During Friday\u2019s victory against the Storm, the Liberty got both Kennedy Burke and Fiebich more involved in the offense. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Burke added 13 points while Fiebich tacked on 21.<\/p>\n

For Fiebich, it was her first double-digit game since Aug. 19, when she scored 10 points against the Lynx.<\/p>\n

Brondello has urged the 6-foot-4 forward to be more aggressive and be selfish because in the games when she has scored in the double digits, the Liberty have gone 12-1.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCovering the Liberty like never before\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Madeline Kenney’s Inside the Liberty, a weekly Sports+ newsletter.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Fiebich can be a real difference-maker in the postseason if that output stays consistent, just as it did a year ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to put her in the action. Sometimes, she just stands in the corner too much \u2026\u201d Brondello said. \u201cWe just have to remind her [to be unselfish]. We just have to remind her, especially we had all these players out. You\u2019ve got to be aggressive because we are down.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Liberty are looking ahead, but all eyes aren\u2019t necessarily on their final two regular-season games. They\u2019re locked…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":211818,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[1520,1502,15534,62,67,132,68,232],"class_list":{"0":"post-211817","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-new-york-liberty","9":"tag-phoenix-mercury","10":"tag-sabrina-ionescu","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-unitedstates","14":"tag-us","15":"tag-wnba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115172259046243053","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=211817"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211817\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/211818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}