Leonie Fiebich kept tabs on the Liberty the best she could when she was away for EuroBasket the past few weeks.<\/p>\n
She saw the underwhelming results and updates on social media. She got texts from her WNBA teammates asking her to come back.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s also OK for us to go through a phase like this that it\u2019s hitting us now and not later in the year,\u201d Fiebich said after practice Wednesday. \u201cWe just gotta find a way back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now is the time to do just that.<\/p>\n
The Liberty opened their title defense with a franchise-best 9-0 start.<\/p>\n
Over the past 2 \u00bd weeks, though, they have faltered.<\/p>\n
The team lost five of its past seven games and recently finished a 10-day road trip with back-to-back losses in Phoenix and Atlanta.<\/p>\n
Germany\u2019s Leonie Fiebich, left, and Sweden\u2019s Fanny Wadling in action during the European Championships basketball match between Germany and Sweden at the Inselpark Arena in Hamburg, Germany, Thursday, June 19, 2025. AP<\/p>\n
The Liberty (11-5) entered Wednesday ranked third in the league standings.<\/p>\n
Despite the struggles, though, Natasha Cloud believes outsiders need to take a \u201cchill pill.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have everything that we need,\u201d Cloud said. \u201cIn that locker room, there is no panic. I think everyone needs to take a reality check. \u2026 We have two missing starters.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Liberty were without two starters for most of that stretch since Fiebich \u2014 one of the team\u2019s best defenders \u2014 went overseas for EuroBasket and Jonquel Jones \u2014 New York\u2019s best rim protector \u2014 aggravated a right ankle sprain.<\/p>\n
It didn\u2019t help either that Sabrina Ionescu was a late scratch for the June 22 loss in Seattle after she woke up with a kink in her neck.<\/p>\n
Natasha Cloud of the New York Liberty shoots the ball during the game against the Atlanta Dream on June 29, 2025 at Gateway Center Arena at College Park in Atlanta, Georgia. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n
Ionescu still didn\u2019t have full movement in her neck when she helped the Liberty beat the Valkyries in front of a rowdy violet-laden crowd in San Francisco.<\/p>\n
Ionescu is better now, and Fiebich is back in the mix. The German wing is expected to play Thursday against the Sparks.<\/p>\n
Jones is also on the mend and was seen doing individual work off to the side with director of player development coach Andrew Wade toward the end of Wednesday\u2019s practice.<\/p>\n
The Liberty didn\u2019t anticipate Jones returning before WNBA All-Star weekend (July 18 and 19) based on their initial June 21 update that she\u2019d be out for four to six weeks.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Speaking to reporters for the first time since she reinjured her ankle in June, Jones said she doesn\u2019t have a target date for her return to play but feels she\u2019s in a \u201cgood spot.\u201d<\/p>\n
This all bodes well for the Liberty, who are playing eight straight games at home, starting Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019re going to be able to kind of turn the page and see a different team here when we\u2019re back at home,\u201d Ionescu said.<\/p>\n
Ionescu thought it was promising to see the team \u201cfought\u201d over the past two weeks, despite being shorthanded. She described the team vibes as \u201cgood.\u201d<\/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
\u201cEveryone kind of sees the big picture and isn\u2019t really panicking,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s just that understanding of we need people to step up, we need people to continue to try and make up for the players that aren\u2019t here and those are really big shoes to fill. And so we just need to continue to chip away.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Liberty aren\u2019t scheduled to hit the road again until their July 28 game in Arlington, Texas, against the Wings.<\/p>\n
If they do in fact get back on track before the All-Star break, then the previous turbulence will be only a blip in a long season.<\/p>\n
But if problems persist even with Fiebich on the floor, then it might be time to sound the alarm.<\/p>\n
Sabrina Ionescu of the Liberty drives to the basket during the game against the Atlanta Dream on June 29, 2025 at Gateway Center Arena at College Park in Atlanta, Georgia. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n
For now, though, the Liberty deserve the benefit of the doubt given their championship credentials and the recent circumstances.<\/p>\n
But they should know the sand in the hourglass is running low.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone faces adversity, so you got to stay together,\u201d coach Sandy Brondello said. \u201cThis is where your character shows. And we\u2019re our worst enemy, you know what I mean?<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the end, we didn\u2019t play hard enough. And so that\u2019s what the last few days have been about. Getting back to who we are and demanding more. And Leo makes a big difference.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Leonie Fiebich kept tabs on the Liberty the best she could when she was away for EuroBasket the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":34530,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[1520,62,67,132,68,232],"class_list":{"0":"post-34529","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-sports","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us","13":"tag-wnba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114787737135201575","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34529","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=34529"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34529\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}