{"id":840113,"date":"2026-06-02T22:54:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T22:54:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/840113\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T22:54:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T22:54:10","slug":"toronto-tempos-sandy-brondello-set-for-barclays-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/840113\/","title":{"rendered":"Toronto Tempo’s Sandy Brondello set for Barclays Center"},"content":{"rendered":"

WNBA scriptwriters picked a perfect matchup for the Liberty<\/a>\u2018s first Commissioner\u2019s Cup game: a Wednesday contest against Sandy Brondello and the Toronto Tempo.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the Liberty\u2019s first time facing off against Canada\u2019s expansion team. And it\u2019s the first time Brondello coaches against the Liberty, the team that fired her eight months ago<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And with the Tempo arriving in New York, Liberty players shared their thoughts when asked if they were surprised the team fired the franchise\u2019s winningest coach in history last offseason.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t particularly expecting it,\u201d Stewart said of Brondello before pausing and continued, \u201cI don\u2019t know. I think that I wasn\u2019t really involved in that. Sad to see her go, but happy to see her find somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jonquel Jones\u2019 response to the question was much shorter.<\/p>\n

\u201cNext question. I\u2019m not answering that one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brondello\u2019s firing came as a surprise for many across the WNBA world. The front office decided to let her go after a disappointing first-round series playoff loss to the Phoenix Mercury.<\/p>\n

That early exit, however, came after she brought the Liberty its first-ever WNBA championship in 2024<\/a>. She fell just short of winning a ring in 2023 after falling to the Las Vegas Aces, 3-1, in the five-game series.<\/p>\n

Her four-year Liberty resume also includes two Commissioner\u2019s Cup appearances with the 2023 berth resulting in a championship.<\/p>\n

She joined the team in 2022 after an eight-year stint with the Phoenix Mercury. At the time, Brondello coached a roster that ultimately featured nine players with two or fewer years of WNBA experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe really gave me some confidence in 2021,\u201d said Marine Johannes, who was beginning her second WNBA season at the time. \u201cThe team was completely different from now, of course. We were pretty young and had some injuries at the beginning of the season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brondello\u2019s 107-53 record gives her the most wins by a coach in Liberty history.<\/p>\n

One of many accolades worthy of being celebrated despite the split.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s gonna be great. I think it\u2019s gonna be really welcoming for her,\u201d Stewart said of the anticipated Barclays Center return for the head coach. \u201cI think that the fans love [her] and will always show respect to her any time she comes back. Knowing that she was a part of the group that brought this franchise its first championship, that\u2019s something where she will always be etched in the books here in New York and in Brooklyn, specifically. Just hope she gets a warm welcome. It\u2019ll be good to see her.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Brooklyn homecoming also includes Brondello\u2019s husband and assistant Olaf Lange. Nyara Sabally, who the Tempo picked in the expansion draft<\/a> after she spent four years with the Liberty, returns in a much bigger role with Toronto. Isabelle Harrison also makes her return after spending one season with the Liberty.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s gonna be amazing,\u201d Jones said. \u201cIt\u2019s gonna be amazing to reunite with them and have them here. I\u2019m sure they\u2019ll be celebrated as they should. I\u2019m excited to play against them, but also see them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Liberty general manager Jonathan Kolb cited the needs to be \u201cproactive,\u201d and to stay modern in an ever-changing WNBA landscape<\/a> as reasons for the firing. Kolb, of course, hired Chris DeMarco to be head coach two months later.<\/p>\n

Offensive issues reappearing throughout the Big 3 era \u2014 Jones, Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu \u2014 didn\u2019t help Brondello\u2019s case.<\/p>\n

Kolb at the time of firing felt the offense featured too much east-west movement resulting in poorer shots. And Jones, a 6-6 focal point of any team she\u2019s played for, not being heavily featured at times during the 2025 season didn\u2019t help Brondello\u2019s case, either.<\/p>\n

The team even brought in ex-Grizzlies assistant Sonia Raman to assist with offense in 2025 after the team won a championship. Raman is now head coach of the Seattle Storm.<\/p>\n

Even after the shortcomings, Liberty players are eager to see their former coaches again.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really happy to see them,\u201d said Leonie Fiebich, who plays under Lange for the German National Team. \u201cI think the whole staff, people that were here the last few years are happy to see them, too.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WNBA scriptwriters picked a perfect matchup for the Liberty\u2018s first Commissioner\u2019s Cup game: a Wednesday contest against Sandy…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":840114,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[49],"tags":[4548,19708,62,67,132,68,232],"class_list":["post-840113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-liberty","tag-sandy-brondello","tag-sports","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-wnba"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116682980018705918","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840113","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=840113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/840114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=840113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=840113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=840113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}