Perhaps there will be another parade down Canyon of Heroes when the weather turns brisk, but as of their loss to the Golden State Valkyries on Tuesday night, the 2025 WNBA season seems to have beaten the New York Liberty into submission. They do not have it. Anything short of a miracle will not allow this team to sustain excellence over a month of playoff basketball. As one of the most talented rosters you could hope to assemble, that's a damn shame. New York lost to the Valkyries on Tuesday, and part of it was subpar decision-making, but they should be able to overcome an imperfect decision-making game against most teams. They didn’t achieve basketball purity in their bludgeoning of the Chicago Sky in May; despite turning the ball over 20 times, New York still turned Chicago’s home-opener into a bloodbath, making a WNBA-record 19 3-pointers. They were stocked with fresh legs. Sure, they threw no-look passes out of bounds and set moving screens, but their offense was a guided missile, precise and explosive. It would have been offensive to suggest that team would add Emma Meesseman mid-season; no defending champion needs to be that greedy. New York won their next seven games, starting 9-0. A lifetime has passed them by since then. Golden State grabbed nine offensive rebounds, and each one landed like a body-blow. The Liberty play 23 seconds of inspired defense, only for the Balhalla gods to answer Kate Martin or Temi Fagbenle prayer. A championship team shrugs that off, maybe even relishes the possession. The Liberty deflate; they’ve wasted precious energy that they don’t have. Everything is messed up, but even amid the mess, New York isn’t good enough. Some fans see this team not giving consistent second and third efforts and feel the Liberty are checked out, unmotivated, uninspired. I see a team unable to get themselves there. Zombies. Either way, the result is the same. It’s just one loss. They can still get healthy. They’re still the most talented team in the league. This has all been true for the last two months. They're 15-17 in the last two months. Breanna Stewart was asked something about their fake second-half comeback, which started after they were losing by three touchdowns and a field goal. She gave the right answer: “It’s easy to fight back when you’re down. I think that this is — this is disappointing collectively. Like yeah, there can be bright spots and whatever. But we have three games left and we’re not where we need to be.” As those words pierced the skin, she tried to muster some conviction: “It’s frustrating and it’s tough, but I know that our team is going to continue to show up every day and and fight for where we want to be. So we have another road game in Seattle, and we go there and we get better.” Stewie tried, but there was no way to make those words believable. There are three games left, and the New York Liberty are not nearly where they want to be. In other words: It’s not happening for them this season.
Perhaps there will be another parade down Canyon of Heroes when the weather turns brisk, but as of their loss to the Golden State Valkyries on Tuesday night, the 2025 WNBA season seems to have beaten the New York Liberty into submission. They do not have it. Anything short of a miracle will not allow this team to sustain excellence over a month of playoff basketball. As one of the most talented rosters you could hope to assemble, that's a damn shame. New York lost to the Valkyries on Tuesday, and part of it was subpar decision-making, but they should be able to overcome an imperfect decision-making game against most teams. They didn’t achieve basketball purity in their bludgeoning of the Chicago Sky in May; despite turning the ball over 20 times, New York still turned Chicago’s home-opener into a bloodbath, making a WNBA-record 19 3-pointers. They were stocked with fresh legs. Sure, they threw no-look passes out of bounds and set moving screens, but their offense was a guided missile, precise and explosive. It would have been offensive to suggest that team would add Emma Meesseman mid-season; no defending champion needs to be that greedy. New York won their next seven games, starting 9-0. A lifetime has passed them by since then. Golden State grabbed nine offensive rebounds, and each one landed like a body-blow. The Liberty play 23 seconds of inspired defense, only for the Balhalla gods to answer Kate Martin or Temi Fagbenle prayer. A championship team shrugs that off, maybe even relishes the possession. The Liberty deflate; they’ve wasted precious energy that they don’t have. Everything is messed up, but even amid the mess, New York isn’t good enough. Some fans see this team not giving consistent second and third efforts and feel the Liberty are checked out, unmotivated, uninspired. I see a team unable to get themselves there. Zombies. Either way, the result is the same. It’s just one loss. They can still get healthy. They’re still the most talented team in the league. This has all been true for the last two months. They're 15-17 in the last two months. Breanna Stewart was asked something about their fake second-half comeback, which started after they were losing by three touchdowns and a field goal. She gave the right answer: “It’s easy to fight back when you’re down. I think that this is — this is disappointing collectively. Like yeah, there can be bright spots and whatever. But we have three games left and we’re not where we need to be.” As those words pierced the skin, she tried to muster some conviction: “It’s frustrating and it’s tough, but I know that our team is going to continue to show up every day and and fight for where we want to be. So we have another road game in Seattle, and we go there and we get better.” Stewie tried, but there was no way to make those words believable. There are three games left, and the New York Liberty are not nearly where they want to be. In other words: It’s not happening for them this season.
Hard to win B2B championships. In addition, Liberty ran into a well coached, hot-streaked, and fighting for playoff oppty Valkyries. Valkyries en masse are ‘3 and D.’ Something I wrote a little earlier that Liberty will get a boost from Ionescu’s return- x.com/para3allic/sta…
@LucasKaplan_ I don’t think I hate the team as much as I hate these New York soothsayers. I wish Joe & Clara Wu Tsai would relocate to a city with a very appreciative fan base. 🙄
@LucasKaplan_ Told you a month ago, staying with Brondello was madness. It's not too late though, fire, recruit, act fast and hope for the best. As it is, first round exit, and in a painful way.
@LucasKaplan_ agree team is stunned and have no idea how to recover. They’re just going thru the motions and have excuses galore. Assuming they’d glide to another championship? Too much merchandising by players? Expecting early playoff exit. And Lib mgmt will have post Mortems to analyze.
