ARLINGTON, Texas — There’s no sugarcoating what occurred Monday night time at School Park Middle.
The Liberty might have misplaced to the Wings simply 92-82, however the rating is deceptive.
As a result of as inspiring as that fourth-quarter comeback try might have appeared, it couldn’t make up for the pathetic method the crew performed for a lot of the recreation.
Issues have been so unhealthy Monday night time that the Liberty held an emergency crew assembly within the visiting locker room for near 40 minutes after the loss.
The crew’s sluggish begins and lack of effort — each ugly habits which have damage it this season — have been subjects of dialogue.
“Embarrassing. Frustrating. A bit disappointing because we know the level of play we hold ourselves to and the caliber of play that we played at in the past,” Jonquel Jones mentioned. “Use it as a learning opportunity and come out the next game and not to do it because it’s been happening for a few games.”
To be frank, not even the phrase “embarrassing” may sum up how poorly the defending champions fared for a lot of the recreation.
Early within the third quarter, New York regarded prefer it was in jeopardy of struggling one in all its most lopsided losses prior to now few years by the hands of the Wings — a crew that entered the sport second to final within the WNBA standings.
The Liberty might have managed to trim a season-high deficit of 30 factors to 6 with lower than two minutes to go, however that doesn’t matter as a result of the way in which the Liberty performed for a lot of the recreation was completely unacceptable for a crew that claims it’s severe about profitable one other title this season.
Certain, New York was with out Breanna Stewart (proper leg) and Nyara Sabally (relaxation.) Kennedy Burke additionally was a stunning late addition to the crew’s harm report after she exited Saturday’s recreation with a lower-body cramp.
However the Liberty nonetheless have loads of expertise to deal with the Wings, who had misplaced six of their earlier seven video games.
The Liberty’s condensed schedule shouldn’t be an excuse both.
Monday might have been New York’s third recreation in 4 days, however the Wings had performed a recreation 24 hours previous to taking the court docket Monday night time.
Moreover, the Liberty had a day between video games to organize for this matchup.
Did New York underestimate the Wings? Or look too far forward within the schedule, realizing a WNBA Finals rematch is on the horizon?
The Wings had the Liberty’s quantity from the bounce, and their lead grew steadily all through the primary half.
“Passive” was the way in which Sabrina Ionescu described the Liberty’s play.
“[We were] waiting to see what they were going to do instead of being able to be on our front foot and in attack mode,” she mentioned.
New York regarded unorganized and infrequently was trailing or out of place on protection, resulting in uncontested appears to be like for Dallas.
The Wings took benefit of what the Liberty have been giving them, taking pictures 58.7 % from the sector within the first half and 46.2 % for the complete recreation.
New York surrendered 31 and 32 factors in every of the primary two quarters and trailed by 27 factors at halftime.
Ionescu mentioned the way in which the Liberty performed early was extra of an indictment of the gamers than the teaching workers.
“It’s never on the coaching staff, right? We’re the ones that go out and play,” mentioned Ionescu, who scored 16 of her 17 factors within the second half. “We’re a crew stuffed with leaders which can be all the time going to take accountability for the way in which that we come out.
“It’s kind of a game we can use to learn about what happens when we come out that passive and just kind of rush, like, not being able to trust our offense and defense. And we just got to use it to propel us forward.”
The Liberty did battle again — as they’ve accomplished quite a few instances this season — and outscored the Wings 46-29 over the ultimate 20 minutes.
Nevertheless it by no means ought to have gotten to the purpose it did. In the long run, the Liberty couldn’t climb out of the deep gap they dug early.
Monday was one recreation in a season of 44. However complacency has been a recurring and troublesome theme for this crew.
The sobering appears to be like on Ionescu, Jones and Brondello’s faces after the loss steered an ominous feeling main into Wednesday, when the Liberty face the league-leading Lynx for the primary time since final yr’s WNBA Finals.
“We got to focus on ourselves,” Ionescu mentioned. “We shouldn’t be playing any differently because who we’re matched up with, what their record is, how talented they are, there’s not really any excuse for the way we come out. We need to value every single game. The regular season is almost over… It’s a game that we got to be able to talk about what we want to fix and be able to go out there and do it.”
