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00:03Welcome back to another edition of Liberty Lately Dexter Henry alongside the fantastic
00:08women's sports reporter for the New York Post also beat reporter for Liberty Madeline
00:13Kenny with me and Maddie is coming with me today not coming with me but joining me from
00:19outside the country she's in Montreal where the Liberty just lost to the Toronto Tempo
00:2493 to 91 yes they did not play in Toronto Maddie how are you doing how are you enjoying
00:28Montreal good good I really like Montreal so far it's very walkable I've been doing a
00:34little my je parle en français probably just butchered that but but yeah it's it's been it's
00:43been good so far okay a little je parlez français for Maddie there bring a little
00:47French there I like that I can appreciate that we got to talk about the Liberty because
00:51they took another L they did have back-to-back games this road trip has not started out the
00:56way that we thought we took last time I saw you we talked about could the Liberty go three
00:59and one on this road trip well that's not going to happen because they started
01:02like a trip oh and two so now Maddie they've lost three straight they've lost five out of
01:08their last seven the question for me here is is this still a team going through a rough
01:12patch or are we watching a more fundamental problem with who this team is right now
01:18do you know what the common thread of all these losses is well I saw you tweet about this and
01:24I
01:24think where you're probably going to go is that in all of these losses they have been down by double
01:29digits at some point in the game in the second half and again we saw that happen they were down
01:35by I
01:35think as many as 15 in this game and find themselves playing from behind trying to climb out of a
01:41hole
01:43and that takes a lot out of a team and I think again like at some point they got to
01:48like look
01:49themselves I talked to Paulina SCA after the game and she she said like we have to wake up like
01:53we
01:53cannot be starting games so slow um they've been outscored by like 27 points or something like that
01:59in the last I think six games I can't remember how far back I went and that that's something that
02:05like needs to be addressed right because if you're starting the game from behind you're going to
02:10constantly be trying to play pick up and it takes way more out of a team to try to catch
02:16up than to
02:17you know hold steady on the lead and the Liberty in particular also have not been great in clutch
02:21clutch games when it comes down to when the game is within five points in the final five minutes of
02:27fourth quarter regulation or overtime excuse me they are I think five and six now after last yesterday's
02:35loss and today's in Montreal and so you know that's something that like it you don't want to put
02:41yourself in those situations but the execution like really matters down the stretch and in today
02:45in Montreal like in particular it was more so just a snowball effect they they're able to mount this
02:53like furious second half rally and then you know Benajah gets ejected Liberty are upset with a call
03:00where you know it was originally supposed to be Liberty ball after it like bounced off of appeared to bounce
03:05off of Pauline Astier's ankle and another official overturned it gave it to Toronto's ball
03:11um and that was just one of the few and you know but at the end of the day like
03:16you just have to like
03:17at some point as frustrating as officiating can be in any situations you also got to look in the mirror
03:24and be like why are we in this situation why is it coming down to a call here and there
03:27so I think the
03:28biggest thing that the Liberty need to really work on is not allowing the game to get away from them
03:33and then having to play catch up yeah I didn't even want to get really into this in this episode
03:40because I've seen a lot of fans talk about it since the last time we recorded and all the we
03:44talked about a
03:45little bit to the officiating you know in the W being an issue it's been such a talking point this
03:50season and you saw it come up in this game but the Liberty you saw in the second half of
03:55this game
03:55Maddie they played really much more inspired defense particularly in that fourth quarter where they
04:01fought 10 plus turnovers from the the tempo in that fourth quarter but to your point if you start off
04:08better which Stewie said after the loss to the wings last week if you start off better then you won't
04:13be in
04:13these situations where you have to worry about this and I think it's a good point where some fans are
04:18going to go right to the officiating but I think the problems start even before then yeah and you
04:23also have to understand that obviously the Liberty are without two key players saw two solid
04:27lights outing concussion protocol Leonie Phoebe their best perimeter defender is out with what the team is
04:33calling left foot soreness there she's getting more tests and examinations to try to get clarity on her
04:38situation that the team says um and so you felt you felt their loss you felt their void but at
04:45the
04:45same time like the Liberty's depth has been tested and I think it starts to make you wonder are they
04:51going to make a move at the trade deadline because this team is so star-studded and talented that
04:58what we've seen and again everyone's talking about building to the postseason
05:01um it just feels like it hasn't reached that next level it needs to to to feel a little bit
05:09more
05:09confident yeah and I know that's a question for down the road but there's a lot of talk about what
05:13does this Liberty team need and one of the things that stood out to me you go back to the
05:17Saturday game
05:18against the Lynx in Minneapolis rebounding was a huge issue for them particularly down the stretch
05:25Liberty gave up a ton of offensive rebounds to Minnesota then you look at what they did here against
05:31Toronto did you feel like they responded physically enough against Toronto do you look like there's
05:36still too many possessions where their size because this Liberty team does have size Maddie
05:41doesn't translate into control of the game where they're controlling the glass controlling the boards
05:45we're not seeing that despite all the size and length and granted they are down a couple of players
05:50but we're not seeing them dominate on the glass the way they're supposed to how do you think they
05:55rebounded for lack of a better term coming from Minneapolis to Montreal over these last couple of games
06:01I mean I think they bounced back I think there was more of a intentionality and going after and
06:05getting rebounds finding a body all of that I mean look like the biggest talking point for the last few
06:10weeks has been about how Liberty run more zone defense than anyone else in the league um I don't
06:16have the numbers in front of me you're just gonna have to trust me or if you watch the game
06:19you
06:19definitely see it yeah if you if you watch the game you definitely see it um and it's not easy
06:26to
06:26rebound out of a zone obviously which is resulting in maybe more offensive rebounds for the opposing
06:32team and second chance opportunities which you never want as a team and you know Marine Johanna
06:38said after the Lynx game it's just about effort like they just have to be put more effort trying
06:43to go after and get rebounds JJ said it's about hitting bodies and finding the body um which you know
06:48can
06:48be challenging when you are you know guarding like an area instead of a person um and Brianna said that
06:58it's also just like KYP like you've got to know the personnel you've got to know player tendencies who's
07:03going to crash and so I think it's just like a culmination of all three of those things right
07:07and I think today again there was more intentionality about getting rebounds and they and they did a
07:13better job I would say I don't have the numbers right in front of me but just from the eye
07:16test it
07:17seemed like again they were making more of a conscious effort to get them and um unfortunately
07:23just fell short for for for a variety of reasons I mean the Liberty started this game they looked like
07:28a team that was playing their second game in 26 hours um they looked like they traveled to another
07:33country they just like had a little bit of fatigue and Sabrina Unescu was the one that really carried
07:39them in the first half um also with Pauline Astier in foul trouble you had Marine Johannes and
07:45Benajah Laney Hamilton provide some boost off the bench that first half Brianna Stewart uncharacteristic
07:51two for 11 from the field to start but obviously bounced back in the second half um I again I
07:57think
07:58it I think we've talked so much about rebounding um there's just like a variety of things that this
08:05team seems to have uh it's it's shortfalls yeah and one of the other things you mentioned that I think
08:11is fair and fans will point to as well too you know you talked about the fact there's no Leonie
08:15Feebich and Satu Saboli uh both out do you how much of this skid can be explained by who is
08:22missing
08:23because people will point to that but then at what point does the available roster still have to be
08:29good enough to win these games how do you look at who's out and then balancing who is still here
08:34and
08:34it still feels like the Liberty had some games here that they could have won Maddie despite Satu
08:39despite Feebich being out do you feel that way or do you look at it as this is just a
08:44tough time
08:45because they don't have their full roster yeah I definitely look at it that they left a few wins
08:49on the table I think today was an example of a game that you could have won um Minnesota you
08:55know
08:55again another game you could have won um I think I I think it's an excuse if you want to
09:01point
09:02put all the what is happening on the absences of players because again this is is we've talked
09:08about it from since the beginning of the season this is a deep roster it the bench was highly tooted
09:14and Benajah she had a good first half today but I think you know she's a player that hasn't really
09:21been able to find her rhythm some of that is because of her playing time has you know gone up
09:28and down
09:28and I think Rebecca Allen you're not really getting anything from her she's not playing um
09:34Rebecca Gardner like she has her moments but you know she's been she was starting the last few games
09:40she didn't start today they obviously went with that jumbo lineup um and by jumbo I mean Pauline
09:46Sabrina and then you had the three bigs in Brianna JJ and Han um but Rebecca Gardner is another player
09:53that's been a little down as of late um you know again I think there's when everyone's on and
10:00clicking it's an extremely talented team when you have Brianna Stewart on the floor and a Sabrina
10:03Unescu you're always going to be in these games JJ as well um you know I think she's been playing
10:09really well this season and was deserving to get that all-star nod but just seems like uh they have
10:15to figure out how to put put it all together um you cannot point at two players being out as
10:20the reason for or an excuse for how the team has performed over the last few few weeks yeah I
10:27agree
10:28I agree with you 100% I don't think it's an excuse they've had some games they absolutely could have
10:32won uh they didn't have that energy against the wings didn't have it against the links the other day
10:37and they saw how it bit them in the behind against the tempo in Montreal now somewhat of a positive
10:43here
10:44because we don't want to be all negative Maddie Sab 22 points eight boards dropped 25 against
10:50Minnesota 22 and eight 28 points sorry 28 my bad about that sorry I'm shorter on that 28 points 25
10:5628 points there do you feel like she's starting to look like herself again and with the team being
11:04shorthanded if you talk about do you feel like she's now ready to take on more responsibility
11:08in that offensive load that we're used to seeing from sab while the team is shorthanded where where
11:14are you in terms of viewing how sab is looking right now on the court yeah I think we're definitely
11:19saying um Sabrina that we all know right I think I think missing time at a time when there was
11:26a new
11:27head coach and a new system being implemented and trying to build chemistry with new players like
11:30Apolly and STA who you have not played with and all of those different factors resulted in
11:36her having this really slow uncharacteristic start to the season um when she was cleared to play and I
11:43think we're finally seeing her kind of get back to the Sabrina we know um really settling being
11:48aggressive she's always kind of been aggressive with her shot um and but I think we're more
11:52intentionality more she's been more efficient uh today she was like one of the only players that had
11:57it going for the first half um scored 13 points I think that was like a game high at halftime
12:03if I
12:03remember correct I know it was a little a liberty high but and I she just kept attacking and then
12:09you saw it in Minnesota too 19 points in third quarter she was a huge reason why they were back
12:13in that game the liberty kind of had no business being back in that game without Sabrina obviously
12:18putting on her cape and her heroics and I think again like so much has been asked about
12:24asked of Brianna Stewart to start this season um she has recorded last time I looked like she's top 10
12:33and total minutes played and she missed a game for rest and I think at some point we got to
12:40start
12:40thinking about her workload and is it going to be too much you know she played 34 minutes if I
12:45remember
12:45correctly against the Lynx she played another heavy minute load tonight on a back-to-back and so you know
12:51you just want you know Brianna to be fresh because she is the type of player that the coaching staff
12:58almost has to protect her from her if that makes sense because she's going to want to play she's
13:04going to want to she's never going to tell you she's tired and again like you got to play the
13:08long
13:08game you don't want her getting burned out and then missing significant time or something like that
13:12you know she got that bone bruise last year which wasn't necessarily because of I don't think it was
13:17because of workload I think it was like a contact injury but still you know something that we're going to
13:22have to continue monitor moving forward yeah and I think that's why it's important for Sab to get going the
13:27way
13:27because the thing that you mentioned there Maddie in the last couple of games watching her was just
13:31her ability to attack and then finish at the rim she was finishing like the Sab of old that we're
13:35used to seeing being able to get in there take some contact and finish off the glass looked really good
13:40in that regard so if she can start getting it going that does take some pressure off of Brianna Stewart
13:45I want to talk about this because we've heard this all season long from even the preseason
13:51Chris DeMarco he's talked about consistency with this team and then building towards that
13:55but we've seen some of the same problems that you talked about creeping up every game slow starts
14:00defensive lapses sometimes for extended time periods of time right having a rally and come from behind
14:06at what point
14:08is it fair to question whether this is a coaching and preparation issue not saying that it is
14:13definitively rather than just player execution
14:16where do you look at that is it at a time where you start saying like hey this is coaching
14:20and scheme or
14:21this is just players they know the scheme they just finally got to be better than what they've shown us
14:26yeah that's a really good question because I think some of the turnovers are sloppiness and some of it is
14:33like
14:33building chemistry or or just like reading the floor I mean it's I think it's probably somewhere in between
14:39right like I don't think it's all on the players I don't think it's all on the coaching staff I
14:43think that it's
14:44there's it has to be somewhere in between
14:47and again I think like
14:48the rebounding thing as Brianna said it's about knowing personnel
14:52so that's like KYP and who
14:53helps players get ready for their
14:55matchup or to know their opponents it's on
14:58the coaching staff right and so I think that
15:00there's a balance to this
15:02and again there's no reason
15:04to point the fingers on one
15:06person or a group
15:08of people I think again it's everyone
15:10can kind of take accountability look in the mirror
15:12and say we have to be better
15:13yeah no I agree players of agency coaches of agency
15:16it's a little bit of a combination of all of that
15:19all right Maddie we're going to close with this
15:21because the Liberty they've lost
15:23three straight they've spent
15:25too much of this road trip already two
15:27games trying to dig themselves out of double
15:29digit deficits and they still have two
15:31difficult games not against easy opponents
15:33left at Dallas and at Indiana
15:35before coming home
15:37so what we're going to do here is we're going to open up the Liberty
15:39ledger where we're going to credit what's working
15:41charge the Liberty for what's costing them
15:43games and try to figure out what the balance sheet
15:45says about this team
15:47right now so let's start with the credit
15:50despite another loss
15:51that we saw in Toronto
15:53Montreal against Toronto see them
15:55mixing up my Canadian cities here
15:56Stewie and Sab they nearly pulled off
15:59another second half comeback we've seen that for two games
16:01in a row their plays
16:03that's something you think the Liberty can build on
16:05or is it another example of
16:07their best play arriving too late
16:09where are you on that
16:11yeah I think it's definitely something they can build on
16:13because again I think Brandon Stewart's first half
16:15kind of just a wash
16:16it's not something that like
16:18we're going to see
16:20very often
16:21if you know
16:22so yeah I think
16:24I think that it's something to build on
16:26all right something to build up here
16:27next up
16:27what's costing the Liberty games
16:29what's the biggest charge against Liberty right now
16:31is it slow starts
16:32is it inconsistent defense
16:33is it rebounding
16:34or is it just a lack of urgency
16:36that we've seen from them these games
16:39can I say all of the above
16:40with like a little bit of turnovers in it
16:42you have to pick one
16:44I'll make you
16:45I think yeah
16:48I think the biggest thing
16:49I would say is
16:50is the slow starts
16:51you know
16:53I think that's
16:55resulting in stuff
16:56and maybe
16:57I'm going to sneak in a second one
16:58the lack of urgency
16:59because that can like
17:00impact defense
17:01and rebounding
17:02and turnovers
17:03and everything
17:04to be fair to you
17:06those two can kind of go hand in hand
17:08right
17:09that's what I'm saying
17:10yeah
17:10like the slow start
17:11the lack of urgency to begin
17:12if you're not setting that tone
17:15it can snowball
17:16yeah
17:17that's kind of a cop out
17:18but
17:18no it's fair
17:19no no it's fair
17:20because they do go hand in hand
17:21you can say okay
17:22they had the slow start
17:23didn't feel like they came out
17:24with the right sense of urgency
17:25I do think sometimes
17:27that becomes a crutch
17:28that we hear in the media
17:29from players all the time
17:30it's like oh we got to play harder
17:31it's like
17:32we know
17:33but
17:34we'll see
17:34I mean I will say for a team
17:36that like
17:37two or three weeks ago
17:38we were talking about
17:39the black heart
17:41they showed some heart
17:42in the fourth quarter today
17:43so
17:44that's
17:46that's a good point
17:46I do think it was fair to question
17:48at the time
17:49like at the time
17:50two three weeks ago
17:51it was
17:52the way they were playing
17:53I think it was fair to question
17:54that
17:55I think
17:57now I wouldn't even say
17:58even
17:58the last home game
18:00we were at
18:00the Dallas game
18:01right
18:01they came back
18:02in that third quarter
18:03they cut it to what
18:03seven
18:04but that second quarter
18:05did them in
18:06they've shown
18:07they've shown fight back
18:09right
18:09this team hasn't just
18:10rolled over
18:10we haven't seen that
18:11so
18:12I do think that matters
18:13somewhat
18:14alright
18:14last thing Maddie
18:15the outstanding balance here
18:17what does New York
18:19owe itself
18:20over these final two games
18:21do they need one win
18:22to stabilize things
18:23and just get it right
18:24or is it two wins
18:26even up this road trip
18:27at two and two
18:28so that you can say
18:29okay they restored confidence
18:31with one game to go
18:31before the all-star break
18:32what do you need to
18:33what do you need to do
18:34over these final two games
18:35I think they should aim
18:36for two games
18:37like or two wins
18:39excuse me
18:39obviously they're going
18:40to play two games
18:41right
18:43the lack of sleep
18:44is getting to me clearly
18:45no I think they need
18:46to aim for two wins
18:47because you've already
18:48lost twice
18:48to the Dallas wings
18:49you need to
18:51prove almost to yourself
18:52that you can beat
18:53that team
18:53and then
18:55Indiana
18:55is another one
18:56that you know
18:57is in that hunt
18:58for a playoff
18:59wants to be a contender
19:01has had kind of
19:02a similar season
19:03to the Liberty
19:03where maybe
19:04they're underperforming
19:05to a certain degree
19:06and so I think
19:07I think yeah
19:07like you want to walk away
19:09and you want to head
19:10into the all-star break
19:11with the momentum
19:13and starting to
19:14rack up a few wins
19:15so I think you're
19:16going to aim for two
19:16that would be nice
19:18Liberty now
19:18after this latest loss
19:20they're 13 and 11
19:21on the season
19:22just two games
19:22over 500
19:24are you
19:25are we shocked
19:26that they have 11
19:27losses already
19:28I am a little bit
19:28if I'm being honest
19:30I'm shocked
19:30I know you
19:32we thought it'd be
19:33a little up and down
19:33with them Maddie
19:34but I'm shocked
19:35at 11 losses
19:36at this point
19:38I'm shocked
19:39at some of the
19:39games they've lost
19:41to some of the teams
19:42they've lost
19:42you know what I mean
19:44like I'm shocked
19:45that they
19:47the way that they
19:47kind of
19:48when we were talking
19:49about them playing
19:50down to opponents
19:50and stuff like that
19:51I'm shocked
19:52at that
19:54which maybe
19:55I shouldn't be
19:55shocked
19:56because the Liberty
19:57do are a team
19:58that likes to play
19:58with their food
19:59but I do think
20:0211 losses
20:03at this point
20:04in the season
20:05I don't think
20:06anyone is happy
20:07with it
20:07I mean I know
20:08Sabrina Unescu
20:09said after the
20:09Lynx loss
20:10that she doesn't
20:11measure or the
20:12team does not
20:12measure their
20:14success based off
20:15of the win and
20:15loss column
20:16but I do think
20:19again to some
20:20degree
20:20you've got to
20:21look at that
20:21you've got to
20:22look at the
20:22playoff standings
20:23you have to
20:23understand that
20:24these games
20:24matter because
20:25of head-to-head
20:27matchups matter
20:28in terms of
20:28seating and
20:29home court
20:29advantage
20:30so
20:32yeah
20:32I'm surprised
20:33to say the
20:34least
20:34I'm too
20:36still some time
20:36to turn things
20:37about two games
20:37left on this road
20:38trip
20:38three games
20:39before the
20:40all-star break
20:41and a little bit
20:42of time for
20:42our great
20:43Madeline Kenny
20:44to enjoy a
20:45little bit of
20:45Montreal
20:45we are going
20:46to let her
20:46do that
20:47that's going
20:47to do it
20:47for this
20:48edition of
20:49Liberty Lately
20:50that is the
20:50great Madeline
20:51Kenny
20:51I'm Dexter
20:51Henry
20:52we'll catch
20:52you next
20:52time
20:53on another
20:53edition of
20:54Liberty Lately
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