Liberty cant afford complacency against gritty Valkyries squad

SAN FRANCISCO — Liberty star Jonquel Jones wasn’t about to make excuses for the Liberty’s disastrous loss in Seattle on Thursday night.She didn’t take the bait when a reporter proposed that the different lineups may have contributed to the Liberty’s 16 turnovers that led to 15 Storm points.Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Madeline Kenney about all things Liberty and WNBA.

“We just have to be better locked in,” Jones said after New York’s 99-88 loss.“At this point, we’ve had practice reps, we’ve had shootaround time, we’ve had time with each other and, like, I’m not about to come in here and make an excuse for us, like, we just have to be better.

That’s just what it is.It’s not about the reps, it’s not about the playing time, it’s not about none of that stuff.

It’s about having some heart and playing with some f–king heart.”The Liberty, who’ve lost three of their last four games, are set to wrap up their four-game road trip Sunday against the Golden State Valkyries.They’ve been complacent, at times, and shown a willingness to play down to their opponents.

Effort and focus has waned.That hasn’t bode well for the Libs, who suffered disappointing losses against the Portland Fire, Washington Mystics, Los Angeles Sparks and Storm.Playing down to an opponent shouldn’t be an issue for the Valkyries.But the Liberty have to be prepared for the smothering team defense the Valkyries possess.Led by All-Star candidate Gabby Williams, Golden State is coming off back-to-back wins against the Atlanta Dream, including Friday night’s 78-75 rock fight.

And Williams said she believes Friday night’s showing was proof that Golden State is ready to knock down another contender.“We knew that Atlanta was really going to go after us after that first game and I think it’s going to be something similar with New York,” Williams said.“We know how bad New York wants this af...