Plenty of Liberty blame to go around as booming potential still not translating on court
INDIANAPOLIS — Breanna Stewart walked into the visiting news conference room with a somber demeanor Saturday night, more than 40 minutes after the Liberty suffered arguably their worst loss of the season.Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Madeline Kenney about all things Liberty and WNBA.
She seemed tired — not only from the 32 minutes she played in the Libs’ fourth consecutive loss, but also tired of discussing the team’s recurring issues.But that fatigue and possible frustration didn’t show in her answers.She is the ultimate pro.
She was thoughtful, reflective and, at times, stern.She was the first to say she could’ve been better after leading the team with 26 points and eight rebounds.“I’m looking at myself, you know what I mean? There’s a lot that I didn’t do well today between the turnovers or the missed free throws or things like that,” Stewart said following the 108-88 loss.“So in order for us to be our best, I need to be better.”Stewart accepted responsibility.
But she isn’t the only one who needs to improve.Sabrina Ionescu finally shook off the rust and has been better of late.But she took only two shot attempts in the entire second half and nine total Saturday.
She needs to be even more aggressive.She’s averaging her fewest attempts from downtown since her sophomore season and a career-low in rebounds.Jonquel Jones, a six-time All-Star this season, is attempting a career-high 4.7 attempts from 3 per game but her 5.1 field-goal attempts per game inside the arc are her fewest since her Sixth Player of the Year campaign in 2018.
Also, at times, she lets her emotions impact her focus when the whistle or lack thereof gets to her.Marine Johannes started Saturday red-hot, shooting 4-for-5 from deep in the first quarter.But she needs to reel in her flair and make simple passes rather than the flashy ones.
She gets into the occasional foul trouble, too.Pauline Astier has b...