What Aren't the New York Liberty Good At?

By: Gabe Zoda

It has been a near perfect start for the New York Liberty, an 8-0 record, setting records in Net Rating and being seemingly unstoppable every night. After every game, though, the message is always clear, ther New York Liberty are not at their best. It begs the question, what do they need to improve on? Well, let's go through it. 

THIRD QUARTERS

No matter how well the first half goes, the 3rd Quarter has always been an issue for the New York Liberty. The passes become sloppier, the shots stop falling and the opposing team seems to always get back into games. 

In the 1st and 2nd Quarters this season, the Liberty average 24.9 and 24.3 points per quarter which ranks 1st in the WNBA. Then the 3rd quarter comes and they go down to 6th in the W with 20.8 points. The 30 point 3rd vs the Connecticut Sun makes this number higher and was also the “greatest Liberty 3rd Quarter in recent history” according to 2024 Finals MVP Jonquel Jones.

Jonquel Jones, New York Liberty Center. Photo Credit Brandon Todd/New York Liberty

In those same 1st and 2nd Q’s, the Libs are shooting 50% from the field and over 40% from 3. Those numbers drop to 43% from the field and 34% from 3. The Liberty then rebound in the 4th Quarters pretty well. 

These struggles aren’t just on the offensive end though, defensively they regress as well. For reference, the Liberty’s defensive ratings in the 1st, 2nd and 4th Quarters are ranked 2nd (90.5), 1st (73.5) and 3rd (89.8). In the 3rd quarter, they fall all the way to 7th with a 100.6 defensive rating. It’s clear the 3rd quarters need to be better for NY

REBOUNDING

As the late, great Pat Summitt had once said:  "Offense sells tickets, defense wins games, and rebounding wins championships". Right now the offense is selling tickets and the defense is winning games for New York but if the Liberty want to repeat as champions, they need to rebound the ball. 

This season, the New York Liberty rank LAST in OREB%, 12th in DREB% and 9th in total REB%. Not only are these numbers low, but they are drastically different than in 2024. Last season NY ranked 5th in OREB%, 1st in DREB% and 1st in overall REB%. Usually when this happens, teams go through roster changes but the New York Liberty have kept the same core for the most part. Kayla Thornton was the biggest player loss and she did average 1 offensive rebound a night, which does make a difference. 

Kayla Thornton receiving her 2024 WNBA Championship ring. Phot Credit Brandon Todd/New York Liberty

Offensively, the 5-out offense has been fantastic, allowing the Liberty to hit a record number of 3’s through the first 8 games and also break the WNBA single game record for 3’s in a game twice. But it’s also limited them on the offensive glass.

It’s pretty logical, when you have all five of your offensive players on the 3 point line, you can’t expect them to be ready and in a good position to rebound. This is something that Sandy Brondello has acknowledged, as well as Jonquel Jones. 

Brondello said that they don’t want to lose that rebounding edge that they had that year, Jones (who is the only player in the WNBA averaging a double double right now) said that it’s important for her as well. So it might just be something that needs more time to get used to how this offense works. And if that’s the case, then time will tell but the rebounding has been a major weakness so far this year. 

LIVE BY THE 3,... YK THE SAYING

Now while this isn’t a “problem”, it’s more of a personal preference. I do wish the Liberty would find a better balance between the 3 point shooting and the 2 point shooting. As the saying goes, you live by the 3, you die by the 3 and while this Liberty team has already gotten off to a historic start from behind the arc, it’s not guaranteed to stay that way. 

Right now the New York Liberty are LAST in percent of 2 point FG attempts (50.8%), percent of points form 2PT (40.6) and are 11th in Percent points in the paint (36.2%). One of the biggest strengths of this Liberty team is their SIZE, would love to see the Liberty utilize it more. 

Sabrina Ionescu shooting a 3 point shot. Photo Credit Brandon Todd/New York Liberty

Once again, it’s not so much of a “problem” and obviously the Liberty like shooting 3’s but when those shots aren’t falling, they need another offense outside of Breanna Stewart getting 15 FTs like we saw earlier this season. 

Right now, the Liberty are taking the second most 3’s in the league (31.4 3PA) and hitting 3’s at the most efficient mark in the WNBA (38.2%). I do expect those numbers to fall back down a little bit, and when they do I would like to see a return to more inside scoring. 

Last season, the Liberty scored 48% of their points from 2 and 42% of their points inside the paint. If the Liberty can get back to even those numbers, It would be more sustainable if the 3’s aren’t falling as much. 

Once again, a personal preference on this one. 

AMAZING TEAM

I don’t want to leave this piece without positive words, The New York Liberty are the best team in the WNBA right now. They are breaking records in almost every single game and playing at an elite level on both ends. The bench has flashes of greatness from Kennedy Burke hitting almost every shot and Marine Johannes whipping passing around and hitting one legged 3’s. It’s been incredible to watch. 

With that said, the Liberty aren’t satisfied. They want to win AGAIN and to do that it’s going to take refining these skills each and every day. As Natasha Cloud said “New York is New York’s biggest competition and it’s about getting 1% better each and every day”. 

The 8-0 New York Liberty are next in action on June 10th at 8pm vs the Chicago Sky at the Barclays Center. Make sure to follow @SSN_Liberty and @GabeZoda on X for all updates, insights and opinions on the New York Liberty.