With several familiar faces missing in action, the New York Liberty have struggled to keep the momentum of a strong start alive. Is it time to panic?
BROOKLYN—Like its copper namesake on Ellis Island, the New York Liberty are a bit tarnished at this very early point of the 2026 WNBA season.
New York’s metropolitan atonement for its disappointing championship defense is off to a meandering start: New York won three of its first four in emphatic fashion but has since dropped the first two legs of a seven-stage homestand at Barclays Center. The latter entry in the dire duo was a 91-76 defeat to the Dallas Wings on Sunday, one that fell victim to an early career-best outing from newly-minted top pick Azzi Fudd (24 points, a new career-best, in relief).
It has thus been a bittersweet beginning to the Chris DeMarco era after the longtime Golden State Warriors assistant took over for title-winning head coach Sandy Brondello.
With the loss, this is the latest point of a season where the Liberty (3-3) hasn’t had a winning record since the end of 2022, its second full campaign in Brooklyn. New York does have an instant opportunity to break out of such notoriety when it faces the Portland Fire for the third time this season on Monday night (8 p.m. ET, WNYW/Peacock).
Absences Beyond Absences
Like last season, the Liberty have the reliable weapon of the injury card in addition to the learning curve required from working with a new coaching system.
New York has yet to play a game at full strength this season. Sabrina Ionescu lost her first five games due to an ankle injury she endured in the preseason finale, while hyped newcomer Satou Sabally only donned her new Liberty jersey last week after dealing with a cyst. Leonie Fiebich has yet to play a game this season due to international commitments (her Monday status is yet to be determined), while Betnijah Laney-Hamilton has missed the last two for personal reasons.
DeMarco on why these issues go beyond missing players:#WNBA pic.twitter.com/uk0E16Ianj
— Geoff Magliocchetti (@GeoffJMags) May 24, 2026
But the Seafoam savants readily admitted that their issues go far beyond the injury report, citing defensive shortcomings and a struggle to respond when adversity and physicality surface.
“There’s no excuses with this team,” forward Breanna Stewart said. “While we have new players, we also have a lot of the same. We’re not playing to our best and [we’re] definitely not like Liberty basketball.”
“I think the missing players, I don’t think that matters as much,” DeMarco said. “We have our group, we like our group, we just need to have a sense of urgency. We start out the game strong on the defensive end, and then it’s about diversity. When they hit a couple in a row, are we going to have the fight, are we going to have the correct adjustments, are we going to play together? I know we will. Tonight, they hit some shots, we got to be better in transition, we got to be better offensively with the right shot, so that they’re not leaking out.”
Third’s the Word
Lamenting an apparent lack of urgency was a common theme in Sunday’s somber aftermath: the most common symptom of such a dearth could perhaps be the Liberty’s struggles coming out of the halftime locker room.
New York has won just one third quarter this season, and the dire trend surfaced on Sunday, which saw them outscored 28-17 in the first 10 minutes after intermission. Fudd alone matched the Liberty’s 17-point total in the period, and the Wings shot just under 53 percent to take what became an impenetrable lead.
The Liberty won the third by 15 in their last win on May 14 in Portland (which came after Stewart publicly challenged herself to swap post-locker room momentum), but have dropped back-to-back periods by a combined 20. Sunday’s 11-point defeat in that department came after Dallas adjusted its starting lineup for the third, starting Fudd and Awak Kuier, the latter of whom earned 10 points and six rebounds.
AZZI FUDD TODAY
• 24 POINTS
• 3 ASSISTS
• 3 STEALS
• 2 BLOCKS
• 6/12 3PM
• 9/15 FG pic.twitter.com/mi19aADZUT— Women’s Hoops Network (@WomensHoops_USA) May 24, 2026
Turnover Troubles
Sunday at least allowed the Liberty a chance to break out of a turnover funk, losing a season-low 11 after giving up at least 15 in four of their first five showings. Seafoam steals, however, proved difficult to register, as the Liberty were credited with but four live-ball turnovers, making it tough to break out in transition. It led to another game where New York surrendered more than 90 points, its third such posting this season after allowing at least 80 in two others.
“I don’t think we’re like particularly being like the aggressors,” Stewart said, noting the impact the lack is having on the Liberty’s fastbreak and transitional games. “We’re not getting steals, we’re not getting live-ball turnovers. As a team, you don’t want to have live-ball turnovers, but that’s how you get out of transition and really kind of make a run. I think we would much rather play in transition and not set up every time.”
The prevention of such games stands as the most fixable issue the current group could achieve without relying on the return of absent players. Stewart offered herself a further challenge on Sunday, hoping that a newfound sense of defensive aggressiveness on her end could produce a “domino effect” that could help New York get back on track.
Forward Jonquel Jones concurred with Stewart’s sentiments about a defensive antidote, stating that a defensive resurgence would be the perfect way to deal with the growing pains of working with a new coaching system.
“I think we have to be in the gaps a little bit more. I think our pick-and-roll defense has to be a little more aggressive,” Jones added. “Right now, I think it’s just a little bit too open, and I don’t know exactly how we fix that, but I just know that being one of the players that’s normally in those actions, it just doesn’t feel like it’s as aggressive as we need it to be.
“I do think that, as a core group, that we have to be a little bit more connected, a little bit more, a little more aggressive in our game plan,” Jones continued. “I feel like teams feel comfortable, they look comfortable to me. Offensively, they just look like, okay, it’s open season now, like we kind of get what we want, and we never want that to be our identity, or the feel for other teams coming into Barclays.”
Offensive Obstacles
On offense, New York was able to mask some of its early mistakes with sterling shooting, notably becoming the first team in WNBA history to average 100 points over its opening quartet.
Struggling to keep that momentum has exposed some of the shortcomings: shooting just 28 percent from their 3-point hub in the last two games (an opposing crackdown has led to only eight attempts in the last two for Marine Johannés), the Liberty found some penetration but shot 20-of-43 in the paint during Sunday’s loss.
“We’re trying to get to the paint and knowing that the paint will open up a lot of other shots,” Stewart said. “I think 20-of-43 is not a great percentage when you’re so close to the basket, so we need to do a better job of executing and finishing the plays. When they started the different lineup in the second half, we know who these players are. It’s just there’s a sense of urgency that’s kind of lacking.”
Satou Sabally today
• 20 points
• 2 rebounds
• 2 assists
• 3/6 3PM
• 6/14 FG pic.twitter.com/gSvIjIYzEM— Women’s Hoops Network (@WomensHoops_USA) May 24, 2026
Satou, the Right Thing
Lingering Liberty positives did emerge in the form of Sabally, who found a bit of a metropolitan groove on Sunday.
In what could be one of the closest things the world gets to a 2020 NCAA national title game, considering the presence of Fudd and Paige Bueckers, Sabally, and fellow Oregon Duck Ionescu, united to score the first nine Liberty points. While not immune to the struggles inside, Sabally led the hosts with 20 points on 3-of-6 from three-point range.
“I think she played a great game today, and I think you can see her getting more comfortable,” Jones noted. “Obviously, she was aggressive, she was playing the way that Satou plays, and that’s what we want her to do. We have a culture, and we have all of these things, but she’s a great player, because she’s Satou, and so we want her to be that. I think tonight she just did a really good job of getting in the paint, scoring, shooting her threes when she was open, hitting them at a high rate, and I think she’s just going to get better as the season goes on.”
With Ionescu and Sabally introduced at the start of the game, the Liberty also got a better look at its revamped second unit: it got solid work out of Pauline Astier, the latest rookie-in-name-only that earned a starting nod in Ionescu’s place, while Han Xu hit a pair of crowd-pleasing threes during the first half.
More good news for the Liberty, at least in their eyes, stems from the fact that the league is making sure it stays busy: in addition to another fracas with the Fire, New York has a Wednesday/Friday doubleheader with the Phoenix Mercury, the team that ended its dreams of a championship repeat in last fall’s opening round. Commissioner’s Cup play opens on June 3 against Brondello’s new employers, the Toronto Tempo.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags
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