Sandy Brondello praises Liberty’s character as Lynx force Game 5
Sandy Brondello isn’t asking her New York Liberty to do anything they haven’t done multiple times in the WNBA Finals. Her ask is simple: Get off the mat and win a game.
They did it in Game 2, responding to an all-time meltdown in the first game to hold off another Minnesota Lynx comeback. They did it in Game 3 as well. New York fell behind by 15 in the first half and methodically clawed its way back into the game, setting up an all-time game-winning three from Sabrina Ionescu.
They’ll have to do it one more time.
The Lynx beat the Liberty, 82-80, on Friday night to force a winner-take-all Game 5 on Sunday night at Barclays Center.
“It shows the experience and the growth that we’ve had from last year to this year, the chemistry that we’ve built,” Brondello said of her team’s resilience before the game. “It shows a lot about your character. But this is two of the best teams in the WNBA, so if you don’t have that now, something’s wrong.”
Game 4 was a little different than the first three. There were no monster comebacks or game-winning threes. There was just an untimely foul on Ionescu with two seconds to go in a tie game that gave Bridget Carleton the game-winning free throws.
It’s just one more setback the Liberty need to respond to.
“I’ve been really, really proud of this team,” Brondello said. “It hurt Game 1, but it was more like, ‘ok, let it go.’ We can’t change the result, but we can change what we do as we move forward. Getting up and then having to keep Minnesota at bay in Game 2, and then a really tough game coming from behind and fighting to get that win in Game 3.”
Game 4 was also a rare bad offensive game from Breanna Stewart. Stewart carried the Liberty’s comeback in Game 3, highlighted by her own 13-0 run. On Friday, however, she shot 5-21 and missed all four of her three-point attempts. Her 11-point, 11-rebound double-double isn’t indicative of how much she struggled.
“I just needed to slow down,” Stewart said. “They’re sending multiple people when I’m looking at a screen, stuff like that. Just a little bit better awareness on my part.”
Despite Stewart’s struggles, the game was close throughout. Neither team held a double-digit lead, with the score staying one or two possessions almost the entire way.
“It was just gonna be that type of game tonight where we just had to claw,” Jonquel Jones said. “Both teams trying to figure it out and do whatever it took to get over the hump.”
Jones followed up a rough Game 3 with arguably her finest offensive performance of the series, scoring 21 points on 7-10 shooting a 4-5 night from three.
Sandy Brondello’s postgame rant sets the tone for the Liberty in Game 5
Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images
There’s one more game left in the 2024 WNBA season, and so the coaches are not yet done working the officials. Brondello did exactly that in the postgame press conference on Friday, venting her frustrations at first, then unloading on the foul discrepancy a few minutes later.
Her first gripe came during the Liberty’s final full possession. It came with the score tied and ended in a shot clock violation after Stewart’s attempt failed to draw iron. Asked why she didn’t call a timeout in that spot, she told reporters she was trying to.
“They didn’t hear me, so that’s on me,” Brondello said. “I don’t know, maybe I just have to sprint out in the middle of the court next time.”
That was just a preview of what was to come. The officials called the Liberty for 14 fouls, compared to nine for the Lynx. New York shot nine free throws and Minnesota shot 20. From Brondello’s perspective, the officiating was uneven.
"We got no calls today. … This pisses me off. Just be fair."
New York Liberty HC Sandy Brondello was not happy about the officiating in Game 4. pic.twitter.com/qiDD0TfZpi
— ESPN (@espn) October 19, 2024
“I know Cheryl [Reeve] talked about it last time, but we got no calls today. So do I need to talk up in a press conference? Because they were getting ticky-tack and we went down there, then got hit and get nothing,” she said. “I’m one of the nicest bloody coaches in this league, but this pisses me off. Just be fair. If they’re getting hit, it’s a bloody foul…We could have done a little bit better. We all could have done better, including me getting that f–ing time out.”
It was the angriest Brondello has been in a media availability all year. For the most part, any yelling she has done has been either on the sidelines or behind closed doors.
Her emotions boiled over, and it will be a topic of discussion the next two days in the lead-up to Game 5. Maybe that’s what she wants — to get everyone talking about her rant and take the pressure off her players. Or, maybe, she’s just begging for a call.
Either way, Stewart summed it up best when she indicated she was ready to turn the page on the loss.
“We’ve got one more game and we’re gonna win on our home court,” she said.
The post Sandy Brondello praises Liberty’s character as Lynx force Game 5 appeared first on ClutchPoints.
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