The day before this Journal was due I drove 107 miles up island to watch the NY Liberty play the Dallas Wings. It’s rare that I’ll go that far west in August. Tuesday August 20th was Liberty Coach Sandy Brondello’s 56th birthday. Coach Brondello has an impressive resume. After being a 4th round WNBA draft pick in 1998, Sandy became a WNBA All-star in 1999. She played from 1998-2003 for Detroit, Miami and Seattle. She’s coached in the WNBA 19 years for San Antonio, Los Angeles, Phoenix and NY. Sandy was WNBA Coach of the Year in 2014 when she won the championship with the Phoenix Mercury. Sandy’s also the Australian National Team coach and returned from Paris with a Bronze Medal. In the pregame press conference I asked Sandy, “you’ve been around the game a long time, you’ve won a championship with Phoenix, this team (NY) has great leadership, great chemistry…you’re dominating the league (23-4 record)…it looks like a championship team to me…what’s your thoughts on that?” She answered, “I hope so” as some other reporters laughed and chuckled. She continued, “There’s still a long way to go. I see a lot of similarities between this team and the Phoenix team, we have great leadership you talked about that…we have great talent but sometimes it’s all about the pieces around your main players. I think that’s critical…everyone’s buying in…sometimes sacrificing their roles for the betterment of the team.” The Liberty was coming off a playoff clinching 79-67 win against 2023 WNBA champion Las Vegas on August 17th. Coach Brondello brought up Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon’s comment after the recent game. She said, “Becky gave us a really good compliment…we play selfless basketball. That’s the greatest feedback that any coach can give an opposing coach.” Sandy continued, “That means we’re playing the right way…now does that mean a championship? No. We have to continue playing hard…playing the right way and hopefully it does come true. That would be awesome.”
Sandy’s team went out in front of a sellout crowd of 11,455 and gave her a 20 point win 94-74. Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones led the way with double/doubles. Stewart had 26 points and 12 rebounds while Jones had 23 points and 12 rebounds. Before the game I had asked both players about fighting complacency. Breanna answered, “We haven’t done anything yet…so that’s really it…we like where we’re at but we have to keep going.” I asked Jonquel about the mission they’re on this year. In 2023 their season ended in the WNBA finals with a 70-69 loss to Vegas on October 18th. I asked JJ, “You want to get back at what happened last year.” As she shook her head yes she answered the question about complacency and avenging last season’s final loss, “the job isn’t done…we have an ultimate goal to be in the championship and ultimately win the championship…there’s no reason to be complacent…we haven’t achieved anything yet.
In the postgame press conference I reminded both Breanna and Jonquel of my pregame questions about complacency. The two star players sat on either side of their coach on her birthday. I said, “I think you can bring NY a championship and we’re hungry for one…how much fun are you having and can you keep it rolling the way it’s going?” Jonquel answered, “we’re having a lot of fun…it’s always fun when you’re winning. It’s even better when you’re surrounded with really great people. We want to get the job done and bring a championship back to the city too.” There was a lot of laughter and smiles. As Sandy Brondello passed me as she left the stage I said, “That was a great birthday present coach.” She gave me a big confirming smile. Look for the 2024 NY Liberty to continue the roll they are on.
