RebKell's Junkie Boards

[Stormeo]

Kinda want Bec Allen to fuck around & find out if she'll be in any danger of getting full-season suspended if she's still playing in Spain by the time she has to show up. Brondello surely would like her to be healthy and well-rested going into late September, after all... 😏

[Bob Lamm]

[Richyyy]

The Liberty are the ones who gave Allen that contract just a couple of months ago. Presumably they'd like her to play under it. Seems rather unlikely they'd choose to suspend it.

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Independent WNBA coverage: http://www.wnbalien.com/

[Stormeo]

[Bob Lamm]

[jmvcity]

Breaking news…

Saturday’s preseason game against the Washington Mystics has been canceled due to a variety of factors, and has been shifted to an intersquad practice.

The Liberty will host a practice at the same time, 3 p.m. ET at Barclays Center. Following the practice, Head Coach Sandy Brondello will host a Q&A for fans and players will sign autographs.

[undersized_post]

[root_thing]

At least with Martha Stewart, we would get food.

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You can always do something else.

[Richyyy]

Kristen Stewart is definitely an unrestricted free agent. New York could just sign her if they wanted. At 32, she already be in the twilight of her basketball career, however...

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Independent WNBA coverage: http://www.wnbalien.com/

[ChiSky54]

Y'all are funny!

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There is nothing new under the sun.

[Bob Lamm]

Thanks, undersized_post!!! I should never write anything early in the morning.

Your wonderful correction has inspired me. We'll trade for Sue Bird and BREANNA Stewart. But we also should sign KRISTEN Stewart for our roster. As is obvious, we already have a roster talented not only in basketball but in entertainment. With the two Stewarts the Liberty will be far stronger in both areas.

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Remember Roe v. Wade. Work for and support legal abortion all over the world and full reproductive rights for everyone.

[Bob Lamm]

[ChiSky54]

[Queenie]

[root_thing]

Myles Ehrlich doing double duty with articles for two different websites:

Han Xu’s Return Adds Much-Needed Size to the New York Liberty
https://netsrepublic.com/han-xus-return-adds-much-needed-size-to-the-new-york-liberty/

HEALTHY REINFORCEMENTS: WHAT AD AND JOCELYN WILLOUGHBY BRING TO LIBERTY TRAINING CAMP
https://winsidr.com/2022/04/healthy-reinforcements-what-ad-and-jocelyn-willoughby-bring-to-liberty-training-camp/

From what I've read, it sounds like both teams were feeling a bit strained, which is why they canceled the preseason game. NY brought only 9 players to their scrimmage on Tuesday, and now Laney is rumored to be dragging around sore. Washington used 11 on Wednesday. Since then, they cut Kang and Austin is supposedly limited in practice. Meanwhile, Clark is still not ready. So, it sounds like both teams wanted to err on the side of caution.

The canceled preseason game was turned into an open practice with a Brondello Q&A afterward. Still worth attending for those of us starving for a look at what the team is doing. I plan to be there.

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You can always do something else.

[Queenie]

I absolutely intend to be there, especially with the added autograph session. It's been years since they had one of those. My hat is desperately behind the times.

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"We all have a platform. We all have a voice & they all hold weight. Silence is a luxury."

[undersized_post]

[johnjohnW]

Who all is going to the home opener? I'll be courtside.

If anyone wants to say hello, let me know.

I feel like this is gonna be the first 'rral' home opener in Brooklyn, so I'm very excited.

[NYL_WNBA_FAN]

Ticketmaster had very few seats available. It looks like it will be well-attended.

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The poster formerly known as LibWNBAFan.

[root_thing]

At the Liberty practice right now. No Sami, Willoughby or Shook. Laney here but not warming up.

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You can always do something else.

[Queenie]

Just got home from the scrimmage/Q&A/autograph session. It was good to be home. It's hard to draw conclusions from a session where we were that short-handed, but imma do it anyway, because this is what we do as fans.

Han Xu looked good. Much more confident and fluid than she was a few years ago. Still gotta do some work on catching the high passes, because that's where she's a weapon that almost no one else in the league can touch. I liked the little things Lorela Cubaj brought to the floor- the screening, the scrambling. I am underwhelmed by our backcourt defense with Sabrina Ionescu and AD, especially AD, and I don't see anyone coming in late to fix that. Didi can't do it alone.

I will forever remain a sucker for an Australian accent, so Sandy will probably get the benefit of the doubt from me, but that Q&A was awkward. For someone who was receiving pre-screened questions, she fumbled with the answers. If I heard "culture" one more damn time I was going to throw something. She did her best to downplay expectations for the early part of the season with repeated mentions of the team's injuries, illnesses, and absences.

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"We all have a platform. We all have a voice & they all hold weight. Silence is a luxury."

[root_thing]

The practice involved just five players: Ionescu, AD, Howard, Cubaj, and Han. Didi, Onyenwere, and Dolson warmed up but did not play. No explanation except a general statement that the team was short because of injuries and illness. Five players is really short. If this keeps up, we'll be setting a record for hardship players.

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You can always do something else.

[Richyyy]

That's pretty crazy only six days before the season starts. And one of the reasons that most teams do bring a load of people to camp. At least then there are a bunch of players who you've at least had a look at and taught a couple of plays and defensive principles. The Liberty don't have a whole lot of players to bring back.

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Independent WNBA coverage: http://www.wnbalien.com/

[Queenie]

In the event of an actual basketball game, I assume Didi, Michaela, and Stefanie would have been available. But that would still put us at the threshold of being unable to put out a team.

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"We all have a platform. We all have a voice & they all hold weight. Silence is a luxury."

[NYL_WNBA_FAN]

The session was fun. The lineup of Sabrina, AD, Howard, Cubaj and Han was featured against male practice players. Sandy went over a few of their sets before the scrimmage portion. Some of that was audible but it looked like what I’d expect a regular practice to look like. Then they scrimmaged for four 5:00 intervals with 2:00 breaks in between. AD appeared slightly winded toward the latter stages of the latter intervals but not too bad. Howard played SF in this grouping and did not at all appear out of place doing it. She actually drove and kicked to open players a few times. Agree that a backcourt of AD and Sab might be on the vulnerable side defensively but also to note that the team defense was on the aggressive side. Very tight on the perimeter. Lots of switching. With a group of 5 that will probably never play together in the regular season. Han looked very, very good offensively. I think she’s going to be a solid contributor in her minutes. Cubaj got floor burns, deflections and a ton of rebounds. She also has a seriously line drive shot with little rotation. She is not going to be a contributor in terms of scoring and probably not much in terms of passing, since she’s no threat to score. But she screens, she’s smart and she’s a strong defender and rebounder. AD missed the few shots she took in the scrimmage portion. But her elevation and athleticism both seem to be fine. If she’s got the stamina to play, I think her physical play will be just fine. Sabrina had a few turnovers but she was otherwise fine. Much more able to penetrate with some nice finishes. Her 3 ball was ok too. A significant improvement over the physically impaired player we saw in stretches last year.

After that there was some practicing of their sets on offense vs the practice players.

Sandy cited health and illness issues but said they’ll be in a better place with that soon.

If they get the health portion squared away I feel that they can be over .500. How much over, not sure. But anything is possible.

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The poster formerly known as LibWNBAFan.