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New York Liberty guard Natasha Cloud has won a WNBA championship, led the league in assists and been part of the All-Defensive team. But she’s never been an All-Star.
In her first year with the Liberty, Cloud is out to change that, and she’s making a strong push as the break nears.
Cloud scored 23 points on 7-12 shooting in the Liberty's 89-79 win over the Los Angeles Sparks on Thursday night, adding on seven assists to only two turnovers. It was her second straight 20-plus-point game and her third in a row scoring in double figures, dating back to the team’s loss in Phoenix last Friday.
Perhaps not coincidentally, the morning of that game, she had a frank discussion with head coach Sandy Brondello.
“It was just a good conversation about us getting on the same page and about her confidence in me as a player and as a point guard,” Cloud said. “When you feel that safeness here n the coach and someone that you can depend on and understanding that this team needs you, it's just easier for me to lock in.”
Cloud ranked ninth in WNBA All-Star voting, weighted between the fans, media and players, when the league shared the results on Monday. That puts her well out of the starting lineup but squarely in the mix for the coaches to vote her in.
She has Brondello in her corner.
“I am biased,” the Liberty coach admitted before the game. “I've never coached Tash before until this year and I love a lot of things. I know she had a few quiet games there for a while, and it was just more reminding her, like, ‘you've got to take most of those opportunities.’ I think these last few games, she's gotten back to that.”
Those last three games came after 11 straight without Cloud hitting double figures in the scoring column. But that’s also not really her game. She’s an elite distributor whose assist numbers fluctuated between great and ordinary.
“I try to remind them we're about winning championships, but I also want them to fulfill their personal goals as well,” Brondello said of her players going for personal accolades. “If she does, great, and if she doesn't, let's use it as motivation as well.”
Natasha Cloud stumps for Liberty's Kennedy Burke in three-point contest
While Cloud makes her All-Star case, she is also pushing for her teammate to participate in the three-point contest.
Kennedy Burke has been a revelation for New York this year. With her 4-6 shooting performance from three on Thursday, she’s up to 51 percent on the season. That leads the WNBA by almost two whole percentage points.
Cloud said she wants to see Burke participate in the three-point contest.
“Everyone start tweeting it now,” she told a room of reporters.
Burke, for her part, stayed humble, saying it was something she would “really have to think about.”
Cloud interrupted her, begging her to “advocate for yourself.”
“I just want to play, honestly,” Burke said. “Just be the best player I can be for my teammates. [The three-point contest is] not something I’m really focused on.”
Burke is now 14 for her last 30 from three, bouncing back strong from a two-game stretch in mid-June when she did not make a shot from long range.
