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The New York Liberty suffered their first casualty on their first west coast trip of the season before they even stepped on the court when the cross-country flight aggravated Sabrina Ionescu’s neck.
With Leonie Fiebich overseas playing for Team Germany and Jonquel Jones out at least a month with an ankle injury, it left the Liberty with nine active players for their game Sunday against the Seattle Storm.
This is nothing new to head coach Sandy Brondello — or to any coach around the WNBA. EuroBasket is claiming players from many teams and injuries affect everyone. It’s a problem in the WNBA more than in other leagues, however, because the W caps its rosters at 12 players. Roster expansion is often a hot topic in league circles for that very reason, and with the Player’ Association currently negotiating a new CBA, Brondello has lent her support to bigger rosters.
“I think that's been something that we've spoken about for years and I think it'd be good,” she said when asked directly if she would like to see roster expansion.
She explained why it would be preferable to the status quo, which requires teams looking for stop-gap help to sign free agents to hardship contracts.
“It'd be good to have some developmental players at the end of the bench that know your system,” she said. “It's easier to automatically fit them in when you need them. I know it's always a financial thing, but hopefully, as we move forward, we'll have those capabilities to just have a few extra players around that in these situations when you do get a little bit under a normal roster, you can lean into.”
Brondello raises a point that many overlook. Players signed to hardship contracts are in WNBA purgatory. They can come in at a moment's notice, but unless there’s a prior relationship, it takes time to learn the playbook and develop chemistry. If there was a spot or two for developmental players — those who could be activated if there’s an injury and are already practicing with the team — it will improve the on-court product.
Liberty continue road trip short-handed
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For the Liberty specifically, injuries have become a tough needle to thread. New York obviously wants Ionescu to avoid any further injury, and the team is going to be safely in the playoffs — probably the 1 or 2 seed regardless. Resting Ionescu was the prudent thing to do in that sense.
“She had something similar last year, so we want to be really mindful of that big picture and hopefully a few days off can get her ready for the next game,” Brondello explained.
At the same time, playing with only nine players is a risk in itself. Not only did it further handicap a New York team that went on to lose for the third time in four games, but it continues to add wear-and-tear on the nine remaining players during the longest WNBA season in league history.
For one game, it’s manageable. But there are no guarantees. The Liberty pride themselves on their deep bench and this is where it must pay off. There’s no question Marine Johannès, Kennedy Burke, Rebekah Gardner and Nyara Sabally can play starters’ minutes in a pinch; they’ve done that already. But as it stands, they can’t even run 5-on-5 in practice right now.
The Liberty have listed Ionescu as questionable on their injury report for their game Wednesday night against the Golden State Valkyries.
