Chris DeMarco’s first major challenge in coaching the New York Liberty is figuring out how to compensate for Sabrina Ionescu’s absence for a few weeks.
DeMarco’s coaching debut occurs Friday when the Liberty host the Connecticut Sun in New York, and Ionescu will be watching from the bench after injuring her ankle in the preseason.
DeMarco left the Golden State Warriors’ coaching staff and is taking over for Sandy Brondello. Brondello was fired in September after the Liberty, defending their first WNBA title, lost the final two games of their best-of-three opening-round series to the Phoenix Mercury.
The Liberty retained Ionescu on a three-year, $3.75 million deal after the guard averaged 18.2 points and 5.7 assists last season. During Sunday’s preseason win over the Sun, Ionescu rolled her left ankle, and the Liberty announced she would be re-evaluated in two weeks. She was not wearing a walking boot at practice ahead of the season opener.
“Obviously, one of our better players is going to be missing. It’s tough,” DeMarco said.
It is unclear who would start for Ionescu alongside Jonquel Jones and Breanna Stewart, but rookie Pauline Astier is a possibility after a strong preseason.
“This is like a best-case scenario for (Ionescu), for anybody that has to go through something like that,” Stewart said. “She wants to be around because every day we are adding new stuff. Really making sure once she is able to jump back into things, she is really able to make a smooth transition into that.”
The Sun are starting their final season before an expected move to Houston and are hoping to perform significantly better in coach Rachid Meziane’s second season. Connecticut finished 11-33 last season, its most losses in team history; its 75.8 average points per game was tied for lowest in the league.
Connecticut’s biggest offseason move was signing Brittney Griner to a one-year deal to join a roster with eight rookies. Griner averaged 9.8 points and shot 51.8% last season with Atlanta, following 11 seasons with Phoenix.
“I feel really good about this,” Griner, 35, said in the preseason. “I’m in the right headspace. I feel like I went into it, I knew what I wanted, I knew what I was looking for. And you don’t know what you don’t know until you know,” Griner said during the preseason. “And I know exactly what I want, and this was the right move.”
–Field Level Media
