Liberty Address Post-Olympic Turnover Problem

The New York Liberty hope to solve their hobbling turnover woes over the final seven games of the 2024 regular season.

Brandon Todd, NY Liberty

BROOKLYN-Don't come to Barclays Center this Halloween; the New York Liberty have already dealt their share of treats and they don't plan on sharing more.

While New York (27-6) hasn't lost the top spot on the WNBA playoff bracket, they've been a bit too generous on the floor since returning from the league's All-Star/Olympic hiatus: in that span, the Liberty has let up 16.1 turnovers per game, losing the ball on 19.8 percent of its possessions. Those tallies are good for second and third worst in the Association since play resumed on Aug. 15.

"We've (been) really trying to make the home run play sometimes on the first side of the action," Breanna Stewart said of the surge in turnovers following the loss of 19 in an eight-point defeat o Connecticut on Aug. 24. "We know that if we can move the ball to the second and third side, like analytically, it works out really well for us. We just have to continue to play, play well off of one another. When the ball is moving, it's about finding the open person."

To its credit, New York continue to post a respectable assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.40, which ranks sixth in the league despite the issues. However, turnovers get particularly unhealthy during the fall, and the Liberty have learned that the hard way, letting up an average of over 17 points ... just over 22 percent of the league-best 75.1 points per game they've allowed since the break ... off the costly losses.

While the Liberty have established themselves as strong finishers, they're learning the hard way that sometimes it may indeed be about how one starts: 8.3 of their turnovers have come during the first half, once again sitting second in the W in that damning category since the return.

Three games ahead of Connecticut and Minnesota for the W's top seed after posting a 6-2 mark in a busy stretch after the break, the Liberty are still sitting relatively pretty, though chances to establish higher ground literally slipped through their fingers: one of their losses was a befuddling 94-88 defeat to the cellar-dwelling Los Angeles Sparks, one that saw them lose 10 turnovers over the first 10 alone.

In their eight opening periods since the break, the Liberty have been on the wrong side of the scoreboard three times after dropping the first on only seven occasions in their opening 26.

The basketball goddesses have armed the Liberty with a list of excuses in the wake of the issue: fatigue is an understandable factor considering four players partook in the Paris Olympics and the league immediately put them back to work with an eight-game stretch packed into 16 days. Jonquel Jones missed the visit to Los Angeles due to an illness while Sabrina Ionescu needed de facto on-court therapy to get her land legs back after missing a couple due to neck issues.

Obliged as they may be, the seafoam savants aren't interested in such a gift.

"I think we can come out a little more aggressive but also kind of smarter," Stewart said after the loss in Los Angeles. "We're just trying to make the home run play or look to score on the first side and putting ourselves in a bad position. I think that it's on the starters. It's on myself to make sure that we're, you know, ready to come out and know where the ball is going to go."

Further therapeutics await the Liberty over the next two weeks, which will see them wrap up their regular season slate through seven more showings. The trek begins on Thursday night when the Seattle Storm visit Barclays Center (7 p.m. ET, WNYW/Amazon Prime Video). Thursday's game is the Liberty first in five days, which is poised to be their longest gap leading into the WNBA Playoffs that tip off on Sept. 22

Despite their relatively safe standing, the Liberty have accepted a challenge of peaking at the right time, almost taking on an inspired approach to losses as they welcome back several major moving pieces, such as Ionescu and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, who has come off the bench in her first trio back after missing nearly two months due to a knee procedure.

Head coach Sandy Brondello was grateful for the chance to sharpen up in the final stages, more or less labeling the turnovers as fixable negligence after the incident in Los Angeles.

"I think it's easy to fix there. I think we're just trying to score too early in the possession where we should just be moving the ball and trying to have quick hitters," Brondello said. "Why did we win all these games? We played in the right way. But the turnovers are just really unforced, I think, just forcing the issue. So it's an easy fix. It's just playing with a little bit more poise."

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