Eric Thibault snickered at the suggestion that his game checks should increase with his extra workload. The Mystics associate head coach moved down a seat Friday against the New York Liberty, stepping in for his father to run the team for the second time in 11 days.
Mystics — short on bench and on the floor — fall at home to lowly Liberty
Shorthanded and playing a hungry Liberty team, the Mystics faltered down the stretch and fell, 74-70, at Entertainment and Sports Arena. Eric Thibault is 1-1 at the helm this season after Mike missed a game last week due to personal reasons.
The Mystics (7-4) have started nine combinations in 11 games, and there is little reason to expect that to change. Clark will travel with the team to Chicago on Saturday but may not play against the Sky on Sunday. Elena Delle Donne will be in and out of the lineup throughout the season as the team manages her workload after a pair of back surgeries. The plan is for her to play the next three games.
“It’s been a little tough for us,” Delle Donne said. “What’s been a bit of a struggle is different nights, different people are in, different coaches are coaching. It’s been just kind of hard to get a flow. Hard to know what we need to get in tough moments.”
The lineup changes have contributed to uneven offensive performances. Against the Liberty (3-7), the Mystics committed nine first-quarter turnovers and shot just 23.8 percent from beyond the arc for the game. Aside from Natasha Cloud (17 points), Delle Donne (15 points, eight rebounds) and Ariel Atkins (15 points), the rest of the team accounted for just 10 field goals.
“We just are still, early season, trying to find that balance of calling plays or just playing with some freedom,” Eric Thibault said. “Learning our teammates and not having the ball just get stuck when stuff breaks down.”
Despite their offensive struggles, the game was tight throughout, and the Mystics had a final possession with 4.7 seconds remaining and trailing by just two. Taking the ball out on the baseline, the Mystics called a play for Delle Donne, but the Liberty plugged that up. The ball ended up in the hands of Myisha Hines-Allen, whose jumper was short. Rebecca Allen grabbed the rebound and made two free throws to seal it for New York, which closed on a 9-2 run.
Here’s what else to know about the Mystics’ loss:
Wearing orange
The Mystics and Liberty both wore orange T-shirts during warmups in honor of the victims of recent mass shootings. The teams gathered in a circle at midcourt before the game to have a moment of silence.
Much of the crowd wore orange, as did Mystics arena staff, and informational segments were shown on the video boards throughout the game.
New-look Liberty
New York won its second straight after a 1-7 start, not exactly the opening run new coach Sandy Brondello hoped for. Brondello adjusted to a bigger lineup, and the change is just starting to take hold.
“I suppose it’s not going as fast as we want it to and mostly because of injuries,” Brondello said. “We had a really disruptive training camp and not many players in it. So now it’s about just having time, getting healthy players back. Building more chemistry with the players that we have. . . . Just making sure we’re limiting our unforced stuff. . . .
“Yes, we’ve had some ups and downs, We’ve just got to get consistent. And that’s our goal. … And we don’t have a deep bench. We’ve got a lot of young kids there, so we’ll keep developing them.”
Still growing
Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu came into the league as the No. 1 overall pick in 2020 and one of the most heralded collegians in history. She was the NCAA career leader in triple-doubles and is the only player — man or woman — with 2,000 points, 1,000 assists and 1,000 rebounds. An ankle injury limited her to three games as a rookie, and she averaged 11.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 6.1 assists while playing through an injury last season.
Against the Mystics, Ionescu dominated the third quarter and finished with 24 points. Natasha Howard added 17 points, and Rebecca Allen scored 11.
“It’s nice to finally be healthy,” Ionescu said. “It’s been kind of a breath of fresh air just to be able to work on my game, trust my body, know that I’m healthy. So it’s been really nice and, obviously, still a lot of room for improvement and growth, and that’s kind of the fun part of the process is knowing that I’m going to keep getting better and doing what I can to help [this team].”
Brondello said fans should be patient as Ionescu continues to adjust to life in the WNBA and looks at this season as her sophomore year. She said people should look at the maturation of Kelsey Plum as a similar example.
Source: WP
