Travel woes become the latest hurdle in Liberty’s up-and-down season

INDIANAPOLIS — Perhaps there’s no better metaphor for the Liberty’s season than their travel disruption to Dallas this week.

Weather delays spoiled the team’s on-time departure, similar to how injuries and late arrivals hurt New York early on.

Then, mechanical issues with the plane stalled the Liberty in New York, much like how Leonie Fiebich and Satou Sabally’s nagging injuries are impacting the team now.

The Liberty switched planes and yet found themselves in a familiar spot — stranded on the tarmac.

The team’s charter never took off, nor has its season.

“It sucks, there’s no way around it, but it is what it is,” Sabrina Ionescu told reporters Friday of the team’s travel fiasco. “We got to make a good push before we get a break.”

Will the Liberty be able to form some semblance of momentum over the next three games heading into the All-Star break? Or will their potential for greatness be postponed to a later time or canceled altogether?

For an underwhelming 13-11 team with championship aspirations, here are three glaring issues:

Sabrina Ionescu says it “sucks” that the Liberty had travel issues against the Wings this week, but that the team has to make a strong push in the final three games heading into the All-Star Game. Reuben Polansky-Shapiro

Wing woes

The Liberty thought they fortified their roster to withstand injuries.

But Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, returning this season after a yearlong layoff because of a knee injury, has struggled to establish herself amid a fluctuating role. Satou Sabally suffered her second concussion in eight months and Leonie Fiebich went down with a left foot injury.

A positional group that once looked to be the Liberty’s deepest turned shallow.

Sabally’s and Fiebich’s absences, in particular, are hurting the team on both ends.

The Liberty’s net rating when Leonie Fiebich is on the court is 7.8 and minus-1.7 when she’s off it. NBAE via Getty Images

The Liberty’s net rating when Fiebich is on the court is 7.8 and minus-1.7 when she’s off it. For Sabally, it’s 4.9 when she’s on and 3.6 when she’s off.

The Liberty’s ability to switch on defense takes a hit without them. Opponents’ 3-point percentage has inflated over the past two weeks to 38.7 percent — a 6.6 percent increase from the previous 21 games.

Drop-off across the board

Ionescu said, “our offense isn’t the problem” but the defense needs some work. Meanwhile, coach Chris DeMarco said the “defense has been there, and then we’re not capitalizing on offense.”

Which is it?

The answer is somewhere in the middle.

Back on June 17, after the Liberty captured their eighth consecutive win, New York ranked fourth in offensive rating (110.2), defensive rating (102.2) and net rating (8.1).

All those numbers have since ballooned in the wrong direction.

Over the past nine games, during which the Liberty have gone 2-7, New York has posted a 107.9 offensive rating (ranked seventh in that span), 110.0 defensive rating (ninth) and minus-2.1 net rating (ninth).

The injuries and lack of lineup continuity have disrupted their ability to build chemistry. But effort, knowing opposing personnel, making smart decisions with the ball, executing the game plan and communicating on defense are all within the Liberty’s control.

“In general … we know we have to be better,” DeMarco said. “We have to find a way to compete and to execute for a full 40 minutes.”

Late-game execution

The Liberty haven’t done themselves any favors over the past three-plus weeks.

They’ve dug themselves into double-digit holes in each of their past five losses. In their most recent defeats against the Minnesota Lynx and Toronto Tempo, the Liberty fought back and made it interesting in the fourth quarter.

Both ended up being two-possession-or-less games down the stretch. New York lost them both.

The Liberty have a negative net rating in clutch situations for the first time in the superteam era, which started in 2023.

It’s also worth noting that New York has positive point differentials in every quarter except the fourth.

The Liberty’s core three veterans are in their fourth season together, but it’s their first season playing for DeMarco, who has an almost entirely new staff alongside him. New York has typically thrived in those high-stake moments with Ionescu, Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones together. But that hasn’t been the case this year.