Sandy Brondello, Leonie Fiebich, and Sabrina Ionescu Press Release | Liberty vs. Sun

hey coach Connecticut won the points in the paint today 4628 and they were really dictating the action a lot and kind of forcing you guys into some outside shooting what were you seeing that was allowing them to control the game on that end of the floor oh I think they controlled the whole game I didn't think we had came out um you know played with the urgency and the the toughness that we needed to play against a really good team um you know they were very physical but you could see that they were all connected you know we we've come off we've been playing great defense I thought that was as bad as we played tonight there was no urgency there was no exing out and activity and point of the screen so I mean that's on us um you know it's a good sometimes you need a little punch in the face to wake you up a little bit and um but Connecticut a really good team and um you know they they bought all the sense of urgency and we didn't and you it showed everywhere across the the stat sheet I mean we scored 25 in that first quarter and then couldn't score their physicality we turned the ball over um and then you know we didn't execute our Scout 46 points in the paint it's was a key thing for us and we didn't get it get it done so it's good lesson good lesson for all of us hello all uh thanks for taking the time sorry didn't go your way my question will be for uh Sabrina you and Coach have a often stressed that games like these can serve as learning experiences so what can what lessons can you take from a game like tonight against a revamped Connecticut team chasing you guys in the standings yeah I mean you know obviously I think we're disappointed in um like how he came out and how he executed on both sides of the ball um but it's not the end of the world we lost a basketball game and I think it's understanding um sometimes you need moments like this um to kind of get you back up and understanding what you really need to work on and improve on as a team and not being satisfied with where you're at and I feel like that's kind of at the point where we're at is now understanding we got a really tough road trip coming up and it's how we respond to this loss um that's going to fuel us moving forward and um you know I'm excited it's not going to be easy like you know this season the second half of the season it's not going to be easy um to get back to the playoffs to get back to the finals to um try to accomplish what our goals are and and that's kind of the fun in this um is is being able to figure out through adversity What You're Made Of and how you're going to come back and be better than you were before and can promise you we're not going to have a game like that again it's fine we'll live the sun comes up tomorrow it'll still come it could be Sandy I'm just curious after a game like this how I guess you feel when it comes to it being you know the the right time to get be back as you look at that uh August 26th game in Phoenix yeah no it's a good time you know be was never playing tonight she just went through her warm-ups today the plan is always for her to start back in Phoenix so you we've got 10 games for the season to go to integrate a really important player for us and she would helped tonight put it that way um you know just with her toughness her playmaking ability uh but we'll be at full strength and now you know we just got to you know see what how it all fits together because we've been doing well you know we just lost a ball game to a really good team and um it'll be a good opportunity for us to go out on the road and get together and work out this next 10 games how it really looks with our full complete team uh just a question for lout did it feel like the ball movement the I guess perimeter decision- making feel different tonight on your end or was it something that Connecticut was doing that was leading to you know 19 turnovers no I think we didn't move the ball with urgency and um we didn't make good decisions um we also had as you said 19 turnovers I think we don't usually get that many um but I think we're going to watch some film and we're going to get better at that for sure hi everybody um for Sandy on the night 32 3 point 32 3-pointers and it felt like a good amount of them were of the open variety would you how I guess how would you sort of rate the shot quality you guys were able to generate against connect get defense tonight yeah um well I mean 32 is a lot some of them were open um but we got to shoot with confidence we didn't shoot the ball well in the last game as well um but look I just didn't think we had our usual flow we talk about five mentality our decision making wasn't quick we weren't getting quick to the next action we you know we're a team we're not an ISO team and I thought we got into too much ISO and that doesn't play well with us um so we got to get back to what our true identity is and that's moving the ball and creating for each other you know our our assist 19 that's that's kind of low for us um you know we want to shoot threes we we know that we also want to make sure we're getting into the paint um and you know it it was a you not a good game but it's a great learning game he a great film to watch and to look back and where we all can get better and and we're all this together and we'll be better for Sabrina or Leo just how how different is this Connecticut team with with mayy now in its lineup um and were there different areas tonight where you felt it was more challenging uh going against them yeah I mean obviously she she's a great player um a great shooter spaces the floor out really well for him um but you can't help off of her and so obviously it um kind of provides a a different layer of um how you have to come out and defend them because you know she's able to kind of attract so much um on the offensive end in terms of what she's capable of doing her passing ability um how much gravity she draws um just as a player and so you know they're figuring it out as well um but you know obviously I don't think that's the reason we lost tonight obviously I think it was very self-inflicted in terms of we didn't come out and play our best basketball and um we have to come out you know the next day and be better uh hey coach how you doing um we saw a lot of different rotations tonight some that we aren't used to seeing um you mentioned that we're obviously going to be fully healthy again how much are you going to use these next 10 games to kind of like gauge what these rotations will be going into the playoffs I think game I'll be we'll be doing that working out what works for us um look I just thought you know some some of our key players just weren't really at the best of their game today so I was trying to search and find what how we could get back into it um you know both ends defensively we you know poor offensively weren't very good either so uh yeah so we'll we'll use every game to to work it but be's important for us because she's a also a playmaker she's a Handler that helps hey Sabrina despite the loss today was obviously Mamba day we're just wondering your thoughts on playing on a day like today and and what that means to you yeah I mean it's always great obviously uh 8 24 24 um you know in in terms of what that means for every athlete um kind of just obviously basketball but um anyone who kind of sought uh him as an inspiration and kind of was able to play um you know the way that he played and and having that mentality and um obviously it's what I try and do every time I step out on the floor as well hey coach um in spite of the loss you know in a game like this when you goto scores aren't shooting well you know how important is it where you have players like Feit and you know KT and thing and players like that in the nature you know being consistent and just kind of kind of uh holding holding you guys down and T moments like that yeah the score would have been way bigger if Leia didn't make some of those shots there and um she's been a you know key player for us and it's just great to see um you know the confidence that we all have in her and her to go out there and um you know play well every single game probably you know at 33 I said I thought I probably should have played you a little bit less but that's how you know wasn't not many of us were playing well so I was like okay she's doing well but that's the luxury that we have so um I love it when she's being aggressive at both ends of the floor hi coach uh so as you were saying you know first the first quarter you guys came out strong and then there was that dip in the second uh I just wanted to know what were some of the conversations like you know going into the half after seeing the you know the Suns con uh their defense in that second quarter what was kind of the preparation uh being spoken about kind of oh we talked about I offensively moving the ball spacing the ball making quicker decisions um but you know really didn't get back to that but I Al I just thought defensively we were just that we had no physicality we didn't execute our game plan well at all so we didn't really build on what we had done against the Dallas I thought our defense has been quite good until today so um but yeah that's all like I said there's something this is sometimes this mindset I mean they're coming off a back toback so we can't use as fatigue but you know we just got to make sure mentally we come out and and every game it's it's a battle and we know how good this team is so um yeah learn and move forward hi coach uh one bright spot from tonight's game was that the team had 11 offensive rebounds and since thep break this team is also second in the league in offensive rebounds per game how important is this effort on the glass going to be you know from the team especially moving into a tough schedule yeah no really important um they give you extra possessions uh Second Chance points especially if you're not shooting the ball well more opportunities get on the board and so that's that's pleasing that's one area that was pleasing today we still had 11 against a really good strong defensive team too so um we have that you know hopefully we'll put more the ball in the hole next time so but still get opportunities as well with our persistance than coach thank you thank you