The newfound versatility of Sabrina Ionescu will be crucial to the early semifinal meeting with the Aces starting on Sunday in the best-of-five series.
Nearly a year ago, the Liberty stars were a shell of themselves against the Aces and couldn’t hang on to earn their first WNBA title.
Since the beginning of the season, the Liberty wanted to see Ionescu go downhill more often, but nevertheless, she had to change her game due to her usual 3-point dagger becoming inconsistent.Liberty’s quest for Aces playoff revenge comes with plenty of storylines: ‘Unfinished business’ “I think when you’re one-dimensional, it’s obviously a lot easier to guard,” Ionescu said after Liberty practice on Saturday. “Obviously this offseason, I worked really hard on just continuing to get really explosive, get back to driving, using my body, getting contact, getting into the paint and just getting some easy looks at the basket, which opens up the floor for everyone else.”
Ionescu scored 10 of her 11 points in the third quarter from inside, including a 3-point play on a layup with two defenders crashing on her to tie the game off a screen from Jones at the top of the key. Ionescu’s defense has also improved, ranking No. 11 in defensive rating across the league — an improvement from 18th in 2023.
“I think she’s one of the smartest IQ players on out there,” Brondello said. “And you have to remember that she came from a program that played zone. So, we had to keep building her up and I think the way that she’s committed to it, that’s a part of it.”
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